Colombia - Cost of living?

[Banano]

Does anyone o know about cost of living in Columbia, more specifically Cali, Medellin, Cartagena or Baranquilla


Is Columbia on par with Thailand or PH when it comes to prices and value for buck


Would 1000 bucks get me through a month in the above places? How much is rent for small app/studio, bills,food etc..basics


Which of these places have the best women in terms of friendliness and where its easiest to score

I like Colombia coz it offers variety, black, white and in between:)

[publicduende]

Hi,

I am starting to toy with the idea of spending some time (living and working) in Medellin, probably the most industrious city of Colombia, with mid-career good job opportunities matching or even exceeding those of Bogota. My wife was a manufacturing engineer in a multinational company in Medellin and on a 2.8 million pesos (net) per month salary, or around $1500/$1600 depending on exchange rate. She lived with her auntie in a leafy residential area called Laureles and she could get by very easily as she didn't have to pay rent. She said $1000 or 1.7 million pesos is practically a taboo in rural Colombia, yet easily attainable for a junior or mid-career role in one of the big cities (Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Bucaramanga or Cartagena). When in Medellin she used to know a Canadian young couple, non-degree-educated, both English teachers in local schools. They could fetch more than 3 million pesos combined and live comfortably in Laureles, a couple of blocks from her auntie's home.

$1000 can get you a comfortable life anywhere in Colombia, at least if you are a single person and not supporting wife/kids etc. The problem would be whether you have that as a pre-earned disposable income (eg. a retiree pension), or you're planning to earn it by working a job. In the latter case, only the largest cities and a large or multinational company would employ you on a salary greater (sometimes much greater) than that. 4 million pesos per month is considered a middle-clasds salary. My wife's manager had a degree from Medellin and Phd in Industrial Engineering from the US, and would fetch around 12 million pesos.

Hope that helps.
V.

[mguy]

Non-mature goods distribution system pushes a higher price point to consumer thus taking more income as a percentage.