How much to start in Ho Chi Minh

Based on mention above, 2500$ is similar 50.000.000 vnđ. The most thing that you shall find a suitable room/ house with cost around 4 -5 mill/ month. 2 bicycles = 5 mill. Some thing for your minimum in daily life will take around 5 mill more. You shall pay at least 15 mill/ month for living. Therefore you will lost at least 30 mill for the first month coming to VN ( maybe more if you not have good preparation). Hope this preliminary can help you for good start and goodluck

Welcome to Saigon!
Expenses depends location, type of accommodation, food and initial necessary items.
If you intend to rent a 1 BR apartment, then it will cost between $350-500. If you need a 1 room (bath attached) in a house it will be below $250 which includes power, water and internet. Food: $60/person. Initial expense (room/house/apartment deposit, other items like bikes,etc) $ 1000
I think you just bring for 2 months enough. That's about $2000. 
As native English teachers you will get job easily.

Don't forget to bring your original certificates and non-criminal background record(justice record) from your home country for the purpose of Work Permit.

Yes, good advice from those that posted above.

It should not take you long to find a job. Most schools ( all I know of anyway ) pay once a month and the pay is distributed on the 5th. 

The heart of the city (District 1) will be the most expensive to live in.  Think about it as a New York City, or L.A., Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth.

I've never said this before on this blog but, if you need some help let me/us know. I am from Dallas/Fort Worth and am married to a Vietnamese, and living here did take some adjustments for me but nearly all the issues did eventually smooth out after a while. The biggest adjustment for me (after all the noise and certainly missing my moments of Zen, and having a good selection of quality minerals and vitamins to choose from here in Viet Nam) is the food choices. Many people are quite happy with Vietnamese foods but not me. I only have a few items to choose from so I really had to look online to have spices, herbs, and pastes shipped into Viet Nam.  I miss maple syrup too and refuse to pay what they ask for in Viet Nam.

Do not leave your keys laying around. You shouldn't do that anywhere but just remember. Also lock up everything. Remember...think New York, L.A., etc. Do not wear flashy jewelry when out and about. Make sure you do your homework on banking/credit cards before leaving the United States. I'd suggest keeping one credit union or banking account open and active that you currently have in the United States if you can. I had a hell of a time making an online payment to a credit card company back in the States. My Vietnamese bank (maybe all Vietnamese based banks) do not use routing numbers. Of course when I went to make my monthly payment to me credit card company in the US, I could not complete the transaction because the credit card company requests that you enter your bank's routing number. Swift numbers could not be utilized either. I tries to use Western Union but then a mountain of paperwork was needed because Viet Nam wanted to know the source of my money. I could not show them a source since my pay was paid to me in cash and was not automatically deposited, I also did not have a work permit at that time.

I also had my last paycheck from my employer from the US because the payday was after I arrived in Viet Nam. So my employer mailed it to my sister in Michigan and then my sister mailed it to me in Viet Nam; $92 to mail it to me. Then I went to three banks to try to get it cashed. All refused. So then I mailed it back to the US to my daughter and she deposited it in her bank account and then Western Union'ed it to me. Another $42.

Banking policies in Viet Nam, in regards to the United States changed at the beginning of this year. Wish I would've known that prior to moving to Viet Nam.   

Now I have a work permit, auto deposit and a Vietnamese bank, as well as an international bank, so all is good.

Bottom line: try to keep an American credit union account or bank account open if possible.

[Moderated: post in the housing section please]

each time Iv'e been to VN  i have just used my visa card, never had any are problems and accepted everywhere atm's hotels and larger stores just let your bank know where your'e going so they don't stop withdrawls

Once upon a time I've read in regards to traveling: bring double the money and half the stuff you think you'll need. Very true for relocating as well. That being said, 5000 should be all right, but I'd recommend having a bit more for backup. Worst case scenario, bring a credit card for emergency cash.

The first week or few you're likely to spend living in a hotel, so that might start adding up a bit quickly. Plenty of cheap guesthouses in the backpacker area, of various degrees of griminess.

Finding an apartment will take a while since you'll probably want to get a job first before diving into a lease (also the location of your work will be a deciding factor on where you settle, which in turn influences the rent). Throwing out random numbers is pointless, as you can live in a palace in D9 for the same money that gets you a very average 1BR in D1.

As for the job, you've mentioned that your partner is an experienced HS teacher: is he certified? If so, he should definitely hold out and get a job with an international school. This means that you'll probably have to bite the bullet and take a job with one of the local language mills to pay the bills, at least for the first few months.

Another big point to consider is transportation: the first few weeks you'll most likely rely on taxis to get to/from interviews (or motorbike taxis if you're adventurous). While not expensive, they do have a tendency to add up. You've mentioned buying bicycles - unless it's for recreational rides or you live in D2, forget it. It's either too hot/too wet to use push bikes for everyday commuting, especially since you're required to look "presentable" for most teaching jobs. The rate for renting an automatic motorbike is currently 1.2m, or you can buy a "good-enough" one for 3-400$ and save money in the long run.

One last thing that many people forget is that you need to put down a deposit before you can move into an apartment. Typically it's equal to two months rent so for nicer places, it can easily be over $1000.

Add the deposit, first month's rent, hotel, motorbike rental (or taxi fares), food, and you're easily over half of the original $5000. And that's not including the essentials you may need to buy for your new place (furniture comes to mind).

Before you leave get a US bank account where you can transfer money here on-line. Additionally, to transfer on-line you may need a security code so get that at your bank before you leave the US and tell the bank what you will be doing and where you are going. When you get here open 2 Viet bank accounts, one with Viet Dong and the other US dollars. Transfer the money as you need it from the US to Viet accounts and use the Viet ATM's for cash.

For the visa, you should check with a school to see what is the best type visa to come in on. If you do not teach I don't know if you can get a spouse permit to stay. Check with the school on that also.

Have a good trip