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Microstock Photography Forum - General => Off Topic => Topic started by: michealo on January 02, 2011, 11:02
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I thought it would be interesting to compare costs of living around the world, I'll start
Ireland
Currency Euro
Minimum wage 7.65
Pint (568 ml) of beer - 4
Cinema ticket - 9
Rent for a two bedroom apartment per month - 800
Visit to the doctor - 50
Cappuccino - 2.50
If you have other ones I am happy to edit this post to add them
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Sweden. 10 kronas= 1 Euro.
Dont know what the min wages is but here you go. and in Euro. in Stockholm.
pint of lager: 6 Euro.
small espresso: 3 Euro.
two bedroom flat inside Stockholm. 900 Euro/month.
one stop on the underground. 2 Euro.
pack of ciggies. 5 Euro.
1. litre of petrol: 1.5. Euro.
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Romania
currency - Leu
0.5l of ber - 3-7 lei (0.8-1.75 eur)
cinema ticket - 15-25 lei (4-6 eur)
rent for a two bedroom apartment per month (depending on size of the city etc)
2-300 eur
cappuccino - 2-5 lei (0.5 - 1.2 eur)
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Ok, here I go:
Montreal (Canada)
Currency $CA. (=$US these days)
Minimum wage 9.50$
Pint (568 ml) of beer - 6$
Cinema ticket - 11$
Rent for a two bedroom apartment per month - 800$. (+/-)
Visit to the doctor - 0$
Cappuccino - 5$
And I'll add regular gas: 1.15$/liter
Claude
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Houston, Texas USA
Currency US dollars
Minimum wage - $7.65
Beer - $4
Cinema ticket - $10
Rent on 2 bedroom apt - $800-$1200
Visit ti dr - $25 (with insurance)
Cappuccino - $5
Gas per gallon - $2.80
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Small town in Norway
Currency NOK (8NOK=1EURO)
Minimum wage - We don't have it, but the unions make sure that no one makes less than 10-15 Euro/hour. The starting salary at McDonalds is 15 Euro.
Beer - 10 Euro
Cinema ticket - 10 Euro
Rent on 2 bedroom apt - 600 Euro
Visit to dr/hospital - approx 20 Euro, but no more than 250 Euro a year, including medicins and transportation.
Cappuccino - 3-4 Euro
Petrol/liter - 1.5 Euro
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Philippines (Southern)
Currency PHP (converted to USD)
Minimum wage 0.85$ (college graduates, industry) 0.55$ (agriculture, fastfood)
Pint (500 ml) of beer 0.75$
Cinema ticket - 1.5$ (not advisable due to loud SMS ringtones all the time)
Rent for a two bedroom apartment in guarded compound per month - 200$ (60 sq m)
Visa fee (+ bribes) 45$ per month
Visit to the doctor ?
Cappuccino 3.5$ (Starbucks) 1.5$ (elsewhere)
Pack of 20 long filter cigs 0.43$
Booze (35%) 750cc 1.5$
Public transport ride 0.15$ - taxi ride (5km) 1.5$
Fuel 1.30$/l
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Welcome back FD
"Visa fee (+ bribes) 45$ per month" . . . . you are kidding, right . . I guess not. :)
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"Visa fee (+ bribes) 45$ per month" . . . . you are kidding, right . . I guess not. :)
No I'm not. ;) I could tell much more to the point you wouldn't believe me, but I learned one lesson well: Vivons cachιs, vivons heureux.
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"Visa fee (+ bribes) 45$ per month" . . . . you are kidding, right . . I guess not. :)
No I'm not. ;)
Thinking about living the good life in Thailand in a few years, I guess I will include that in my budget.
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http://www.travelspender.nl/#/android/demo (http://www.travelspender.nl/#/android/demo)
In Dutch, sorry, but it works great :)
Gives you prices for a lot of countries.
(Biertje = Beer)
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Houston, Texas USA
Currency US dollars
Minimum wage - $7.65
Beer - $4
Cinema ticket - $10
Rent on 2 bedroom apt - $800-$1200
Visit ti dr - $25 (with insurance)
Cappuccino - $5
Gas per gallon - $2.80
Pretty much the same here in Florida, except the min. wage is $7.25.
On the "visit to the doctor - $25" one, though, I would add a qualifier. We pay $300 per person, per month (so $900/month) for the damned medical insurance >:(
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^We pay about $300 per month for insurance through my hubby's job.
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No insurance....was $1800.00 a month for hubbie and me two and a half years ago so no telling what it would be now.
Doctor...125.00
Specialist....200.00
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^
I pay about $500 a month for health care through taxes (7-10% are tied directly to health care). Hubby earns less, so he pays less. Any and all health care for the kids is free.
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I'll be using today's currency exchange rates: US$1=R$1.66 and 1=R$2.22
I thought it would be interesting to compare costs of living around the world, I'll start
Ireland
Currency Euro
Minimum wage 7.65 R$3.06=US$1.85=1.38 (considering 22 days and 8h/day)
Pint (568 ml) of beer - 4 R$4=US$2.41=1.8 (350ml)
Cinema ticket - 9 R$17=US$10.24=7.66 (early weekend session)
Rent for a two bedroom apartment per month - 800 R$1000=US$600=450 (rental only, doesn't include gas/water/light/personnel/maintenance/taxes; can be easily twice as that in better located areas, and cheaper if you don't mind living far from the coastal neighbourhoods)
Visit to the doctor - 50 R$200=US$121=91 (my ophtalmologist, which is not in my medical plan; my share in a doctor from my medical plan is R$40; my mother's doctors charged twice as that)
Cappuccino - 2.50 R$5=US$3.01=2.25 (average on two places I know)
gas per liter R$2.70=US$1.63=1.23
gas per gallon R$10.22=US$6.16=4.60 (1 gallon = 3.785 liters)
in the supermarket:
1 liter of Coke R$2.90=US$1.74=1.30
1.5 liter of mineral water R$1.80=US$1.08=0.81
private secondary school (because public ones here suck)
R$1200/month=US$723=541 (not the top ones)
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When you see what we pay on Long Island, NY you'll think we're absolutely crazy for living here. Of course the salaries in many case are higher too, but it's really starting to spiral out of control and we have no intention of retiring here. In the US the cost of many basic expenses can vary wildly so it's possible to find retirement living at a better cost. Many of the smaller expenses listing are things I don't spend on so I couldn't really say what a movie costs, or a pint of beer costs, but here are a few costs to make your head spin.
Rental apt - 1 bedroom, 1 bath, approx. $1200 a month
Small, older starter home (was probably a summer cottage 40 years ago) about $350,000 and probably NOT updated with newer appliances and bathroom fixtures.
Property taxes about $8000 - $12,000 a year to cover schools, police, fire department, road and street lighting, trash services, etc.
Electric - $120 a month (if you're frugal - can reach $400 a month in the summer if you have central air conditioning)
Cable and Internet - about $120 a month for broadcast and basic - if you want the movie channels and other bells and whistles add more, and they are moving to all digital - if we want to add that to all the TV's in the house (required if we want any reception at all on those units) it will be another $8.00 per unit per month
Gas is about $3.50 a gallon right now
Fuel Oil for heating - about the same
Our health insurance runs about $6800 a year plus co-pay expenses and dental is not included but I have to say it is really good coverage.
Of course we're just a few miles from the ocean, and an hour away from New York City so there are other advantages. If our jobs didn't keep us tied here and retirement wasn't that far off we'd be heading for other areas.
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So far, Romania is looking pretty good! I'm not sure I'm up for the guarded compound in the Philippines ( although I did live in the east village in NYC in the seventies, when a guarded compound would have come in handy). And I easily paid that much a month in bribes, but we called them "tips".
But anyway, here in Connecticut, it's just about the same as others have reported for the US.
Maybe I should start studying Romanian!
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Portugal (Lisbon, capital)
Currency Euro
Minimum wage 465 (month)
Pint (33 ml) of beer - 1
Cinema ticket - 5.5
Rent for a two bedroom apartment per month - 500
Visit to the doctor ? from 5 (public fee) to 100 (private).. around 150 for insurance
Cappuccino ? around 1
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Here in St John, USVI the prices can be borderline rediculous. The locals call this place the "wild west" for good reason, prices vary a lot depending on unknown factors.
Gas -$3.80 USD gallon
livable 1BR, $1,500.00+ month, 2BR $2,000+ month
avg home price- 1.4 million
power-40cents a KWH last month, but it varies... for comparison: Florida is about 11cents a KWH, central air would run $500+ a month.
internet $100.00 for 1.5MB service ???
satellite $100.00
carton of strawberries -$6.00-$15.00, stagering prices for any fresh fruit or veggies.
oil change for car-$100.00
Sandwich for lunch-$10.00+
Avg dinner-$30.00 plate
Most things on the Island are 30-40% higher than in the states.
There are a few things that are cheap: good rum is $10.00 a gallon (made in St Croix) and cigarettes are $24.00 a carton (10 packs), due to the lack of tax.
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Australia
The Australian dollar has gone throught the roof at the moment sitting at around $1UD for 1AUD. Not that long ago it was about 0.6USD for 1 AUD. So for visitors stuff is 40% more expensive. Imports have got a bit cheaper
Currency Australian Dollar
Minimum wage $15
Schooner (425 ml) of beer - at the pub $4.50 ish wide variation depending on where.
Cinema ticket - $15
Rent for a two bedroom apartment per month - $1200 (Capital cities would be much higher than this.)
Visit to the doctor - can be free if you want to go and line up for a long time, about $25 out of pocket to go to my doctor.
Cappuccino - $3.50
1 LT petrol = $1.20-1.40
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Malaysia.
Fresh graduate income = $500 usd.
Manager level income = $2000 usd.
Average cost of living = $500 per month.
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Malaysia.
Fresh graduate income = $500 usd.
Manager level income = $2000 usd.
Average cost of living = $500 per month.
Sounds good I'm thinking about moving there.
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No matter what I think we are going to find Norway the most costly, I heard somewhere that Oslo, Tokyo, London and Stockholm, tops the list of costs.
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jbarber873 you are right, maybe here are the cheapest products in Romania but we also have very small earnings, if you understand.
There are a lot of romanians forced to live with the minimum salary, that would be 600 lei, around 200$ per month. The medium salary is around 1200-1500 lei, or 4-500$ monthly. That's not much money!
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Here in England we pay:
Minimum wage= £5.63
Pint of beer: £2.30
Rent of 3 bedroom house: £400 per month (Varies by area)
Doctors hospitals etc: free
Coffee: £1.50
Cinema ticket: £8
Sandwich for lunch: £2.50
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Denmark
Cigarettes 4 - 5
Draught beer 4 - 7
Hammocks 26 - 135
And that's all there is...
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I will add some details about Malaysia.
No minimum wage (yet)
3 bedroom 2 bathrooms 1200sq flat in a condo (swimming pool, tennis, etc...) $800
Movie ticket $3
Bottle of beer in a bar starts at $5 (expensive because of taxes, muslim country)
1 gallon petrol: $2.4
Price of meal can start as low as $2
beside beer, foreign cars are very expensive
Price of a VW sport serie about 60,000 euros which is a price of the same 1200sq condo!
@leremy To live with $500 a month in Kuala Lumpur you will have to be single (means no girlfriend ;D) and live share a flat ;)
L
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Here in St John, USVI the prices can be borderline rediculous.
but * it's a beautiful place!
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Here in St John, USVI the prices can be borderline rediculous.
but it's a beautiful place!
Beauty has its price, we love it!! but it's not for everyone. There are much more reasonable Islands to live on over here, problem is they are dirty, crowded, and not very safe. All the desirable Islands in the Virgin Islands are pricey. Living in fear is not my idea of fun.
I would think that Islands in general would have the highest cost of living for the simple fact that it's hard to get stuff. A head of lettuce for example might start in Florida, then off to Puerto Rico, then to St Thomas, then to St John by Ferry. Sometimes you end up with something that used to look like a head of Lettuce ;D
The average wage over here is about the same as Florida, most people work several jobs just trying to survive, and usually have to leave when the money runs out.
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Here in England we pay:
Minimum wage= £5.63
Pint of beer: £2.30
Rent of 3 bedroom house: £400 per month (Varies by area)
Doctors hospitals etc: free
Coffee: £1.50
Cinema ticket: £8
Sandwich for lunch: £2.50
Huh? I don't know where you live but in the south of England (and I don't mean London or even commuting distance to it) the prices are mostly far higher.
3-bed house rental is more like £1000 ($1500). Anywhere near London that can go exponential.
Decent pint (not in a cheapo Wetherspoons full of chav's) is at least £3 ($4.50)
Frothy coffee at a high-street chain (i.e. not McDonald's) £2.80 ($4.20)
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Beauty has its price, we love it!! but it's not for everyone.
So does 'remoteness' and that doesn't have to mean a long way by world standards.
When I visit the very north of Scotland for example even a jar of instant coffee from a UK-wide supermarket can cost 30% more than in the south. Petrol can be 20% more too. When you get out to the Hebrides the costs escalate yet higher. The further you go the lower the choice available, the longer it takes to get there and the higher the cost. Houses are relatively cheap of course but any savings are rapidly absorbed by the additional cost of everything else. It never fails to amaze me that people choose to live in such places. Oh, and the weather is mostly lousy too and in the summer, when you might get a decent day, then you get bitten to death by the midges. Nice scenery though!
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Paris, France (more expensive than elsewhere in the country)
Currency Euro
Minimum hourly wage : 9 (gross) / 7.06 (net)
Pint of beer : 6
Cinema ticket : 10
Expresso : 1.5
French baguette (250g) : 0.90
Cigarettes (20 pk) : 6
Rent for a two room apartment : 1000 / month
Visit to the doctor : 23 (reimbursed by SS + insurance - but 16% to 23% tax on salaries for health care and retirement + cost of private insurance)
Note that during the last 10 years, since we switched to euros, prices have "officially" raised 18% in France, while independant studies demonstrate that prices inflation was more like 38% in average. In 2000, a french baguette cost around 3.20 FF (0.48 ) and now costs 0.90 (+87%), one liter of milk cost 1.30 FF (0.20 ) and now costs 0.59 (+195%), the same 2 room apartment cost 800/month, now 1020/month (+27%).
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Huh? I don't know where you live but in the south of England (and I don't mean London or even commuting distance to it) the prices are mostly far higher.
I am in the North. It is much cheaper to live here, but there is not much work about to pay for it!
My son has just rented a house, he moved in before Christmas and he is paying £425 per month. About average round here. The price for buying a house is much less too.
I am judging the price of a pint from a poster outside a local pub, I don't actually drink them myself. It is a real ale pub, so I expect it is a good pint.
The coffee I buy in a small privately owned cafe near where I work. They do a great lunch!
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No matter what I think we are going to find Norway the most costly, I heard somewhere that Oslo, Tokyo, London and Stockholm, tops the list of costs.
I'm hoping Tyler will post
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Beauty has its price, we love it!! but it's not for everyone. There are much more reasonable Islands to live on over here, problem is they are dirty, crowded, and not very safe. All the desirable Islands in the Virgin Islands are pricey. Living in fear is not my idea of fun.
Indeed! I hadn't realized you live in St. John. We lived in St. Thomas when I was a kid. I remember St. John as being absolutely beautiful.
I don't know what St. Thomas is like now - haven't been there in decades, but in the 70s it was the Wild West. We ended up moving back to the States because there were so many random murders there, including several people we knew. Kelsey Grammer's dad was murdered in St. Thomas too, around the time we lived there.
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Ontario, Canada (since prices here depend heavily on which province or territory you find yourself in)
Minimum wage= $11 per hour
Pint of (good) beer: $7
Rent of 3 bedroom house: $2,000 per month
Doctors hospitals etc: free, universal healthcare. Doesn't include dentistry or elective procedures
(good) Coffee: $3 (I don't like the most popular Canadian coffee Tim Horton's, which is $1.25 per cup)
Cinema ticket: $13
Sandwich for lunch: $5
Typical Urban Home: $500K
Typical suburban home: $350K
Groceries however are inexpensive relative to many areas of the world. As is air travel. Being next to the largest Canadian airport means cheap flights almost anywhere.
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Hi Lisa,
Wow! I didn't know you had lived in St Thomas! it's still the "wild west", must have been interesting in the 70's. I have heard they used to cut power on entire Islands back then so they could drop drugs by plane...lol.
No surprise you remember leaving St Thomas because of the murder rate. I believe they are first, or second in the USA murder/per capita, Puerto Rico probably being #1. It's very sad because St Thomas could be a beautiful Island to live on. Most of the crime goes unreported due to corruption and fear of" scaring the tourists away". They don't even prosecute criminals most of the time, they all have family ties with the Gov. We go to St Thomas a couple times a month on the car ferry to shop. I'm always a little nervous when over there.
St John is still beautiful due to the high cost of living and national park which makes up around 70% of the Island.
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There are things too hard to compare, housing is one, even in the same neighbourhood prices may vary a lot just by being in a busy (noisy) street or a quiet one, and old vs a new building.
I think some relevant comparisons for us are equal things, like the already presented prices for gas, beer and coffee (even if these latter are irrelevant to me, as i don't drink either).
Now, here are some other prices that are perhaps easier to compare:
Canon 5D Mark II body: R$8300=US$5000=3740
Canon T2i with 18-55mm lens: R$2980=US$1795=1340
(prices above are in a legal store; we can buy that cheaper in the black market)
5Mbits cable internet connection: R$100/mo=US$60=45
cost of call in a prepaid cell phone: R$1.25=US$0.75=0.56 (there are special rates for using the same company, or frequent numbers, etc, but this is the basics for a general number)
single bus ride: R$2.40=US$1.45=1.08 (no day, week or month cards with discounts)
1 dozen regular eggs: R$3.80=US$2.29=1.71
eletric power: R$0.32/kWh=US$0.19=0.14
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Jakarta, Indonesia
Currency US Dollar
Minimum Monthly Wage : $122
Pint of beer : $4
Cinema ticket : $2-20
Expresso : $3
Cigarettes (1 pack) : $1
Rent for a two room apartment : $300-1000
Visit to the doctor : $10
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manhattan, new york city
cigs $10-11
1 br varies wildy but probably averages out to around $2500 a month (also very hard to find a place without a broker which will cost you 1.5 months rent)
Beer $7-8
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Beauty has its price, we love it!! but it's not for everyone. There are much more reasonable Islands to live on over here, problem is they are dirty, crowded, and not very safe. All the desirable Islands in the Virgin Islands are pricey. Living in fear is not my idea of fun.
Indeed! I hadn't realized you live in St. John. We lived in St. Thomas when I was a kid. I remember St. John as being absolutely beautiful.
I don't know what St. Thomas is like now - haven't been there in decades, but in the 70s it was the Wild West. We ended up moving back to the States because there were so many random murders there, including several people we knew. Kelsey Grammer's dad was murdered in St. Thomas too, around the time we lived there.
Have you visited the Bahamas since you live so close to the islands?
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Yellowknife (Canada)
Currency $CA. (=$US these days)
Minimum wage 9.00$
Pint of Guinness - $11
Cinema ticket - $12
Rent for a two bedroom apartment per month - $1500 (+/-)
Visit to the doctor - $0
Cappuccino - $5
High-speed internet /w 80gb of bandwidth - $125/month
And I'll add regular gas: 1.25$/liter
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Beauty has its price, we love it!! but it's not for everyone. There are much more reasonable Islands to live on over here, problem is they are dirty, crowded, and not very safe. All the desirable Islands in the Virgin Islands are pricey. Living in fear is not my idea of fun.
Indeed! I hadn't realized you live in St. John. We lived in St. Thomas when I was a kid. I remember St. John as being absolutely beautiful.
I don't know what St. Thomas is like now - haven't been there in decades, but in the 70s it was the Wild West. We ended up moving back to the States because there were so many random murders there, including several people we knew. Kelsey Grammer's dad was murdered in St. Thomas too, around the time we lived there.
Have you visited the Bahamas since you live so close to the islands?
We are 800 miles from the Bahamas, so I'm guessing that question is for Lisa since she is much closer? I've visited the Bahamas, but only by cruise ship, with the usual "Nassau", and a couple other random cruise ship owned islands. "The Exumas" would be a nice place to visit, but you really need to be on a boat to get there. Eleuthera is another Bahamian Island I would like to see one day. No idea about the cost of living there :).
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I'm in the same boat (ha, ha - forgive the pun ;D). Been to Freeport once on a cruise when I lived in Miami.
I imagine if I was a diver I would want to travel more to get access to beautiful coral reefs. But since I am not a diver, the beaches in Florida keep me satisfied enough that I don't feel much need to travel to the Islands.
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Croatia, Zagreb capital
Cigarets btw 2-3$
Cinema ??? who goes to cinema
Beer 0.5L btw 1-2 $
Apartment 40m2 350-400$
Doctor??? Free4all
1L diesel 1,2 - 1,3 $
Kebab with all filements near 4$
McDonalds small shits about 2-3$ bljak
Workers menu 7-10$
Public transport 1.5$ for few hours
Taxi 10$ for 10km
Bread 1-2$
Milk 1$
Coffe 1$
Loosed nervs with iStock - Priceless
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We are 800 miles from the Bahamas, so I'm guessing that question is for Lisa since she is much closer? I've visited the Bahamas, but only by cruise ship, with the usual "Nassau", and a couple other random cruise ship owned islands. "The Exumas" would be a nice place to visit, but you really need to be on a boat to get there. Eleuthera is another Bahamian Island I would like to see one day. No idea about the cost of living there :).
I have been to Nassau and Freeport. Now heading to Emerald Bay in The Exumas in april. Eleuthera and Abacos may be next in my agenda.
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Madrid - Spain
Currency Euro
Min wage - 640
Pint of beer - 3
Cinema ticket - 7
Expresso - 1.30
Cigarettes - 3.5
Rent 2 room apartment - 600/800
Doctor - Free for all, but if you want you take a private insurance 60/70 monthly and 3 specialist visit
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From reading all of these I wish I drank beer and was in some of these places. :)
Just an interesting number to throw out. USA Federal poverty level is $903 a month income. Or $10,836 a year. These are the latest figures I could find for 2010-2011 federal program guidelines.
Someone was commenting that they would like to make $10,000 a year on Microstock. I would too as additional income. Say for instance a stay at home partner who was bringing in the additional $10,000 and the other person working full time. That would be a nice bonus. No it's not enough to support a home and family, but a nice package of discretionary income to spend for making life a bit more comfortable.
True that most places, the income matches the cost of living. You live in Chicago and the average pay might be $60,000 a year, you move to some small town out in the country and it might be $5,000, but an apartment in small town costs $350 a month and in Chicago maybe $900 a month. Where things can get out of line and benefit someone working micro, would be living where there's a lower cost of living and selling on the Internet. Nice deal if you can make it work.