Housing standards here are generally quite acceptable, but usually smaller than you're used to. Rent varies considerably depending on location, sharing arrangements and quality of apartment. The majority of our teachers in Taipei and its suburbs pay between five and twelve thousand NT$ per month, elsewhere rent is cheaper. The typical arrangement for our foreign teachers is to have a room in a shared apartment. Often new teachers find flat mates during the large group initial trainings. Most apartments have three or four bedrooms. A deposit of around NT$10,000 to NT$15,000 is usually required when an individual rents a room. For a group wishing to rent a whole apartment, bonds vary between one and three months' rent.

Apartments usually come unfurnished, however sometimes the landlord or the previous occupants leave basic furnishings. Nevertheless, second-hand or simple furniture is very cheap and easy to obtain. At Chinese New Year, it is traditional for Chinese to clean their houses and to buy new things. As a result they leave out lots of second hand furniture and anyone who wants it can take it. Many teachers have furnished entire apartments, spending next to nothing, thanks to this custom. A person who is just renting a room in the apartment usually finds basic furniture already there. Air conditioning is common, but central heating is very rare as there is little need for it. Some apartments may not have a washing machine or refrigerator, but you can usually pick these up fairly cheap or secondhand or locate the neighborhood laundry.

Western food is expensive. Local food is very cheap. You can easily find a filling local rice, noodle, soup or dumplings dish for between NT$40 and NT$60. A Big Mac, fries and coke set from McDonalds costs NT$109. Dinner for two in a good Italian restaurant will cost about NT$1,000. Supermarkets sell local and imported produce at average prices. Traditional markets sell fresh local produce at much better prices. Some western luxury items are simply exorbitant, but even these are slowly coming down as Taiwan becomes more international and its cities more cosmopolitan. While all manner of cuisine is available in the bigger cities, in some places choices are limited. Finding vegetarian food is always easy - Taiwan seems to have more kinds of tofu than street names. Halal food is less abundant, but still available.

In Taipei, the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), urban train system is inexpensive and efficient - you can get to one side of the city from the other for NT$40. The high population density across Taiwan means that buses run regularly just about everywhere. Fares are very cheap.

It's never cheap to make a habit of taking taxis everywhere you go, but cab fares here aren't too bad. This is useful because often taking a taxi is the easiest way to find a new place. The flag fall for a cab in Taipei is NT$70 and NT$250 would get you a half hour ride of about 20 kilometers.

Many NSTs follow the trend in Taiwan and get around by scooter. They are good in traffic, and very cheap to run. New scooters average at about NT$25,000 for a 50cc, to NT$50,000, for a 125cc bike. There are also better deals and second hand scooters cost much less.

Drinking is one of the fastest ways to use up your money in Taiwan. A few drinks at home won't really dint the budget but if you're into partying hard on the weekend there's plenty of establishments willing to sell you a great time, it just costs a lot. The two most popular beers are Taiwan Beer and Heineken costing NT$35 – NT$40 per can or bottle from the convenience store. In a bar, you'll usually pay about $100 for a beer and about $150 for a cocktail. Only a few clubs have cover charges and they tend to charge about NT$500 – NT$1,000 at peak times during the weekend.

A movie ticket costs close to NT$250. Rent new releases at the DVD store for NT$70. You can see modern art at MOCA, fine art at TFAM or the world's premium collection of imperial Chinese artifacts at the National Place Museum for 50, 30 and 100 NT$ admission respectively. Catch a Chinese opera for as little as NT$100. Soak in one of the many hot springs throughout Taiwan - public baths begin at NT$60 or spend NT$5,000 and get a luxury hotel room with its own private tub. A year's gym membership can be as little as NT$10,000 or as much as $40,000.

For the younger generation in Taiwan, KTV (karaoke) is pretty much the national pastime. A room costs about NT$500/hour plus expect to pay around NT$150/person on top of that. Some of the older generation like to relax indoor shrimp fishing in manmade pools. It would set you back around $100/hour to join them.

Luxury buses will take you from Taipei in the north to Kenting's beach resorts at Taiwan's southern tip for NT$600. You can travel the length of the country by train for NT$800. Smaller distances cost less. There is very little backpacker accommodation in Taiwan. Hotels start from about NT$1,000/ night.

Travel to some other countries in Asia can be very reasonable. You can get return tickets to Honk Kong for NT$5,000, the Philippines for $7,000, Thailand or Vietnam for $8,000 and Japan for $10,000. During festivals such as Chinese New Year ticket prices usually increase.