Post: #26

The Mercer CoL report suffers because it only seems to report on the costs of a few select expats. If you're in HR at Shell or BP and trying to figure out staff costs the list is useful. If you're an international playboy it's not that useful since you will be living more like a local than an oil industry expat. And believe me, locals in Luanda, Angola do not have one of the highest living costs in the world. More like one of the lowest.

As a contribution for people interested I'll breakdown living costs for an international playboy type on a budget in Cape Town, South Africa:

Basically, living in Cape Town Central Business District with lot's of bars/clubs nearby. Cost should be around....

$1,300 per month base for one person.

Including
Rent (likely very small, but nice enough, furnished studio apartment with parking)
Transport costs (basic car insurance, petrol for city trips, oil, bus fare when travelling by public transport, minor car servicing, the rare cab for CBD trips only late at night)
Food and Toiletries(Good whole foods, not packaged rubbish. But not organic The odd cheap meal out, but not really including eating out. The odd dinner for two...too.)
Cleaning supplies.
Internet and cell phone (3G or LTA. Limited to around 10 - 20 GB data per month. Internet expensive in SA. Moderate cellphone use)
Satelite TV (Also expensive in SA. Could do without it. Good for sports but SA is an ex-British colony. It's all rugby, cricket, soccer etc.)
Electricity
Gym (Use the gym in the apartment building. Around $60/month if you want an external gym)

Excluding:
Maid service/External laundry service
Clothing of any kind
Eating out. Partying in general
Capital cost and major repairs for the car
Medical costs and medical insurance.
Trips out of town.

Figure to add $200 per month at the low end for "entertainment"/partying, maybe up to $700 at the mid-level, and you have around $1,500 to $2,000 per month. which isn't really too bad. The split by category goes something like this:

Rent $650
Transport Costs $120
Food, Toiletries, Cleaning supplies $350
Internet and cellphone $65
Satelite TV $65
Electricity $35

Post: #27

(07-25-2013 05:31 AM)Prosal Wrote:  2012 Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living Survey:

http://www.romandie.com/news/pdf/PDF_Etu...120906.pdf

Granted, these ratings aren't really 100% accurate, but it does at least provide a general guideline.

As a side note, Tbilisi, Tashkent, Minsk and Bishkek are the cheapest cities in the FSU, and amazingly the less visited. Personally, being in a place where everything is dirt cheap adds to my travel pleasures.

In the 2013 survey, Moscow is now on 2nd position.

(07-25-2013 10:48 AM)samsamsam Wrote:  Per numbeo.

Crazy in Poland the median disposable income is around 800 bucks.
Kazakhstan is 650 usd
Wow Tashkent is around 300 dollars.

Very interesting.

This is the kind of breakdown we need.

Post: #28

(07-25-2013 11:02 AM)slubu Wrote:  I was just in Budapest. Ridiculously cheap. I was popping bottles of champagne at the top club with Qwest on here for $15-17/bottle. This is retail, at the supposed best club.

Wow... This either means things have changed since I was there or they screwed me but good.

ps A Typical Tuesday was a brilliant piece of work!

Post: #29

I think, rather than COUNTRIES, let's outline what would be good BOOTSTRAP locations?
Some parameters:
- Low Rental Cost
- Good / Decent Infrastructure (Reliable High Speed Internet etc)
- Inexpensive Food Options (Farmers Market/ Organic Grocer, Healthy Restaurants)
- Surroundings having decent number of Hot Young Chicas

I am wondering which Cities in the US and Latin America would qualify?

I was looking at Rooms for Rent in and near Downtown Austin. Doesn't seem that expensive. Great having UT Campus and 4th & 6th street as huge night & street venues.

Post: #30

(09-25-2013 02:25 AM)xmlenigma Wrote:  I was looking at Rooms for Rent in and near Downtown Austin. Doesn't seem that expensive. Great having UT Campus and 4th & 6th street as huge night & street venues.

Hey bro,

I guess I'll answer that for you since I know the city well.

I used to live on 5th Street and West close to the flagship Whole Foods store (the very first Whole Foods ever created) and it was a great place. I lived in a Condo where there was a 24/7 Concierge/Front Desk person.

The whole foods was really good because it was a 5 minute walk away, so this meant that I could schedule a meetup with a chick for Day2, then bounce to my place.

After a while, I decided that I was going to get a little bit more "extreme" with my lifestyle and go more hardcore in my night game. I ended up moving to E 6th Street - this was just one street up, but about 7-8 blocks over, and this was a logistical heaven.

My place at 5th street was good, and it was a 15 minute walk to the bars. However, my place at 6th street was a 30 second walk - literally, I would walk up the stairs, and I was on the 6th Street right in the middle of the bars.

My Condo at 5th Street (which I recommend if you're looking to do a start-up) cost me 1800/month unfurnished. Then, you have to add furnishings, utilities, and everything else, so it will end up running you about 2200-2400/month total.

The place I used to stay at on 6th street isn't available now, but there may be a couple of places available close to it for around 2200-2400 total/month.

The great thing about living downtown is that everything I needed was within 5-10 minutes from me. This meant that I would very rarely be driving more than a couple of miles. I remember that I even went a whole 2 months without filling up my gas tank because I'd be driving less than 5 miles a day (if I even drove at all). So your transportation costs will be non-existent.

Food is very cheap as they have different stores like HEB, Sprouts, and other smaller ones that give good prices for whatever you need.

Also, the bars have zero cover fees - or maybe a $3 cover on a Friday/Saturday for a special event - but it's not the norm. So you won't spend very much money on cover.

Drinks are very affordable and you won't break the bank by going out every night.

Since everything is centrally located, I spent most of my time on 5th-7th street. From time to time, I would go to the Ihop on 1st street, and I would consider that a "field trip" because it was "so far away", lol.

You'll find EVERYTHING that you need between 1st street and 52nd street (15 minutes drive).

The traffic can be horrendous between 4:30-7:30, however, I never experienced any of it because I was either 1) sleeping at that time, 2) inside working, 3) out doing something on the street. So yeah.

Altogether, your expenses should run like this for Austin:

(I'm estimating this on the high end)

2400 - housing, renters insurance, utilities, etc.
700 - food (very high. You can get by with 350-500)
100 - gas (that is if you decide to go different places around town and see different sites, you won't travel more than 10-20 miles).
120 - Smartphone + Plan (I use verizon, great service. ATT also has great reception here. I've heard about coverage issues with Sprint and TMobile though).
150 - insurances - car/health (if you have it/need it).
300 - entertainment costs (nightlife, drinks, etc.)
500 - Misc.

Total: $4270

HOWEVER, this is ONLY for living downtown on a street from 4th-8th street. If you choose to live "Below the River" (3 miles - 10 minutes south of downtown), you can live for 300-600/month possibly furnished and with all expenses paid for. Also, the further east/west you go from Central 6th street, the more rent drops.

You will obviously have to cater the above expenses to your situation because I know that each person is different. But I can say this for sure: Austin has some of the cheapest "downtown" living of any city that I know. It has the most bang for your buck, and your money will go farther here and it's a very sustainable lifestyle.

Everything that I gave in regards to numbers was on the High-End. If I were going back there today, I'd be able to live Centrally for about $3000/month, so yeah.

I'll be moving back there in the next couple of months, then to Vegas (most likely), then the Philippines.

If you have any questions about Austin living, feel free to ask me.

Cheers.

PS: I'm writing this at 6:15 AM, so it's very train of though and probably has a couple of spelling errors...I'm about to head to bed right now.

Post: #31

What's with Luanda being so expensive??? Anyone?

Post: #32

(09-26-2013 12:12 PM)LowerCaseG Wrote:  What's with Luanda being so expensive??? Anyone?

The one resource that could make a Zanesville motel room 400/night.

Oil.

Post: #33

(09-26-2013 12:12 PM)LowerCaseG Wrote:  What's with Luanda being so expensive??? Anyone?

It's misleading. The actual CoL for locals there is very low (Angola is a mostly poor country despite the oil). In comparing countries Mercer is assuming that their imaginary person is living exactly the same life in each city. That's not realistic. For example broadband internet is very expensive in some countries. If one of the items on the Mercer list is "Unlimited broadband internet" that might cost $1,000+ per month in some locations.

Post: #34

(09-26-2013 12:12 PM)LowerCaseG Wrote:  What's with Luanda being so expensive??? Anyone?

It's misleading. The actual CoL for locals there is very low (Angola is a mostly poor country despite the oil). In comparing countries Mercer is assuming that their imaginary person is living exactly the same life in each city. That's not realistic. For example broadband internet is very expensive in some countries. If one of the items on the Mercer list is "Unlimited broadband internet" that might cost $1,000+ per month in some locations.