Dear readers,

It is good to see you again at the end of the week.

This week, we talked about an issue that most expats are concerned with both before and during their stay in Vietnam: cost of living.

Tomo Huynh, a software engineer, actually listed how much it really costs to live in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s biggest and probably most expensive city.

House rent is around US$200, a brand new bike goes for $800, bus rides are 10 cents, a Coke and a Vietnamese sandwich are both worth 50 cents, and the cinema charges $1.50 for a ticket, according to Tomo’s calculations.

The article has attracted several responses from Vietnamese who do not find living in the big cities to be cheap at all.

“It's cheap for foreigners only. For most of Vietnamese, whose average income is $150/month, it's not cheap at all,” wrote reader Thuy Vy.

“Most Vietnamese can't afford their bills. The market price keeps changing increasingly at high speed, and it never stops. It's not that cheap!” commented Trung Hau.

“It's only right for foreigners whose income is much higher than Vietnamese's. There is still a lot of people cannot cover their life cause of low income even though they've worked very hard,” remarked Tho Nguyen.

Reader Robert Fries also contributed his opinion, explaining that affluent expats are actually helping to push up prices for locals:

“Foreigners such as myself, even if we have a modest income by US standards, can live comfortably without so much struggle. Foreigners with a lot of money coming to live in Vietnam tend to raise the price of real estate, making it more difficult for the average Vietnamese to maintain their life style. I love Vietnam and wish to live in HCMC but do not wish to make things more difficult for citizens by driving up prices. It is a dilemma. Is there a solution?”

In another article, Tyler Watts, an American who lives with his family in Ho Chi Minh City, thinks that cost of living - whether cheap or expensive - really depends a person’s expenses:

“Talking about the cost of living is sure to draw equal passions for the average foreigner. State a price and you invariably have people on both sides to discredit you immediately, one claiming that the figures are far too short and another with the retort that the figures are far too ample”

Tyler thinks the cost of living in Ho Chi Minh City is both expensive and cheap, and it depends entirely on what individual people decide to spend.

“That’s not to say prices aren’t on the rise or that there aren’t places where it’s more or expensive, but as Graham Greene wrote, Ho Chi Minh City is a place where you can find whatever you are looking for,” he wrote.

Wherever you live, house rent accounts for a majority of living expenses. Searching for an ideal place to stay is not an easy thing to do, especially when you are an expat.
Zac Herman, an American living in Hanoi, tells us why he hasn’t found somewhere to move to after being shown one house after another.

“There’s a saying in America related to the success or failure of a piece of real estate, no matter what you choose to build on it: “Location, location, location”. That’s it. That’s my problem. I would go so far as to say that the unfortunate location of some of these beautiful apartments is absolutely tragic. It’s easy to see that the owners have spent thousands of dollars remodeling their apartments in the hope that it would be enough to compensate for the noisy streets, dirty food stalls, massage parlours, and dilapidated houses that surround many of these properties. While the interior of a home can be completely changed, the location of that home cannot be moved an inch.”

Angela Schonberg also encountered several problems during her hunt for an apartment in Ho Chi Minh City.

“Our new real estate lady took us to several units. The first was still being lived in, which made it very awkward for me. There were even two babies sleeping in the master bedroom when I wanted to look! The next unit was great and we said we were ready to move in, but there was a problem. Just minutes before we were shown the property was shown to us it was shown to another group. After some frantic phone calls by our lady we learned we were too late,” recalled Angela.

However, she is luckier than Zac, since she eventually found somewhere to settle down:
“Finally, we were shown a unit with a great view, plenty of room, and no one was currently living in it. The final price was right what I wanted to spend, $550 a month, plus the extra charge for using the gym, parking garage, and pool only came to $50 a person. I loved it and I put the money down that very day”.

What are your stories about living in Vietnam? To share your experience living here with us, send an email to expat@tuoitre.com.vn

Have a great weekend.

Source: Tuoi Tre News