I normally save like 90-95% of my earnings now but even when I was an ESL teacher, I still saved about the same. 

I eat out, buy stuff and go to the bar on occasion. I honestly think my wife and being in China has sort of got me out of the Western "paycheck-to-paycheck" menality and now I have even surpassed her in financial planning. Are a lot of people that come here stuck in that way of thinking?  

That's boggles me too, it's really easy to live cheaply in China. One can cut the drinks, bars, downsize the accommodation to reduce the expense, there is plenty lot of room for that.

I never been close to be broke. The worst months, I save "only" 50% of my income, because we bought things like plane tickets. If we go in minimal cruise mode, we might save 90% of our income. I used to be really frugal to the point of excess, but I'm improving ^^

However, I can imagine several scenarios that can bleed dry some people
* People with a pension, a mortgage, a student loan to pay for. On a low-end Chinese income, you can end up with not much for your essential expenses.
* Health problems, with no serious insurances schemes. Being sick is very expensive in China. Proper hospitals are expensive, you can ping-pong between various doctors and hospitals before getting fixed properly... while bleeding money each time.
* Family issues, some people might entangled in shitty situations with an especially problematic family in law.

Begging for 40 RMB sounds really desperate, and I don't like the "common, I'm a foreigner too, same camp" approach.

Because some foreigners would rather spend their last RMB of a 6000 per month salary on non-necessities like a backpack for traveling rather than not travel and save money. 

Because some foreigners would rather spend their last RMB of a 6000 per month salary on non-necessities like a backpack for traveling rather than not travel and save money. 

I just noticed the other day that a lot of the foreigners I meet up with or talk to at the local foreign bar ... there is part of the problem. What are they doing in a bar when they have money problems.

If you can not save money in China, you need to get an economics education. You get paid 3 times or more what a normal Chinese person gets paid. Hour housing should be paid for, along with most or all of the utilities. Food is so cheap to purchase here. Hell, you can buy a prostitute here cheaper than a Big Mac meal in New York City. What are you spending all your money on? Those 40 - 60 RMB foreigner beers add up quick I guess.

I live very comfortablly here. I travel often. I eat my western foods at restaurants once ro twice a week. I order my wester foods from Taboa to fix at home. And, I make donations to various Chinese programs. And, I can still send $1000-$1500 USD home ever couple of months.

It's the people you socialize with. 

I give all my salary to my wife.  She says she's investing it Chinese style.

My spending money comes from my black classes.  Even then, I can't spend it all.

Look at most Shanghai teachers :

Living around JingAn temple is expensive, they may pay 5k monthly for a room in shared apt, or even more.

that area is a magnet for money : bars, City shops with western groceries and so on.

Convenient life, but f@cking expensive.

I pay half the amount, and I have whole flat with 2 bedrooms and big living room, 2 balconies. I bought oven so I bake my bread for about 8rmb and have it for 3 days. In Carefour it cost 25 and second day is away. 

They mostly eat outside, cooking at home only at weekends probably, when they have mood. When I cook, so the amount is for lunch and dinner, sometimes I have borsch for 3 days dinner, because why not ? Back home it was common practice, because families are big, 2-3 kids or more, so you cook like for regiment, and nothing is going to rubbish bin.

And last, but not least, I have a wife, who take care of the money and she know how to save enough while I am the force for "ok comfort" lifestyle for us all.

My wife is useless with our money. She doesnt spend alot of anything but the concept of money totally eludes her. Product of a wealthy family, has good and bad sides. That she doesnt care if we save isnt great id appreciate help and some of the responsibility. But on the flip side, shes always had money so name brands or new shit isnt attractive to her. She knows shell always have more than she needs. But its like im a dad. She needs to go shopping and shes like " whats my budget??" Woman i dont know! How about this... Be responsible! Thats iy, its your money too spend what you think you need. No? Ok 3 grand, is that enough? 3K? Her. " oh i was thinking 1500 was fine but three grand sounds great!" ... Commence face palm.

Speaking about poor foreigners i wont say much as for some of them i actually get it. Some came for fun and dont give two shits about tomorrow. Others get screwed, some hippy types seem to take pride in being poor and begging for scraps. Not my style but i get it. What I cant understand is why people complain about being poor publicly. Arent they embarrassed?? Where is the shame?? People just speak about being poor so casually like its nothing. Ive never figured that one out.

Shit happens in life and if i was stuck for a bit, you bet ur ass id be at home. No one would know.

managing money was a lesson learnt at home.

i save between 60-70% each month.

Each to his own i say, but i had a colleague (in his 50's)  who would spend his entire monthly salary in 3 weeks (we did not have to pay accommodation), and would then try borrowing off the rest of us.

Emergency medical expenses would be the exceptional circumstance for a loan.

I completely agree both on the ease of saving money in China and the disproportionate number of foreigners who seem unable to do it. I think there are several reasons for this phenomenon. 

1. Some people just can't save money anywhere. There are plenty of people who would blow their whole salary every month no matter where they are. Pay em 1 million US a year and they'll still be in debt (look at actor Nick Cage, former NBA star Antoine Walker and a zillion other examples. ) Some people just can't manage money. 

2. A lot of people in China get in the mindset that many daily living expenses are insanely cheap when compared to their home countries so they just get out of control. Then they still buy stuff that's more expensive here like foreign beer and justify it cause they're in China and they need a taste of back home. So basically they use being in China to justify blowing money left and right. 

3. A lot of people have too much free time here. Expats in China generally work less than people back home. With more free time, there are more opportunities to spend money. When you're working all day, you don't have time to go on shopping sprees and blow money at the foreign bar every night. Of course, hard workers often spend more on big ticket items like real estate and cars but it's safe to say that most broke expats in China are blowing their paycheck on day to day stuff like drinking and meals. They're not broke because they just spent it all on a down payment for a new house. 

4. Did I mention drinking? Yea. A lot of people drink too much here and when a lot of expats are on ESL salaries and bar prices are often comparable to western countries that ESL paycheck goes bye bye quickly at the bar. 

5. Some expats want to re-create their life back home. Easy enough on an expat package but it will send you to the poorhouse really fast on an ESL salary. Sure, it's possible to live comfortably to save on a standard ESL salary. But comfortable basically living like a Chinese person with a few western treats here and there. If you need your daily fix of Starbucks, cereal and cheese your paycheck will not last long. 

6. Traveling is a big expense too. Most people who come to China in the first place are interested in travel or otherwise wouldn't have come. People who come to China  have lots of free time and use it to travel. I'd say this is true for pretty much all expats in China. 

As for me, I'd say I'm quite good at managing my money. Even when I was on a basic ESL salary I'd save around half of my paycheck per month. When I did a bit of traveling on my days off I'd still save 30-40%. Longer trips would eat up most of those savings though. Now I'm on a significantly better salary and live a more Western lifestyle than before but manage to save about 70-75% of my paycheck in a month where I don't make any major purchases or have unanticipated expenses. Well, I just got married and she likes handbags and there are always unanticipated expenses so I guess I save more like 60% a month. My wife then invests our savings in low risk bank products that yield a bit over 5%. 

Honestly, all the people I've met like that have been drunks. And I've met a few in my time here. I don't really mean it in a derogatory way because most were my friends (or at least people I liked on some level) and I know how they like to roll because I spent some drunk nights with them myself. Certainly not every night though.

Most got smashed every night, just threw money down on the table or bar with no real regard to how much they were spending. If you go into a bar and there is some deal where you get a table, popcorn, fruit salad and overpriced bottle of something they would be throwing their money down to do that.

Around 3 am they'd be talking about moving on to a KTV and that's when I'd call it a night, but they would be there until the wee hours of the morning blowing who knows how much on the KTV girls. Wake up sometime in the afternoon and do the same thing again.

A couple of hopeless alcoholics I knew would often be near blackout drunk, unable to even count their money, they would just throw a fistful on the table or at the taxi driver and probably drop a few bank notes on the floor without knowing or caring every time they pulled their hand out their pocket. They were always the last to leave the bar and no doubt got taken advantage of to the full by everyone around them.

Some of those types are just here to party for a year and don't care about saving money. I understand that. The hopeless alcoholics I just pity.

I am useless with money. I always have been.

I thinks it is down to my childhood. We were pretty poor and as a result I prefer not to do without if I have a choice not to.

It all depends on the individual.  I have known people said they were poor while they had 2 houses rented out.   I have known paper millionaires who were so mean they would do anything they would to get whatever they could to get a drink out of you.

I have had people try to tap me for money, pleading poverty, and the following week they buy a new car.  When I quiz them about this they say the car came from a different account, and that they were skint the week before because they had exceeded their living budget.

I don't like that.  People who take advantage of others in their determination to meet their saving/economy targets.

We all know people like that.

If, like me, you live in a county level city then saving is a breeze. No City Shops. The only bar in town lets me run a tab and gives me 20% discount. The nicest restaurant in town would cost you about 300 yuan for four people, drinks included. The problem is that younger and or retarded foreigners have no idea how to save money. Some people also settle for getting paid peanuts. When I go to the big city I spend like a drunken sailor but as I only do this once in a while it ain't so bad.

I moved here 3+ years ago, expecting to save a few bucks of my measly Canadian pension.I  figured, easily $1000 per month to savings. And that would be easily done, but I have not adapted 100% to China.... I buy cheese, and salmon, shaving cream and mouthwash. I use the A/C too much and the electric heater too often. All of this has been fine and I certainly do not go "in the hole"...  just about finished paying that f...ing immigration lawyer her exorbitant fees for losing my wife's immigration case and then of course a whole new issue. The flipping Canadian $$$$ goes south, it might as well be in Antarctica,,,, it is my deepest anguish today. The CPI goes up 1.8% and the dollar drops 15% to the RMB. Wanna buy some "dirty oil" anybody???

I am still comfortable here, but the loonie falling is certainly an eye opener for an old fart like me, relying on a pension from home money. 

I'm going out to buy more potting soil and fill my balcony with home grown vegies (the guy (down a floor- 4th floor) has chickens on his balcony. While out, I think I will get some QUALITY duct tape and bamboo, to fix my 1 year old rotted out chaise lounge chair and before I am totally broke, I will of course purchase a dozen local BEER!!!

Somebody earlier mentioned on this site that Chinese distinguish just two countries - China and 'Foreignland'. Even though it's brutal simplification so it describes the average Chinese person approach towards foreigners.
Apparently asking the question in this way is identical simplification.
The foreigners here are not a homogenous group but are coming from many different cultures with distinctly different approach towards the life. On top of that they came to China with different aims.
There are here easy minded people who behave like there is no tomorrow and on the other site there are people here who are saving to the extent that they forget their own life.
Majority though would be then somewhere in between these poles.
It also all depends on the pesonal approach. I never felt 'closer' to the foreigner just because the person is a foreigner. I also believe that it's every person free will to select own way as long as the person is willing to accept the consequences.
In China however it has one drawback. Virtually all foreigners will be judged by majority of Chinese based on behaviour of few (or in extreem only one) individuals.
But I am afraid this is valid for majority of the countries around the world and all expats will have to live that - on top of that it's already a different topic ...

In my little town..  Zhanjiang, guangdong..... I do not feel "judged" ..  the family is, so very obviously educated, at home mind you....  no school past high school...  no university ... the kids are getting some, but in my mind a waste of time (the university)..... .. Grampa, now deceased, learned a lot, he taught a lot.... a lot more than what I originally expected from a Chinese family in a small town.   they give me shit  for spitting and openly pissing ... a thing that I hear from many on hear that is the most obvious "bad" thing they do......I came here to do it .............  my family gives me shit for it...

I am having trouble understanding China, north of me, I guess, .. guess I better come visit....see the truths with my own eyes.......  down here, where I live, life is grand and I just can't see much reason to complain ..........  they should speak English. maybe.  and my electricity bills are too big...  many don't have more than a lightbulb..... I use a lot!!!

The people who are broke are the kids who come here to teach English for a year then fuck off somewhere else. They're kids. What do you expect?