Secrets to Live in Vietnam on $500 a Month

Moving to Vietnam for Digital Nomads, Travelers, and Expats

By: Elly Thuy Nguyen

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

(November 2023 updated edition)

Live well for $500 a month

Vietnam has warm weather, fast internet, cheap, modern apartments, great food, and a super-low cost of living. Live like a baller for very little money.

A good meal costs $1, a month of mobile data costs $5, and seeing the doctor costs $3

It's easy to live well in Vietnam. But if you follow the tourist or blogger trail, you'll be paying first-world prices and getting third-world quality. Vietnamese people know how to get the best stuff cheap, and this book documents that knowledge.

Take it from Elly

Elly Thuy Nguyen, author of the acclaimed My Saigon series of travel guidebooks to Vietnam, wants to help long-term foreign visitors in Vietnam.

Inside info to make your stay a success

• Prices of everything from meals to massages to apartments
• Secret three words for finding an apartment for the Vietnamese local price
• A typical digital nomad's day in Vietnam
• Being a solo woman in Vietnam
• Why Vietnamese people like me don't ride motorcycles around town
• Making (useful) Vietnamese friends and dating Vietnamese girls or guys
• The lowdown on dealing with government and police
• How not to find yourself wearing concrete boots in the Saigon river
• Language tips
• Reasons you might not like Vietnam

This is a complete inside guide to living in Vietnam long-term, with local information to help you decide whether you want to move here, and to make your stay a great one.