How much do things cost where you live?

[John B]

In Australia $3 will buy you a bottle of milk. I spent $13 just on cold drinks tonight which will only last one day. Petrol is super expensive as well, a tank of fuel for a car can easily be over $50. Min wage here for a full time worker is $16.50 per hour based on 40 hour week and that is the lowest of the low positions. Full time average wage per week is about $1440 per week and even that's low. Getting paid $50 per hour is fairly common. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/6302.0~Nov+2013~Main+Features~Key+Figures?OpenDocum...

[Natasha R]

In my country we have four different exchange rates, but petrol is so cheap, about 10 cents to fill up a tank.

[Alex K]

Milk and drinks are not indicators, especially in Australia, which is a desert, mostly. European farmers dump millions liters of milk when they protest. Overproduction. Higher prices in Australia are due to the laws that protect consumers/workers, that raises the bar of business costs.

[Jenn B]

According to Numbeo, gasoline in Manila is 1.18 usd per litre. Basic (Electricity, Heating, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment - 105.24usd Internet (6 Mbps, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) - 59.74usd I used to think it's cheap to live in Philippines, until I did my research when I was figuring out how much I should really charge my clients. It turns out the cost of living in Manila is relatively expensive compared to the minimum wage and even the average wage that most people get here. Main point: People work too long to be able to buy stuff here. It's saddening, really. So for Filipinos wondering how much they should charge, and to clients wondering how much they should pay their Filipino freelancers, I would suggest not using the minimum wage and average wage in PH. I even did a calculation about this but I can't link because oDesk told me off before when I did so! As for Australia, yep, you definitely have expensive stuff! Even more expensive than NZ, eh? But then Aussies' minimum wage/average income is relatively high anyway. So it's all good for you, I think.

[Reynaldo M]

Figures are pretty much correct. And if you add rental for a 2 bedroom 85 sqr.mtr apartment with at least 1 kilometer from a main road are in the range of $200 to $350 depending on location and condition of apartment and its neighborhood. I live in laguna outside of Greater Manila and I am paying $136 monthly rental $100 for electricity and $20 for a tank of LPG. Water source is deepwell and spend about $12 for drinking water. Fresh produce are relatively cheaper than GMA but still food cost us minimum $180 a month for a family of 5. Your right though, local minimum wage are just enough to feed a family and it can't really be a bench mark how much client should pay Filipino Freelancer.