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Cost of Living Index by Country 2024 – Numbeo

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31–40 of 79 posts

Re: Cost of Living Index by Country 2024 – Numbeo

#31
post #24
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would American inflation affect countries that don't use the USD?

The US is not the only country who has experienced high inflation since COVID.

From my experience it's become relatively more expensive than other countries even if every country has experienced inflation to a small or large extent.

The joke used to be how expensive Switzerland was...now I am looking at prices in Zurich for food, drinks, hotels and it's no different than what you'd pay in a big city in the US, maybe less.

Re: Cost of Living Index by Country 2024 – Numbeo

#35
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would avoid the eastern part though

Yeah, not everyone has what it takes for a good adventure....I suppose that's why so many like Paris and Rome, it's all they can handle...

Curious to hear your story. Why take the risk of going to Ukraine? How long did you go for? How much did the war impact your visit?

Re: Cost of Living Index by Country 2024 – Numbeo

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salaries in the US are substantially higher then Canada. Switch to the purchasing power index to get a more clear view of the relative wealth of people in the countries.

Purchasing power can be misleading in countries with a top-heavy income distribution. Because cost of living calculations include everyday expenses but exclude most luxuries, average costs are close to what the typical consumer pays. But if the income distribution is skewed enough, average salaries can be much higher than what the typical consumer earns.

The US also differs wildly in cost of living on a state-by-state, city-by-city basis. Even the suburbs of big cities can have a substantially cheaper cost of living.

You're going to have a much different picture of this if you compare San Francisco and Montgomery, Alabama.

Re: Cost of Living Index by Country 2024 – Numbeo

#39
post #7

Eastern Europe is where it is at. Ukraine is super cheap and a really beautiful place, requires a little work to get there but not to bad. Hotels are cheap and really good food and just awesome. Planning to go again this summer.

Why would you willingly go to a war zone?

Their cities are regularly hit by antiship missiles (russians are evil) and Iranian made/copied drones. They don't care about you and will kill you no matter what your passport is from.

Please reconsider or at least get a local guide.

Re: Cost of Living Index by Country 2024 – Numbeo

#40
post #25
post #8

This anecdotally back ups what I was seeing when I visited the US. Groceries and food (in general) was surprisingly more expensive in New Hampshire and Vermont than Calgary where I live (which is not a low COL area in Canada). I cannot understand how American fruit costs more in the US than they did back home (when including the exchange rate). I was not visiting a premium grocery store (it was a Price Chopper near a…

> Groceries and food (in general) was surprisingly more expensive in New Hampshire and Vermont than Calgary That doesn't seem that surprising? Where is the produce coming from? Typically California or Mexico. I could imagine the transport costs are lower to Calgary than Vermont. It also depends on what stores - comparing mid-market to mid-market. Whole Foods in the US is way more expensive than Superstore in Canada.…

I doubt much food is coming from CA or Mexico to northeastern states like Vermont and New Hampshire. More like the Midwest, southeast, and even the northeast itself has plenty of agriculture to keep the north east fed, what comes from CA would be things like walnuts, oranges, and grapes, nice for sure but kind of niche. Mexico would be similar, and you can’t compete with the Midwest on corn (Mexico’s most popular crop).

Incidentally, I found food prices in LA to be really cheap. Like, incredibly so given that it was supposed to be HCOL. Proximity to Mexico sure helps. Seattle in comparison is much more expensive, and variety isn’t as great.

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