Hi and welcome to the channel.
My name is Megan and I've spent three Canadian winters
living in Da Nang, Vietnam.
I decided to do a little experiment
and track all of my expenses for one month of living there.
Da Nang, Vietnam, is one of my favorite cities in the world
and it also happens to be the cheapest place I have ever lived,
especially for the value that you will get.
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Kick things off with what will likely be your largest expense, accommodations.
I spent VND 6.7 million on a spacious studio apartment
in my favorite area of the city;
this is going to be roughly USD 300 per month.
The place was fully furnished, included cutlery and dishes,
and then the price also included weekly cleaning and high speed internet.
The one expense that is not included in the rental price is electricity,
which I ended up paying about USD 40 for a month.
For simplicity's sake, I'll be quoting these prices in US dollars
given that the majority of the world has a better understanding
of USD than VND.
In relation to other apartments that are aimed at expats
and located in the main tourist area,
this apartment would be considered on the cheaper end.
Many of the other foreigners that I knew were paying, on average,
7.5 million for a similar studio apartment.
I did a video on different apartment walk-throughs at different price points
if you are interested in having a better look
at what you can get for your money.
Next, we'll cover food,
which is going to include both eating at restaurants
and then buying locally and cooking for yourself.
I almost always buy groceries and eat at home.
I would typically get a week's worth of fresh vegetables
from the Bac My An market for about USD 12 a week.
Anything that I couldn't find at the local market
I would buy at VinMart.
which is going to be similar to a convenience store
like Circle K or 7-Eleven.
I spent about USD 10 per week at VinMart
on things like oatmeal, eggs, and milk.
I would additionally make about one trip per month to Lotte Mart.
Lotte Mart is...
How do you explain Lotte Mart?
It's a massive super store
where every floor is designated to selling different things.
So, one will be all electronics, another will all supplies or clothing,
and then one is a grocery store.
The top is also a movie theater, which is pretty cool.
You can find absolutely everything here.
So I pick up spices
and then also fancy things that are imported, like almond milk,
definitely not cheap.
When it comes to restaurants,
I actually wouldn't eat out very often when I was just on my own.
What I would do is spend about USD 10 per week
on already cooked meats and sea food,
which I would then add my own groceries to in order to make a meal at home.
I would go out for dinner with friends maybe two or three times a week,
and we would be going to the restaurants that are aimed
more at tourists in the My An area.
VND 120,000 or about USD 5.
This is without including any alcohol.
If you're adding in alcohol, beer is cheap, 50 cents,
and then, if you wanted something like wine or cocktails,
you're paying almost as much as your meal price for it.
Coffee also gets its own category
because I would frequently do my work from cafes and order an "Americano."
It would be almost $2 for a coffee,
which seems relatively expensive in comparison to the other food costs,
but what you're paying for is the strong WiFi
and then the atmosphere of the coffee shop.
You can spend much, much more than me on food, and also much less.
Avoid the imported things like almond milk and you'll save a lot of money.
Some additional restaurant cost here would be getting a soda; it's around $1.
Beer is even cheaper.
If you're interested in the street food, the local Vietnamese cuisine,
you can get Banh Mi, which is a Vietnamese sandwich,
for less than $1,
or a bowl of Pho...
"Pha," "Pho," "Pha..."
If you're eating at those mid-range restaurants that I already mentioned,
it's going to be around $5,
and if you're interested in the higher-end tourist restaurants,
you'll be paying probably around USD 10 to USD 15.
There's some really cool restaurants actually lining the beach side,
which are sea food restaurants
where you pick up the live sea food that you want
and they will cook it for you to your exact specifications.
Definitely worth it at least once.
These grocery prices are what you can expect to see
if you're buying from VinMart or any other local convenience store.
The next expense on the list is transportation.
One of my favorite things about Da Nang
is the ability to walk pretty much everywhere.
Anything you could possibly need is within walking distance
if you live near the My An area.
My only transportation expenses was the Grab car ride
from the airport to the hotel
and then back to the airport at the end of my stay,
as well as one bus fare to Hoi An,
and then sharing a Grab car ride the 40 minutes back to Da Nang
at the end of the night, which was split with friends.
It is very, very inexpensive to use a Grab car or a Grab motorbike taxi.
Many foreigners will also rent a motorbike that they will keep with them
for the duration of their stay.
This comes to about VND 1 million or about USD 40 for an entire month.
Gasoline is then the only expense on top of that.
The next expenses on my list would be toiletries and other necessities.
When I travel, I travel carry-on only.
So, if I'm going somewhere and I know that I'll be renting an apartment
and living there long term,
I'll often just buy things like body wash and shampoo
in a full-size container when I arrive.
My first day, I headed to Bac My An market,
to a different section that is not with all the foods and vegetables
where you can find pretty much everything else.
I ended up spending USD 15 and got all of my necessities,
and in addition to toiletries,
these would be things like mosquito spray and laundry detergent.
I also bought a pair of walking shoes for $15
and then a blender for $12.
Something to keep in mind if you do plan to buy your toiletries when you arrive
is that many of the products in Asia end up having a whitening agent in them,
so I would definitely recommend that you pack your own deodorant,
face wash, face cream.
You can also find brand-name items that you're familiar with
at Bac My An or at the convenience stores,
things like Pantene,
But keep in mind that they are often the Asian version,
so they likely will still have that whitening agent in them.
They're also more expensive.
Next up is entertainment,
and I'm almost embarrassed to admit my spending here.
My largest expense in this category,
and one of my largest expenses out of all of these categories,
was actually going for massages.
I got about three one-hour massages each week
for a total of USD 13 each, with the tip included.
I know,
this may seem excessive, but hear me out.
Three massages a week cost me
a grand total of USD 125 for the month.
That would maybe get me a massage and a half in Canada.
In addition to massage,
my other entertainment costs were going to the movie theater one time,
they show the big blockbuster movies
and they also have a lot of them in English
with the subtitles in Vietnamese.
That was only USD 3 for that ticket.
And then something else I did,
and I will continue to do every time I go back to Vietnam,
is to make a trip to Asia Park.
Asia Park is this beautiful, state-of-the-art theme park
just over the bridge on the city side of Da Nang.
They have large roller coasters and big rides,
but this amusement park is completely empty.
I go back each year and it always costs somewhere around USD 10.
It is so worth it just to walk around, even if you don't like the rides.
Apart from those three things,
I didn't do very many tourist activities on my trip.
Things I have done in the past that are definitely worth doing
and I would recommend that you budget for
would be having clothing tailor-made in Da Nang.
I've gotten multiple dresses made and both of them cost me USD 20.
Parasailing is also great,
and then the Hai Van Pass by motorbike day trip.
So worth it.
If you do a quick Google search,
you'll see that there's an endless amount of tourist activities.
I also did a whole video on the top 10,
but personally, after being there so many times,
I just enjoy the lifestyle and being able to hit the beach every day.
Next expenses don't necessarily fit into a specific category
but are certainly worth mentioning and budgeting for.
I'm calling this... "Additional."
The first would be that you'll likely need a visa
if you're going to live in Vietnam.
I got a three-month single-entry visa and it cost me USD 25.
The next expense would be a SIM card, and each time I've gone with Viettel,
and I've gotten 4G unlimited coverage for an entire month for about USD 10.
I spent $15 on ATM fees,
which accounted for three separate withdrawals.
Something to know about the ATMs in Da Nang
is that they have very low withdrawal limits
and then very high withdrawal fees,
so you'll always want to maximize the amount that you can take out.
I spent an additional $15 in transferring all of my rent
and my rental deposit through TansferWise
from my Canadian bank account into Veitnamese dong for my landlord.
I also, for the first time, went to the dentist.
I was a little bit hesitant about this, but I heard a lot of good things.
I ended up having my x-rays done and a full cleaning
at a state-of-the-art location with the total costing me USD 25.
And then finally, an absolute essential
that I will never, ever, ever travel anywhere without
is travel insurance.
I paid USD 37 for the month, so that's incredibly cheap.
I'll link who I use down below.
And they actually ended up covering me
when I had to leave Vietnam unexpectedly because of the coronavirus.
They paid for my full flight from Vietnam to Canada with no questions asked.
Speaking of flights,
I'm not including this as a monthly expense of living in Da Nang
but you may want to factor in your flight cost as well.
For me, I booked a round trip before I left
and it was USD 700 to get to Vietnam and then back to Canada.
Another expense that I always say I will have
and then never end up actually getting is a gym membership.
In Da Nang there are plenty of gyms,
and for around $25 you can have a month access
to a full gym with no AC,
or you can upgrade to around $40 a month
and end up having a state-of-the-art, AC gym.
One of the most popular options in Da Nang is the My An Sport Center,
so they even have a massive pool as well as wait rooms and a field.
So when you add it all up,
my one month of expenses, which included rent, transportation,
food, toiletries, and necessities,
entertainment, and then those additional, uncategorized costs,
ended up coming to USD 930.
Not bad.
That wouldn't even cover the rent of the apartment
that I am currently living in.
I am by no means a model citizen of frugality,
and the goal of this video is to give you an idea
of how much you would need to budget
to live the lifestyle that you would want to live in Da Nang, Vietnam.
Let me know in the comments below what you would be putting your money towards,
The apartment, the gym, the food.
I'm very curious.
I'll also include a link where you can see the PDF of my expenses
if you'd like a closer look.
And then please don't forget to give this video a thumbs-up,
and I hope to catch you back here again next week.
Thanks for watching. Bye!