What’s the cost of living like for expats in Ho Chi Minh City—Saigon—in Vietnam? I got on a call with James Clark of Nomadic Notes before the first edition of A Better Life for Half the Price came out. When I was working on the second edition, I wanted to catch up and see how things have changed. James is a digital nomad that uses the Vietnamese city as his base, keeping his possessions in a cheap apartment while he travels.
Vietnam is certainly is one of the cheapest places to live or travel in Asia and it has great air connections to other cities in the region. Here are some highlights of our conversation, with the inside scoop on living expenses in HCMC.
How did you end up making Ho Chi Minh City your base?
I found that I liked traveling a lot once I started and liked working on the internet, so I figured out a way to work for myself and keep doing both by running websites and working from various places around the world. I’m from Australia, but I haven’t had an address there since 2010. I’ve mostly been in Southeast Asia.
I moved to Ho Chi Minh City about eight years ago. I tried out a lot of places on for size while traveling, using different spots as a base. I knew a friend who lived here and liked it, plus there were some other online friends I knew were based here. So it was easy to move to Vietnam and make this my new home. There are probably 15 people I know here who are working online, on businesses. It’s nice to have people to go out with and bounce ideas off of.
How have things changed in the last five or six years in terms of the cost of living in Vietnam?
There’s been inflation here, but the dong has devalued at the same time against the world’s main currencies. So if you come with dollars, the factors have probably canceled each other out and prices are the same as they were five or six years ago. It’s still a great value.
If anything, it’s probably cheaper when it comes to apartment rentals because there’s so much more competition. There are so many Facebook groups with agents listing serviced short-term apartments to rent that there is a lot to choose from.
Contrast this with a Southeast city like Singapore, which has gotten more and more expensive during that time, yet you still have a high level of English proficiency and a ready workforce if you run a company.
What are housing prices like in the biggest city in Vietnam?
Many new apartment buildings have gone up that are catering to a wealthier clientele. You might spend $1,000 for a two- or three-bedroom apartment in one of those, but you’ll have a big place with a common pool, gym, and 24-hour security.
I’m paying less now on rent than what I did when I first moved here. I have a studio in a serviced house where someone cleans regularly, they do the laundry, and fast internet is included. I pay about $20 a month for electricity and otherwise it’s around $220 per month for rent. You can easily find a bigger furnished apartment in a desirable area for $500 or less per month.
It’ll probably only take you a day or two to find a short-term rental in Ho Chi Minh City, especially in District 1 where I live.
What is the visa situation for living in Vietnam?
When you fly in you can get a one month visa on arrival or a three-month one you apply for online before you come. I have a multi-entry visa. Some friends have business visas, but that’s more complicated to get and you usually need to be employing people or you are sponsored by a company.
I have to leave the country periodically and return to start a new three-month cycle, which isn’t difficult here. Much easier than for people living in Thailand.
Give us some examples of prices to travel around from there.
Flight prices are the main reason I love living in this part of the world. Air Asia is kind of the backbone but every country has its own budget airline or two. The ones here are Viet Jet Air and Jetstar Pacific. Even just a week out I can get a flight to Bangkok for $100. If I plan ahead I can get it for $50. I’ve picked up flights to Kuala Lumpur for $30 or $40.
For domestic travel, a flight to Danang is $50 return. I’ve gotten flights for $12 when they do one of these “$0 plus tax” here in Vietnam.
Then when you need to take a bus or a train within the country, it’s even less. You can check prices here for how to get around in Vietnam.
What do you spend on a monthly basis?
I can usually get by for less than $800, living rather frugally. You could spend more on a bigger apartment and go out more, but still, for $1,000 you can live quite well in Ho Chi Minh City.
Getting around doesn’t cost much. Here they have Grab Bike, which is a motorcycle taxi. To go to the airport on one of those with just a carry-on will cost you $2.50. If you go in a car it’ll cost around $6 to the airport. There are two reputable taxi companies—Mai Linh and Vinasun–that always use the meter. You just jump in a go for a couple dollars for a city ride.
I spend about $8 a month on my mobile phone plan and never have to add any extra to it, even when I’m on it all the time.
It’s so cheap to eat great food there, that’s probably not a whole lot out of your budget, right?
You can go out for a $1 lunch or you can go out for a “western” lunch that’s going to cost the same as back home. I mix it up. I’ll go for a normal restaurant lunch with soup or a noodle dish that’s maybe $2 and then later I’ll go to a nice sushi place and spend $10.
Sometimes I go to a nice vegetarian all-you-can-eat buffet place that’s around a dollar for rice and whatever vegetables you want to pile on. So I don’t even have a kitchen. Sometimes I’ll eat breakfast at home, something that doesn’t need to be cooked. Otherwise, it’s too cheap to bother. It’s better to just eat out all the time.
[Side note, Vietnam is one of the cheapest countries for beer in the world and cocktails aren’t too pricey either.]
I assume you’re okay with the tropical heat?
I’m used to heat and sometimes it’s hotter in Australia where I’m from. I spent three winters in the northern hemisphere and that was enough for me. If you’re walking around in the daytime here though, it’s very refreshing to visit an air-conditioned shop. April and May are usually the hottest months, before the rains come.
I don’t use A/C in my apartment because I have good ventilation and fans.
Have you had any trouble with internet censorship or site blocking?
Here it’s really easy to get around on the web; it’s not like China. The blocking here is much lazier.
BBC and Radio Free Asia are blocked. They must have published an article the government didn’t like. The government tried to get Facebook to move their data center here so they could exert more control, but it didn’t happen. I don’t think they’ll ever be able to censor everything like China does. Everyone is too used to using social media daily and it’s a key part of their lives.
Have you had any experience with medical care in Ho Chi Minh City?
I had a back injury here and needed treatment. I ended up with a physical therapist who got me back on my feet for $8 an hour—with acupuncture and massage therapy.
I went to the dentist a couple months ago after way too long. He did a thorough cleaning and x-rays for about $22.
You can go to the local clinic for super cheap but if you want better facilities and a foreign-trained doctor you pay more for a nicer place. When I was having some strange ongoing headache, I went to the western medical clinic here for a consultation, which was$60. They said it was going to be $500 for an MRI and when my jaw dropped they sent me to another location where it was $100!
There’s always a worry of how good the health care here is if something really serious happens though. Expats usually go to Bangkok or Singapore if they’re well enough to get on a plane.
How easy is it to get by in English when living in Vietnam as a foreigner?
If you live in the city center of Saigon, it’s no problem. This city has one of the youngest populations in Asia and they all learn English in school. So as long as you’re in urban areas, you can get by in English fairly easily. It’s a different story out in the provinces of course.
Vietnam did an amazing job of keeping the pandemic under control. What was that like?
Vietnam knows it has limited resources, so they were on to it from the start. As soon as the virus broke out in Wuhan, flights to China stopped, schools closed, and virtually everyone was wearing a mask. (A lot of people were used to wearing a mask anyway because of pollution.) The country stopped the threat in its tracks.
Nearly everything closed for a while except for takeaway and essential shopping. At the end of April, things opened up again and in mid-May of 2020 we hit 30 days with no new cases from within the country. The only new cases were from incoming flights and those people got forcibly quarantined.
My main question now was, what happens when I have to do a visa run? Otherwise, it was not too different from my normal life. I was quite productive!
Find travel and living abroad posts from James Clark at NomadicNotes.com. He also runs a site on transportation and infrastructure in the region at Future Southeast Asia.
All photos by Tim Leffel and James Clark.
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Hieu Nguyen
Tuesday 13th of October 2020
If you live and eat like local, some cheaper distric like Go Vap, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, you may spend $4oo / a month for house 3 bed room,
Street food and drink is just about $1-$3/each. But in the cooffee Shop, or restaurant, it is more expensive. Depends how big the shop and name, decoration... Living like a local you can spend only $300, you can live 1 month without cooking. Ask local people in those distric for more good information. But be aware... Better way ask for information in formal place, such as bookstore, coffee staff,
Romingo
Wednesday 1st of July 2020
Wow, great details especially about the food cost!! We are birders, would love to visit Vietnam soon to do birding!
Kaylini Naidoo
Friday 19th of June 2020
Thanks for the great insights James. I haven't considered Vietnam as a home but as an expat the cost of living doesn't look too bad at all. Thanks for sharing!
anthony
Friday 12th of June 2020
Hi there, I want to stay in stay in Ho Chi Mien City District 1 or 4 for 2 months in Early January 2021. I am on a tight budget so would like a cooker in the apartment for myself and quests Have you any idea of Contacts for rentals for between $250/300 please. Oh yes thank you for your for your above informative info. Thanks. Anthony from England.
Nick
Saturday 27th of June 2020
$250-300 for a short-term apartment is quite tough in District 1 or Binh Thanh, but you may be able to find something if you look further out in D2 (An Phu/Tran Nao area), D4 or D7. D7 in particular has a lot of cheap serviced apartments
You can also find cheap apartments in the area of Japan Town in D1 but they are very basic and start from $300+ for most rooms. There are a few cheap places on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in D3 that are famous for digital nomads. The rooms are basic but cheap and well located.
If you reach out using my site (click my name) I can connect you with someone who can help you find a serviced apartment close to your price range.
Tim Leffel
Saturday 13th of June 2020
I believe there are some Facebook groups where rentals are listed. Otherwise just show up, get a cheap hotel room, and start asking around.
Mike Valentin
Monday 8th of June 2020
How is banking managed not only in Vietnam but in the South East region as well?? Are there well known established banks available for conducting financial transactions?? Thanks!!