Cost of living?

Hello jakobsenerik99,
$1600 is for spending only or everything ? ( Home rent, car/bike rent, eating out, etc... )

Hi, depending on your rent this should be plenty.

We've already had a topic like this before, you can search in the forum. Btw, I will show you a brief information. $1600 is not really a large sum of money to live comfortable.

1. Home rent :
    a. Apartment : $ 400 - $600 ( room $150 - $200 )
    b. Electricity  : $100-$150 ( much less if you don't use AC so often )
    c. Water , internet, cable TV, hand phone prepaid cards : $100-$200
    d. Food : $300
    e. Eating out + drinkings : $10-30 / times x 10 times/ month => $100-$300, $500-$800 if you go out with girl friend. ( Of course you should buy her a round )
    f. Motorbike rent + gasoline: $200-$300
    g. ...
   
In conclusion, $1600 is just quite comfortable enough for living ;-)

If you have a house, you don't have to spend for home rent , you will have more $ to spend ;-) , more beers to drink...

Remember to factor in medical insurance cover...

Yep about 1600 usd is to cover rent, food, entertainment etc!
Is it enough?

Thanks Zanchun!!
Next question from me would be, where is the best area for a expat to live in HCMC?

Do not confuse cost of living with standard of living. The cost of living is low in Vietnam and other SEA countries as compare with USA, Australia and Europe. This cover the basic food, rent and clothing. However, when you want to live with a better or higher standard of living these countries may not offer or offer a very expensive standard of living. For example cars are very inexpensive in USA and other advance countries. So are some quality of food which is not expensive as compare with Vietnam and SEA countries. If you want a similar standard of living in the develop countries then may have to pay more like a car generally more expensive in Vietnam as in USA.

zanchun wrote:

We've already had a topic like this before, you can search in the forum. Btw, I will show you a brief information. $1600 is not really a large sum of money to live comfortable.

1. Home rent :
    a. Apartment : $ 400 - $600 ( room $150 - $200 )
    b. Electricity  : $100-$150 ( much less if you don't use AC so often )
    c. Water , internet, cable TV, hand phone prepaid cards : $100-$200
    d. Food : $300
    e. Eating out + drinkings : $10-30 / times x 10 times/ month => $100-$300, $500-$800 if you go out with girl friend. ( Of course you should buy her a round )
    f. Motorbike rent + gasoline: $200-$300
    g. ...
   
In conclusion, $1600 is just quite comfortable enough for living ;-)

If you have a house, you don't have to spend for home rent , you will have more $ to spend ;-) , more beers to drink...

Is electricity and water that high in Saigon?

My electricity usage for a married couple is quite high compared to locals here at $20/mth and water is about $3/ mth. You can buy a used motorbike for $300. My 5 Mbps internet is $15/ mth though the locals use $5/ mth internet.

$1600 USD/mth which is more than $32 million dong you live upper middle class lifestyle. I spend about $10 million dong every month and that's considered a lot by the locals in Bien Hoa.

Granted Ho Chi Minh is more expensive but just some perspective that $32 million dong is more than adequate. Drop $10 mil dong on a bike and you've lowered your budget a great deal.

District 1 if you like night life. Think downtown. District 2 more family oriented and lots of wealthy folks live there. Quieter. Both popular expat locations.

Should be more than enough. I have a family with 1 child and go around for 30 million.

Yes, $1600 is enough to afford you an excellent standard of living. 

The best place to live depends on your personal preferences, as mentioned previously.  I always liked the area around Cao Thang, in D3.   D1, D3, D5 and D10 are all within 5 to 10 minutes, so commute times are lessened if you work in TpHCM, whereas D2 is a long haul.