Why $2000 month is not enough for most people in Southeast Asia now

Why $2000 month is not enough for most people in Southeast Asia now

I want to explain why 2,000 USD a month is not enough for many people in Southeast Asia. Now, I also recently did a video telling you where I would retire overseas on a th000 a month in Southeast Asia. In this video, I’ll explain the five rules some people follow to live cheaply overseas and why others cannot. [Music] My name is Dan and I left the US in 2007. I’ve lived outside the US for 18 years in 73 countries. I create videos where people can retire early overseas for less. I’m passionate about sharing this because the 2008 financial crisis almost delayed my own retirement plans. While living outside the United States, I’ve interviewed over 140 people who have moved overseas all over the world, many in Southeast Asia. Reflecting back today on those interviews without going back and collecting all the exact data, here’s a graph showing my memory of the cost of living for the people I’ve interviewed over the last 5 years. As shown in the graph, 70% of the people I’ve interviewed have shared living costs numbers from about 1,500 to 2500 per month in Southeast Asia. As shown in the second graph, the other 30% or so of the people I’ve interviewed have shared living expenses below 1,500 a month or above 2500 per month in Southeast Asia. There’s no guarantee that you can live cheaply in Southeast Asia. If you want any chance of living cheaply in Southeast Asia or anywhere else in the world, you have to learn and follow certain rules or behaviors shared by guests who have lived cheaply. Otherwise, you might fail. Five rules to live cheaply in Southeast Asia. Live on less than your income. Whenever someone says to me, “Dan, you can’t live on less than 2,000 per month here.” I ask the question, “What is your social security check or pension per month?” They typically say 2,000 per month or more. Very few people living overseas live on less than their social security or pension. They have no necessity. So they don’t try to live on less. Their expenses rise to the level of their income. To live on less, you have to listen to the people actually doing it, not the ones spending more. I suggest creating a budget. Start living on less than your income and putting some away for rainy days. That way, you’ll increase your safety net savings in case of inflation or currency devaluation. More on that in a moment. Setting a budget and living on it creates the necessity in your mind to live on less. This may force you to live on less if you are paying attention as you spend money. Now, I will explain how some people live on less. The $2,000 a month contradiction. When someone says you need $2,000 per month minimum to live here, I ask them why they move to Southeast Asia. They often say something like, “I’m spending much less per month to live here and I have a better life.” What are they saying? Are they saying they would stay in their more expensive home country if they only had 1,500 per month? But wait, didn’t they just tell you they have a better life overseas on less money? Why are they suggesting that you could have a better life on 1,500 a month if you stay in your more expensive home country? If they have a better life on 2,000 a month, isn’t it possible that you could have a better life on less than 2,000 per month? So, what do the people who live on less do differently? Let’s talk about that. Living local versus living like a westerner. Why do many expats insist that you need 2,000 per month to live in Southeast Asia when many locals are living on less than $500 per month? If locals are living on 500 per month, maybe you can learn how some people share living on 1,200, 1,500, or 1,800 per month. So, why do many Westerners say they need 2,000 per month in Southeast Asia? When I listen to them tell their stories, I realize that some of them are trying to recreate their old life in a new country. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If they if they have the money and they want to recreate their old life in a new country, all the power to them. There’s nothing wrong with that. But that doesn’t mean that everyone has to try to recreate their old life in a new country. when in Rome some decide to live like the Romans. So what do I mean by that? What do you have to do differently if you want to live like a Roman? You have to become a student of your new country. Instead of trying to find your old life in a new place, trust me, you will not find your old life in the new country. It’s never the same. Instead, be a diligent student. Learn about the food, the culture, and the lifestyle of your new country. Restaurants. Local style restaurants charge between a$150 and $4 per meal. Westernstyle restaurants charge between4 and $15 per meal. Groceries. Many local families cook most of their meals at home. Locals cooking at home purchase locally sourced fruits, vegetables, meats, and grains in a public style market, which are much cheaper than the grocery stores. Westerners eat in western style restaurants where they can find expensive comfort foods from home. Westerners shop for groceries in western style grocery stores with shopping carts and air conditioning. Westerners often buy imported foods from home, which are more expensive because they’ve been shipped from overseas. Rents. Westerners look for apartments or homes that feel like home. Local landlords recreate homes with a western look or feel, so they can charge higher rents. Some areas are mostly expats, which are even higher rents. Transportation. Locals drive 125cc scooters or ride public transportation. Some Westerners buy cars or expensive scooters. Alcohol. Many Westerners hang out in sports bars and drink three to$5 craft beers. Locals hang out in local style restaurants and drink one to $2 beers. Locals also take beer home and drink with family and friends. Dating. Many westerners take their dates to expensive westernstyle bars and restaurants. But the funny thing is many locals prefer the food in the local style restaurants. Locals take their dates to local style restaurants or cook for them at home. A local date can be just a walk along the beach or a picnic on the beach. All those western style behaviors can easily cost two or three times as much. So why do so many westerners do this? because they don’t know what to eat or how to live in a new country. So they try to create their old life in a new country. Okay. Recreating your old life in a new country. Westerners living on less are a little different. They do various things to live in more local style apartments. If you’d like my free ebook about how I fired my boss and traveled the world for 17 years and how I pay for things, come to Vagabond Buddha and grab the free ebook. Westerners living on less are a little different. They eat in local style restaurants, shop more often in public markets by buying locally sourced foods. Most Westerners living on less are not trying to live on $500 per month, but they’re trying to live more local. So, they eat more local, shop more local, drink more local, cook more local foods at home, date more local, and walk more. Some don’t even have a scooter. They just live in walkable neighborhoods where they can get most of what they need on a daily basis. But not everyone can do this. So, how do you find out if you can do it? First, I will share how to find out if you can do it. And then I’ll share how to set up a safety net. Okay. Exploratory visits. In my retire overseas course, I share how to do an exploratory visit before you move overseas permanently. The short version of an exploratory visit is this. You go to the country of interest for a month or two and you see and you see where you would eat, where you would shop, and how you would live your life. And you do a budget of what your new life would cost. If you want to live on less, you have to find local food you like, a local apartment you like, and a public market you would be comfortable shopping in. And you add up what everything costs. Now you have a budget, so you know what it would cost you to live there. You see, it doesn’t matter how many people tell you what their living cost is. It doesn’t mean you can live for that, whether it’s high or low. The only budget that matters is the budget you verify with your feet on the ground during your exploratory visit. Okay, that’s how you verify your cost of living. That completes my five rules. Now I’ll share four quick things you need to think about before you fly to Southeast Asia or anywhere else in the world. Health insurance or self insurance. Many of the Westerners living on less overseas are self-insured for medical. That means that they have money set aside for medical care. Many say they do it because the health care is much cheaper in Southeast Asia. That is what I did for the first 17 years. But I don’t recommend self- insurance, especially for new people, I suggest you get insurance. But if you do decide to self-insure, I will put a video at the end where I talk about how much I put in a safety net. Safety nets, no matter how much your budget is overseas, you need to have a safety net in case you have some unexpected expenses or medical problems. I share a link to my safety net video in a second. Okay. city versus provinces. It costs less money to live in a smaller city or in the countryside all over the world. So, keep that in mind when moving overseas. If you’re on a tight budget, think about spending some time in smaller cities to see how much cheaper it is. Along with being cheaper, smaller cities have less infrastructure, fewer medical resources, and fewer westernstyle restaurants and amenities. But if you can live in a smaller city, you could easily save an additional 20 to 30%. Okay, inflation and currency devaluation, you need to think about inflation, currency devaluation, and currency exchange. If you’re receiving a pension in euros, dollars, pounds, or another western currency, you have to factor in future inflation and currency devaluation and exchange. This is one of the benefits of having a safety net. I have no advice for you. I’m just a guy on the internet sharing what I’ve learned and what other people have shared with me. You have to do your own research, get advice from the relevant licensed professionals, and do your own exploratory visits, and make your own decisions. To learn about all the resources I have to help you retire overseas, watch this video right here to learn about my safety net. Watch this video here or scan this QR code to get my free ebook. [Music]

After I posted my video about 4 places in Southeast Asia where you can retire on $1,000 a month, someone left a comment that made me stop and think:

“Thanks for calling out all the liars who said the minimum to retire in SE Asia is $2,000 a month now.”

I appreciated that — but I also didn’t want anyone to think everyone can live well on $1,000.

In this video, I break down why some expats can live comfortably on less, and why others really do need $2,000 or more, even in the same country.

Here is the text and links shared in this video:

Why 2000 USD a month is not enough for many retirees in SE Asia now

𝗗𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗘-𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞→ 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 (Updated 2025)

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