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Not Luxe ☼ Travel
  • ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL
  • WHY “NOT LUXE”
  • Cambodia
  • Australia
  • Travel
  • Teaching ESL
  • Move Abroad
  • Travel Insurance

teaching abroad

    Friends get together to share food in Cambodia

    Saving Money: Teaching & Living in Phnom Penh

    by Nick & Raychel February 19, 2019

    Saving Money: Teaching & Living in Phnom Penh

    Teaching English in Cambodia is certainly not as popular as teaching in countries such as China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. This is for a few reasons, one of them being the misconception that you can’t save money in Cambodia.

    If you’re teaching in Beijing, you may get paid very well, but the cost of living is very high. Of course, everything is relative. In Cambodia, the pay may be low but so is the cost of living. And here it is – the answer to the most popular question *drumroll please* …  Yes! You can save money while teaching in Cambodia.

    We are here to give you a breakdown of an example savings plan and some tips on how to save money while living in Phnom Penh.

    Salary : $1,200.00 USD average monthly salary for a teacher

    Rent: $300.00 USD this should include all of your bills

    Groceries: $80.00 USD

    Motorbike: $50.00 USD

    Gas: $10 USD

    Social: $80.00 USD

    Misc: $20.00 (shampoo, feminine products, etc)

    Savings: $660.00 / month USD

    Please note: Everything is based on a monthly budget, and coming from two social people – trust us: we made your expenses REALLY high.

     


    Tip # 1: Negotiate your salary

    You don’t have to have a lot of experience to ask for $1,400.00/month. In fact, nowadays, there are a few schools that advertise this as their starting wage. Be ready to settle for $1,200.00, but don’t be afraid to aim a little higher.


    Tip # 2: Negotiate with your real estate agent

    You can get a great apartment in a great area for $300.00 USD/month. In fact, this is pricy. Our advice? Don’t bother with anything that costs more than this. This can be your budget and it should include EVERYTHING. We have friends living in places the size of my family home for $300.00 all included with a pool.

    Your real estate agent should help you negotiate, too.


    Tip #3: Shop at local markets

    Unless you’re after packaged meat or something specifically imported, avoid Lucky Supermarket at all costs. When we first moved to Cambodia, we would only shop at supermarkets (we were a bit queasy walking through the meat aisles at the local market) and we wish we would have just sucked it up and shopped locally earlier.

    To be fair, we are both vegetarian so we don’t buy meat. We know most expats buy their meat packaged at a supermarket, and that’s fine. Everything else, however, like rice, beans, vegetables, noodles, shampoo, soap, toilet paper, etc. – buy it all locally.

    This will save you a lot of money. To put it clearly for you: our bill (for 2 people per week) was $80.00 when we were shopping at Lucky / Super Duper. When we started shopping at our local market, our weekly bill dropped down to $15.00 per week for 2 people.

    Yes – That is $7.50 USD each for groceries per week.

    Shop at your local market. You will support the locals and save money while doing it.

     


    Tip #4: Rent (or buy) a motorbike

    As much as we recommend downloading the Grab app, it is not the most efficient way to get around the city on a day-to-day basis.

    When we were both taking Grabs to/from work each day, to Aeon Mall, to the markets, etc., we calculated that we were each spending roughly $150.00/month on Grabs alone. For a couple, that is $300.00/month.

    A motorbike rental is $50.00 – $60.00 per month for most expats. Yes, you can try to negotiate this. Gas is roughly $10 per month. As a single person, you could save upwards of $100/month on transit. As a couple / pair of friends, you could save upwards of $250/month. Regardless, you will save money and get around a lot faster.

    We should also mention that it is likely a better investment to buy a motorbike, rather than rent one. To be honest, we likely would have done this but we never had enough money in our savings to make the investment.


    Tip #5: Live like a local

    Shop where the locals shop, eat the local food. The easiest way to save money in Phnom Penh is to live like the locals do.

    Opt out of the touristic restaurants for some songvak (fresh fish lettuce wraps), a noodle soup, or a local curry. Meals can be as little as 2,000 riel (roughly 50 cents USD).

    Shop at the markets and little stores on the side of the road, rather than at Aeon mall or Sorya Center.

    Ask your Khmer friends where they get their hair done, where they buy their jewellery – they know all the best places!



    There are so many ways to save money in the capital city, especially if you’re working as a foreign teacher. Foreign teachers get paid a significantly larger wage than most people in Phnom Penh, so always remember to be mindful of that.

    We saved the majority of our paychecks by just being mindful and conscious of spending – and hey, we got to really immerse ourselves in the culture that way.

     

    In the video below, we talk about our experiences in Cambodia ( in retrospect) and touch on saving money. Check it out if you want to know more:

    Find our Youtube channel here for more!

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  • WHY You Should Teach English in Cambodia

    by Nick & Raychel January 29, 2019

    When we thought of teaching abroad, Cambodia was not the first place that came to mind. Now our minds have changed. Here’s why.

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Nick & Raychel
Nick & Raychel

In 2018, we sold everything we owned and moved to Cambodia to teach English.

Let’s make this clear: this journey didn’t start with money. This journey started with a desire to see the world and to do something different for a change.

We’re not going to fool you with photos of floating breakfasts and private jets. We know what it’s like to be on a budget. Although we like to take pretty pictures, we aren’t going to wake up at an ungodly hour to give you unachievable travel jealousy. We aren’t going to censor ourselves or lie to you.

What we are going to do is stay in cheap hostels, find ways to make money, give the advice that we would want to hear, and share our experiences with you honestly.

Are you in?

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ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL

About Us Hi! We’re Nick & Raychel, the Canadian travel couple behind the brand ‘Not Luxe’. Far before we were married (and on a mission to see the world), we were working…

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  • Working to TRAVEL✈️🚐

If you’ve been following along with our vlogs and stories, it will come as no surprise to you when I say that our days are long right now. When we chose to start travelling, we signed up for a work-save-travel-repeat cycle and have been living in for the past 4.5 years. 

We chose this life.
But we still get tired. 

And between fixing up the van, preparing for our next adventure and working full time in that Southern Ontario heat - it’s a lot. But our minds are set on travel, on exploration, on adventure, culture, and learning. So we adapt to the seasons and understand that this point in the cycle is  just that - a season -  and we are so damn grateful to be doing it together.

📍 Traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas.
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Tags: #notluxe #worktotravel #travelcouple #vanlifecouple #traveldiaries #vanlifediaries #travelgram #livetoexplore #vanlifeculture #budgettravel #worktotravel #traveljobs #travelblogger #vanlifestyle #vanliving
  • **CLOSED** GIVEAWAY!! 🎉

We are giving away a Bluetti EB70 portable power bank. Having a power station on hand is a sweet backup for those who are already set up completely for off-grid living and/or a good start for weekend campers looking to try out van or camper van life. We are stoked to have another way to work outside, charge more appliances and get out adventuring.

The winner will win ONE Bluetti EB70 power bank & charging cables. 

Specs:
• 716Wh capacity and 800W rated wattage
• The ultra-stable LiFePO4 battery chemistry,2500+ life cycles
• 4*110V AC outlets, 2*100W PD ports, 2*5V/3A USB-A ports, 2*regulated 12V/10A DC outputs, 1*12V/10A car port,1*15W wireless charging pad.
(Note: does not come with solar panels)
-

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Like this post 
2. Must be following @nickandraychel & @bluetti_official
3. Tag a friend in the comments below (more tags = more entries)
4. Bonus entry - share this post to story for 5 extra entries! 

Open to USA & Canada residents. Giveaway closes on June 22, 2022. 
Winner will be announced on 06/25/22. 

-

Disclaimer: No purchase necessary. Giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram.

The contest period will run from 06/15 to 06/22 2022.

— 

Tags: #vanlifecouple #vanlifeing #notluxe #vanlifediaries #vanlifegiveaway #campinggiveaway #campervan #vanconversion #camperliving #tinyliving #tinyhomeonwheels #tinyhomes #vanlifenewbie #vanlifers #livinginavan #livingoffgrid #offgridliving #vanlifedreams #travelinspo
  • Slowing down 🚐 

The whole appeal of van life and many alternative living options is the freedom to take a go at your own speed.

But sometimes it feels like you just want to see it all.
And we’ve seen SO much in the past twenty months. 

Especially in the past six.

As Canadian travellers, I find that our slow season is the opposite of others. We escape the cold weather and have been abroad for many Christmases and snowfalls. During those times, we’re cliff jumping, waterfall hopping, cruising, skatepark hunting, friendship building…

Then, when lake season rolls around we’re ready to take on a more conventional work schedule, to save up to do it all again.

But we have to tell ourselves to relax, to enjoy the downtime, to take in the peaceful moments just as much as the epic ones. To soak up the sun, to drink water, to slow down.

It’s a constant learning process.

📍Traditional Hohokam, Patayan, and Yavapai land ⁣

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  • But how do you SHOWER? 😅

This photo is from the most ridiculous YouTube thumbnail we’ve had to date. We took so many funny photos this day, we couldn’t NOT share. Or maybe we could. Oh well.

But let’s answer the question while we’re at it.

🚿 We primarily go to Anytime Fitness which is a little pricier than Planet Fitness. In our opinion, however, the equipment is way nicer, there are usually less people, they’re all over Canada & the US, it’s open 24/7, and the showers are private.

🚿 When we’re not near an Anytime Fitness (this has only happened one time when we were in Quartzsite), we find a truck stop shower to go to.

🚿 And that’s about it. We bought a camping shower at the beginning of van living and only used it one miserable time.

Do you think a shower is necessary in a van build?

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  • We have been doing so much stealth city camping lately that we felt like we needed a break. When we first moved into our van, we set off to Vancouver Island, where we were constantly surrounded by nature - and even though we had no idea what we were doing, it was just easy to be outside.

As you guys know, we’ve lived all sorts of van life. From brick & mortar jobs, to off-grid living, to city dwelling, to full-time travelling. Lately, we’ve seen A LOT of cities and while we’re grateful to have covered so much ground, we knew we needed nature. 

So we nestled ourselves into Starved Rock State Park and reset.
Full video is on YouTube. Link in bio.

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  • “The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have” – Anna Quindlen

I can’t imagine committing to being the person I was 5 years ago for the rest of my life. I can’t imagine committing to one mindset or one way of life. 

It would be impossible to put into words how much we’ve changed through travel and meeting people. And as we start to hype ourselves up for our next big journey, we’re excited to dive head first with an open mind. 

Whether you’re building a van, starting a new job, buying a plane ticket, or even walking out of the house every morning - you have no fucking idea what’s in store.

Travel has a special way of changing you. 
And the best thing you can do is allow it. 

📍 Traditional Kumeyaay land
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