The Cost Of Living In Siem Reap, Cambodia – A Monthly Break Down

The below is what it cost us to live in Siem Reap, Cambodia for one full calendar month.  From 7th May 2012 to 7th June 2012

Budget:

We gave ourselves a $1000 USD budget for two people for one month.
That works out to be $500 USD per person.
We made some effort to stick to this budget. However, given the choice between staying under budget and a good meal we usually went for the good meal.

Accommodation:

Claremont Angkor Boutique Hotel – Superior Double room that came with air con, wifi, breakfast, pool, kettle, fridge, bathtub, bar, restaurant, and pool table.

$450 USD per month – From 7th May 2012 to 7th June 2012

There are many different accommodation options available in Siem Reap. Basic fan rooms at guest houses, full 3 bedroom apartments in gated communities, and then there are rooms in hotels like the one we lived in. We chose the Claremont Angkor Boutique Hotel as it had the best of everything. A very comfortable room with air conditioning, a pool, a pool table, breakfast every day and reliable wifi.

Accommodation prices vary drastically between guesthouse / hotel and apartment complex. Always ask the price before looking at a room.

Utilities:

No utilities cost this month. All included in our accommodation cost

Purchases to make our hotel room a home:

We bought a small folding table so that one of us could sit on the bed and use our laptop comfortably. It also came in handy for watching movies on our laptops.
Cost: $6 USD

Transport:

We didn't need transport in Siem Reap. Everything is in walking distance unless you wanted to go to Angkor Wat. Even then, you could ride a push bike if you really wanted to.
Some accommodation options provide free push bikes to use. Otherwise, you could rent a bike for $1 – $2 per day.
We just walked everywhere.

Mobile / Cell Phone:

We bought a smartphone ready sim by Cellcard that will give us both phone credit and 3G internet access.
Sim card costs between 75c and $2 USD depending what number you want.
Add $10 USD in credit – $5 for phone calls and text, $5 for 2GB 3G Data for one month. Bargain.

If you choose cellcard, follow the instructions on this page on how to register for mobile internet, apply for the 2GB per month of 3G data and manually configure your phone.

Food / Restaurants / Shopping / Things Cost:

Check out our spreadsheet that we completed for every day of the calendar month that we were in Siem Reap.

You will notice that we were very thorough in entering everything we spent money on in the month. As we don't buy much clothing or souvenirs or anything like that, the majority of our daily expenditure is always on food and drinks.

We included most prices for meals (that we could remember) and any costs associated with medicine, body wash or even visa extensions.

3 Month Business Visa Extension – One Entry Only – $75 USD each

Total Expenditure for One Month For Two People In Siem Reap

$1224.15 for two people
$612.075 for one person

Our budget for the month was $1000 USD so we went over budget by a total of $224.15 USD. Not bad!

We did find that living in Siem Reap, Cambodia wasn't as cheap as living in Chiang Mai, Thailand. However, it is like comparing apples to oranges. What was cheap in Thailand was sometimes expensive in Cambodia, and vice versa.

POSTE LAO		Approx Currency Exchange	8,000 Kip	1 USD
PARCEL POSTAGE RATES
Country	Weight (up to)	Sea-Mail (takes 2 months)	Air-Mail (takes 2 weeks)
Australia	3kg	312,000 Kip	452,000 Kip
	5kg	407,000 Kip	637,000 Kip
	10kg	621,000 Kip	1,082,000 Kip
Canada	3kg	347,000 Kip	557,000 Kip
	5kg	457,000 Kip	802,000 Kip
	10kg	707,000 Kip	1,407,000 Kip
France	3kg		477,000 Kip
	5kg		657,000 Kip
	10kg		1,092,000 Kip
Germany	3kg	372,000 Kip	502,000 Kip
	5kg	457,000 Kip	682,000 Kip
	10kg	667,000 Kip	1,107,000 Kip
Japan	3kg	351,000 Kip	367,000 Kip
	5kg	462,000 Kip	487,000 Kip
	10kg	722,000 Kip	777,000 Kip
China	3kg	327,000 Kip	462,000 Kip
	5kg	417,000 Kip	642,000 Kip
	10kg	622,000 Kip	1,067,000 Kip
Switzerland	3kg	327,000 Kip	462,000 Kip
	5kg	417,000 Kip	642,000 Kip
	10kg	622,000 Kip	1,067,000 Kip
United Kingdom	3kg	397,000 Kip	537,000 Kip
	5kg	512,000 Kip	752,000 Kip
	10kg	787,000 Kip	1,262,000 Kip
U.S.A	3kg	322,000 Kip	637,000 Kip
	5kg	427,000 Kip	947,000 Kip
	10kg	682,000 Kip	1,707,000 Kip

 

Cambodia is definitely more expensive than Thailand. Most things are just a little bit more. All the same we really enjoyed our month in Siem Reap.

Have you lived in Siem Reap, Cambodia? Did it cost you around the same amount?