How much does it cost to live where you live?

Hi geeks.

I have a lot of friends and family living abroad, and a constant subject when we communicate is the cost of living. Let's learn something new from our different countries, comparing prices of some common commodities all around the world.

Of course this kind of comparison is not very reliable, but at least it gives some information.

I'll start, trying to choose something available in most countries.

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Notice:

• Bic Mac = only the burger. Meals start at €6.49
• Computers and the car mentioned = the price of the cheapest basic model, no extras
• Rent mentioned is inclusive electricity, gas, water and waste collecting, in a normal neighborhood
• Software developer's salary is inclusive the paid yearly holiday, information from the trade union
• Euros to dollars = exchange rate at the moment of posting

Please tell what these things cost in your corner of the world.

Kari

At present I can't really help with any of these prices, apart from coffee and I buy a really cheap instant coffee which is 100 grams for 47 pence, or my filter coffee which I can get for £2.49 for 500 grams.

I'd have to check other prices as I don't go out so have no idea what the price of beer or meals are and I don't smoke, the last I heard beer was about £2.20 a pint but it's probably gone up since then, I don't drink.

Hopefully you'll get others who can give you more details on costs than I can in this country all I know is it's expensive to live here and that's without the luxury's you mention.

I'm with Joan a bit on this one. There is so much disparity in prices in the UK that to get a fair international idea you would have to take n average. These figure, issued by the government, are available from the National statistics office but being statistics there are two types. Lies and damn Lies. Seriously though i really does make a difference where you live, rents for example are expensive where I live as there are so many second home people it keeps the property prices up above the national average but the average wage here is one of the lowest in the country due to our high dependency on the tourist trade. So figures where I live would give a false picture of the nation as a whole.

Can someone please explain to me how to do a table, I can't find the page which tells you how to do it.

But anyway these are the approximate costs here in Surrey, England.

Bic Mac £1.99/$2.90
Coffee (500 gram, about 1.1 pound) £5/$7.28
Cup of coffee in café £5/$7.28
Beer in the pub £3.01/$4.39 (The most expensive in the UK)
Pack of cigarettes £5.60/$8.16
Lunch, including drinks £11pp/$16.03
Dinner for two, w/wine £35-50/$50.99-$72.85
HP Pavilion dv6-1410 Entertainment Notebook I can't find it but I'd imagine about £429/$655.61
Dell Inspiron 580 Desktop £429/$625.01
VW Golf £15,150/$22,072
Rent (1 bedroom, about 50sqm, 538sqfeet) Where I live A LOT, £620/$903.27+£150/$225
Software developer, salary per year £40,000/$58,276

The cost of living here is substantially higher than that of most of the UK (you just have to look at how much it costs to park your car compared to other places in England, it's something like 80p/30mins ($.10/30mins).

Another good indicator which is very important to the cost of living which you forgot to mention is the cost of Petrol, here it's about £1.20/Litre at the moment ($1.75/Litre).

Oli

Table:

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Yes, I forgot petrol, fuel. One liter costs about €1.40 here.

The cup of coffee in your list seems very expensive. You're sure that's not a typo?

Fseal, of course I know that. This was meant to be more a direction giving, simple comparison. For instance those €-amounts in my post are statistical averages, exchange rate exactly what it today was. Software developer's salary is before taxes, a national average according to the union. From that amount you'd have to pay about 38% federal and local taxes.

This can never give any important information, that's why I posted this here, in the Chillout Room. But for instance I'm interested to learn what a cup of coffee or a basic desktop computer costs. It tells something.

Fishnbanjo, no surprises there apart of that VW Golf. Almost exactly the same price.

Thanks.