Cost of living

mheredge

It is always interesting to compare the cost of living, whether for holidays or the possibility of living in another country for work or studies.

Most studies are a lot more scientific than this one that compares prices in popular tourist destinations in Europe. Help! I seem to be in the most expensive place.

Can you work out what your total price for the same items would be in your city and country?

Vok

Also, there's a website you can compare prices on different products, utilities, goods etc. in two different countries www.numbeo.com.

Practical_Severard

Item Place Price (£)
Bottled still water 0,33l Cheap supermarket 0,26
Still water 0,6l chain café 1,67
Espresso 30 ml chain café 1,47
Coca-Cola 0,25l McDonalds 0,90
Beer local brand 0,45l street shop 0,39
Guiness Draught 0,45l Irish stout tin street shop 1,87
Beer Hoegaarden wheat lager 0,5l chain café 3,60
Wine, bottle 0,75l chain café 19,31
Wine "Montrachet Grand Cru «Marquis de Laguiche» . Joseph Drouhine. 2007." bottle 0,75l an expensive restaurant 2515,77
Wine per glass 150 ml chain café 3,86
Mosquito spray 150 ml chemist 1,29
Garnier Ambre Solaire SPF 30,200 ml online shop 6,57
Local brand 30 SPF, 200 ml online shop 3,22

Moscow, Russia.

GemmaRowlands

Wow, it is amazing just how much of a difference there is. However, I now understand why so many Brits choose to move to the Algarve when they retire. Nicer weather, and their money will go a lot further! What's not to like!

mheredge

Wow local beer in Russia is cheap @Practical_Severard! This is the sort of price you find in cheaper Asian countries like Cambodia and Thailand. Wine is a difficult one to compare like with like, as reasonable table wine in France is cheap but by the time it arrives in the UK it costs quite a bit more.

Practical_Severard

> @mheredge said:
> Wow local beer in Russia is cheap @Practical_Severard! This is the sort of price you find in cheaper Asian countries like Cambodia and Thailand. Wine is a difficult one to compare like with like, as reasonable table wine in France is cheap but by the time it arrives in the UK it costs quite a bit more.

The grapevine grows in Southern Russia only, so the Russian wine has to be transported for at least 1300-1400 km to be sold in Moscow. I guess the British situation is much similar, though I've heard there were vineyards in Southern England. So we need to import the most of the wine. The French, I guess, drink wine like we drink tea.

mheredge

Pretty much @Practical_Severard. Most French people drink wine with lunch and dinner, though maybe less as a drink without food like beer. The English wine that is produced mainly in the south of England can be quite expensive however, as it is produced on quite a small scale. It can be very nice.

medi07

Indeed, wine price differs a lot between spain and french.

mpassala

Wine price is really difficult to measure. Cost of wine is deeply influenced by a big amount of elements. In Italy wine is produced almost everywhere, so most of the bottles can be bought at 1-5 euro each. But there are also very expensive bottles that can easily be found at more than 100 euro each. I also found that cost of dirnkable water is pretty higher in UK countries.

april

It's not easy to calculate because you can go for a cheap or an expensive one.
For example on the same street I could have a cappuccino for €1 or €2,50.
They don't taste the same of course.

mheredge

The price of bottled water can be more than wine or beer in many Asian countries too @mpassala. I never see much point drinking bottled water in countries where the tap water is drinkable.

mpassala

Is it possible that it is not safe to drink tap water in those countries @mheredge? I know many people that feel more confortable to drink bottled water, because allegedly there is a more accurate monitoring of elements contained in the water. This is probably not true, since i know that in many european countries there is a strong regulation about tap water checks too.

Vok

Yesterday I read an article on the Guardian site (still can't provide you with a link) about Belgian restaurants being accused of selling bottles of mineral water refilled from mains. So, you never know how safe water in a bottle is.

GemmaRowlands

mpassala said:

Wine price is really difficult to measure. Cost of wine is deeply influenced by a big amount of elements. In Italy wine is produced almost everywhere, so most of the bottles can be bought at 1-5 euro each. But there are also very expensive bottles that can easily be found at more than 100 euro each. I also found that cost of dirnkable water is pretty higher in UK countries.

It is quite expensive to buy a bottle of water in the UK, but you can safely drink the water out of the majority of taps here, and there are plenty of water fountains around, so you don't really need to buy a bottle at all.

mheredge

Tap water in Belgium is safe @Vok, the only scandal is that they are charging for it. In France it is standard to ask for a jug of water, and you will be served with tap water for free. (You have to specify in the UK and sometimes get a dirty look as they want to sell you bottled water).

Here in Nepal you can see wine imported from France costing around 7-10€ that in France would cost about 2-3€. In the UK however, it probably would cost £7-10 (more than in Nepal). Obviously French wine in Nepal has come a long way to get here!

I had a glass of fairly ordinary Orvieto (white wine) last night with my meal for 500NRs (4€) which would have cost no more than 3€ in France, but might have cost £4-5 in the UK.

Vok

@mheredge I think it's more scandalous that it was passed off as mineral water. I'm sure some people don't mind being charged for a bottle of tap water as long as they know what they are paying for.

Basically wine costs what people are ready to shell out for it. If they try to sell a bottle of wine in Nepal for the amount it's being asked in the UK, hardly anyone will able to buy it. It's indisputable that people in the UK are generally better-off than in Nepal. Another thing worth taking into consideration is an alcohol duty rate or whatever it's called correctly, which might be higher in the UK.

GemmaRowlands

mheredge said:

Tap water in Belgium is safe @Vok, the only scandal is that they are charging for it. In France it is standard to ask for a jug of water, and you will be served with tap water for free. (You have to specify in the UK and sometimes get a dirty look as they want to sell you bottled water).

Here in Nepal you can see wine imported from France costing around 7-10€ that in France would cost about 2-3€. In the UK however, it probably would cost £7-10 (more than in Nepal). Obviously French wine in Nepal has come a long way to get here!

I had a glass of fairly ordinary Orvieto (white wine) last night with my meal for 500NRs (4€) which would have cost no more than 3€ in France, but might have cost £4-5 in the UK.

I think it annoys restaurants in the UK to serve bottled water, as they make such a lot of money from the markup on the drinks at the bar.

mheredge

This is where they make most of their money @GemmaRowlands. Then of course there's a lot of tax on alcohol in the UK too.

GemmaRowlands

mheredge said:

This is where they make most of their money @GemmaRowlands. Then of course there's a lot of tax on alcohol in the UK too.

Yes, there is. I think that's why the government don't do as much as they possibly should to take binge drinking, because they make so much money from it. It's the same with smoking.

mheredge

This lady seems to manage her finances very well.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/feb/03/78-18000-income-london-pension-holidays-car-theatre-trips?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=262846&subid=11006640&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

Practical_Severard

> @mheredge said:
> This lady seems to manage her finances very well.
>


This is fascinating, but for a person of her age I have expected to see the medications' cost.
Also the utilities for the four-bedroom house in London are only £90, is it real?
More on the house topic - isn't it subject for a kind of the property tax?
The mentioned incomes (751+402+116+122) add up to 16700 a year, not 18000. Something is left out.

Practical_Severard

An item of the last week news here was about the customs officers cracking down on the people returning home with expensive shopping. The authorities appeared to have maintained a computer system which is fed with the EU VAT refund applications as well as results of background checks which are routinely run in some EU countries in case of expensive purchases. I heard on the radio an eye-watering account about a woman who had to pay a fine of 300,000 rubles (£3846) on a pair of earrings which she had had for ages and hadn't bothered to declare upon departure. Each earring had a 3 carat diamond.

I should say that is to pay the 30% tariff (VAT+tariff more exactly) on the personal shopping that exceeds $10000 while a failure to declare something worth around $43900 is a felony punishable with up to two years imprisonment. One should prove to the officer that the shopping is for personal use (10 iPhones wouldn't be regarded as one).

GemmaRowlands

Practical_Severard said:

> @mheredge said:

> This lady seems to manage her finances very well.

>





This is fascinating, but for a person of her age I have expected to see the medications' cost.

Also the utilities for the four-bedroom house in London are only £90, is it real?

More on the house topic - isn't it subject for a kind of the property tax?

The mentioned incomes (751+402+116+122) add up to 16700 a year, not 18000. Something is left out.

I would like to own a house that costs so little to run. I think this is quite impressive, but I'm not sure I agree with some of the figures.

mheredge

@Practical_Severard the NHS covers the whole of health care expenses, so that's why she doesn't have to budget for this. Of course if she wanted private treatment, that another story.

I find it amazing anyone should wear anything so valuable travelling @Practical_Severard. But I suppose if it's insured it wouldn't be the end of the world if she lost an earring.

After Brexit I think some people will be fed up that they won't be able to bring cheap booze over from France without paying duty.

I hear disturbing news of the American stock market falling due to inflation in the US and other countries. The good news is that the EU is suffering less inflation but with a strong euro against the dollar, this will mean less exports to the US.

GemmaRowlands

mheredge said:

After Brexit I think some people will be fed up that they won't be able to bring cheap booze over from France without paying duty.

I think this is an issue that not many people thought about when they voted to leave. Lots of people like to make the most of duty free items when travelling, but they might not be able to do this anymore.

Practical_Severard

> @GemmaRowlands said:
> I think this is an issue that not many people thought about when they voted to leave. Lots of people like to make the most of duty free items when travelling, but they might not be able to do this anymore.
I think the owners of the Southern England's wineries are rubbing their hands anticipating a big quid.

mheredge

They do actually produce quite good white wines @Practical_Severard but it tends to be quite expensive.

I don't think many people really thought through much when they voted to leave @GemmaRowlands.

Vok

> @mheredge said:

> I don't think many people really thought through much when they voted to leave @GemmaRowlands.

...or believed in a positive outcome of this endeavour I suppose.

Practical_Severard

> @mheredge said:
> They do actually produce quite good white wines @Practical_Severard but it tends to be quite expensive.
>
> I don't think many people really thought through much when they voted to leave @GemmaRowlands.

Well, as the supply and demand law reads, the larger the demand, the lower the price. So the wine is to become cheaper and the industry is going to be hiring. Which will lower the expense on the unemployment benefits and the people of the UK will rejoice

Practical_Severard

> @mheredge said:
> I find it amazing anyone should wear anything so valuable travelling @Practical_Severard. But I suppose if it's insured it wouldn't be the end of the world if she lost an earring.
>

Well, I heard that according to the British tradition an engagement ring is expected to cost 2 monthly incomes of the suitor. So, with the median British income of £28000 per year before PIT the price of the most sold variant should be £4667. While not wearing an engagement ring is certainly a sign of disrespect, and the etiquette rule on wearing diamonds allows wearing engagement rings at any hour of the day, we may conclude that an average British Jane (if the American idiom suits here) older certain age is wearing £4667 on her finger on permanent basis.

mheredge

I am not so sure many engagement rings are worth this much in the UK @Practical_Severard. I think maybe British guys are a lot more tightfisted than their Russian counterparts!