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The pinch and feeling it

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1 March, 2010 - 23:04

bridboy

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Of course everybody is in a different financial situation but I overheard a few folks last Thursday night at the monthly get together discussing the cost of living and the crown in their pocket.

It seemed to me that the younger new arrivals had found that their salary was being spent pretty quickly and not going as far as they thought it would while the older hands who have been here a while had experienced a sharp rise in the cost of living.

I would be interested to hear others views, I don't know how prices here compare with those in the UK, US, other countries beer and eating out are still cheaper for sure but what about other stuff?

What about the relationship between salaries and buying stuff such as a car, an apartment etc.

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5 March, 2010 - 11:08

musicsavedmylife2

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hard to quantify

i would guess that living costs in brno are approx 2/3rds of ireland's living costs .half at the very least..whoever said 1/5th is very very wrong .

2 March, 2010 - 20:04

musicsavedmylife2

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cost of living ..

our house here in cz cost less than a quarter of what it would cost where we lived in england (we do live 75km from brno near austria).we have an unbelievable 300sqm new house with 3000sqm of land that cost less than in any other country i can think of .
by living here we save 60:000kc a year compared to england for house tax(council tax)and water
.gas and electric is probably the same price as england
cars are more expensive here but diesel and maintenance are cheaper .insurances slightly cheaper here .
food prices in supermarkets are similar i would say .local restaurants and alchohol much cheaper here ,international ,thai ,indian restaurants cost about the same.,
we have a carpenter working in our house who charges a quarter of what an english carpenter charges..
taking into account the way we live (simple life in the country )then we live a lifestyle here that we could not afford in england and that is the main reason we are here, we also think it is better here to raise children but thats for another thread..

Last edited by musicsavedmylife2 at 2 March, 2010 - 20:04.

2 March, 2010 - 12:11

tyvole (not verified)

The pinch and feeling it

Goods are mostly cheaper in the US and services more expensive than here, also eating in restaurants and beer is cheaper here of course.

If I want Levi jeans, for example, I get my mom to buy them in the States and mail them here, because here they go for 3000Kc a pair. Same with electronics, or I buy them from Aukro.

Buying a flat is much more expensive than where I lived in the US. Here $100,000 would maybe get you a 2+1 flat in the city, but in Louisiana, I could buy a three bedroom, two bath house with property for that price. I think it's also cheaper to buy property in Austria than in Brno.

I guess cars are relatively the same price, but gas is a bit cheaper in the US. However, our auto insurance is more expensive than here. Somehow in the end, I manage to save more money here than I did in the US.

3 March, 2010 - 14:33

IrishRover

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Re: The pinch and feeling it

When I was thinking about moving here from Ireland, the recruiter told me that while my salary would be a quarter of what I was on in Ireland, the cost of living in Brno is a fifth of what it was in Ireland, so it would be like getting a raise!

When we got here, we found different.

If all I spent my money on was beer, cigarettes and vodka, then I would agree that the cost of living is a 5th of Ireland. Unfortunately however, my fiance and I have this annoying trait whereby we like to eat things and clothe ourselves.

Here is a quick rundown of price comparisons between Ireland(Dublin) and Brno(prices are in euro with today's exchange rate):

Ireland Brno
Beer in a pub____4.40-5.40_____80-1.20
Camel Lights_____8.50__________3 euro
Jameson Whiskey__25 euro_______16
500ml of vodka___12 euro_______4

So far it looks ok, but..

2+1 Apartment_____700/month______500/month(thats what we are paying)
Clothes
Trousers______10+__________20+
T-shirt_______4+___________4+
Chicken breasts___4+___________4+

This is just a quick comparison, and maybe some items in my list can be found cheaper, in some places, however as you can see one item in the list is cheaper in Ireland(trousers) and the other 2 are about the same. I would be interested to see where the cost of living is a 5th came from, and I hope it was not just looking at the drinks menu in a pub.

Last edited by IrishRover at 3 March, 2010 - 14:33.