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Cost to live in USA vs. Colombia

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cafetero
  3/18/2019 19:46 EST

The typical American's daily spending can be broken out as follows:

Category
Average Daily Spending
Housing
$32.59
Groceries
$11.95
Utilities
$10.51
Health insurance
$9.35
Dining out
$9.22
Entertainment
$8.78
Gasoline
$5.39
Charity
$5.13
Clothing/apparel
$5.02
Education
$4.08
Cell phone service
$3.06
Car insurance
$2.65
Pets
$1.95
Alcohol
$1.53
DATA SOURCE: GOBANKINGRATES.

U.S. adults spend differently at varying stages of life. Here's a breakdown of how Americans spend at different ages:

Age Group
Average Daily Spending
Gen Zers under 25
$92.13
Millennials 25-34
$208.77
Younger Gen Xers 35-44
$189.13
Older Gen Xers 45-54
$202.48
Younger baby boomers 55-64
$178.01
Baby boomers 65 and up
$135.73

How does this compare to what you are spending to live in Colombia?

cafetero
  3/18/2019 19:59 EST

Here is mine, This is for the two of us living in a pueblo 1/2 hour outside the city center

Category
Average Daily Spending

Housing $7.54

Groceries $8.60

Utilities (including internet) $2.03

Health insurance $1.39

Dining out $1

Entertainment $1

Gasoline (taxis-buses) $1

Charity $1

Clothing/apparel $1

Education $0

Cell phone service $.30

Car insurance $0

Pets $0

Alcohol $1

Savings $3

total $26.86 per day

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SkyMan
  3/19/2019 18:51 EST

Cafetero...Some great information in your post ! Lifestyle will really change the numbers dramatically...in the U.S.A. or in Colombia. One item in your post seemed low to me...that was the Daily Housing Cost...but I guess if one lived in a rural area of Idaho, it would cost less...as far as housing.

One question: Did your source take into consideration the large numbers of U.S. residents who live in Government Subsidized Housing ? Or just the households who actually are paying their rent/lease/house payment monthly ? It would be interesting to see how the source came up with that average housing cost per day. It still sounds low to me. Buena Suerte ! Tranquilo.

mattinnorfolk
  3/19/2019 21:02 EST

Cafetero, You may not be the brightest bulb on the tree, but I have yet to see one brighter. Housing and alcohol; cost in USA seem low to me, but that may be a me problem. :-) Great post as always...

ponymalta
  3/20/2019 02:05 EST

SkyMan

It would be interesting how the figures are collected.

The housing cost I found a bit low if one looked at East or West coast but otherwise for rural areas and Midwest seemed fairly normal for many.

testolas
  3/20/2019 11:42 EST

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&city1=Sacramento%2C+CA&country2=Colombia&city2=Bogota&displayCurrency=COP

To try to figure the cost of living you should compare city to city and not just country to country. Yes, there is a big difference if you use San Francisco and New York City vs St Louis and Phoenix. This information is to use with a grain of salt.

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DallasSteve
  3/20/2019 11:48 EST

The USA costs are way over my budget and I live very comfortably with a wife and her son. $200 per day is $6,000 per month. I spend about $3,000 per month. WTF?

Edgenaples
  6/19/2019 12:13 EST

Cafetero,
Less than $900/month....that is impressive. From reading a lot of other posts, we had come to the conclusion that life in Manizales would likely cost about 35-40% of what are life costs in the US. Maybe it is even less than that....

cafetero
  6/19/2019 12:34 EST

Edgenaples, I don't know where you are from in the USA, but you can use Numbeo.com to get a pretty good idea of cost differences.

Manizales has an metro population of about 550,000 people.

Compare that to Chattanooga, Tennessee metro area 560,000

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=Colombia&city1=Chattanooga%2C+TN&city2=Manizales&tracking=getDispatchComparison

Consumer Prices in Manizales are 57.35% lower than in Chattanooga, TN

Consumer Prices Including Rent in Manizales are 66.14% lower than in Chattanooga, TN

Rent Prices in Manizales are 83.73% lower than in Chattanooga, TN

Restaurant Prices in Manizales are 66.22% lower than in Chattanooga, TN

Groceries Prices in Manizales are 62.62% lower than in Chattanooga, TN

Local Purchasing Power in Manizales is 67.45% lower than in Chattanooga, TN

I am confident you can live in Manizales on about $1000 per month, compared to about $4000 per month in Chattanooga.

morganstern
  6/19/2019 13:15 EST

Cafetero....mattinnorfolk says you are not the "brightest bulb on the TREE"....That is coming from someone in the 'BUSH league'

tammytravels
  6/19/2019 13:15 EST

One thing missing from these impressive lists are home/appliance maintenance. This stood out to be because I just had an appliance repair.

Large Whirlpool Washer , 13 yo
Replace the drain hose (about 6' ft long going from bottom front to the top back to drain)
Drain hose, original part, $95,000 mil,
Labor to install $35,000 mil
Total $125,000.

When was the last time you had an in home appliance repair for less than $40.00 US? I live in Armenia, so price will vary on where you live.

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Edgenaples
  6/26/2019 12:03 EST

Thanks Cafetero,

That is about what I thought after a lot of reading. I was figuring maybe 1/3 of our current expenses, here in the Carolinas.

My wife is originally from Nicaragua, so Spanish isn't a problem. We've lived abroad before. We thought a lot about Cuenca, but now are leaning towards Colombia. Unfortunately we have 4 years and 11 months to go before we can leave my job. Hoping the time flies by because we are very excited about a new adventure.

Thanks again !

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