Job Discussion Forums

[douglas1969]

Hi, just trying to get some idea about true worth of a salary. Does anyone have cost of living comparison sheets.

What is the true value of 15 million VND. Can you afford to live in a one bedroom in a big city on that and save a little?

[vabeckele]

If you were local, yes. But you are not, 15 million will get you by every month with no savings.

[Tanker]

[douglas1969]

thanks. thats what i suspected.

[mark_in_saigon]

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Vietnam&country2=United+States&city1=Ho+Chi+Minh+City&city2=Dallas%2C+TX

This is a comparison tool. I found it interesting, but not terribly accurate. There are so many "it depends" issues. I do find transportation and prepared food to be our huge savings, as well as relationships (though many of our guys go the opposite direction on that and overspend). The more that alcohol is part of your life, the higher your expenses, generally speaking.

Housing is another tricky one, it can and should be about half the cost of a normal western city, but we can overspend on that, and the market is such that it takes forever to find a decent place at a reasonable price. You have cheap low end stuff for the natives, expensive high end stuff for high rollers (and about 5 times as much as needed, with another 5 times as much sitting uncompleted) and not much in between for a normal guy who wants to spend 3 or 4 hundred bucks a month.

Food is dirt cheap, as the labor costs are so low. Anything with a large labor component is usually a bargain. Motorbike repair is laughably inexpensive, the parts are what costs. You probably spend 20 times as much for a similar repair in the west. But then you have to factor in a lot of other issues, cheap Chinese parts (without offering you an option on genuine parts), quick service while you wait, misunderstanding, lying about what they can do, some good, some bad. It is never a straight comparison, because you never get exactly the same thing.

It is a cheap enough life, once you get it figured out, even the boozers have a bargain, but they tend to blow money due to their lifestyles generally. However, I never recommend coming to this place for bettering yourself financially (unless you are from a very poor country and these wages are like an unobtainable dream to you). I think the best profile for VN (for a westerner) is someone who has already made his fortune, has financial stability, and just wants an enjoyable life that will not set him back financially. You can cover your expenses here and have a great time, but the goal of improving yourself financially beyond that is not that realistic for the average expat teacher, especially those who spend much time inebriated, which is likely the majority of our guys.

[VietCanada]

IMHO the expensive part of living here is accommodation. You can, with local help find a nice two or three story unfurnished house in a poor neighbourhood. Furnishings and utilities are extra. If you are not there when a utility rep comes for the money you may find that utility cut off. If you are their but don't happen to have the cash then you will have to get it and go to the utility HQ to pay the bill. Hopefully you speak VN and can make these arrangements with the rep. Your neighbour might pay OTOH which is nice.

Rent a furnished room in a multi floor house and follow the house rules. You probably won't have a key to the main door and will be SOL if you get home after the owners have gone to sleep. That costs around $250 a month as will a hotel room. You probably can't cook at home so meals are extra. You probably can't bring people home so companionship costs much extra.

You can rent a furnished western style apartment for about $4-500 a month and up. Not sure about utilities.

I rent a house and have furnished it but I like what I see when I visit friends who've rented a furnished apartment. I tried the room thing. That's just crazy. A bed, chair, a TV, shared bath, a single shared PC with a bad connection. Hotel dwellers I've met seem content and make it sound appealing.

Food is cheap if you like VN food. If you don't like soup everyday or very small portions of pork or chicken legs with rice and a boiled leaf of some sort then you're SOL. You'll love the single butt cheek, plastic, KG height stools and chairs. Difficult if you're tall.

If you can cook in your place then you have a larger choice of cuisine. Cheese and some western stuff like real pasta sauce, but it is limited. Import stores have more of course but they're quite expensive and rare. Very doable IMHO if you're getting paid well enough.

VN has a very low cost of living. Saigon has or had one the lowest in the world. (look for Mercer reports on line) but you get what you pay for. The real trick here is whether or not you are a hustling type who can find enough work to meet basic needs consistently. Holidays, school closings for exams, the summer, TET all put big dents in pay. Women if you're inclined and drinking really add up. Especially if you like nightclubs with dancing. Bia Hoi offers a beer for 50 cents but a night club can run 5-10 dollars.

This place is a dichotomy. Wealthy and poor and not really any in between. If you're comfortable settling in to the poor with occasional forays in to the wealthy when the money is there (better to save) then you can survive or better here.

I'd say $2000 and up a month allows one to enjoy the wealthy side more often than not. If it's a salary. But even then schools lay off salaried workers for the summer and just expect to have enough teachers again for the fall. $40 million is good. 15m is pretty bad considering that that would likely be from an unreliable hourly wage and not a salary. I think you'd have serious troubles here on that as an hourly wage. A third to housing and then living on $500 for a whole month while trying to save for holidays is quite precarious. The cheapest meals are about a $1 to $1.50 from what I've seen. Forget groceries. Three a day times 30 seems to be about $150 a month. Clothes, drinks through the day, fresh water, toiletries, savings (essential here) all extra. Doable I suppose but very, very precarious IMHO.

Did I mention that if you are foreign or otherwise unknown to locals then you will be expected to pay 10-20 % more?

[vabeckele]

[Tigerstyleone]

[BenE]

If I look on newhanoian I can still see many places that offer 1 bedroom in a shared house for under 200 USD. I personally stayed in a place that was acceptable and I had a house key. I wasn't the best place but fine for my first few years. I think with 15 million you'd struggle a little but it's certainly possible if you don't use taxis (the buses do work here!), shop in markets, learn Vietnamese and haggle prices.

If you were in the provinces and in a small city further out I'd say it'd be perfectly possible as prices are even cheaper. I doubt though you would be able to save much from 15 million unless you manage to get free accommodation or something similar.

[I'm With Stupid]

Where the hell do all of you live that you're getting locked out? Why would you sign a contract on a house you don't even have a front door key to? I've never heard of anyone in that situation.

[1st Sgt Welsh]

[kurtz]

[Tigerstyleone]

Except for the revenge they get by letting the air out of my tires because I woke them up.

[Prof.Gringo]

[ExpatLuke]

Yup... you can live insanely cheap here if you want. I haven't spent more than $20,000,000 VND in a month in as long as I can remember. The rest is all savings. So I think 15 million is doable, especially if you don't go out to drink a lot.