So, we pay $300 per month rent for our house, which is really the top half of a large duplex. Our living space is bigger than our house at home, and came with basic furnishings. We pay $5 per month each for cable and trash pick-up and $25/month for internet. Our cell phones require pre-paid minutes and cost us about $5-10 per month. Our water bill comes every 2-3 months, and our first one was $18. Electricity has been between $60-70 per month, which will increase significantly when things heat up and we need to use air conditioning. So there are our basic living expenses.
Transportation costs are minimal. We bought bikes for about $40 each and they are our primary means of transportation. I find I have to put air in my tires a couple of times a week, which costs me 200-300 riel each time (about 5-7 cents.) Occasionally we need a tuktuk, but if Sovann is available, he can usually help us out.
Entertainment costs are minimal or non-existent. The internet is our major form of diversion, and I still have a vast amount of credit at Barnes & Noble (thanks to my very generous VNA co-workers) so I can load books on my Nook e-reader. There aren't really many ways to spend money on "entertainment" here. Someday we'd like to do a bit of travelling within Cambodia or in surrounding countries, which I suppose would fall into this category.
Food and drink turn out to be our biggest expenses, though we could certainly spend less. Steve cooks at home about half of the time, and fresh food from the markets is cheap enough, but the problem is that there are so many opportunities to eat out. Eating out here can be cheap compared to doing so at home, but even $5 meals add up quickly if we go out a few times a week, especially if you add in a few drinks, despite the fact that draft beers cost 50 cents. (Sometimes we splurge on a cocktail or a glass of wine.) And while there are plenty of cheap options, there are also more expensive options, and we have been known to go out with friends and spend $20 for a night out. Keeping the house stocked with bottled water and beer for guests (and ourselves) tends to cost $10 a week or so. Overall, our food and beverage expenses for November were close to twice our rent! Ouch. (Note to selves: less eating out.) To be clear, that's for three (and sometimes four) of us, though Jaz and Sovann contribute to food costs from time to time.
Other services we pay for include laundry (about $25/month) and our housekeeper ($30-40 depending on how often she shows up.) Both of these are clearly luxuries, but we like to think of it as "supporting the local economy." I'm also paying for Khmer lessons again at a rate of $5/week.
We probably spend another $30 per month on what I would call "donations." We will occasionally contribute a few dollars to someone asking for a good cause, and with some regularity I've bought medication or other things for friends who need something that will put a significant dent in their budget.
The things we didn't expect to include in the regular budget are as follows:
Clocks: A clock costs about $5, but they don't seem to last more than a couple of months before they just stop. Our second clock had to be returned after two days because it only worked when it was lying horizontally and we had this strange idea that we wanted to hang it on the wall so we could see what time it is. They let us exchange it, since I knew enough to ask for and then keep the receipt. We'll see how long this one lasts.
Brooms: As mentioned in an earlier post, the brooms made of straw and sticks tend to fall apart in short order. Luckily, they cost about dollar, and are sold all over town by vendors on bicycles so they're easy to find when you need a new one.
Household items: I think we're about done buying things we "need" for the house. In the first few weeks, we bought some small appliances which all get used daily - a toaster oven, a blender, a rice cooker, and a computer printer. Prices were similar to what we would have had to pay at home, though I've never actually priced a rice cooker in Vermont... For the first couple of months we were also spending a fair amount on furniture and even a few paintings for the walls. Someday if/when we ever leave, the furniture will have to stay behind but the paintings will come with us. To give you an idea of costs, we had custom-built bamboo shelving units made for our room to function as a closet (which we don't have) at a cost of $80, and a wooden kitchen island built for $50. We bought rattan bedside tables for $15 each. The paintings - which we love - are large originals done by local artists and cost $40-50 each. I imagine I could have bargained, but honestly, I was glad to pay them for their talent so I just paid the asking price. Sovann is shocked and dismayed - he frequently tells me I need to bargain more, but in this case, I consider it my contribution to reviving the arts in Cambodia. (Have you noticed that I have a never-ending number of ways to justify unnecessary expenses?)
Miscellaneous: I've had to pay $14 at the dentist to get a tooth fixed, $25 for camera repair, and shelled out a whopping $7 for some ceramic planters and dirt so I could grow some flowers and vegetables on the balcony. I get photos printed pretty often so I can give them to friends here, which costs about 8-10 cents per print. I borrowed a fantastic reference book that I really wanted to own, but found it cost $90 on Amazon, so instead I took it to the photocopy shop to have the whole thing copied for $3.25.
The things we don't miss paying for include:
- gas, car repairs and insurance, parking tickets
- expensive cell phone plans
- household repairs
- heating oil and firewood
- plane tickets - though now it's time to start watching fares so we can plan our trip home in the spring!
I anticipate a certain amount of sticker shock when we're home for a visit - and our budget will not support $6 micro-brews and $9 appetizers, so we can only hope that all our friends will invite us over for dinner often while we're back in Vermont in May!
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