The Price of Living

[Singularity]

It gets even more strange, after reading in a thread on prices in different countries that scandinavian countries are roughly double in price compared to the US, they state they would never pay $200 for jeans. Well, guess what, you wouldn't buy a big mac meal for 10-15 dollar either would you now.

I'm more curious actually in how prices relate to general income, than the absolute prices themselves as this says something about how much you can buy every month.

That said, things that I have noted between the NLs and Ireland:

Dutch people get completely ripped off on restaurants, cinemas and pub prices. Prices are comparable to ireland where on average the price is 50% higher.
Irish people get completely ripped off on snack foods, things like crisps and simple food are very expensive in general, but clothing and musical instruments are cheap(er).

Prices in dublin (in euro, multiple by 1.4 or w/e it is now to get dollar):

Cinema: 9 euro
Pair of jeans: cheap ones 50, decent ones 90+
Double whopper menu w/ cheese (large): 7,5 euro
1.5 liter of coca cola: 1,80
Bus ticket: 1,50
Bottle of brand water: 1,20
Pint of guinness (0,56 liter): 4,50
Same guinness in bottle supermarket: 2,00 for 1 can
Bottle of heineken/stella (0,5 liter): 5,00
Random hamburger in snackbar: 4 euro (ye, rly)
Bag of doritos 3,50 (quite...)
Rent, shared house in "city centre": 500-600 for a room (not including gas+elec+internet)
According to Fli a 1/4 of an ounce of good weed costs around 50 euro here.

[Mantra-Slider]

$200 is the cheapest pair of jeans you can find? I can get high quality jeans by going to name brand outlets or buying them second hand, 200 euros for one single pair of jeans is what I'd pay to rent a room per month.

no its not the cheapest but it is the standard price, which is why I brought it up in my initial post. so you guys can compare, the whole point of this thread.

[Cops]

It gets even more strange, after reading in a thread on prices in different countries that scandinavian countries are roughly double in price compared to the US, they state they would never pay $200 for jeans. Well, guess what, you wouldn't buy a big mac meal for 10-15 dollar either would you now.

I'm more curious actually in how prices relate to general income, than the absolute prices themselves as this says something about how much you can buy every month.

That said, things that I have noted between the NLs and Ireland:

Dutch people get completely ripped off on restaurants, cinemas and pub prices. Prices are comparable to ireland where on average the price is 50% higher.
Irish people get completely ripped off on snack foods, things like crisps and simple food are very expensive in general, but clothing and musical instruments are cheap(er).

Prices in dublin (in euro, multiple by 1.4 or w/e it is now to get dollar):

Cinema: 9 euro
Pair of jeans: cheap ones 50, decent ones 90+
Double whopper menu w/ cheese (large): 7,5 euro
1.5 liter of coca cola: 1,80
Bus ticket: 1,50
Bottle of brand water: 1,20
Pint of guinness (0,56 liter): 4,50
Same guinness in bottle supermarket: 2,00 for 1 can
Bottle of heineken/stella (0,5 liter): 5,00
Random hamburger in snackbar: 4 euro (ye, rly)
Bag of doritos 3,50 (quite...)
Rent, shared house in "city centre": 500-600 for a room (not including gas+elec+internet)
According to Fli a 1/4 of an ounce of good weed costs around 50 euro here.

A pint of guinness is $4-7 (Canadian). 7.5 euro for a Mcdonalds meal isn't that bad, I guess? Galleleo says he pays over 20 Euro when he goes there. No wonder people come to Canada on vacation, it's frigging cheap to shop, eat, etc. Plus when you convert your money into our money you'll be laughing like America did two years ago.

[Cops]

I'm more curious actually in how prices relate to general income, than the absolute prices themselves as this says something about how much you can buy every month.

Ontario, Canada

Basic fast food/shitty job $8.50 ($15,300 yearly)
Factory Job $10-$11 ($18,900 yearly)
Broadcaster, just hired (Basic position) $12 ($22,500 yearly)
Broadcaster, Editor CBC etc $22.50 (starting) ($40,500 yearly)
Teacher Assistant $24 ($43,200 yearly)
Mechanic Anywhere from $20 - 40 (roughly 37,500 - 78,000 yearly)

I believe 22,000 a year before taxes is the poverty line.

Cost of Living

Rent a room/Share an apartment (includes most utilities) (400-600)
Rent a basement (600)

To rent an apartment in Toronto it's easily over $1000 per month for a bachelor, the costs get a bit crazy.

For me to rent a room it would cost me $500 x 12 = $6000
Transit = $1200
Food = $2500
Tuition = $5000

= $14,700

That's pretty cheap considering some places.

The real 'money' besides having a good education in Ontario is in Alberta, yet the cost of living out there is insane, so it's all relative. The sad fact is that if you don't have a diploma or a degree in Ontario then most jobs are out of your reach, there's exceptions but manufacturing is on its way out the door in this country.

[RATTY...]

Multiply euro with 1.4 to get the american dollar? Have you checked the valuta lately?

1 euro = 8 NOK
1 usd = 5,01 NOK

Haven't checked euro vs dollar conversion, but it can't be that much difference, even though the NOK got strenghtened.

And back the the jeans discussion. It's possible to buy ugly jeans for as low as american prices at H&M and Kappahl. Great places for anything except jeans.

The jeans that looks (and feels) better: Replay, Levis, Diesel, Nudie, Acne, JL, Whyred, a few of these can be found for as low as 700 NOK, $140 sometimes, but they average above $200.

It's not that the jeans are super expensive, it's just that some of us don't like ugly jeans bought at a supermarked.

EDIT: add

[Singularity]

Ye, I guess most of the price difference at the moment comes when you factor in the dollar/euro rate at the moment. Couple of years ago it was roughly 1:1 and if you see my list you will see that makes quite a bit more sense.
Galleleo spending 20 euro at the macdonalds is pure bullshit. Unless the guy weighs 200 kg and eats accordingly you usually spend 8-10 euro (13-15 USD) in the Netherlands. This coming from a guy who ate at McD there once a week for a couple of years and has a decent appetite.

Edit: Yes, it seems to be roughly 1.55 atm Ratty, didn't realise the dollar went further down.

[H.M.S. Stargazer]

A gallon of gasoline : $5.08/gal
A bottle of namebrand water : $1.59+enviro+dep+sales tax
A 12-pack of say Budweiser/other domestics : $14.99, same as above
A cheap cigar : $1.19 + double sales tax
A McDonalds Doublecheeseburger : $1.99
An 1/8th of decently good weed : $75.00 (Had to check with a friend who smokes)
An oz of crap weed : $100.00 (Had to check with a friend who smokes)
Bus fare : $2.50
Going to see a movie : $7-$9 for students, $8-$10 otherwise

Rent here is insane.
Avg bachelor suite going for $600
Avg 1 bedroom $720
Avg 2 bedroom $900

We have a 0.2 vacancy rate atm :/

Houses have jumped so much that even the crappiest of crap house in the 'ghetto' are going for 200k.

Saskatoon. City of 200,000. Prairies in Canada.

[Exalt]

My roommate and I buy and roll our own cigarettes. Well, we used to until we got a rolling machine and are able to roll ten in a minute. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than camels and tastes better because there aren't any carcinogens.

Maybe it's a Northwest thing to assume someone's smoking pot though, because I know a lot of people that roll their own rather than paying for Marlboro or Camels.

no you walk around with a rolled cig and most people will think its a joint almost anywhere you go away from the southern hillbilly areas

im from chicago, so theres the midwest for you, apparently the west and midwest agree, maybe rolling smokes is just a florida thing?

[404 Not Found]

wow?
then tell me what the fuck to do cos thats how much it costs here. asshole.

Come to the States and go on a buying spree!

With the U.S. Dollar at all time lows against the Euro, why are you guys not getting airline tik's and traveling here for summer vacation?

Target sells Wrangler, Levi's, Lee's and many other's. I have not seen them priced over $30 a pair. What would that be with the low U.S. $ conversion?

Cigarettes....take a trip to VA and buy cartons...they are always fresher and taste better.

Rolling Cig's...I see it a lot here in my area (Philadelphia), usually at concerts or in area's that have a good night life such as our area called South Street. It is associated with rolling a joint, as most people that you would see rolling a cig are also most likely pot smokers too...personally I prefer a bong.

With all the bitching about how we Americans are crying about the cost of things, it just amazes me that the EU community does not have more people coming to the States to take advantage of such low consumer goods prices.

I use to go to Toronto all the time when I went to college in Cleveland...back then the $ was much stronger than the Canadian $ and it made sense to buy cases of beer as well as clothing...especially anything leather. Those days are gone though, but we did try and take advantage of it!

[Nycle]

With all the bitching about how we Americans are crying about the cost of things, it just amazes me that the EU community does not have more people coming to the States to take advantage of such low consumer goods prices.

The amount of tourists from the EU visiting America already has significantly increased due to the low dollar. Last figures I heard of showed an increase of 42% in bookings compared to last year.

I too will visit America this summer, which I usually do every year anyways, but the low dollar will make things extra fun this time.

[404 Not Found]

The amount of tourists from the EU visiting America already has significantly increased due to the low dollar. Last figures I heard of showed an increase of 42% in bookings compared to last year.

I too will visit America this summer, which I usually do every year anyways, but the low dollar will make things extra fun this time.

I hope you have a good visit!

I know the bookings had been up during the Christmas/New Years holidays. I was somewhat unsure of how the summer months would pan out, as many take the month of August off for vacation.

The Southern New Jersey coast (Wildwood, Stone(d) Harbor and Cape May) are usually a good mix of Canadian and European vacationers mixed with the Philly crowd that hits the shore communities.

Nycle...what area of the States do you visit?

[Displaced]

airline tickets arent exactly free (atleast from Finland), 2 way HKI-NY (no hotels or anything, just the flights, economy class) are around $3650.

i can get a LOT of shit for that amount of money.

[Mantra-Slider]

I hear you 404, Ive wanted to visit america for so long and I sure as hell will go there sometime in my life, hopefully within the next 5 years at least.

see what I did instead is that I went to china and bought me a big ass backpack and filled it with clothes and shoes Think I bought like 6 pair of shoes. Its also common to go there and buy loads of stuff and ship it back home. China is still cheaper than US

[404 Not Found]

China is still cheaper than US

A friend moved to Vietnam 2 years ago and is a luthier. He is living like a king and all he has to do is sell a few instruments a year to live a comfortable lifestyle. So I hear what your saying about China being cheaper, as Vietnam is supposedly the same as far as being cheap.

[Tone]

The price of living goes up because the dark cabal of bankers created and controls the central banks of nations, they print more money to keep up with funding their sinister plans of evil, and the printing of more money thats backed by nothing causes goods and services to constantly go up, while wages go up at a slower rate. Things like tobacco, alcohol go up because the programming that those things are dangerous and a sin that should be 'sin taxed ' allows the taxes for those things to be even higher than the high taxes on everything else.