Where are you located? I was amazed at the difference between living in Tokyo and living in Kita Kyushu. I was working illegally, back when that was easy to get away with, making the equivalent of $35 per hour, getting a minimum of 20 hours per week, and in eight weeks I covered about ten weeks expenses. In Kita Kyushu, I made 285,000 yen with both jobs, and sent home between $800 and $1000 every month. Most months I gave myself 150,000 yen to live on. My 2DK was only 45,000 per month, for instance.