Living a Luxury Life in Vietnam for less than $2,000 per Month.

The first time I landed in East Asia was a hallucination trip of sensory overload. …sleep deprived, with off the chart’s exhaustion from the 20-hour flight and 12-hour time change, mixed with overstimulation from the bright flashing lights, unusual smells and strange food. If you have ever seen the 2000 movie, The Beach, with Leonardo DiCaprio; the scene on Khaosan Road does a pretty good job of catching this crazy feeling that many people feel the first time they come to Asia.

Ever since I was a child, I always wanted to travel the world. I always enjoyed learning about new cultures and trying interesting foods. My first big trips were the typical; Mexico, Canada, Italy, France, Israel, England, Scotland, Iceland, Costa Rica …. etc. I would spend a few days, a week, maybe even a month travelling around. Gradually, I became a bit more adventurous and started going to East Asia.

When I was young, we had a Vietnamese family move in next door. They were among the first wave of Vietnamese immigrants to America, called the boat people for the wave of immigrants between 1975 and early 1990’s. One of them was my good friend Hung. I went over there daily to play. They always had the coolest tropical fish tank, with all sorts of unusual exotic fish, and we would always play hours of board games. This relationship, along with growing up near a Vietnamese neighborhood and going to university with Vietnamese students, gave me an affinity to the culture along with a familiarity for the culture and cuisine. This made adaptation a little easier, as Vietnam always felt a bit more like home than other East Asian countries.

Over time, East Asia became my travel destination of choice. When I would get a break between highly intense quarterly work crunch periods, I would catch a flight to Hong Kong to recover. That was my base of operations. From there, I would figure out where I wanted to travel to next. At first, there seemed to be a worry that my work production would dip, but if anything, it skyrocketed. When I would finally return to work, I would be mentally rested and blow any previous production targets out of the water, so this break time seemed to be viewed as a net positive for everyone.

Unlike Europe or larger cities in America which seem to have the feeling like their time had passed many years (…or decades) ago. Where Europe is the past, East Asia seems to be the future. This is where everything was happening. People seemed to be optimistic and hopeful of the future. My trips became more frequent. I was losing interest in returning to America and decided to get a permanent residence in Ho Chi Minh city, right about the time of Covid.

What is the lifestyle like of an expat living overseas?

The lifestyle in some of these cities is amazing. I don’t want to single out only Ho Chi Minh because there are cities all over East Asia (as well as Latin and South America) which have an incredibly high standard of living for a very low price tag. Thailand and Malaysia have become highly desirable retirement destinations with all of the Western amenities. There are many other countries, where if you don’t mind foregoing some of the Western luxuries, can also provide an amazing standard of living. For me, Vietnam is a happy middle, not too comfortable that I become lazy, but not so uncomfortable, because I have a heated shower and don’t need to bathe in a bucket of cold water.

Housing and Lifestyle

Take my apartment for example. I have a 60 square meter (about 650 square feet) high rise apartment in a suburb of Ho Chi Minh city which feels larger than any 1,000 square foot apartment I ever had in America. Everything is designed for more efficient living, so a smaller footprint actually feels much larger than its square footage would imply. I really enjoy this apartment as it is only a few years old and everything seems to still be brand new.

In Vietnam, commercial and residential buildings are mixed together. This not only eases a little traffic as people often live in the same building as their business, with apartments on top of the storefront. They call them shophouses. This also dramatically increases the standard of living because everything you need is so close. In most medium to high density cities, anything you need for day to day living is never more than a few minutes’ walk away.

In my apartment complex, there are 12 grocery stores and two 7-11 convenience stores within a few minutes’ walk of my elevator. Each contains various fresh fruits and vegetables which are often picked from the farm the previous day. This means fresh bread cooked that morning, fresh prepared foods which were also prepared that morning and fish so fresh that sometimes they are often still swimming in a fish tank when you buy them. It is very common here for us to purchase the food we cook the same day. This is wonderful, because we don’t need to keep a massive refrigerator or pantry of canned foods for the week and you can customize your meals based upon whatever you feel like that day. If we miss something when we go shopping, we just pop downstairs for a minute. In addition, there are many stores in the area, including several pharmacies and many restaurants of various sizes just a short walk away.

The layouts of these markets are much like what food markets were like in America 70 years ago and still exist in much of Europe today. Half of the floor space is dedicated to fresh foods; fruits, vegetables, meat (mostly pork and chicken) along with various fresh herbs. The rest of the floor space is for various packaged items, usually a shelf of cooking supplies (pots, knives, cutlery, etc.), a shelf of cleaning supplies (with detergents, sponges, paper products), a section of dry spices, a shelf or two of canned drinks (soda’s, beer, water, teas and other drinks) and a couple shelves of junk food (chips, snacks, candy, etc.). They seem small, but it is surprising how much space is not needed in American markets, Aldi has done a good job proving this.

About once every month or two, we make a trip to the big grocery store to stock up on all of the frozen foods and junk food we may not have access to at the local markets. In Vietnam, these trips are typically events for an entire family. It isn’t unusual for a family of five, plus both paternal grandparents and maybe the younger sister or brother to come along and spend several hours there. There are often gigantic food courts and fast-food restaurants attached to these supermarkets and you may see grandma and/or grandpa camped out by the aircon with a couple shopping carts around them for an hour watching the grandchildren running around while the parents finish their shopping. There is more than just food here, as you can find a clothing section, a home appliance section, a toy section …everything you may need in one stop. It is sort of like Wal-Mart, but with the entire extended family coming along for the trip.

The Economics of a Vietnamese household

There are lifestyles for every price point. You can find an apartment for around $100 USD up to about $2,000’s USD. I find a lot of comfort in the upper end of the median level apartments. I don’t need a Western lifestyle and enjoy not having a dish washer or clothes drier. My humble life suits me a lot better than the McMansions which many U.S. retirees strive for. I like a little added comfort, so there are the occasional Western appliances you may not see in a Vietnamese house.

Many Vietnamese live off of a salary ranging from $250-$2,000 USD per month. Usually, they get around these lower wages by having higher occupancy per housing unit. Sometimes, this salary is mostly spent on a food and beer budget, as many already own their home and have little other expenses.

How do people live with such low incomes? Builders are able to make smaller, but more efficient apartments for much less money if these types of apartments are in demand. There are apartments here which only cost $100 USD per month. These are pretty stripped down, with a living area which also functions as a primitive kitchen with only a camping stove and a few dishes, a combination bathroom / shower / kitchen sink in a tiny 1 meter by 2 meter space and finally a small loft with a mattress typically on the floor. There is often no air conditioning, but there will be several strong fans, which seem to do the job just fine. Usually there might only be 1-2 people living in each of these small economy units.

There is also the option of renting a room for around $50-$100 a month, which might be part of a much larger house with a shared cooking space. These rooms are popular among single men or women who want their privacy, but enjoy the familial aspect of having other people around. These are not luxury accommodations, but they serve the purpose of having a good place to keep stuff, eat a meal and have a good night's sleep.

My home doesn’t need a large refrigerator, large cupboards or a large stove because we cook nearly everything the same day. A rice cooker, small two burner cooking range and air fryer are most of what we use, so we don’t waste money with larger energy hogging appliances. We do like aircon units for the three rooms (a common room and two bedrooms), but most of the time, only one or two aircon units are active at a time.

These are not like massive American air conditioner units, but are much more efficient heat pumps which are used throughout Asia as well as Latin and South America. American zoning law has made apartments overly large and very inefficient, which the renter ends up paying for with increased utility bills for unused space.

Vietnamese rooms are modeled on an open floor plan style, with open spaces where you can add the features you need. Massive closets are gone …replaced with economical armoires. Wardrobes can be ordered in whatever size you need, from a smaller unit to a much larger unit. An open space can be used for anything. My office contains a fold up bed which quickly converts it into a guest bedroom and the living room doubles as a playroom for my son, which can quickly be boxed up and stashed in a bedroom in case guests arrive and we want a large open area. Vietnamese tend to enjoy large meals from a central hotpot, so gatherings are in the central room with everyone eating on the floor, refilling the pot with various ingredients as the meal progresses.

Of course, the efficiency and lower prices have a tradeoff. There are some drawbacks, which are often just minor inconveniences. These are tradeoffs encountered when dealing with noise coming from neighbors.

There is the occasional customary Grand Opening, where the shop owners crank up loud music for a dragon dance celebration, starting at 7am-8am. It is a cultural practice for many people to want to support the new business by buying something during the grand opening, causing long cashier lines that day. There are massive amounts of people gathered around to see the dragon dance, with the accompanying loud symbols crashing and drums banging which will wake a person up from the deepest sleep. These celebrations are usually on Saturdays or Sundays because that is when most people are home and will sometimes include special invited guests. These are little community celebrations because everyone likes to gather around and see the new shop in the neighborhood. I find it hard to be bothered by these celebrations because I tend to wake up early for a morning walk anyway.

Another annoyance that comes up a few times a year is the complete remodel of a neighboring apartment. East Asian culture requires that an apartment be completely striped of everything down to the bare walls and completely remodeled if the unit is suspected of having bad feng shui. Sometimes, people can get a bad feeling when they walk into an apartment and rather than deal with a ghost or bad spirit, they will remodel the place and give it a fresh look, along with cleansing it of any bad mojo. This is annoying in the demolition phase as they jack hammer out the outer concrete layer of the walls, floors and ceilings before giving it a new surface coat and replace any attached furnishings. This seems a little wasteful to Western eyes, but a person should keep in mind, these apartments are not meant to be lived in for 30 years. There is the expectation that it will be remodeled every few years, so cheaper quality materials may be used with this in mind.

Sometimes, there could be the problem of dealing with loud neighbors. When you have smaller brick and concrete apartments, it is easy to hear your neighbors crying baby or tone-deaf karaoke gatherings which can last until 11pm or midnight on the occasional weekend. Most of the time, it is quite quiet as most people respect their neighbors and will try to wrap up everything before a normal sleeping time. Most people don’t complain because they don’t want the complaints returned when they hold a similar party a few weeks later.

Food and Transportation

It is amazing how much less kitchen space you need if you buy groceries daily. I can usually get away with spending less than $50 USD per week on food and whatever else you buy at a grocery store for the entire family. This leaves a nice budget for enjoying the occasional meal out at a nice restaurant when some cravings for Western food start to creep up or if we are feeling too lazy to cook. We prefer not to have a car, but enjoy riding a fun 110cc motorbike for little errands, which only uses about $4 USD a week for fuel during high use times. Any slightly longer trips are usually done with taxis. We order the taxi on Grab before we step out of the apartment and it is usually waiting for us in the downstairs pickup area by the time we step out of the elevator.

Clothing

With the average male height of 5’6 (168 cm), it can be very difficult to find American sized clothing in Vietnam. Just shoes alone, for example, can be incredibly difficult as they stop two sizes short of my foot size at nearly every shoe store. This usually isn’t a problem as the budget allows for frequent trips to other countries which have much taller populations.

Typically, I might travel out of Vietnam 3-4 times a year and when I do; I set aside some luggage space for quite a bit of clothing on the return trip. Trips to Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan or even the occasional trips back to America fill the closet. The clothing I buy is typically light. I wear the uniform of the typical male American expat; a t-shirt, chino shorts and some sandals. I am looking for some breathable cotton or exercise T’s, preferably with no gaudy tourist printing on the front or back. I want the appearance of a local and don’t need to advertise some funny, but bad taste shirt, which is really only meant to be worn on vacation.

Medical

Medical costs are quite cheap when you get outside of America.

I typically go to the dentist two or three times a year for a cleaning and checkup. I go to the better dentist in the area with the modern equipment and usually pay the outrageous local sum of $10-$20 USD for my cleaning. There is never a wait and I usually text ahead a couple hours before I go to insure I can walk right into my appointment. The doctor always speaks English and is much honored that I think highly enough of his clinic, that its Western quality, enough to attract a Western guy as a client.

Doctor visits are as pain free as a doctor visit can be. I go to a premium clinic where if I pay a little more (20% over the local price), I can usually avoid any wait. All of the testing equipment is modern and some of it is better than many doctors’ offices I have been to in the U.S. Most of the Doctors speak English quite well because a couple years of English classes are a mandatory requirement for graduation from the first level of medical school.

The medical system in Vietnam isn’t quite the same as in America. Here, medical students are often given a job at some of the lower hospital positions (drawing blood, assisting in performing Ultrasound, EKG or whatever other medical tests require extensive training). They learn on the job, by being tasked with setting up the equipment, prepping the patient, etc. By the time the technician comes in, everything is set and they just look it over and perform the tests. It’s not unusual to see ten or twenty medical aids or administrators in a clinic for one or two doctors.

This gives the added bonus of making medical services very inexpensive. Much of the work is done by lower skilled workers who are supervised by the technician or doctor, which keeps the costs very low. It is unusual if I spend over $200 for a full day of medical tests. If I ever get a little nervous about the quality of workmanship, I can always take a flight to Malaysia, Singapore or Thailand where they have world-class doctors and hospitals, which are very reasonably priced by Western standards and receive top notch care in a medical resort. Imagine going to a hospital to run some medical tests and while you wait for your tests to come back, you are sipping Mai-Tai’s by the pool.

This system creates an apprenticeship tunnel where someone can try out the medical field for only a little investment in their education, and if they like it, they can continue going to school to become a doctor. How many people in the U.S. finish their Doctorate degree and discover they don’t actually like practicing medicine in residency? …you would be surprised.

All of this gives a very good experience for the patient, as competency of the better hospitals tends to flow uphill, where the doctor has usually done every other job in their department before they get to a senior doctor position and they tend to know what is necessary and unnecessary based upon years of experience.

Medicine at the pharmacy is dirt cheap. There are pharmacies everywhere and typically, you don’t need to see a doctor before going to the pharmacy if the ailment is minor. The pharmacist is quite skilled and if you only have a mild ailment like a flu or some muscle aches, they can give you exactly what you need in only a couple minutes. The service at these places is quite amazing and I find myself stopping by a couple times a month for even the mildest of physical discomfort, walking away with everything I need within minutes. This could be something as minor as a couple small bandages, which they sell as singles, and a bit of ointment, because I may have had a tiny scrape on my leg. One or two dollars out of my pocket and I am on my way.

Long Term Care

I remember reading an article about a man moving to Thailand on a retirement visa because he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and wanted to live his remaining days in comfort and didn’t want to burden his family, emotionally or financially. He was able to find a resort catering to dementia patients with around the clock personal care in his own apartment with day and evening shifts of individual trained nurses, all inclusive for $40,000 USD per year. I believe his wife was able to live with him there too, until his condition deteriorated and she moved into a nearby apartment. He had delicious meals prepared and they took care of him until the end. Occasionally, his family would visit and they were always impressed by the quality of care he received. East Asian people are known for their respect of older people and are known to be better caregivers. He lived his final days with dignity in as much comfort as possible.

Early Retirement

This lifestyle is highly desirable for my many European and North American neighbors, where one or both spouses originate from a Western country and come to Vietnam to live a good life and get away from the rat race. Many of my friends are in their late 30’s, 40’s or 50’s and have already put their investments to work so they no longer need to work in the traditional sense. I estimate in my complex alone, there must be more than a dozen other families living here, …plus the many temporary residents who stay for a couple weeks to a month at the AirBNB’s at one of the local apartments or villas in the complex.

My family and I enjoy a very comfortable lifestyle and have plenty of money left over for vacations we take every couple months. So far, we have travelled to all of the neighboring countries and little resorts in the region. We occasionally go to Western concerts when the bands are within a couple hour flight of where we live. All of this costs much less than I was spending for only myself in America …and there is still dividend money left over to put toward …whatever.

I occasionally mention to my friends, don’t put off retirement because you don’t think you have enough money. There are parts of the world with high standards of living at low prices which may allow you to retire a decade or more earlier than you had planned.

There is something for every financial stage. English teacher if you don’t have much savings and have a Batchelor’s degree in (…anything) and are willing to take a few week long TESOL class. Niche employment if you have the qualifications for a skill not available here in Vietnam (like my Chiropractor friend). Digital nomad if you have a skill that can be done remotely. Small business owner if you have a little money to invest and can provide a Western good or service not available in the country. A couple of my friends set up high quality AirBNB’s in Bali, because they have an advantage over locals because they know what Western tourists want. There are so many options available.

I am sure by now you can see, Vietnam is an amazing place for a Western expat.