Rent in Cambodia: Live in a Mansion for $100 a Month

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Jason Gaspero

Jason lives in Sihanoukville, Cambodia and pays only $100 a month to rent a room in this mansion. 

Making a living as a freelance copywriter definitely has its merits.

When you’re in my line of work, you choose your own hours, you don’t have a boss to answer to and you can work from anywhere there’s an Internet connection.

There’s also a lot of money to be made. The more financially motivated freelance copywriters can command as much as six figures per year.

But for me, the best thing about being a copywriter is that it allows me to enjoy the type of lifestyle that I’ve always wanted.

Right now, I’m living and working in Southeast Asia—in a sunny, laid-back little beach resort town called Sihanoukville in Cambodia.

I could go hunting the big paychecks—but when the cost of living is as low as it is here, I prefer to work a couple of hours a day and spend the rest of my time enjoying this incredible, exotic part of the world.

When I do work, I can easily write copy and manage projects from almost anywhere. Even by the pool.

Rent and Cost of Living is Cheap in Cambodia

As I traveled throughout this part of the world, I discovered that rent (like everything else here) is cheap. It averaged out to about $14 a day for a room with air-con, hot water showers, and digital TV with English-speaking channels.

But I recently decided to establish a “home base.” A place to live that’s more intimate and personal than any generic room at a beach resort.

My new residence is a 2,000-square-foot, six-bedroom, seven-bathroom home about a mile inland from the golden sand of Serendipity Beach.

See for yourself in the photo above.

It’s got a fully-equipped kitchen, twice-weekly maid service, high-speed Internet access, digital TV, a huge living room, a large balcony on the second floor, a makeshift basketball court, plenty of room for parking, and more. There’s even a black-and-white cat that lives here called “Baba Ghannouj.” He likes to keep the local bug population in check.

My room is 400 square feet with air-con, a bathroom, and a shower. It’s clean, safe and pretty quiet…except for when the roosters and chickadees decide to break into song.

My rent is only $100 a month.

I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to stay here…or if I’ll ever stay at a beach resort in Southeast Asia again.

But with such a low cost of living, a beautiful location and a fun career that covers my costs and more…I think I’ll be staying put for a while.

Editor’s Note: If you want to get started in the lucrative career of copywriting…or just find out more about what copywriters do to earn all their money…it’s all explained here.

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