I think it is pretty easy to live in China on a standard teacher wage. Last year I was on 3000RMB/month. I saved about 1000 of that and still had enought to live on fairly well. Now I have a better job and a decent wage I save about US$500 a month, and I could to better if I tried. This is with no car, but a girlfriend and utility bills.
Of course, if you go to bars every night then you would get through a standard wage quite quickly.

I am not talking about Shanghai or Beijing here mind you.

> One for teachers everywhere, can you live reasonably well on your
> earnings as a teacher?

> I'm making about US$900 a month (net) which is a fairly good salary
> for Mexico. If I was single it would be more than enough, however I
> have a wife and two kids and it is a consistent struggle to make ends
> meet. We have a comfortable standard of living by local standards,
> but things I would take for granted back home in Australia or NZ
> require major sacrifices to get.

> Things like telephone, refrigerator, car, computer. We can live
> without all of these, and for years we did (still no telephone) but
> sometimes it really is depressing.

> How do the rest of you live in different countries? Can you save a
> bit? Are you able to visit other countries? Fly "home" to
> see your folks? Buy yourself little luxury items from time to time?
> I'm very interested in how the rest of you are going.

> To answer my own question, I'd say Mexico is OK to work in, but only
> if you're single.