[Chris Patton]

I'm in Indonesia, a place called BSD in Tangerang. It souds exotic but in reality its actually a southwestern suburb of Jakarta.
I've been in esl teaching for about 10 years now, so I guess it's become a career. The first couple of years (in Spain and China) were a bit rough financially. I came into this with virtually nothing to my name, and pretty much just kept my head above water. After a few years of hard work, though, I began to see steady improvement in my financial situation. I have never signed a contract that did not include a substantial pay rise over the last one, and have managed to work my way into a position of responsibility.
I am single with no kids, so it is a bit easier for me, but I can tell you that I lay out about 5% of my income for housing, and less than that for food and drink. I am able to save a large chunk of my salary every month, but can still afford to buy the odd goodies and enjoy relatively luxurious holidays. Like a lot of people here, I don't contribute anything to a pension plan, so I am taking care of that on my own by saving as much as possible now.
I don't want to give the impression that being single is the only way to do it. I have a lot of friends in the Jakarta area who are married (either to local people or other expats) and have children and are still doing fine. With the right qualifications there are some very good jobs in this area, and a lot of people choose to stay here for the long term.
I guess for me the bottom line is that the salary and living standards are there for those willing to work for them.