Job Discussion Forums

[ebritton]

I'd like to collect some information on the cost of living in various places. I'll post a summary of the results for everyone's benefit in the "General Discussion" forum in about two weeks. I do have some information from a similar post made several weeks ago, but it is not very comprehensive. If you're interested, please reply to this post (or pm me if you'd rather) with the following in the currency of the country you are working in. I'll assume your post has reference to the costs for a single person, unless otherwise specified. I'll convert it into US dollars myself.

Country
Currency

Costs:
Rent
Food
Utilities
Phone
Internet
TV
Health Insurance
Transportation
Entertainment
Other

Comments

I'll post this on the General Discussion Forum for now, but if in a few days there are certain regions that appear to be under-represented, then I'll post in the respective country areas.

Cheers, and watch for the summary report in the General Discussion forum in a couple of weeks.

[scot47]

Good idea

BUT

attempts to compare living costs in diferent countries are not simple. The basic problem is that we do not buy the same basket of goods and services. My life in Saudi is quite different from my life outside. Your life in Ongopongoland is not the same as hers in Wogawoggaland.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

Interesting idea. However, another problem is that in countries such as Mexico, the cost of living varies greatly depending on which part of the country a person is in. Here's someone's estimate of general cost of living expenses in US dollars for Mexico City:

Apartment - one or two bedroom furnished. $300
Maid service - once a week including laundry service. $40
Phone bill - local calls only. $18
Phone bill - four 15 minute long distance calls to home country. $60
Food and personal care items. $300
Hair cut. $5
Transportation - taxi, subway, and bus fares. $40
Entertainment - dining out, movies, museums, theater, etc. $75
MONTHLY TOTAL $838
- http://www.employnow.com/livingexp.htm

I live a long way from Mexico City, so I don't know how accurate the above estimate is for that city. For the most part, it's not very accurate for the city where I live in combo with my own standard of living.

[ebritton]

My purpose in doing the survey is not to compare the cost of living between different countries, but to inform ESL teachers about the cost of living in countries where they may have a particular interest in working. Then you can compare the COL to a salary offer and you have a context for decision making. This isn't a scientific survey, just informal sharing. I know this will be useful information to me, so I imagine others will be interested, too.

[James_T_Kirk]

Ebritton,

Sounds like a great idea! I for one will be interested in seeing the results. Good initiative on your part...thanks!

Cheers,
Kirk

[been_there]

Country: No, not a country. Kosovo. UN protectorate, with oxymoronic tendencies.

Currency: Euro. According to the locals, this is a European country. According to the UN, a currency does not a country make.

Costs:
Rent: 350 Euros. Furnished. Two room. View of burning UN jeeps.
Food: I eat out at least one meal a day: 300 Euros
Utilities: The UN is still in charge of utilities, so no one pays them and the UN won't cut anyone off.
Phone: pay-by-the-call. No monthly charge. The phone company is locally owned, so they WILL cut you off if the bill gets big.
Internet: 30 cents an hour for home dial-up.
TV: German, Turkish and Italian sattalite in every home. Free.
Health Insurance: HA ha ha ha ha ha ha, good one.
Transportation: 30 cent bus rides. Taxi a Euro fifty flag-drop (about 5 kilometers).
Entertainment: Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha. Beer 60 cents a bottle in the supermarket. DVD's 5 Euros. DivX's 2 euros.
Other: Nothing else to spend the money on except trips to Greece.

Comments: Yer butt looks big in that avatar....

[thelmadatter]

perhaps it would be easier to collect a list of pay scales. It would make for a quick way to see if a pay offer is within established norms. However, it would not tell a person if s/he could save any money working in a particular country

[ls650]

We were just discussing this 10 days ago in this thread...
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=9043

[Glenski]

I think the FAQ section for Japan has info you need for that country. Been a while since I looked at it.

Beware of making these listings in anything other than the country's currency. That is, don't convert to US dollars. Exchange rates vary so much, you can't state anything conclusively or accurately unless you use the local currency.

[Roger]

Country: PR of China (excluding Hong Kong, Macau);

Currency: Chinese yuan, aka 'Renminbi" (RMB), kuai;
exchange 1`U.S. dollar for RMB 8.2

Working conditions: Minimum pay RMB 2200 per month plus housing,
allowances, airfare; normal salary range:
3000-8000 a month

Rent: Free, or heavily subsidised;

Utilities: Free, or subsidised;

Telephone: Local calls free; intercity, long-distance: medium expensive;

Internet: Free;

TV: Free; up to 3 English language programmes; on occasion TV
programmes from outside the PRC (but subject to interference);

Transportation: Employer provides basic transport for free; trips on
your own very cheap (except in Shanghai and in
southern Guangdong, where it's relatively onerous);

Health: Very basic service for free; insurance of your own choice
available from companies in Hong Kong and overseas;

Food: Freen or subsidised; very cheap;



Comments: a) Save up to 90% of your monthly pay;
b) tax kicks in at a net income of over 4000, though is
seldom collected;
c) you come here at your own expense; if you are lucky,
they will foot your return ticket. ;
Entertainment: That's where your money goes - if you need it! Enough said

[ebritton]

Here's a preliminary summary of the monthly living costs reported so far, in the currency reported to me. It includes the information from both threads that have recently run on this topic. I have a more detailed, itemized report in MS-WORD that's too big to include here. I'll keep adding as posting comes in and report again.

Of course, costs will vary a lot according to location within a country, personal spending profiles, etc. Use your judgment.

(I've checked it over a couple of times, but if any of those who have posted see errors, let me know.)

Britain - 1040 UK pounds
Cambodia - 682 US dollars
Canada (Montreal) - 437 Canadian dollars
China - 2042 RMB
China (outer Shanghai) - 943 Us dollars
China - 0 (all expenses paid)
China (rural) - 110 US dollars
France (Paris) - 741 Canadian dollars
Hong Kong - 24500 HKD
Hong Kong - 14287 HKD
Indonesia (Jakarta) - 340 US dollars
Italy (Rome) - 785 Euros
Japan (Osaka) - 1615 US dollars
Japan - 206600 yen
Japan (Shikoku) - 1785 US dollars
Kosovo - 678 Euros
Mexico - 838 US dollars
Qatar - 300 US dollars
Russia - 485 US dollars
Syria - 50 US dollars
Turkey - 152 million tl

[ls650]

[Capergirl]

[Asynca]

I do Melbourne, Australia on AUD$1062 a month (and put the rest in the bank). If you work full-time here, chances are you can afford yourself a really good lifestyle, especially if you follow the trend and share-house. It's even better in Adelaide - cost of living slightly cheaper. However houses in Sydney are disgustingly expensive to live in.

I made a very interesting discovery that I'd be paid exactly the same in Britain for what I do - which is creepy because it's 3 times more expensive to live there.

[Shaman]