Cost of living Caracas

[Bacchus4.0]

http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/caracas

To convert to US dollars at the official rate divide by 6. So a boneless chicken breast is $24 dollars. A pair of jeans is $400. Thats half the monthly minimum wage. $5500 for a 40 inch flat screen. The daily menu lunch menu is $30!!!
Live anywhere else but Venezuela.

Food
Daily menu in the business district Bs 187
Combo meal in fast food restaurant (Big Mac Meal or similar) Bs 166
1/2 Kg (1 lb.) of boneless chicken breast Bs 85
1 liter (1 qt.) of whole fat milk Bs 24
12 eggs, large Bs 57
1 kg (2 lb.) of tomatoes Bs 47
500 gr (16 oz.) of local cheese Bs 117
1 kg (2 lb.) of apples Bs 118
2 kg (4,5 lb.) of potatoes Bs 47
0.5 l (16 oz) domestic beer in the supermarket Bs 25
1 bottle of red table wine, good quality Bs 313
2 liters of Coca-Cola Bs 38
Bread for 2 people for 1 day Bs 14
Housing
Monthly rent for 85 m2 (900 Sqft) furnished accommodation in EXPENSIVE area Bs 30,295
Utilities 1 month (heating, electricity, gas ...) for 2 people in 85m2 flat Bs 394
Internet 8MB (1 month) Bs 439
40” flat screen TV Bs 34,136
Microwave, known brand, 800/900 Watt Bs 5,067
Laundry detergent (3 l. ~ 100 oz.) Bs 104
Hourly rate for cleaning help Bs 100
Clothes
1 pair of jeans (Levis 501 or similar) Bs 2,383
1 summer dress in a chain store (Zara, H&M, ...) Bs 1,460
1 pair of sport shoes (Nike, Adidas, or similar) Bs 3,375
1 pair of leather business shoes Bs 2,813
Transportation
Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDI 140 CV 6 vel. (or equivalent), with no extras, new Bs 630,892
1 liter (1/4 gallon) of gas Bs 1.51
Monthly ticket public transport Bs 201
Taxi trip on a business day, basic tariff, 8 Km. (5 miles) Bs 198
Personal Care
Medicine against cold for 6 days (Frenadol, Coldrex, ...) Bs 78
1 box of 32 tampons (Tampax, OB, ...) Bs 90
Deodorant, roll-on (50ml ~ 1.5 oz.) Bs 31
Hair shampoo 2-in-1 (400 ml ~ 12 oz.) Bs 45
4 rolls of toilet paper Bs 24
Tube of toothpaste Bs 22
Standard men's haircut in expat area of the city Bs 148
Entertainment
Basic dinner out for two in neighborhood pub Bs 786
2 tickets to the movies Bs 183
2 tickets to the theater (best available seats) Bs 635
Dinner out for two in Italian restaurant with wine and dessert Bs 1,530
1 cocktail drink in downtown club Bs 150
Capuccino in expat area of the city Bs 38
1 beer in neighbourhood pub (500ml or 1pt.) Bs 41
iPod nano 16GB Bs 5,172
1 min. of prepaid mobile tariff (no discounts or plans) Bs 2.23
1 month of gym membership in business district Bs 1,116
1 package of Marlboro cigarretes Bs 46

[99th_Monkey]

1. Is trashing Venezuela your only trick?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1108&pid=34034

[Bacchus4.0]

2. I just don't like chavistas. Still a lovely country with great people, the worst government

imaginable.

[Fred Sanders]

3. The minimum wage is 4600 Bs per month so a lot of this stuff is affordable and is contrary to your

other post. Are these all "business district" prices? Seems you are doing a lot of distortion.

46 Bs for cigarettes is still very cheap, amigo.

[Bacchus4.0]

4. Not if you want to buy food or clothes. 46Bs is $8

I don't know if you've been to latin america, but those cigarrettes aren't US.

Now, if you have dollars and exchange them illegally on the black market for Bs, yes it could be very cheap. Remember though, you'd have to have cash, the ATM and credit cards are going to charge you dollars at or close to the official rate of 6:1.

4600 doesn't go far when you consider the actual prices. Its about $50/month.

I suggest living or traveling to Colombia, Peru, or Ecuador instead.

[Fred Sanders]

5. 46 Bs is 46 Bs. Period. No one is paid in dollars. Your attempts at currency conversion to buy

goods where there is no currency conversion required are getting stale.

Paid in Bs, purchased with Bs. It is really quite simple, no BS conversion tricks required.

[Bacchus4.0]

6. Fine with me, a quart of milk is still Bs24,

1 pair of jeans (Levis 501 or similar) Bs 2,383
1 summer dress in a chain store (Zara, H&M, ...) Bs 1,460
1 pair of sport shoes (Nike, Adidas, or similar) Bs 3,375
1 pair of leather business shoes Bs 2,813

The monthly min. wage is still Bs 4200 and the official exchange rate is still 6:1

[Fred Sanders]

7. I have lived in and visited many other poor countries, working folks do not shop where you shop.

They do not buy Big Macs or Levis or Marlboroughs, and nothing at westernized shopping malls or stores.

[Marksman_91]

8. Well, clearly you haven't been to Venezuela

Even the government-sponsored grocery stores and so on are selling products at an unimaginable price. It's nice that you've visited other poor countries and helped out their communities, but please don't pass off information that Venezuelans like myself can confirm for you as "false," especially since you've never been there. It makes you look like a fool no better than a Teabagger.

[Fred Sanders]

10. Can you post these "unimaginable prices", in local currency? At local shops? Not just in central

Caracas? Lots,of countries fleece visiting businessmen there for a few days.

The Venezuela propaganda is so obvious it hurts.

What say you about the nationalization of the 100 billion dollar a year oil industry, now that all that precious money goes to the government, not the oligarchs?

[hack89]

11. You keep touting that 100 billion dollar a year figure

that represents 95% of the government's revenue. Which is fine until you realize that is less than their expenditures.

VZ has a budget deficit equal to 15% of their GDP. In 2012 they had revenues of $110 billion and expenditures of $165 billion.

[Fred Sanders]

12. Your financial "analysis" is without merit or reference. Revenues are indeed in the hundreds of

billions, dollars, so how can the country ever "go broke", as you would say?

How is that even possible? $100 billion dollars a year of revenue?

So, how about those local prices, in local currency, at local shops?

[hack89]

13. When your annual budget is $165 billion

and oil revenues are $100 billion (Which are 95% of total revenue), then yes, you can go broke.

Rich people go bankrupt every day - all you have to do is spend more than you make.

As for price - I don't think you are grasping the real issue. All those goods are imported - which means they are purchased in dollars. Because there is a shortage of dollars in VZ, either goods are not imported or they are purchased with black market dollars at a very high exchange rate. To make a profit on those goods (hell, just to break even) the retailer has to charge high prices. The most common outcome is that the retailer simply doesn't import goods - why do you think there are such widespread shortages of food, medicines and basic consumer goods?

[Bacchus4.0]

9. OMG!! You really are clueless. Venezuela is certainly among the most westernized nations

in Latin America. American fast food is quite popular (not saying that is good) and western clothes is little different, if at all, from the US. Shopping malls are enormously popular.

Now given the prices under chavismo, whether people can afford to buy those coveted western clothes, if available, or those $14 Big Macs is another issue.