Post
by LaudJohn » Sun Oct 20, 2013 7:31 am
The old chestnut of what does it cost to live in Cambodia.
This has been covered many times here over the past decade, and the answer is always usually different from different people. However this time there is some consistency which is interesting.
Other times people say that they spend $300 plus per month on food, but they only eat out, they pay higher rent than many and scrape by on $2000pm.
My move back to Cambodia is impending early next year. I have a personal budget which is as follows.
Aprox 400pm for accommodation and utilities.
Approx $800 pm for entertainment and living expenses excluding flights and visa and insurance, school fees and capital expenses like new bikes etc.
I plan to spend as follows.
2 nights a week at home, cooking for myself and maybe having a few beers at home (a case costs around $12) say $10 per day.
2 Nights a week out having a cheap feed and a few (say up to10 ) beers for around $20
2 Nights a week off drinking and poker at $50 per night.
Another day for around $40, such as one of the all you can eat and drink Sunday brunches or just trying to keep up with Lord Playboy for a couple of hours drinking.
I know these are basically my personal spending patterns when I am in Cambo on holidays, but then I spend more on food as I have no place or desire to cook.
Maybe will send a bit more some nights but for me catching up with friends at a few bars for a few hours over an evening is what I enjoy. Beers range from 50 cents to $1.25 each, so even some of the bigger nights may only be $20. I like cooking so will cook often at home, but the beef will be imported so I will eat a bit more pork. Breakfast or brunch will not cost much, an omelette is cheap to make, or I can go for a feed of dumplings for $1.50 or Pho for about the same price. I only eat twice a day. Some of the less than $5 breakfasts at Lonestar are huge and set you up for the day and maybe something at home in the evening. Basically I plan to eat out only one meal a day max.
Now contrast this to my existence in OZ. The other Friday I went out to a work function at the races. The taxi there and back, which was less than 20kms each way, cost $90. I needed to pay $10 entry to get in to pick up my free ticket as the one sent to me was lost in the mail. We had a very average buffet dinner and free beer and wine for about 6 hours. Then we went to a nearby bar. I bought 3 250ml beers and a glass of wine, cost was $20! So the basically "free night out" ran to over $120 plus losses on the horses.
I may split my time between SHV and PP, keeping a place at both places. If I do that I will probably look to share accommodation again.
I have over 40,000 hours of downloads that I need to wade through and I want to work on a few projects I cannot find time for in OZ, so I will not be bored
If I spend more, so what.
I will be taking a couple of years leave without pay from my job, I will still be paid my monthly bonus of $1,500pm (which will be tax free due to the minimum taxable income threshold of $18k pa in OZ), I should have banked up over 15 months of that by the time I leave. However, I will still return 2-3 times a year for up to a month each time (hopefully in the wet season) to do holiday relief and/or cover during busy periods. This will more than pay for my living expenses for a year in Cambo plus a few remaining expenses in OZ and cover additional money for the family I will be leaving behind, so the bonus bank will not fall too much. The important thing is not to eat into capital. I will have to return to work more or probably full time again when my Daughter starts Secondary School which will run me over $20k pa in school expenses alone, but this will not happen for another 7 years.
I may look for a job in PP but I am not interested in working for less than $4-5k per month.
I will also probably try a couple of business ideas I have formulated over the past few years (cost not included in living budget), or do a small property development. Hell I may even open a small bar/restaurant if I feel that the looses on running it will lower my living expenses, but anything I do will need to be able to be run under management and finding the right reliable person in Cambo, prepared to work for a price that will make a business worthwhile is extremely difficult.
Basically, compared to my existence in OZ, I know I can have a better quality of life in Cambo on well less than $1000pm in PP or $800pm in SHV. It would not be a flash life but I would be able to go out a lot more and live a better quality life. Give me a life on such a budget in Cambo over one on $2000 to $3000pm in OZ (now one of the most expensive countries in the world) any day .
Note to self: Must be nice to morons.