Expenses living in Japan (monthly)

Before I came to Japan, I had to check my budget A LOT! I was working like crazy and always worried if my money would be enough to live in Japan. So, this post shall help you to somehow see how much it costs to live in Japan! Just a tiny warning, my nickname is Scrooge McDuck. So, if I leave the house, I take out the unused devices of their plug (like laptop, toaster etc.), don't use the heater much and even turned off the light when watching something on my laptop at night... But let's talk about the bills now!

Paying bills in Japan is very easy! Most of the time, you just take it and go to the convenience store - in our case, we always went to Lawson, because that's what's closest to our housing. Just give the paper to the cashier, they scan it, you push a green button on the screen and pay. Then they stamp it and you can take the reciept home.
The deal with the gas and electicity is, that if your montly bill is below a certain amount of money (I think it's ~1,200 Yen), you pay it together with next months bill. I am not sure as to why, but I think it is something about maintenance or service money or whatever. Anyway, so it could be you have to only pay every two months, if you are good! 

Here is what I had to pay monthly (even if I had to pay it together, I just split it up by the months they wrote on the receipt): 

Gas

September: -?
Oktober: 1,097 Yen
November: 1,093 Yen
Dezember: 1,455 Yen
Jänner: 1,992 Yen
Februar: 1,449 Yen
März: 1,275 Yen
April: 1,474 Yen
Mai: 1,525 Yen
Juni: 1,137 Yen
Juli: 1,137 Yen
August: 2,640 Yen (until departure on 26. August)

Electricity

September: 1,037 Yen
Oktober: 1,458 Yen
November: 1,734 Yen
Dezember: 1,858 Yen
Jänner: - (included in the February bill)
Februar: 2,921 Yen
März: 1,171 Yen
April: 1,143 Yen
Mai: 1,721 Yen
Juni: 1,441 Yen
Juli, August: 2,861 Yen

Water

The water gets paid directly at Eleve. You just go to the landlady and pay it. The good think is: Even though  you have a deadline, if you miss it a bit, it's not a problem. As long as you pay sooner or later, they are very understanding.

September, October, November: 3,776 Yen
December, January: 3,438 Yen
February, March: 3,390 Yen
April, May: 2,817 Yen
June, July: 2,920 Yen
August: 1,201 Yen

National health insurance

1,670 every month

Appartment (Eleve)

40,000 every month

Mobile Phone

I don't know if you will need one, but basically, here is what you'd need to pay, if you go to Softbank and get one of those prepaid phones. The deal with them is, you can use them however long you want. The number might die after a few months, if you don't re-charge your phone, but if you come back to Japan, it is very esay to re-activate. The phone is a simple one, no smart phone. But it is enough to do messages and calls. So if you decide to get it, here is what I paid:

13,605 Yen (Phone, money for two months and battery charger) After that:

3,000 Yen every two months (if you want, tell them to take off 300 Yen for free e-mail service!)

Food

That's something I really can't say. If you go out to eat a lot, you will probably spend 1,000 Yen a day. But if not, you can easily get it cheaper. If you need hints: Buy your meat at CO-OP and your vegetables in Izumiya, in the vegetable shop downstairs. (If you have ever been there, you will know what I talk about, don't worry. ;D)

I probably spent about 2,000 Yen on 3 days worth of food, excluding my food for lunch, because I'd only need something tiny like Donut during class breaks, which is ~108 Yen.

But fear not, there will be following a post about food and shopping, too! =)