$1500 is do able as the average salary is 600 to 1000. We live in the center of lisbon and rent for our 2 bedroom place. You can find a nice one bedroom for $400 to $600. Movies are $12 per ticket. Meto is $1.5 per trip. Uber is cheaper than taxi here. 30 minute trip by taxi is $20 euro or $25 dollars where Uber is $7 dollars.
Vegetables and chicken is half of that in the USA. Imported electronics have a 24% tax. Eating near tourist areas in Lisbon they add 24%. In the smaller restaurants a good meal is 9 to $12 so not much different than the USA.

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00abuse

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The real issue I think is whether you can handle any real swing in the currency exchange rates with that income slamdumkmj.

The closer to the bone your income vs. living costs are, the harder it is to deal with currency fluctuations.

If you were asking about spending a winter in Portugal, that's one thing but asking about 'living your life out' means you have to think longer term.

Even what are considered strong currencies like the Dollar, UK Pound, Euro, Canadian Dollar, etc. can have significant swings in exchange rates over relatively short periods of time.

For example, the UK Pound to Canadian dollar has swung up and down by 25% in the last 10 years. The US to Canadian dollar by 30%. Both to the Euro by as much. So you need to be able to deal with those kinds of swings when looking at the long term.

So, if your income is $1500 or 1500 Euros (you don't indicate what currency you are referring to), then I would say you need to know you can live confortably on 1000, not 1500. That leaves you with a 33% 'cushion' to fall back on if necessary. I would not want to have less cushion than that and preferably more obviously.

You are thinking only of inflation and that isn't enough. There are 3 primary financial considerations you have to cover. Taxes, inflation and exchange.

The question of 'can I afford to live in a country' is not as simple as do I have enough money today?

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I have decided to allocate 2000.00 rather than the 1500.00. I also have additional income per month but need to save for that rainy day you speak of. All told I net 3100.00 and have 2500.00 to live on and save what I can.
Trying to decide between Cusco Peru and Portugal is tough for me.
They are worlds apart 1st world country to 3rd world country and all that it comes with. as far as affordability is concerned Peru beats it and will allow me to save closer to 1500.00 a month.
Thanks for your help.
The us dollar is my currency.

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00abuse

To SlamD,

We lived in Thailand for nearly 3 years. We now live in Portugal and are very happy to be in a 1st World country again. There were many things we learned and we are glad we did it, but there is a peace of mind being able to depend on good health care and having fresh clean water out of the tap. Whatever you decide to do, go easy on yourself when you experience culture shock. You can always change your mind and move somewhere else if it doesn't work out. Good Luck and most of all......Have fun!

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00abuse

Thanks. Am living n BKK and seriously
considering Lisbon. Coming to look around in March. Lis is very like San Francisco........Looking forward to different weather.

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00abuse