Living in SE Asia on $1,000 a Month - The Reality Check
Let's be real about this, because there's a lot of outdated advice floating around on the internet on this topic so I'm going to set the record straight.
Back in the day, it was technically possible to live month to month on just $1000 a month income if we're talking about being a single, debt free, healthy man.
Today? Eh not so much.
$1000 as a broke English teacher
When I first moved to Ratchaburi, Thailand in 2011 as an English teacher, my salary was 33,000 baht. That's roughly $1,000 a month and somehow, it worked.
- My rent was 4,500 baht ($180),
- Electricity? Add maybe $20-$30 on top of that.
- Food was around $10–$15 a day max since I could eat at school and only needed to cover one meal outside.
- My bike at the time cost me 1000 Baht a month ($30). I eventually bought a Honda CBR motorcycle.
- I didn't pay for a data plan or internet at my home. I just used the free WIFI at my place and the free internet at any place I was at. I know, peasant mindset, dumb.
We as the English teachers in Ratchaburi would also do the house party thing pretty regularly. Get a bunch of cheap ass beers and shit talk all night.
It was possible because of where I was living and where I was in life.
Ratchaburi is a suburb about an hour and a half outside of Bangkok. Even back then, $1,000 a month wasn't going to cut it in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, or any major city in the region.
But as a young person doing the ESL thing for a year or two (which I highly recommend), it was totally fine and totally doable.
Why $1,000 Doesn't Go as Far Anymore
Things have changed. Bangkok has gotten more expensive. Bali which used to be under the proverbial radar and affordable has seen prices climb sharply over the past five to ten years.
The same is true across popular expat destinations throughout Southeast Asia. But it's not just the cost of everyday life that catches people off guard. One thing that almost never gets mentioned in these "Asia is so cheap" videos is the cost of visas.
Visa phantom costs
If you're living abroad long-term, you're either paying for a proper visa (my Muay Thai visa ran me about $3,000 for a year), shelling out for a Thai Elite visa if you're set on Thailand, or doing visa runs every three months if you're in Vietnam which means flights and hotels to neighboring countries.
Those costs add up fast and can seriously blow through a tight budget of $1000 a month easily.
What You Actually Need Today
The honest minimum for living comfortably in a popular area, think Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Manila, Bali is around $2,000 a month. That covers rent in a decent (not fancy) place, food (steak, eggs, fruit veggies, not street food everyday), and those visa-related expenses that most people forget to factor in.
If you're willing to live somewhere more rural, a smaller town in Thailand like I did, a lesser-known part of Vietnam or the Philippines, you might be able to get by on $1,500.
But you have to be genuinely okay with that lifestyle. You're not living somewhere where all the action like Bangkok.
"Bra, I can easily live on that!"
Look, 2k is enough to cover living costs as a single, healthy, debt free man. No doubt.
But is it enough for having a girlfriend and eventually leading a family? Hell no.
What about saving for retirement? Nope. I genuinely don't get how some men are not worried about not having assets to their name.
Personally, it stressed me the hell out being in my late 20s/early 30s and making only 33,000 Baht a month from my teaching job and few hundred dollars online from random websites I had.
I did have substantial savings from my time at PWC as an internal auditor which carried me, but at that time I did not have enough money to properly invest.
The goal is to not be a peasant
Your goal shouldn't be to scrape by.
You're not flexing on anyone talking about your budget apartment in Jomtien beach (popular spot for old guys in Thailand), the tatted up, 37 year old single mom Thai bar girl you're dating and eating $2 noodles everyday at the Tesco food court.
Coming to SE Asia and surviving on the bare minimum isn't the dream, you haven't hacked the system or escaped the matrix. You're just bumming it in SE asia and falling behind.
...and ff you're behind in life, it's time to RUN not walk:
Edge of David
Sidenote - I'm not making a moral judgement. Life sucks sometimes, we all have are dark periods. It's okay to be struggling, it's just not okay to always be struggling
A solid income out here is around $3,000 a month and beyond.
That's enough to cover everything, enjoy yourself, and actually put away money for retirement. From there, the goal should be to keep growing that number and become a wealthy expat.
So yes, $1,000 a month in South East Asia was possible, I lived it.
But that was 2011, in a suburb outside Bangkok, with a local teacher's salary as a healthy, single debt free man. In today's environment, in any place you'd actually want to live, budget for $2,000 as your floor and work up from there.
If you want more of a step by step on how to go abroad then checkout the Expat Escape. It covers everything at total beginner needs to know to move abroad and avoid costly mistakes.
