
Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers) - nileshtrivedi
HN users,<p>Technology has made it possible for us to become truly mobile and I think that gives us a tremendous opportunity to travel, explore new places, and meet new people. Relevant data on purchasing power parity is very sketchy, however.<p>I think it would be interesting to compare the cost and quality of living as well as earning potential in various cities/countries for programmers/designers. Instead of the Big Mac index, we could have our own Ramen Purchasing Power Parity Index. :)<p>Reply with the following:<p>Place(City and Country)<p>Monthly expenses (details will help a lot)<p>Typical monthly wage for a programmer / designer
======
patio11
I live in a small town outside of Nagoya, Japan.

I live fairly comfortably at $2,000 a month. The ramen profitable number for a
single self-employed twentysomething is in the neighborhood of $1,500.

Some costs:

\- A month's rent for a capacious apartment (by Japanese standards): $450
(This would be $700 inside of Nagoya, and you'd get a third the size of the
apartment.)

\- Utilities: Gym ($100), phone + Internet + cell phone + gas + electricity +
water + sewage = ~$300

\- Health insurance: $300 / mo, assuming your income is in the "typical
Japanese twenty-something" bracket

\- Pension: $200 / mo, ditto

\- Food: A cheap meal at a restaurant runs $8. For Western food (pizza,
Italian, etc), budget $15. My best friends manage to make $300 a month work
for a monthly food budget -- I don't cook at all and spend closer to $700.

\- A bowl of ramen: $1 if you make it yourself, $3 from a convenience store,
$7 at a restaurant.

\- Sundries: Prices are similar to expensive metropolitan areas in the US.

\- Typical monthly wage for a programmer: if you work at a certain Japanese
megacorp in Nagoya, you will earn $100 per year of age per month. All
engineering salaries within five hundred miles of Nagoya are pegged to this
number. Individual circumstances may vary (particularly for foreigners).

~~~
mattm
Thanks Patrick. My girlfriend is from Gifu and I have been entertaining the
thought of moving there next year. I'm actually surprised that living expenses
are higher than I thought. Those numbers are pretty similar to what I spend
living in my city in Canada.

~~~
patio11
You can do it a bit cheaper if you're willing to live more like a Japanese
salaryman than I do. (i.e. smaller apartment, more cooked meals.) Still, Japan
is a rich country with rich country prices, even in semi-rural areas like
Gifu.

If you do come to Gifu, look me up. I enjoy giving tours.

------
niyazpk
Bangalore, India

Typical monthly wage for a programmer / designer: $600 to $1000. (This varies
a lot, so there is no actual upper/lower limit)

My expenses:

    
    
      Apartment Rent + Utilities: $80
      Internet (1 Mbps): $23
      Food: $135
      Transport (Bike): $20
      Books: $75
    

Contrast this with RealGeek's comment to get an idea on how different the
expenses could be, depending on the person and the spending nature.

Also keep in mind that I am not married. I expect the expenses to shoot out of
the ceiling after marriage. :)

EDIT: Less than 6 months ago I was trying to get a startup up and running and
I was living off my savings. The lifestyle then was entirely different and the
expenses were around one half of those given above.

~~~
RealGeek
Most of our expenses are similar, but apartment rent. How in Banglore did you
get an apartment for $80? Its a steal :)

How much is your electricity bill? Do you use air condition and computer?

~~~
niyazpk
The place I stay is relatively small and I would say that the rent is just
right.

My electricity bill comes around 300-400 INR ($7-9). I don't have an AC - you
don't need it in Bangalore. I have a laptop and an extra monitor. My Airtel
DigitalTV is connected to the monitor so I don't have a separate TV.

~~~
ido

        I don't have an AC - you don't need it in Bangalore.
    

As a westerner that spent about 2 months in India I have to say - although
Bangalore's weather is mild in Indian terms, >30c weather (normal for high
summer in Bangalore) is well within "requires AC" limits for Europeans :)

Also, if you don't absolutely require high speed internet or being around
other high-tech folks there are much cheaper (and IMO nicer) places in India
than Bangalore.

E.g. in Dharamsala, which is still expensive by Indian standards, you can lead
a fairly lavish lifestyle for the prices niyazpk's quoted (and a lot less,
too). Hope you like dialup internet tho ;)

~~~
RealGeek
Most Indians live without AC, and even without electricity in 40c+ weather.

~~~
ido
Most Indians also live on <$1/day (nominal) in pretty terrible conditions. I
know it's possible but I don't want to bare the inconvenience for what is, for
me, not a significant amount of money.

------
clueless123
Lima, Peru on the upscale side of town (Miraflores) Rent $500 for a nice
aptmnt near everything. Food from a $2 "menu" meal on the street (soup, main
dish , desert and drink) to $50 on sushi with drinks at a fancy place. 3G
unlimited Internet $50/month ~ 4Mbps (so they claim) cable $50/month Taxi
anywhere in town < $5, bus $1 Monthly wage for a programmer/designer ~ $700
Fun/Quality of life/Things to do = Excellent Adventure sports within walking
distance: Paragliding ,Surfing,Biking, Hiking, Skateboard friendly city. A bit
further out: White water rafting, Off road biking, Hiking, Mountain Climbing
and others. Availability and prices for computer equipment: Cheaper than Fry's
or Newegg in the states.. plus you can find _anything_ you could possibly need
for hardware hacks (cooling stuff, routers, antennas, mods, laptop repair etc,
etc) (Plus on the back door side you can find _any_ software you can think of
for $3 password hack included) Weather from 11C on the bitter winter to 30C in
the worst part of the summer.

~~~
eliben
Oh, Miraflores. Such a nice part of Lima (an otherwise rather unpleasant
city).

------
kingofspain
Manchester UK

Expenses:

Rent: £200-£500pm for a flat/small house. Lower end can be in somewhat
interesting areas though.

Bills: Utilities usually £40ish. Council tax £80-120 pm.

Internet/Phone: Bundled from £10-£20pm. Pay a little bit more and you can
throw in cable too.

Bus: £10 unlimited weekly travel Train: Depends on how far you go, obv but
city to outer suburbs never more than £4-5 return. Adv returns to London from
£22. Trams: Free in city with train ticket. £2-3 to outlying areas.

Cinema: £7-10 a pop. Or £13pm for unlimited.

Noodles: 7p cheapo packs. 80p Pot Noodles (a "Welsh" delicacy)

Beer: Scandalous £3+ pint. Go outside town for decent pubs anyway and you'll
be a bit closer to £2. Find a Holts or Sam Smiths and it's nearer £1.

Eating out: Mid-market £30ish. Posher £60-100. (for two). McDonalds/KFC around
£3-4.

Wages:

I _think_ typical would be roughly £1500-£2000pm, so I hear. I'm being
horribly underpaid :)

I wrote way too much for a place no one would visit :)

~~~
kingofspain
I neglected to mention healthcare since I kind of take that for granted.
Emergencies are free but I don't know the costs for other things. If you are
resident though, you'll be covered as the rest of us are.

------
mallipeddi
Singapore

Monthly expenses - S$1600

    
    
      * Rent - S$900 (this will get you a room in a nice high-rise condominium with swimming pool/gym but you've to share the flat with 2 other flatmates).
    
      * Broadband - S$70
    
      * Mobile + Unlimited 3G plan - S$40-50
    
      * Food - S$400-500 (this will get you good tasty meals at hawker food stalls; not swanky restaurant dinners w/ alcohol).
    
      * Transportation - S$100-150 for public transport (forget about owning a car in Singapore, it's too expensive and unnecessary).
    

Monthly wages for programmers - S$3000-S$9000 (this range is wide because it
heavily depends on your work exp and your employer).

Misc facts about SG

* Taxes are lower compared to other developed nations.

* Singapore is generally pro-immigration although they're trying to slow it down now.

* English-speaking country so makes things easier compared to Taiwan/HK/etc.

USD 1 = SGD 1.30 (as of today)

~~~
happywolf
Another data point for Singapore, values in Singapore Dollar:

My Monthly Expenses will run average S$1.5k

Rent: S$600 (one room in 3-room apartment)

Broadband: Around S$40 - 70

Mobile + 12GB data plan: S$50 (depends on usage on mobile)

Beer: S$2.50 for Tiger beer 323ml can (expensive!!)

Food: S$250 - 300. For lunch, I go for the so called 'economical rice' or
'mixed rice' which will cost you S$2.50 - 3.00 per plate. Dinner I usually
cook at home. Average restaurants will cost you S$30 per pax per meal. Posh
ones S$90++ and above.

Transportation: S$20 (I live within walking distance to my office)

Movie: S$10 a pop

Big-Mac meal: S$6.50

A mug of Coffee at local store (we call it kopi-tiam): S$0.80 - 1.00

------
gexla
Dumaguete, Philippines

General expenses in USD (not necessarily mine because I'm detailing how to
live cheaply here which is not my goal)

Rent: Two bedroom unfurnished house as low as $80 / month or upgrade to
western standard furnished studio for approximately $230 / month.

Internet: $21 - $35 for 1 - 2 MBPS connection.

Electricity: Big variation on costs depending on your lifestyle. My bill is
around $30 / month.

Food: Also hugely varies but it's pretty easy to live here on a bill of around
$100 / month for one and more people gets cheaper per person.

And most importantly...

One bottle of San Miguel Pilsen (beer!) - approx $1 / bottle at the bar.

------
iampims
Paris, France. (not the suburbs, in USD)

\- rent: $650/month for a small apt(215 sq ft)

\- food: $70/week

\- utilities: $40/month (High-speed internet, TV + landline phone)

\- transport: $80/month for unlimited rides in the city

\- cellphone plans: $30 (cheapest, 1h talking time)

\- monthly wage for a programmer: $3,000 (junior), $4,200 (mid),$5,000+
senior, before taxes (20/30/40% depending of your revenues and situation)

\- minimun wage: $1,900 before taxes. $1,475 after taxes.

\- free social security :)

Outside of Paris, everything is much cheaper. But then again, you can't go
stroll along the Seine, admire the Eiffel Tower, relax in Jardin du
Luxembourg… (all of this is free)

~~~
ovi256
You forgot electricity, which can be quite expensive as most heating is
electric. Maybe $100/m in winter.

Also, let's meet and talk shop, I'm freelance engineer in Paris :) Mail is in
profile.

------
hmsp
Hi,

I've lived in India for the last few years working as a web
designer/programmer. I worked for people in the US - a few clients and would
make about 15K per year USD. This was more than enough to live and do as I
pleased in India as well as travel around the area - it's really a great life
style.

The price of living in India varies based on location - I once rented a house
from a family in the Himalayas for 30 dollars per month - add on the fact that
I cooked most of my own food and probably only spent $100 max per month. I've
also taken $100 hotel rooms in really neat little boutique type hotels in
places like Ahmedabad and Delhi - so as you can see anything is possible.
Generally, though, you can hire a nice room in a guest house for 10 dollars a
day (max) and eat for $10 as well - this would be living pretty nice. If you
can handle it you could get by for much less - not as little as you used to -
but $10 a day would be very easy $5 is possible but you might not like what it
entails.

But again - it just depends upon where you are. India is very nice but living
in New Delhi or Bangalore would be akin to insanity. Living in the Himalayas
or on the beaches in the south or the any other small town is an amazing
experience - and cheap. Also, there is a HUGE traveler scene in India so you
are never alone.

I've worked some for people in Asia and generally would hire myself out at
$500 per month. It's not really worth it - you'd be much more satisfied in
doing volunteer work for a project you have a passion for - and then
maintaining a bit of freelance work back home that pays you real money. This
is what I've done and it works quite well. You'd be amazed that even half way
around the world you can still get jobs - and the fact that you spend about 4
or 5 times less than you earn means the downtime between jobs is just like a
long vacation.

If you are thinking about it - just go and do it. I know that it's the same in
the rest of asia/se asia and south america: everything is cheaper - 3 times
less, 5 times less, or even half the cost which is how i've found mexico. But
these cheaper prices make the work you get stretch that much further.

Once you get the people you work for used to the idea that you are not in the
same country it is really not a big deal at all anymore - it's the same as you
are in another town. One thing which really helps is to just call them
randomly and check in or clarify something which is hard to explain via email
- and skype makes this trivial and cheap.

Let me know if you have specific questions and I can elaborate.

------
rabble
Montevideo, Uruguay

    
    
      * Rent: $400 (studio 35sq meters) (I actually pay $1000 for a 3 bedroom house - 100 sq meters)
      * Internet: $59 (2M/258k adsl)
      * Food: $400 (Restaurant meals cost $5 to $25)
      * Beer 1 litre: $2
      * Corner Bar Food (cheap): $5 - $10
      * Books: (2 to 3x US costs)
      * Health Insurance: $75
      * Summer Vacation Rental (obligatory here): $75 to $150/night x 15 days
      * Utilities: $150
      * Office (CoworkingMVD): $150
      * iPhone Contract: $75
      * Fulltime Nanny (for the kids, she also cooks): $400
      * MacMini: $1700 (The $600 US one)
      * Petrol / Gas: $6 USD / Gallon - $1.5 / litre
      * Cars cost 3x US price Honda CRV is $46k new, plus $1k/year license fee (most people take slow buses)
    
    

Uruguay used to be quite affordable, but the collapse of the USD, lost %30 of
it's value in the last year, and it's not stopped, plus local %6 inflation,
has changed things. There's basically no taxes if you do software export, %100
exemption, minus some fees. But there is a %22 VAT and a high import duty. And
the Peso is strong and getting stronger, so costs are rising fast. That said,
it's basically like living in a smaller european city, both in terms of cost,
and quality of life. Software development is exempt from income / corporate
taxes, and hiring help (nanny/housekeeper) is quite affordable.

Programmer Salaries range from $750 to $4,000. With $1k to $2k being the norm.

It's hard to read, but here are the new car prices:
<http://www.gallito.com.uy/Destacados/D71014.jpg> There's a %22 VAT on top of
the list price.

------
ced
I spent three years in Asia, with no income. So I was looking for cheap places
to live. Here's the monthly rent for one bedroom in a "decent" student shared
flat:

\- Montreal: 300$

\- University town, Germany: 250$, 180$ for the dorms

\- University town, Turkey: 120$

\- India, monastery guest house: 60$

\- China, Kunming (mid-sized city): 80$

In my experience, the other expenses are roughly proportional to the rent,
except for manual-labor, which is even cheaper. I get a haircut for 1$ in
China.

~~~
jacquesm
What did you live off without an income? Savings?

That sounds like quite the adventure! Did you write about it somewhere?

~~~
ced
Savings. While in Germany, I had a good (tax-free) stipend and I was hoarding
~800 euros/month, for a year.

Living in Asia was an amazing experience, but honestly, there isn't that much
"adventure" to write about. I wasn't traveling, since that's expensive-ish. My
primary goal was to do research in AI. That turned out to be quite
challenging, with the lack of good libraries and peers, but the freedom to
work on whatever I want made it entirely worthwhile.

My next goal is to get a job, back in the West. Who wants to hire a physics
grad school drop-out who spent three years roaming, with no portfolio and no
professional experience? A drop-out who will surely quit once he has enough
funds to start roaming again?

Let's find out!

~~~
jacquesm
Ok. Man I'm jealous ;) Not with the money, but with the trip :)

If you have the time please write it up while it is still fresh in your
memory, so that us 'armchair Asia goers' can look through your eyes.

~~~
billpaetzke
I'm a programmer that saved up money, quit my job, and traveled around
Southeast Asia for four months (in 2009). I blogged almost every day. I took
some great photos, too.

Have fun browsing my stuff...

Top 100 photos: [http://billpaetzke.smugmug.com/Travel/Best-of-Southeast-
Asia...](http://billpaetzke.smugmug.com/Travel/Best-of-Southeast-
Asia-09/12402055_kqYWt#786525207_ZCpE5)

Travel Blog: <http://www.bp321.com/travels/>

(I'm back in LA working, by the way).

~~~
quadhome
I did the same for a year and a half-ish. Oceania, Thailand, overlanded from
Cape Town to Cairo, Europe, motorcycled through Central America, and now just
started consulting in Sydney / Melbourne.

<http://travel.quadhome.com/> is an incomplete tumblr of the first half with
photo links to the second-half.

------
gattone
Iasi, Romania

    
    
      - Rent for a studio plus water, electricity...= $350 per month
      - Internet, at least 30mbps = $10 per month
      - Beer in a pub = $1.35
      - Pizza (more than enough for a single person) = $7
      - Bus/Tram ticket = $0.63 for one ride or $32 for one month
      - Milk = $1.05 per litre
      - Chicken meat = $3.60 per kg
    

Wages for 9-to-5 coders are around $700 per month, after tax and medical
insurance _(but Romanian hospitals are really crappy compared to North
American or Western European standards, and also be prepared to pay bribes to
the doctors in the range of $1000 per surgical intervention)_.

------
dejv
I live in Brno, Czech Republic

Rent + Utilities: I am living in big apartment in the city center for
$1000/month, you can easily get small apartment or studio for $300.

Internet: using Netbox provider you've got 100/100MB for like $60, if you are
ok with 20 mbps both ways you will pay around $20 - $30

Food: good meal in fancy restaurant (not most expensive) will cost you for
about $18/person. If you want to live on ramen, it will costs you about $2
from Vietnamese "restaurant" or under $1 if you do it by yourselves. You can
live comfortable on $250/month food budget.

Health insurance and pension: is taken like a tax from your wage. If you are
self employed it costs around $200/month (may wary by income level).

Typical wage for mid level programmer $1700 - $2000 if you work for local
company, slightly more if you work for companies like IBM or Accenture.

------
rarestblog
Moscow, Russia

typ. exp:

    
    
      ~600$ per each family member for food/clothes/utilities (no fancy stuff)
      700-1200$ renting 1 room apt.
      20$ internet (10MBit+ is common)
    

extras:

    
    
      60-100$ meal for 2 at *reasonably* priced restaurant
      15$ movie ticket
      10-20$ taxi ride
      1$ ramen noodles (called "Doshirak" here)
      2.5$ BigMac
    

avg. salary IT (after tax) $700-1500/mth (mostly around $1000/mth)

~~~
eliben
Wow, that sounds totally unlivable

~~~
abalashov
Well, there is a reason Moscow has the dubious distinction of being the
world's most expensive city. :-)

------
zalew
Warsaw, Poland

\- single room flat $400-500 + expenses

\- internet 6Mbps $20

\- public transport $50

\- restaurant downtown $10-30, sushi $30-40, kebab $3-4, mcdonald $4

\- beer in a club/restaurant $3-4, 0.5 can of heineken $1.6, marlboro $4

wages are really flexible (to call it nicely), if you have clients you can
make more on freelancing than even some good programmers on 9to5, a lot of
good programmers are paid below average they should get but it really depends
on the company. noob $700-800, avg/well-skilled $1100-2500, specialist $3000+.
take it only as approx.

for the moment of writing this $1=2.8pln

~~~
adlep
$500.00 for a single room flat in Warsaw == 1500PLN Are you sure it is that
much?

Also, I call BS on "specialist" making 9000 PLN a month

P.S. Official median salary in PL is 1500PLN a month.

~~~
xyzzyz
Rooms in Warsaw are much more expensive than in other parts of Poland.

Student's dormitories are much cheaper, but they frequently have quite
terrible living condition - I pay $100 for a ~16 square meters room for three
people, and it is not the worst one available.

Median salary in Warsaw is more like 4000 PLN ($1400), it can be half of that
in other voivodeships, though.

Your calling BS is about 9000 PLN being too high or too low wage?

------
randomtask
Dublin, Ireland.

Rent - €300 p/m (room/studio in a shared house). This is about as cheap as you
can get. A room in the city centre would be more like €700-900 p/m.

Food - €30-40 per week assuming you bring a packed lunch and cook at home.

Bills - around €50 p/m. Includes electricity and TV.

Internet - if you're a student you can get a 3G USB dongle for €20 with a
monthly cost of €13 from O2. That comes with a 5 gig cap. Vodafone allow you
to roam on any of their networks in Europe if you subscribe to their service.
If you're lucky enough to live in the right area you can get Fibre to the home
for €50 p/m. DSL is around the same price.

Mobile phone - choose the pay as you go option (prepay) and you can send up to
250 text messages per month for free online. plans start from €15 with 50
minutes/texts. mobile calls about 12-13c per minute. i think some of the
networks do free texts to people on the same network now.

Minimum wage - €8.65 per hour

Programmer salaries - typically about €30k starting off with senior (> 5
year's experience and typically more) able to charge up to 70-80k. someone in
the bottom of that range (30k) will take home 80% of that after tax. middle of
that range (55k) will typically take home 70% of their salary after tax, and
someone on 80k will take home just over 60%. We have a fairly harsh budget in
the works so that will probably change slightly. Tax calculator -
<http://www.hookhead.ie/Tools/tax2010.jsp>

Health insurance - companies will often provide this but if they don't then a
decent plan will cost €800-900 and the comprehensive plan will cost €2000.
under the drugs payment scheme (available to all residents) you will pay a
maximum of €120 per month for prescribed medicine.

Transport - typically about €60-70. cycling is definitely an option though as
the city is small.

As a student I have been living on €1000 per month for over a year now. This
is while trying to be fairly frugal most of the time. By cutting down on the
time/money I spend on socialising I could reduce these expenses significantly,
but that is important to me so I don't.

------
ze_dude
Not quite what you're looking for, yet still relevant: the UBS bank provides a
(free) worldwide analysis of wages, purchasing power, benefits and the like

\- 2009 study
[http://www.ubs.com/1/ShowMedia/wealthmanagement/wealth_manag...](http://www.ubs.com/1/ShowMedia/wealthmanagement/wealth_management_research/prices_earnings?contentId=170298&name=PreiseLoehne_2009_e.pdf)

\- 2010 update
[http://www.ubs.com/2/e/medlib/wmr/pdf/Preise_Loehne_2010_e.p...](http://www.ubs.com/2/e/medlib/wmr/pdf/Preise_Loehne_2010_e.pdf)

\- web page
[http://www.ubs.com/1/e/wealthmanagement/wealth_management_re...](http://www.ubs.com/1/e/wealthmanagement/wealth_management_research/prices_earnings.html)

------
djhworld
London, UK

Rent: £675p/month in a shared property. Bills included. Zone 2. This is quite
cheap in comparison to most places in London. If you was looking to get your
own place (a 1 bedroom apartment) then you're looking at > £800 a month PLUS
bill and taxes on top of that

Travel cost: £99.10 a month for a zones 1-2 travelcard.

Food expenses...£100-£150 a month

I earn just under £30k and I've been in the industry for just over 2 years. I
guess a typical programmer will earn £30k-£50k p/a during the course of their
career, depending on what industry they're in

~~~
sl_
May I ask which industy?

~~~
djhworld
I work for a company involved in the games industry. You'll probably find more
money in the financial sector though

~~~
sl_
Almost what i expected. I got a 34k offer (same industry) with good benefits
but am unsure if its worth the move. Main problem seems to be the rent which
is ridiculous if you want to minimze commute time to the centre.

~~~
djhworld
I think with most places in London you're looking at a 45min-1hour commute,
unless you live REALLY close in zone 1 or something.

For me my commute is as follows: -

20 minute walk from house to tube station(could take a bus which would take 10
mins, but I prefer the exercise) 15 mins on the tube to Bond Street 10 minute
walk from there to work

------
jhen095
Auckland, New Zealand - NB: everything below has been converted to USD

Expenses:

    
    
      * rent - small 1 bedroom in CBD - $1000 p/m
    
      * food - cheap 1 person - $300 p/m
    
      * electricity - $80 p/m
    
      * internet - 10Gb p/m - $30 p/m
    
      * supermarket ramen - $1.1 per meal
    
      * big mac meal - $6.8 per meal
    
      * coffee long black - $2.6 per cup
    

total = ~$2000 p/m (incl. some entertainment + travel costs etc. NB: depends
on lifestyle)

Income:

    
    
      * graduate salary - $3150 p/m gross
    

or

    
    
      * median developer salary - $4800 p/m gross
    
    

recently #2 on list of easiest places to start up a business - according to a
story from HN

~~~
heresy
Contract rates (also converted to USD):

    
    
      noob         - $35-45/hr
      intermediate - $55-65/hr
      experienced  - $75+/hr

------
kawera
São Paulo, Brazil - converted to US$

Expenses

\- Rent: small 300sqf one bedroom unfurnished apartment + utilities, in
average area - $900/month

\- Internet: $60 for 5mbps

\- Cell phone: $150 for 300 minutes

\- Bus or Metro ticket: $1.50

\- Petrol: $5.20/gallon

\- Movie ticket: $12

\- Pizza, takeaway: $15

\- Pizza, in restaurant: $25

\- BigMac: $6

\- Eating out, mid-market: $50 for 2 people

\- Bread, whole: $3/pound

\- Oranges: $1/pound

\- Expresso: $1.50

\- Beer, in bar: $4

\- Haircut, men: $15

\- Apple Mac mini, entry model: $1600 (high taxes but also high margin by
Apple Brazil)

\- Foreign books: amazon price x 2

Wages

\- Programmers: $30k beginner, $50k mid-level, $70-$100k senior

\- Webdesigner: $30-$60k

\- Customer support rep: $15k

~~~
rglullis
The dollar is what, now? R$1,70?

I guess we are talking about nicer areas, like Pinheiros, Vila Madalena or
even Jardins. R$1500,00 for a 300sqf apartment? That is really, really
expensive. For that price you can get a 2 1/2 bedroom close to Morumbi or
Brooklyn.

Also, $4 for a beer? It has to be a really trendy, high-end club. How much
does a large bottle of Original/Bohemia cost at a bar, or at a deli (padaria)?

Also, I used to have a R$50,00 fix-priced cell phone plan. I would talk about
120 minutes and unlimited text. We should highlight that in Brazil you only
pay for originating calls. So I would either call from a landline or text most
of the time I was on the go, so 120 minutes was more than enough.

Transportation: bus tickets was R$2,40 last I was over there. Metrô was
R$2,25.

~~~
kawera
Rent for small apartments close to the Green or Yellow lines are in the
R$1000-1200 range for rent only. You must add charges("condominio"),
electricity and tax("iptu"). I have two units, one close to Clinicas hospital,
another close to Ana Rosa station, that I rent for R$1200 each, plus charges
of around R$350 each.

At a far-from-trendy mid-market bar, the going price for a large bottle of
Original is in the R$6-7 range, not only in Vila Madalena but also in Paraiso,
Vila Mariana, Bela Vista, Jardins, Pinheiros. The price for a Bohemia at a
"padaria" is R$4.

My fix-priced cell phone plan for 300 minutes, unlimited text and very limited
3G is R$250.

Bus or Metro tickets are R$2.70 now, not US$1 as I (mis)quoted.

São Paulo isn't cheap.

~~~
rglullis
> São Paulo isn't cheap.

Truer words are rarely spoken. To live a fairly "average" standard of living
compared to any North American or European city, São Paulo costs way more.

But I guess what I'm trying to say is that São Paulo has a very high degree of
variability. It _can_ be cheaper, if you are willing to let go of certain
things.

For instance:

\- why living "by the rivers", you can live on the East Side or closer to the
South? Saúde, Ipiranga... good neighborhoods but much cheaper. Downtown
(Centrão) São Paulo also still has a lot of stigma, so prices are lower than
the West side.

\- The R$250 phone plan is a luxury, if you enjoy it and can afford, more
power to you. But it isn't a necessity.

\- I wouldn't go out at any place where a beer costs 6 bucks. I wouldn't go to
a place where they have a minimum charge of R$40, like many do in the
neighborhoods you mentioned.

\- Why buy a Mac, if you can go to Santa Ifigênia and get a more-than-decent
box for R$800?

~~~
TheEzEzz
When I go to Sao Paulo I have a friend in the Jardins I stay with, so I don't
have to worry about rent. The down side is that hanging out with him and his
upper class buddies destroys the savings I get!

------
aymeric
Australia in AUD (about the same as USD these days):

One bedroom rent in Sydney: $1200/month (EDIT: increased the rent based on
comments)

Food: $400

Wages:$60K-120K/year (gross)

Internet:$50/month

Phone: $50/month

Bus ticket: $3.20

McDonalds Big Mac small meal: $6.45

\--

By the way, I am looking to hire a Ruby on Rails developer for USD600/month in
India / Philippines / Indonesia to help me develop my ideas.

Please contact me if interested aymeric{at}wiselabs.net

~~~
srnm
Good luck finding a decent one bedroom apt in Sydney for $200/wk.

Most places you'd want to live (eastern suburbs, inner west, northern beaches)
will start at $350/wk.

To get something nice in Alexandria or Newtown will be $450/wk plus.

~~~
derrida
I live in newtown in a housing co-operative for $70/week. No landlord. No
government agents. I don't know why there are not more housing co-operatives
around.

NOTE TO FOLKS THAT DON'T LIVE IN NEWTOWN: I agree with all other previous
estimates, I thought I would just write this here to brag to the other
sydneysiders about my cheap rent and plug a misunderstood housing model!

------
rudepeklo
I live in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

I don't need to pay rent (lucky me :)), so I'll summarize my expenses when I
did:

\- monthly rent: $300 (small flat in the middle of the city)

\- electricity, heating, Internet: $100

\- food: about $200 (you could easily live on $100 to $150 dollars if you
wanted to save)

\- public transportation: about $110 (I don't have a car and I had to commute
by train)

Typical wages for programmers in Hradec are $1000 to $1500 but can go higher
if you are self employed. The nearer you are to Prague, the higher go the
wages (and expenses, but I guess the wages climb faster)

------
iuguy
Place: Reading, UK

Monthly Expenses:

    
    
      Rent (two bed apartment) - £750 - £900 per month
    
      Alternative Rent (Studio or shared a bit further out) - £500 - £700 per month.
    
      Internet - £25 per month for 24 Mbit
    
      Health Insurance - N/A (NHS)
    
      Ramen Food and Drink - £5 per day
    
      Eating out (typical place) - £20 per head
    
      Eating out (somewhere nice) - £45 per head

------
rglullis
Can someone please do it for Prague? Or Budapest?

As someone who used to live in (very expensive for non-basic necessities,
cheap for basic necessities) São Paulo and moved to (reasonably cheaper for
non-basic necessities, way more expensive for rent and food) Boston, when I
went to Prague it _felt_ cheap.

I found 4-star hotels in Prague 1 for the price of not-that-great hostels in
London, €18/day. I'd go to a bar or a club and pay €1.50 for a pint of beer. I
could get a day pass at the tram/bus for Czk 100 (about €4). I heard that a
2-bedroom downtown goes for about €600-700. Internet would be €50/month.

If someone can give more accurate prices or tell me how it's going for
Budapest, I can guarantee you one karma point. :)

~~~
dejv
See my post on Brno, which is second largest city in Czech Republic and
somewhere little bit cheaper than Prague (but not that much).

Same apply to Budapest, it is pretty much like Prague, maybe little bit
cheaper.

~~~
thingie
I'd say that Prague is actually cheaper than Brno, as you can very easily earn
more there, and you can get food for pretty much the same price in the same
chain store, public transit fares are almost the same, rents outside the city
center are comparable, even better in Prague, as there is much more choice.

(I live in Brno.)

------
eel
To be honest, I thought the rest of the world, especially India and South
America was a lot cheaper than what a lot of the other comments have revealed.

For a room, a share of the utilities, and food, it costs me about $625 / month
in Phoenix, AZ. If you have to commute much, add $50+ of gas to that. I split
a 3BR with 3 roommates, so if you live alone, expect to pay more -- $1000 / mo
for an apt, utilities, and food would be expected.

------
trevelyan
Beijing, China

$500 to $1000 in rent, plus equivalent amount food and entertainment for a
non-stressful lifestyle. You can pare down costs to perhaps $800/month by
getting a room in a shared apartment and eating inexpensively. Add on $2500
annual expenses for visa, entry-exit expenses, etc.

Hiring programmers costs between $500 and $1500 per month depending on skills
and experience. Without a legitimate Chinese business it can be hard to
attract talent since you will not be able to pay social benefits, etc.
Starting a legitimate business costs upwards of $30,000 in a one-time
incorporation expense and pushes hiring costs to about $1500 per month per
staffer.

~~~
garply
Beijing, China

I live off about $400 / month, with $220 in rent (I split a relatively
centrally-located apartment with a Western-style bathroom with my girlfriend).
Most of the rest of the money goes to ordering / eating out, at about $1.50 /
meal, and taxis. Riding to near locations (less than 10 RMB taxi fare) on my
electronic bicycle cuts down taxi fares a bit.

I have a Chinese corporation, and it was indeed a pain in the ass and
expensive to set up.

~~~
trevelyan
I admire your commitment, although I think anyone who can't handle $1000/month
shouldn't really consider moving to China. It's easy to have unexpected
expenses, and $1.50 a meal is really slumming it. Most Xinjiang places charge
at least 10 RMB for a plate of choamianpianr these days.

That said, congrats on starting an official business here. I'd be curious to
hear what you're doing and whether you can legally bill in RMB? My contact
info is on my profile page.

~~~
garply
I can handle $1k / month, I just prefer not to. I go out for coffee
periodically, which would bring that number up, but that's usually business-
related. I can legally bill in RMB.

$2500 sounds really high for visa and entry /exit expenses, unless you're
including plane tickets. My year-long visa was $100-200. Anyway, I see you're
near Dongzhimen - I'm near Yonghegong, so not far. I'll drop you a line some
time.

------
sybreon
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I assume that this is for an entry-level position.

Monthly salary : ~ US$650-$950 (Average US$800).

EPF deduction: 11% Room Rent: US$150. Food: US$250 (3 ramen sized meals) Car
Installment: US$100 (Perodua Viva) Petrol: US$50

These are the costs for survival mode living.

Optional Movie ticket: US$3-5 Internet (1Mbps): US$35 Mobile (300 mins): US$10
Alcohol: Forget it.

~~~
angusgr
I'm guessing from a quick Google that EPF is Malaysia's compulsory retirement
savings program?

~~~
sybreon
Yup, but foreigners get a choice of whether or not to contribute.

------
darklajid
Cologne, Germany (labeled our 2nd most expensive city, after Munich)

\- 900 EUR for a decent,3 room flat (need a place for the SO..)

\- 45 EUR phone/cable tv/cable internet

\- 320 EUR Food (for 2, decent diet, mostly cooking and the occasional
restaurant)

\- Ramen is more prominent as a novelty food here (the cheap, fast food
equivalent might be "Doener" (kebap) or a "Currywurst" :)) and - except for
really lousy "I have dishes from every continent" shops - are mostly limited
to restaurants. Budget 7-12 EUR for a dish of ramen in a restaurant.

Typical monthly wage for a programmer (after taxes, dreived from my network):
1200 - 2400 EUR

------
puli
Trivandrum, India

Rent : $50 - $150 (ranging from single room to 3bed house) Utility: $20
Internet: $10 - $40(3Mbps unlimited bandwidth) Food: $100 (Assuming cooking at
home and occasional $3.5 subway sandwich) Car: 2x US prices ($2000 for a
decent non-imported used car. Motorcycle is the preferred transport here. You
get a pretty good motorcycle for $1500 new. You get really good fuel economy
too.) Gas: $1.3/Litre ($5/gal) Cellphone call expenses: $10 (Phone is not part
of contract. Phone costs are comparable to unlocked ones in other parts of the
world.)

Monthly wage : $500 - $2000

Trivandrum is at the southern part of India with an emerging IT industry. I
used to work here a few years back but the scene has changed a lot now. The
pay used to be less than other cities like Bangalore, but has now improved
with the IT giants coming in. Living costs also shot up due to this.

------
bobds
<http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/>

Numbeo has lots of crowdsourced data. They ask contributors for city data, so
you can even compare between cities in your target country.

Hyderabad, India is at the top of their Consumer Price plus Rent Index for
2010.

------
thomas11
A data point for the higher end: Geneva (also, Zurich), CH. Currency is CHF
which is almost 1:1 with USD.

Rent 1500-2000 (one person apartment!)

Food 500 (eating at home, eating out is minimum 30/meal)

Internet + smart phone w/ 3G: 150

Net salary after tax, health insurance, pension: 60,000 - 120,000 for a
programmer.

~~~
loewenskind
If you go with Orange on the phone you can get 35CFS/mo for phone + 3G. They
have a deal going for 10CFS off per month of all plans. The high end for a
programmer is higher if you consult, and there is no real downside to
contracting in Switzerland.

~~~
thomas11
Thanks for your additional information. I've been wondering about
contracting/consulting since a while, but I'm not sure how to get started
here. My mail is in my profile - I'd appreciate if we could exchange a few
lines.

~~~
loewenskind
I'd rather talk on a site that has private chat, e.g. reddit.

~~~
preek
Mind if I join in? I'm also living in Zurich and have been evaluating contract
work. Therefore I would be very interested in anything you would like to share
on that topic.

~~~
loewenskind
Ok, what do you guys want to know? The easiest way is to find the job yourself
and tell them that you'll be contracting. Then you can just get payroll done
via some company (e.g. Harvey Nash who charges about 500 per time sheet. There
are others but your costs here will probably be more like 800) or if not you
can have your pick of agencies and negotiate the rate as low as you can.

A lot of agencies will try to set their fee at 20%, but there are companies
out there that will do 7% (more than payrolling but not bad).

In Switzerland even consulting agencies have to deduct vacation from your
check and pay it back when you actually take a vacation, but you should be
able to sign a form to wave that away (i.e. get rid of that deduction and not
get paid for vacation).

Contract notice periods are usually one month. If you don't get extended and
can't find another contract the normal unemployment rules apply (i.e. if
you've worked for over a year you can begin drawing AHV immediately). I
understand that according to swiss law you can switch contracting agencies at
any time with no notice (the underlying contract has a one month notice period
but who is carrying it can change during its lifetime).

------
mjnaus
Hatyai, Thailand (southern region, close to border with Malaysia)

Monthly expenses: rent (three bedroom, two bathroom, AC, carpark): $150
electricity (incl AC): $40 water: $7 food (eating out in nice restaurants 80%
of the meals): $300 groceries: $166 car/motorcycles: $183 other expenses: $133

total: $979

Starting salary for designers/developers just out of uni: $400 Salary senior
developers/managers: $665

------
jacquesm
Europe, Netherlands (adjusted for one person):

\- rent/mortgage 500 (comes to about the same)

\- food 120

\- mandatory health insurance 100

\- internet 20M 75 (yep, that's splurging)

\- cheap car 250 (owning a car is expensive here)

\- energy bill 200

\- various other insurances 100

\- phone 50

~~~
seltzered
is this in USD or EUR? Are you in amsterdam?

~~~
sebi
amsterdam is quite a bit more expensive.

i sublet an old, rusty, worndown (with views on a canal) 1 bedroom appartment
in the best part of town (jordaan) for 900€/month. The bigger problem in
amsterdam is to find something.

~~~
_exec
How would you recommend finding accommodation in Amsterdam? Also, any
districts / neighborhoods one should stay away from?

I'm looking for a 2-3 bedroom apartment in a decent location (not necessarily
the centrum, but the closer the better) but I'm having a hard time finding a
place without signing up with any of the agencies (I cannot afford to pay the
agency fee)

I tried using Kamernet but I have found that being a foreigner + not speaking
dutch really makes it difficult to get any replies

~~~
jacquesm
Be careful you don't get screwed. The best way to find something is to get to
know lots of people, check in to 'anti-kraak' housing and if you can stay away
from agencies, they'll cost you more than they're worth.

------
gregschlom
I'm currently bootstrapping a startup on my savings, with no incomes. I moved
from Paris to Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). It's a very inexpensive place to
live in.

\- Room on a flat: $150-$200 \- Food: $120

~~~
prateekdayal
I was in Ho Chi Minh for the last two months. Its certainly a great place to
live in and do a startup out of. How long are you planning to stay there?

------
csmeder
San Luis Obispo, CA

    
    
      Apartment Rent + Utilities: $400-$600
      Internet (1 Mbps): $25
      Food: $250
      Phone: $50
      Transport (Bike): $20
    
    
      A decent meal: $8-$30

~~~
TheEzEzz
Santa Barbara, CA

Apartment Rent + Utilities: $900 Food: $250

Lawrence, Kansas

Apartment Rent + Utilities: $200 - $500 Food: Same

I miss Kansas sometimes =(

~~~
mcgraw
Nice. ;) I'm up North of the bay....

Apartment Rent: $1766 (4 mo. contract), was $1395 (14 mo. contract) Utils:
$115 or so (electric, trash/water)

Manhattan, KS Apartment Rent: $385 Utils: $100

Heading back to good ol` Kansas at the end of the year.

------
bryanwb
Rome, Italy

Rent: euro 800-1000, $1,300 for cheap 1 bedroom apt

Food: euro 1000, $1,300

Health Insurance: ?

Transport: public transport euro30 / month, super cheap

sundries: 2x that of US

Starting Programmer Salary: euro1500-2000

How do young programmers afford to live here? I think they live w/ their
parents and frequently their parents cook for them or they live off pizza

~~~
drtse4
Speaking for the Milan Area,

Food: If you cook at home 300eu should be more than enough, if you eat out,
well... yours could be a conservative estimate :) Definitely not a place where
people eat out that often.

Health Insurance: The state thinks about that (tax-funded universal health
care)

Gadgets: $ value translated to € (as in $599Ipad -> 599€Ipad).

Starting Programmer Salary: Real range depending on the contract type (there
are a _few_ options), after-tax it could start at around 1200€/mo for a junior
(with very little variance) to well below 3000€/mo depending on seniority and
the like.

------
domagoj
Rijeka, Croatia

Expenses:

    
    
      Apartment(1 room flat): $300-$400
      Internet (5 Mbps, flat): $25
      Grocery: $300
      Pizza: $7
      Restaurant: $10-$50
      Beer: $1.8-$2.8
      Bus: 2.5$ -> 1 ride, $70 -> monthly ticket
      Taxi: $4 for 5km 
      Mobile + 3G internet (1gb plan): $30
      Electricity: $40/summer, $200-$300/winter (if you use it for heating)
      Petrol(1 liter): $1.7
    

Typical wage: $1000 - $2000

------
jemmj
Lisbon Portugal Monthly expenses flat $700 internet $60 but 100mb/s food $300
Wage $1400 after tax

------
bendmorris
Taiwan (amounts are in Taiwan NT):

Rent: In Taipei, $16,000+; in rural areas, you can find a good place around
$6,000

Food, travel: I generally spent ~$8,000, but I ate out frequently (pretty
normal there.) If you stick to mostly 7-11 food and don't eat much you can
bring this down to 4,000. Food is also more expensive in Taipei than in
surrounding areas.

Public transportation is excellent and cheap, there's little need to get your
own car. A bike or scooter works great.

Total:

$24k ($720 USD) in Taipei

$14k ($420 USD) in rural areas (i.e. Yilan)

$10k ($300 USD) will get you by if you're really on a budget

Quality of life is very good for foreigners. The people are very friendly, and
can speak enough English for you to get by (although speaking Mandarin is a
plus.) You've got your standard McDonald's/TGI Friday's/Burger
King/Subway/other American establishments if you miss them. Being an island,
it is very humid and does get quite hot in the summer.

Also, the entire city of Taipei has really cheap wifi! A couple bucks a month
gets you internet access from anywhere in the city.

~~~
kachhalimbu
Those numbers are pretty much spot on. I have lived 5 years in taiwan and most
of it in Taoyuan county (jhongli/yangmei) and my living costs were in 10~14k
NT$ range.

------
RealGeek
New Delhi (NCR), India

Typical monthly wage for a programmer / designer: $300 to $500

Monthly Expenses: $860

    
    
      Apartment Rent + Utilities: $500
      Internet (2 Mbps): $50
      Food: $100
      Public Transport (Taxi+Bus+Metro): $100 (Higher if you mostly use taxi, and $300/mo for car)
      Coffee at a coffee shop: $60 ($2*30)
      Entertainment: $50

~~~
solutionyogi
This breakdown doesn't seem right to me.

From my other comment (<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1773273>), you can
easily live on 250$/month in Surat, India. My friend runs an outsourcing
company in Surat and he pays his programmers around 300-500$/month.

When I started my IT career, I was in Mangalore (worked at Infosys) and my
expenses were similar to what I listed above. [Except for the higher rent] I
rented a two bedroom apartment with another guy and my share of rent was 4000
INR (approx 100$ USD). I think in Bangalore, you can expect to pay around 10
to 12k INR in Rent if you share a 2 bedroom apartment.

Also, 4500 INR/month for Food and 2400 INR /month for coffee? That's really
really high. In India, people mostly drink tea, which you can get for 5 to 10
rupees. Cafe Coffee Day (dare I say 'Starbucks' of India) charges 1$ for
Cappuccino ([http://www.foodiebay.com/menus/1/593/menu-photo-for-cafe-
cof...](http://www.foodiebay.com/menus/1/593/menu-photo-for-cafe-coffee-
day-1.jpg)), though I don't think someone making 500 USD a month will spend
30$/month (one coffee a day) on coffee.

~~~
RealGeek
How many years ago was that? The rents were low until few years ago. The $500
rent I mentioned includes electricity and other utilities.

When I moved to New Delhi, my rent was $100. These days a livable apartment in
New Delhi will cost around Rs. 15,000 ($330) + add cost of electricity($100),
water and maintenance. In summer, electricity bill shoots up to $200 to $300.

The estimate of rent is very modest, a good two bedroom house can cost $2000
per month in Delhi or Mumbai. India tops the most expensive real estate market
in the world.

A coffee at Barista or Cafe Coffee Day will cost between $1 to $3. Most
hackers will require at least one coffee day if not beer. $100 per month will
get you only two modest meals a day. Food could cost more than $200 depending
upon what you eat.

Yes, most of the Indian population survives on less than $1 a day. They live
on streets and barely get a single meal a day.

~~~
boundlessdreamz
Dude, $2000 for a two bedroom? That's not true. I live in a Raheja Apartment,
for 25K ($600) /month. Two bedroom , 1100 sq. ft. Comes with 24/7 security,
car park etc etc.

------
dalys
Göteborg, Sweden

This is monthly expenses in euro. 1 EUR = ~1.4 USD . Rent: Sweden is rent
controlled. Expect €200-500 for 1 BR apartment in a large city depending on if
you live on the outskirts or right downtown. The problem is the queues. If you
want to live very central you can stand in line for many many years. Around
€100-300 per month if you own a condo and only pay the condo association fee.
Around €150-200k to buy a 1 BR very central condo.

Electricity: Around 10 euro cents per kWh.

Internet: €30-40 for 100/10Mbps cable or 100/100Mbps FTTH(whatever is
available) or ADSL (24/3Mbps) if you live in a house. I get 100/10Mbps for
free and 100/100Mbps for €20 extra per month.

Phone: €10 if you make a few calls and send a few SMS per day, I pay €6 for
flatrate 1Mbps data per month. €15 for 6Mbps flatrate and €20 for 10Mbps. (I'm
writing this message riding a train with my laptop and cell phone in tethering
harmony)

Food: €150 I make my own food to 99% and don't buy much meat. Double it if you
eat like a regular person. :) A lunch is €6 for kebab/McD and stuff like that,
€10+ on restaurant. Expect €30 per person to eat dinner and drink wine/beer on
a nice restaurant.

Beer/Alcohol: Expensive! €1.5 for 50cl beer of the cheapest kind in the state
owned alcohol monopoly store. In clubs/bars it's around €5 for ~40cl beer. €10
for 4cl shots.

Ramen: 20 euro cents for a package of noodle (80gr). You can buy 500gr of
pasta for €0.5-1.

Transport: €2 per ride on the tram with SMS ticket (How many rides you want
within 90min). I take 5-10 rides per month and walk every where I need to go
otherwise.

Shopping: iPad €550. Xbox 360 slim 250GB €230. Clothes are europy-pricey I
guess...

Insurances: The only one you need to have is home insurance. Mine is €10 per
month.

Wages: Around €2500-3000/month for entry level programmers with a uni./college
degree.

I don't know if I've forgot something important but my living expenses are
around €500 per month total.

~~~
ohashi
Don't know about you... but rent control is great... IF you can find a place.
I am paying way more than that because I found mine second hand off blocket.
Probably varies by region a lot though.

------
natorion
Austria/Vienna:

-Rent for 2 rooms flat: aproxx 550 €

-Electricity, water, sewag etc: 150 €

-Internet: 30 € 10 mbit/s

-Cell: ~10 € for 100 minutes

-Food aproxx 300 € (cooking@home & eating fast food)

-Ramen is non-existant but suitable fast food is available

-Beer in store: 0,50 € to 1,00 €

-Beer in pub: 2,80 € to 3,60 Euro

-social security (health, work, pension) is covered automatically by your wage.

-netto wage for junior programmer: starting at 1700 €

------
silverlake
New York City area, NY, USA. Manhattan is outrageous but the surrounding area
is cheaper. I live comfortably with few compromises at $2800/month.

Rent: $1500 for half a 1300ft^2 apartment. You can easily get much cheaper
than this. Food: $300/month for expensive organic groceries Restaurants:
$40/person at mid-tier restaurants, $20/person at lower end but nice places.
Utilities: $150/electricity, $120/cable/phone/internet(15mbps) Transportation:
$2/subway, $90/monthly pass Insurance: $250/month for health, $50/month for
dental

Salary varies widely. I think $60k for college grads up to $150k for senior
people. Double it if you work in finance. Roughly 30-40% goes to taxes and
stuff. Lots of hipsters working as waiters live happily here, so it's possible
to get by on very little.

~~~
dmooney1
Fairfield County Connecticut is similar but you'll get more living space for
the money. You can get a decent rent for <$1000. Fewer hipsters though. More
minivans.

------
Cafesolo
Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Living in a nice area such as Belgrano costs you around $800 (US dollars):

\- Apartment: $500

\- Food: $200

\- Public transport: $50

\- Internet: $30

\- Cellphone: $20

Most programmers here make between $800 and $1600. Really good ones make up to
$2500.

~~~
Blocks8
I've been looking to work out of BA for the month of February - coming down
from NYC to BA. Any advice on subletting a short term space or getting
connected with other internet entrepreneurs down there? Contact: brittany at
gtrot dot com or @blocks8

~~~
Cafesolo
Craigslists is probably your best bet.

There are Hacker News meetups here in BA every couple of weeks. Also, there's
this thing called Palermo Valley (<http://palermovalley.com>). Check it out.

My email is in my profile.

------
Murkin
TelAviv, Israel

    
    
      * Rent+Utils: 700$ (each-with roommates) / 1300$ (2 room appt) 
      * Internet: 30$
      * Food: 500$
      * Transport: 140$
      * Beer 1 litre: 12$
      * Corner Bar Food (cheap): 7$
      * Lunch deal: 13$
      * Cellphone: 55$ (~300 minutes)
      * Petrol: 2$/ltr
      * Cars are expensive, e.g.: Mazda3 30,000$
      
      * Salary: 4,000$ - 8,000$
      * Average salary in the country: ~2400$
      

Generally the life style of a tech person is very high compared to other
professions.

~~~
ido
You should mention the salary figures are per month, not per year.

------
aspir
Norman, Oklahoma (Monthly)

Rent, 1 room- 250 Utilities- 60

Gas- 2.50/gal

Groceries- 150-200/month (depending on ramen to steak ratio)

Entry Level Programming: $3500/month

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augustflanagan
Oaxaca, Mexico

1 bedroom apartment in very nice building with weekly cleaning - $450/mo (all
bills + wifi included).

Food: $200-400

Beer: $1/bottle

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camilless
Calgary, Canada $11,000 CAD (close to the USD) mortgage $2600 childcare $1600
Utilities $800 Food $1200 Car stuff $1000 Budget for extras (things that break
in a house, and oddly enough, we almost always use this up) $2000 Presents
(family and others) $300 Medication $200 (canada covers most medical expenses,
but not medication or physio or chiro or eyeglass or dental). Fun (movies,
exercise fun) $300 Private school (we have a child with ADHD and this school
really helps him) $800 Clothing $200 \--We're self employed, and both work -
programmer $100/hr, designer $75/hr. If you're employed though, the rates are
about half that.

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sushi
Here's a small estimate of my expenses when I was in college (an year back). I
used to live in a small locality opposite a 5 star hotel in South Delhi.

Food = $100 (McDonald's and Domino's everyday)

Rent = $70 (shared with two other classmates)

Internet = $20 to $30

Transport = $20

~~~
prateekdayal
McDonalds and Domino's everyday for less than $3 a day?

~~~
sushi
2 McAloo tikki burger ~ $1

Smallest Domino's pizza (they don't do the home delivery of this one I
believe) ~ $1

And make another $1 for noodles, bread, omelet etc.

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lfx
Vilnius, Lithuania

Apartment Rent + Taxes ~ $180 (I live in 3 room flat, so we share apartment
rent, witch for all of us is ~ $400 in good neighborhood)

Internet (100Mbps): $40 (for all)

Foot: $200-300

Transport not in warm season ~ $45

Phone ~8$ (with G3 7GB quota)

Beer ~ $1-2

BicMac (big) ~$5

Daily lunch in Chinese restaurant ~ $4

Typical wage $650 - 2400

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vimalg2
Trivandrum, Kerala, India :

Rent+Utilities for a 750.sq.ft 2BHK (it was a steal): $90

512k unmetered Internet : $24

Occasional eating-out and groceries :$140-$150

 _and thats for 2 people (I asked my mum to move in with me after dad passed
away)

_ *Cooking your own food for 2, costs the same as when I lived alone and ate
out everyday.

Anything else is listed as a a 'luxury' in my Expense tracker. (and i'm the
least frugal person in my immediate circle)

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adarshbl
This is adarsh from bangalore

Bangalore(India)

i have finished engg currently looking for a job.

Monthly expenses : petrol Rs.500/month snacks : Rs.500/month

i live with parents. house rent Rs.6,000/month in a decent area for a family
of 4 people, 2BHK.

typical montly wage for programmer : Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30,000 for most
freshers.

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user24
"a programmer" can vary from PHP monkey work to Java analyst roles, with
salaries going from £16k to £160k. Check cwjobs.co.uk and type in a few
languages to see the range of salaries in the UK.

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_corbett
Zürich, Switzerland

Monthly Expenses $2500+

Wages 100k+

~~~
preek
Second that. But for 2500$ you already have a 2 room/50qm flat and a Mini
Cooper. At least I do. I don't know any other place where I would earn that
much money as a student.

~~~
_corbett
yea–my basics: rent, health insurance, food, going out a few times are around
$2000/month but I have shiny gadgets, adventure sports, and travel habits so
end up spending more

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borism
Tallinn, Estonia

Monthly expenses - basic stuff like food, shelter and public transportation
shouldn't exceed $1000 per person. But it's inflating twice the speed of EU.

Average monthly wage for a programmer was last reported to be $2600, but I
don't know if it was before or after tax.

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mkramlich
i think non-typical income for programmers is fairly typical. varies by
individual, moment in time, project, client, employer, etc.

