Is Vietnam getting more expensive?

Question

I am considering going to Vietnam to teach.

Although, I have visited Vietnam previously (Saigon and Nhatrang - about 4 to 5 years ago) and am aware it is fairly cheap, with the rapid development (partly due the opening of US trade) I been hearing it is getting more expensive. I would like to confirm this from someone who has been living there for awhile.

I would also appreciate it if you can make a short list of how much rent, food, and other necessities cost these days.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Yes,you are corect in saying prices are rising,inflation alone will take care of that.Food is difficult to price as the choise here in Nha Trang is huge,you can buy dinner on the street[ok]for 2-3usd,you can eat in a good resteraunt for 5-6usd.But remember dinner out at 5-6 usd over 1 month is 150+usd,this is probably your salary as a teacher,and i havent included beer.Accomodation is where you will notice the biggest change,you will be hard pushed to find a decent house for under 300usd per month,on top of that you will have to pay utility bills,these are not to expensive unless you are not carefull with your air-con,i normaly pay abot 60usd in electrick.Annother option open to you,is find a decent hotel room and do a long term deal,but you are still looking at about 300usd per month.The prices i am quoating to you are what i myself would concider as  for a decent standard of living,you may set your standards a lot lower,you could rent a room very cheap,as many Viets do and eat very basic food,but not many westerrners do.

Answer 2

Smiler is a bit off on his food costs, I am living in Ben Tre and food costs as much as it does in America. A kilo of chicken legs sells for 35.000d, pork ribs about 80,000d etc.

I took my wife and children to a restaurant in My Tho last week and the bill was 275,000d including one beer.

Gasoline has also risen dramatically. It is about $3.75 a gallon now.

Prices for everything have risen about 40% in the past year alone. If you will be teaching English, you will probably make about ten dollars an hour, the same salary as last year. The prices have risen, but not the pay, lol.

I don't know what rents are, we own our house and haven't traveled or used a hotel in a while.

Electric is cheap as long as you don't use much. You pay double the rate after you exceed 100 kilo watt hours and triple after 150 KW/h of usage.

Answer 3

Definitely more expensive, but it depends on what sort of lifestyle you want to live.

If you are happy to live in a very local district, eat in the same restaurants, shop in the same markets, the cost of living has gone up about 10 - 30% over the last few years. However, the wages have gone up accordingly.

If you want to live like an expat in terms of housing, restaurants, shopping, entertainment expect that your expenses are much higher. A lot of imported goods in recent months are now 50% more expensive and rent has increased by the same in the better Districts.

But at the end of the day, you can live far better in Vietnam than you can in any other developed country. If I wanted the same lifestyle in my home country, I would need 10x more money.