Happier Abroad Forum Community

Hello everyone. I am trying to get an idea of the basic monthly costs are in the city and country you live in.

For example, the average cost per month where I lived in the captial of Lima Peru is only about $600 to $800 US dollars which includes rent, food, bus travel, basic cable, gas and elec.

It would nice to get a perspective and make a cost comparison on different cities and countries across the planet.

If you can, please quote in US dollars..THANKS in advance.

I've only had my own apartment in one place - Tempe, AZ USA.
Rent out there was rediculously reasonable. A cheap studio apartment out there was $475 US a month, which included rent, utilities, and trash - water was separate. The room was unfurnished.

A cheap 1-bedroom out there was $300 US a month, also included rent, utilities, and trash - water again was separate. The room again was unfurnished.

Another upside to this is that Mexico is only a 3-hour drive and a $45-dollar passport card away. I honestly don't know why I moved back home to Illinois with mommy and daddy three years ago (and been stuck ever since). Then again, I learned about Happier Abroad after I f***ed my life and freedom over.

Average cost of rent for a studio flat in the vicinity of the center of any major Italian city is about €1000/month. Add to that another €200-300 for utilities. Average salary in Italy is €14,000/year. You do the math.

I watch House Hunters: International and learn quite a bit about the real estate market in whatever country any of us are considering.

I've also visited a few blogs that talk about the cheapest places to live around the world. Most of these are in SEA and South America and obvious to many readers of this forum.

In Europe, specifically Eastern Europe, countries like Belarus and Ukraine are very cheap. You can live, though sort of rough for about $500 a month. The average monthly wages for people in those countries is around $400 a month, so do the math.

In South America, just about every country you can find somewhere to stay for less than $1,000 a month.

SEA roughly the same, in some places about $300-$400 a month is enough.

However the problem becomes your income stream. How you going to earn money if your not of retirement age? If your on SSI/Disability, you likely get enough as long as there no serious cuts at the State or Federal level to live in any of these places, likely without a car but public transport is affordable and of course there's always a bike or even a scooter.

Now with that said, that doesn't leave much room for dating. If you just wanna find a place to go that you can afford, then fine. But unless your some sort of freak, you'll want at least a GF eventually. Chances are if she's willing to date locals at that economic level, dating for you should be easy.

http://travel.booklocker.com/2011/06/14 ... orld-2011/

http://travel.booklocker.com/2011/01/04 ... per-cheap/

Ukraine is being invaded by the MOB industry however. You can use them to your advantage however for very little outlay.

Belarus has been off the radar for awhile because its gotten a sort of bad rep for being full of rip off brides/girlfriends. Its not that bad though, just be careful like any other place in the world pursuing women.