“helldiver buys condo on caramore” vibes
I’m lucky if I make a quarter of that a month, and I live in a country with one of the highest cost of living in the world, but sure, good for them that they are able to mooch off a socialist country that their home country and the military they served in tried their hardest to destroy. So glad it’s working out for them. I love that for them.
so am I the only person that always has a bad taste in that month when they see articles like this? even ignoring that it is a vet ofc you’re happy when your wages are higher than locals by a fuck ton
It’s the saddest thing about visiting places like SEA. Anyone who can spend tons of time in an area with just gobsmacking amounts of crushing poverty without it taking a toll on them is deeply suspect to me. I certainly felt a immense amount of guilt and anger by the end of my last trip years ago, and I wasn’t a Marxist at that point, it was just basic empathy.
I still remember the face of a beggar in the street I saw for half a second 15 years ago when I was in Malaysia. These “white guys move to an impoverished country to live like kings.” kinds of guys are some of the most revolting people I can imagine.
I would retitle it:
“Middle class white guy gets to enjoy being a powerful and wealthy sex tourist in an impoverished society that is struggling because of the US’s actions against the country, finally understands why their colonising ancestors were so keen on the whole subjugation thing.”
But I will admit that is a little wordy.
$4,000 a month in a low-cost country is STACKS of cash. If I had this kind of cash rolling in while living in South Africa (and even in Estonia), I could flip off my boss in under a decade and retire early.
36-year-old American Air Force vet moved to Vietnam, lives on $4,000 a month: You can ‘focus on what makes you happy’ here
Didn’t read the article, but is it “why be a sex tourist when you can be a sexpat?”
Y’all ever think about how, if you just had 60 seconds of American spending focussed toward you, you’d be set for the rest of your life? $4,500,000 in just 60 seconds.
I think about that a lot.
And what the fuck even is this article? If you got $4000 a month, you can life pretty comfortably in America. I guess if there’s one American trait, it’s perceiving yourself as better for having more money than the people around you.
waow i don’t even make 4k a month that’s cool
while living in Korea, Ryan got in trouble for breaking his curfew. He lost out on several months of pay, was restricted to his military base and demoted from staff sergeant to senior airman.
Something else happened here. You are not losing your position as an NCO and losing months of pay over curfew violations.
maybe he was caught canola-ing after curfew, which is a huge no-no. get that shit done during the day, people!
28·2 days agoIs “canola-ing” a round about way of saying the r-word?
It’s certainly what every anti-US military protest in worst Korea is usually about
I would think so, given what seed canola oil is pressed from
yes, because the filter got me and the sentence became incomprehensible, so i had to come up with something…
would love to be taking home $4k/mo.
Ryan suffers from spine arthritis, respiratory issues, auditory pain, and mental health challenges from his time in the military. He receives disability from Veterans Affairs.
Have you considered sacrificing your health and mental well-being to the imperial war machine?
i have cPTSD, hypertension/diabetes, and night terrors from my years of fighting in the Cola Wars.
there were no parades for that regiment. they fought until the last man. but unfortunately, i was him.
Your sacrifices will not be forgotten.
$4k a month is $48k/year; a survivable income in many places in the US, as long as you stay away from major metro areas or expensive neighborhoods.
Idk I easily live on 32k and all my friends don’t make much more than me if not significantly less, and we live in a major metro in the US. Living on 4k a month in Vietnam and making it seem like you are living frugally is just embarrassing to be honest.
making it seem like you are living frugally is just embarrassing to be honest.
yeah, exactly - who the fuck cares?
32k/year seems hard unless you’re really pooling expenses or live in a cheap metro area
Napkin math, I guess it checks out if you can get rent for < ~$1000, have no debt, and no car
Yeah all of those things, plus eating 80% Huel… Maybe it’s not super easy and I’m just a little rat creature who’s used to living like I’m in a YA sifi dystopia… 😅
Huel is expensive for meal replacement! I drank a significant amount of Soylent for about 7 years but have grown distasteful for the company since they got purchased, I recently switched to Jimmy Joy and love it, I believe it’s cheaper than huel and it’s made in the Netherlands
Never heard of Jimmy Joy before, but at least for the US, it’s not any cheaper than Huel… I’ll keep it in mind tho in case Huel goes boom or something. And yeah Soylent is pretty sketchy for a frequently used meal replacement… Getting all your calories from pure maltodextrin… XD
12*4=48
But you could also live in central Hanoi and live a really comfy middle-class life for the same.
Yeah, I’d way prefer Vietnam over anywhere in the US that’s livable on an annual $48K.
Lots of cute little towns across the Midwest that you can live off if that, especially if you have no debts
More than double what I have made every year since 2020, and $AU is worth like ,60c us, so its actually closer to what, 6.5kAU a month? Lol
Who has $4k a month after income with room to spare in the states even?
If his cost of living a 4k a month in Vietnam he’s living in near luxury.
Fucking “Make it” rubbing in the nose bullshit like “hey anyone can why you youngsters crying?” always a catch .
monthly income stems from several sources, including approximately $1,500 from VA disability, $1,000 from the GI Bill while he’s pursuing a master’s degree, and $900 to $1,300 from teaching English.
Yeah anyone can just get insta $3k a month subsidies. “Make it”
Who has $4k a month after income with room to spare in the states even?
Software Engineers and similar, if you’re single.
Who has $4k a month after income with room to spare in the states even?
All of my wages in excess of $1000 each month have always gone straight to the bank, I’m well-positioned and fairly experienced in frugal/communal living. PM me if you’re interested in details, or how this incorporates into a strategy.
NGL, $4k/mo would provide a very comfortable lifestyle where I am, currently. Not lux, but very comfortable.
“Japanese soldier retires to Nanjing”
Throw him out
You can live just fine on 1k/mo in Vietnam, rent a decent place for 300, food 10USD/day, 400 for miscellaneous expenses.
What is the healthcare/insurance situation like?
Healthcare incl dental is cheap enough I paid out of pocket, at the public health clinics. There are also private hospitals, which are more expensive, but I never went. Some places will try to load you up with unnecessary medications snd procedures, be prepared to look up what is being prescribed.
If you have a TRC, which can be purchased if you know the right people, you essentially pay someone to employ you on a work visa, you can qualify for insurance, vaccinations, etc.
Insurance covers a portion of medical expenses. Government employees get like 80% off, rural folk have the least coverage.
Tell me more about obtaining a trc please.
I’m on a tourist visa myself, but from conversations with other people who’ve been in vietnam long term:
You get a company to sponsor you, and then you (or an agent) goes to immigration and get your visa converted from tourist to work. It costs the company like 900USD so a lot will tell you they did the paperwork and then just not, since you’re the one who gets punished.
I advise against working on a tourist visa or changing jobs without getting your papers in order first. It’s not as big a no-no as doing so in China, but it does open you up to headaches and a potential 3 year ban. Buddy of mine ended up paying 1,600 USD after a company that does TRCs filed their own company as his TRC, instead of the company he was working for, so when he went to renew his TRC the next time, he had been working illegally for a year.
Oh. This seems increasingly complicated and not within reach for me, especially not speaking Vietnamese language. Thanks for telling me though.
It’s not that bad. If you have a degree in teaching/TEFL, there’s legit schools that will do 99% of the work for you.
If you just have any degree, including some paper you scribbled “degree” on in crayon, there’s “english learning centers” who will pay you to be a white monkey, follow the lesson plan, and do promotional materials. They will do the work for you too, but you should be more careful with these ones.
If you’re working remotely, come on a tourist visa and do 3 month visa runs. Money and knowing the right people can get you a TRC, but myself and tons of digital nomads just keep the tourist visa.
Americans who get a Chinese tourist visa can enter for 90 days (60 if you got your visa in Vietnam) a time as often as they like, for 10 years. Otherwise, people in Hanoi do Laos and people in HCMC do Thailand.
Bureaucracy in VN is much more flexible than any other country I’ve been to.
If you just have any degree, including some paper you scribbled “degree” on in crayon, there’s “english learning centers” who will pay you to be a white monkey, follow the lesson plan, and do promotional materials. They will do the work for you too, but you should be more careful with these ones.
My ex took my degree when he left, but I have transcripts. Is that acceptable? If so, how can I be sure I’d avoid ones that would not do the paperwork, or do it correctly?
I live pretty okay in America on about half of that- $2000 a month.
