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Cost of Living Comparison

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sundaymorningstaple
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Cost of Living Comparison

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 13 Aug 2012 5:41 pm

nakatago wrote:A little nugget that may or may not help: Cost of Living Comparison by country/city
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by Stevie_W » Thu, 30 May 2013 10:32 pm

Thanks. Found that link quite usefull....provided the information is relatively accurate of course.

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Post by Strong Eagle » Fri, 31 May 2013 12:20 am

Stevie_W wrote:Thanks. Found that link quite usefull....provided the information is relatively accurate of course.

The information appears to be quite accurate for a Singapore - Houston, Texas comparison.

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Post by Wd40 » Fri, 31 May 2013 12:59 am

Strong Eagle wrote:
Stevie_W wrote:Thanks. Found that link quite usefull....provided the information is relatively accurate of course.

The information appears to be quite accurate for a Singapore - Houston, Texas comparison.
Wow! Amazing! I didnt really think the purchasing power of people in Houston will be double that of Singapore :o

However, the prices to buy an apartment in Houston looks unrealistic, in that comparison. Is Houston really that cheap? I mean 10% of Singapore prices? No way!


Damn! What the hell am I doing here man? I should have applied for the H1B this year :)

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Post by Strong Eagle » Fri, 31 May 2013 2:34 am

Wd40 wrote:
Strong Eagle wrote:
Stevie_W wrote:Thanks. Found that link quite usefull....provided the information is relatively accurate of course.

The information appears to be quite accurate for a Singapore - Houston, Texas comparison.
Wow! Amazing! I didnt really think the purchasing power of people in Houston will be double that of Singapore :o

However, the prices to buy an apartment in Houston looks unrealistic, in that comparison. Is Houston really that cheap? I mean 10% of Singapore prices? No way!


Damn! What the hell am I doing here man? I should have applied for the H1B this year :)

The numbers for rents and purchases are right on the money as median numbers. If you are willing to drive, you can buy a brand new home on Houston outskirts, 2,500 square feet for $175,000 which works out to $70 per square foot or about $770 per square meter.

In the central area, a 2,000 square foot townhouse can cost you $400,000 or $200 per square foot, or $2200 per square meter.

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Post by AngMoG » Fri, 31 May 2013 9:49 am

Checked Manila-Singapore comparison, that seems to be way off... But the Singapore prices do seem about right.

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Post by Stevie_W » Fri, 31 May 2013 4:51 pm

I checked the comparison for Geneva. Most of it was more or les as i'd expect.
Rent per month was slightly off. For 1 bedroom in City Centre i'd expect a higher rent, and outside the Centre i'd expect less than what was quoted.
Clothing and Shoes, can't really comment as i have never bought any clothes in Geneva.
And buying apartments i have no idea about. I've only seen some of them priced in the millions.

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Post by sunnymummy » Wed, 26 Jun 2013 3:28 am

The Toronto prices seems reasonable. Thuogh I wonder about the Singapore prices. I looked at say Yishun vs Changi and there is quite a change. (Even for the large ticket stuff like rent and cars)

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Post by the lynx » Wed, 26 Jun 2013 9:16 am

sunnymummy wrote:The Toronto prices seems reasonable. Thuogh I wonder about the Singapore prices. I looked at say Yishun vs Changi and there is quite a change. (Even for the large ticket stuff like rent and cars)
It would cost more to live around Changi in terms of rental and probably living cost compared to Yishun because of its proximity to the international airport, Changi Business Park, being a mature/established neighbourhood and more landed properties.

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Post by rollcage23 » Wed, 19 Feb 2014 4:46 pm

Seems accurate enough... Agreed on changi-yishun comparison... changi is more suburban style while yishun is more blocks of flats. depends on your preference. another useful post on cost of living in Singapore is this one: http://www.gatewaysingapore.com/living- ... ngapore-2/

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Post by livefrommanila » Sun, 23 Mar 2014 10:51 am

When Comparing Manila and Singapore, the numbers are unfortunately way off in some categories for Manila (meaning stated to cheap compared to reality):

For Example:

Basic (Electricity, Heating, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment
Manila 4,398.17 ₱ Singapore 7,295.28 ₱

I pay more then the stated amount of 4398 Pesos in the Philippines for electricity alone, in fact, electricity in the Philippines is more expensive then in Singapore.

1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)
Manila 2,638.55 ₱ Singapore 4,333.65 ₱

Have yet to find an ORIGINAL Levis 501 for less then 4k in Manila

On the Groceries it is quite accurate though.

Rent Prices are again not really that accurate, it is really reflecting the low end properties in Manila at that prices, for something that you can live in you will also pay a lot more in Manila.

I am being relocated by my Company to Singapore after 3 years in Manila so I did quite some research in the past weeks in this regards. I can not fully comment on the Singapore prices, but surely know the Manila prices.

But all in all the site is a good start and gives you some basic ideas though you can not really count on accuracy.

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Tue, 01 Jul 2014 11:04 pm

Numbeo mid 2014 stats are out. Looks like Luanda is back on top as the most expensive city again.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Wed, 24 Sep 2014 10:02 am

Here is another calculator that I've come across that's handy as well....

http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by zzm9980 » Tue, 14 Oct 2014 5:26 am

Hylena wrote:Alternatively you can use this excel Cost of Living spreadsheet to make a comparison

No one should click that link, it could be malicious. Mods please remove.

(intentionally broke the link in my quote)

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Post by nakatago » Tue, 14 Oct 2014 5:44 am

zzm9980 wrote:
Hylena wrote:Alternatively you can use this excel Cost of Living spreadsheet to make a comparison

No one should click that link, it could be malicious. Mods please remove.

(intentionally broke the link in my quote)
In retrospect, in this age of web apps, APIs and big data, I don't really see a compelling reason for web-shared excel file wherein you have to rely on other people to put their data in* instead of websites that scrape data for you already.

*one could, of course have scripts to scrape the data for you. But really? Excel? What's this; the late 90s where worms and virii spread via MSOffice attachments?!
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