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The Cost of Living in Cần Thơ: Monthly Budget Breakdown That’ll Make You Question All Your Life Choices

@Aria Bennett2/8/2026blog

i just got here and i’m already confused. like, why is the rent here so much cheaper than vietnam but like 10x the price of a decent bag of rice? i’m a digital nomad now, which means i’m supposed to be free but honestly i feel like a broke college student with a laptop. i heard rent in canzuge is about $200 a month for a tiny place near the river, but then you gotta add internet, which is kinda spotty sometimes, and maybe a cerveza once in a while. let me tell you, i’ve never felt so cheap in my life.

last week i overheard a local at the market yelling about how the price of eggs went up because of some weird bird flu thing. i didn’t even know birds had flus. but then i remember, this is canzuge. where the government subsidizes nothing and everything is either free or a trap. i asked a vendor how much a loaf of bread was and she just stared at me like i’d asked her to dance. finally she said $1.50, which is like, a lot for bread. but then i thought, hey, at least i’m not paying $5 for a sandwich at some tourist spot.

the weather here is like a wet sponge that forgot to dry. it’s always humid, and the only real change is when the wind blows. like, one second you’re sweating in your shorts, next you’re freezing because the fan quit. my neighbor, who i’ve never met but somehow knows my name, kept complaining about the mosquitoes. he said they’re worse than a bad horror movie. i told him to just spray perfume on himself. he said that’s not how you solve problems. i asked him if he had a job. he said he’s a street artist now. makes $50 a day painting murals on buildings that will probably collapse in 5 years. i respect that.

so here’s the cold, hard truth: canzter’s cost of living is a meme. like, it’s so low that people here are basically living in a financial dream. but also, it’s a nightmare because you never know when something will double. i saw a post on a local facebook group where someone said their electricity bill spiked because of some weird grid issue. another said their internet died for a week because the cable guy was ‘on vacation.’ i don’t trust anything here.

i tried to make a budget last month and it felt like i was solving a riddle. rent? $180. food? $80. transport? $30. that’s $290, which sounds insane for a city where people ride motorbikes everywhere. but then i remembered, i also need a mattress. and a laptop charger. and maybe a filter for my water. the filter is $5, but i spent $10 because i didn’t want to die.

i asked a local coworker, who i’ll never name because he’s either a government agent or a ghost, what the real cost of living is. he just smiled and said, ‘you’ll figure it out. just don’t trust the ads.’ i trusted the ads until i saw a Yvonne’s coffee shop ad with a cup that looked like it was made of gold. turns out it’s $6 for a small cup. i cried.

the reviews here are all over the place. one TripAdvisor wrote, ‘canzuge is the best place if you hate efficiency.’ another Yelp reviewer said, ‘the food is good but the people are emotionally unavailable.’ i don’t know what that means, but i’m taking it as a warning. i overheard a couple arguing at a bar about whether canzten’s street food is better than ho chi minh. they both had faces that looked like they’d been hit by a bus. i just ordered pho and avoided eye contact.

as for the neighbors, they’re all just a short drive away. there’s a market 10 minutes by motorbike where you can buy vegetables that are still alive. also, there’s a whole city of people who think canzten is a dump but still live here because it’s cheaper. i asked one why. he said, ‘because if i move to ho chi minh, i’ll have to sell my soul to a corporate giant. here, i can sell handmade earrings and get a free coffee if i mention the word ‘sustainable.’’

i don’t know if this place is for me. i almost asked someone if they wanted to move to canzten with me. they looked at me like i’d suggested we start a cult. i added, ‘no, just a place where we can live cheaply and maybe find ourselves.’ they said, ‘what’s in it for us?’ i said, ‘you get a free rum. and a story for your blog.’ they laughed and walked away.

here’s the deal: canzten’s cost of living is a gamble. you might save money, but you’ll also save your sanity. the city is a mix of chaos and calm, like a friend who’s always late but never stops texting. if you’re serious about this, check out the local reddit group r/CầnThoLife. people there are either spreading secrets or crying about the monsoon. also, don’t trust the maps. the roads change every day. i once took a taxi to a place called ‘the old district’ which turned out to be a strip club.


if you’re still here, maybe you’re just curious. or maybe you’re scared. either way, take my advice: pack light, stay paranoid, and never trust a man with a motorbike. for more real talk, check out tripadvisor’s kanntegrp page, yelp’s canzten review, or this subreddit. i’ll be that guy in the market yelling about eggs. probably.

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About the author: Aria Bennett

Believer in lifelong learning (and unlearning).

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