Cost of living comparison - Pakistan vs rest of the world (don't get triggered yet)

[313ghazi]

I want to do some research, so I thought i'd asked our membership to help me better understand cost of living.

• In the UK the minimum wage is £8.91p per hour. Assuming the typical working day is 8 hours, the minimum wage worker in the UK takes home £71.28 a day.
• My weekly grocery bill (everything needed for eating drinking and cleaning) comes out to about £100 a week (generous estimate).
• A minimum wage worker could earn that amount in about 1.5 days.

So my questions are;

1. What is the minimum wage in your country?
2. How much does an average weeks groceries cost for a normal sized family?
3. How many days would a minimum wage worker have to work to earn that money?

 

[armandinho]

Athens and Thessaloniki

1) 663 *14 wages per year so= 773€ / month minimun gross
2)

Markets	Edit
Milk (regular), (1 liter)	1.27 €
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g)	0.84 €
Rice (white), (1kg)	1.87 €
Eggs (regular) (12)	3.05 €
Local Cheese (1kg)	8.87 €
Chicken Fillets (1kg)	7.28 €
Beef Round (1kg) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat)	9.93 €
Apples (1kg)	1.55 €
Banana (1kg)	1.59 €
Oranges (1kg)	0.92 €
Tomato (1kg)	1.61 €
Potato (1kg)	0.86 €
Onion (1kg)	0.79 €
Lettuce (1 head)	0.68 €
Water (1.5 liter bottle)	0.90 €
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range)	7.00 €
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)	1.50 €
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)	2.13 €

Rent Per Month	Edit
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre	454.80 €
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre	418.36 €
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre	796.56 €
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre	746.77 €

3) A normal sized family with 4 members needs at least 200 per month just for food and basic needs (toilet paper etc)


If you leave out of Athens and Thessaloniki is quite cheaper

 

[313ghazi]

1) 663 *14 wages per year so= 773€ / month minimun gross
2)

Markets	Edit
Milk (regular), (1 liter)	1.27 €
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g)	0.84 €
Rice (white), (1kg)	1.87 €
Eggs (regular) (12)	3.05 €
Local Cheese (1kg)	8.87 €
Chicken Fillets (1kg)	7.28 €
Beef Round (1kg) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat)	9.93 €
Apples (1kg)	1.55 €
Banana (1kg)	1.59 €
Oranges (1kg)	0.92 €
Tomato (1kg)	1.61 €
Potato (1kg)	0.86 €
Onion (1kg)	0.79 €
Lettuce (1 head)	0.68 €
Water (1.5 liter bottle)	0.90 €
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range)	7.00 €
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)	1.50 €
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)	2.13 €

Rent Per Month	Edit
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre	454.80 €
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre	418.36 €

3) A normal sized family with 4 members needs at least 200 per month just for food and basic needs (toilet paper etc)


If you leave out of Athens and Thessaloniki is quite cheaper

So 50 euros a week?
And on minimum wage you can earn that in 1.5-2 days?

 

[armandinho]

So 50 euros a week?
And on minimum wage you can earn that in 1.5-2 days?

194 euros per week minimun by law (we have 5 days working week so /5= 39/day

so if u r one person u need at least 50 per week and with minimun wage u have them in 1,28 days

But because is gross and u have to pay social security etc (minimun wage is not taxed) lets say , net wage based u need around 1,5 days

 

[I.R.A]

1. What is the minimum wage in your country?

UK's one week minimum wage is monthly minimum wage in Pakistan, not going to take into account 8 hours, Pakistan is normally minimum 10 hour shift without any overtime.

 

[313ghazi]

Cost of living in Lahore

If you don't mind, can you share what your weekly grocery bill is? Just food and cleaning materials.

UK's one week minimum wage is monthly minimum wage in Pakistan, not going to take into account 8 hours, Pakistan is normally minimum 10 hour shift without any overtime.

What i'm trying to understand is how many days a minimum wage worker must work, to buy an average persons weekly groceries.

Of course i understand that many don't even make minimum wage.

 

[peagle]

I want to do some research, so I thought i'd asked our membership to help me better understand cost of living.

• In the UK the minimum wage is £8.91p per hour. Assuming the typical working day is 8 hours, the minimum wage worker in the UK takes home £71.28 a week.
• My weekly grocery bill (everything needed for eating drinking and cleaning) comes out to about £100 a week (generous estimate).
• A minimum wage worker could earn that amount in about 1.5 days.

So my questions are;

1. What is the minimum wage in your country?
2. How much does an average weeks groceries cost for a normal sized family?
3. How many days would a minimum wage worker have to work to earn that money?

Your weekly calculation for UK is wrong, please correct it
I think you meant to write daily total, but you wrote weekly.


Good thread, will enjoy reading it.

 

[313ghazi]

Your weekly calculation for UK is wrong, please correct it
I think you meant to write daily total, but you wrote weekly.


Good thread, will enjoy reading it.

Good spot. I have fixed that.

 

[RealNapster]

I want to do some research, so I thought i'd asked our membership to help me better understand cost of living.

• In the UK the minimum wage is £8.91p per hour. Assuming the typical working day is 8 hours, the minimum wage worker in the UK takes home £71.28 a week.
• My weekly grocery bill (everything needed for eating drinking and cleaning) comes out to about £100 a week (generous estimate).
• A minimum wage worker could earn that amount in about 1.5 days.

So my questions are;

1. What is the minimum wage in your country?
2. How much does an average weeks groceries cost for a normal sized family?
3. How many days would a minimum wage worker have to work to earn that money?

Well for a family of 4, the grocery bill ( including vegetables, lentils, cooking oil and 40 kg flour etc ) cost 14 thousand PKR per month. That is 3500 per week for a family of 4 and 875 for an individual per week. Daily minimum wage in KP is 700. So it would take a person 1.25 days to earn a week of groceries. If out of these 4 only 1 person earns, then it would take him 5 days to earn 1 week of grocery bill for family.

But, just like your calculations. Mine also only focus on grocery bill and exclude health expenses, education, electricity bill, gas bill, transportation expense etc.

 

[Sayfullah]

Canada more specifically Toronto minimum wage is $14 a hour assuming someone works 8 hours a day that’s $112 or 40 hours a week that’s $560. In a month that would be $2240.
Monthly expenses:
Rent: Depending on which area you live average for 1 bedroom in Toronto is $1877
Food: Average cost of groceries is $340 but if you include dining out average cost is $535
Transportation: Public transport monthly pass for a adult is $156. If we include Uber Lyft and public transport average comes to $263
Phone and internet: Average total bill is $176 per month

Total:
$2851 average cost of living in Toronto.
(No wonder why most of us are in debt )

Monthly earnings: $2240 - monthly expenses $2851 = $-611

So basically more then $600 in debt every month

Source for my info:

Cost of Living in Toronto

The average cost of living in Toronto in 2021 Disclaimer: These numbers represent an estimate of what it costs to live in Toronto based on LowestRates.ca data, external sources as well as our writers' personal experiences. It’s entirely possible for people to live in the city for much less...

www.lowestrates.ca

I left out many other expenses the site mentioned and this site has recent data from February 2021. The data is pretty much accurate as my expenses are pretty much the same.

 

[Wood]

Canada more specifically Toronto minimum wage is $14 a hour assuming someone works 8 hours a day that’s $112 or 40 hours a week that’s $560. In a month that would be $2240.
Monthly expenses:
Rent: Depending on which area you live average for 1 bedroom in Toronto is $1877
Food: Average cost of groceries is $340 but if you include dining out average cost is $535
Transportation: Public transport monthly pass for a adult is $156. If we include Uber Lyft and public transport average comes to $263
Phone and internet: Average total bill is $176 per month

Total:
$2851 average cost of living in Toronto.
(No wonder why most of us are in debt )

Monthly earnings: $2240 - monthly expenses $2851 = $-611

So basically more then $600 in debt every month

Source for my info:

Cost of Living in Toronto

The average cost of living in Toronto in 2021 Disclaimer: These numbers represent an estimate of what it costs to live in Toronto based on LowestRates.ca data, external sources as well as our writers' personal experiences. It’s entirely possible for people to live in the city for much less...

www.lowestrates.ca

I left out many other expenses the site mentioned and this site has recent data from February 2021. The data is pretty much accurate as my expenses are pretty much the same.

Minimum wage in Ontario is $15 now. Weekly food expense can be $250 (for 4 people) if you shop for grocery in discount stores. At minimum wage you would shop in discount stores only. Main problem is Rent. Most people in GTA are what we call house poor

 

[Sayfullah]

Weekly food expense can be $250 (for 4 people) if you shop for grocery in discount stores.

I put $340 as monthly total for groceries which works out to $85 for one person per week for food.
Also yeah I forgot they raised minimum wage to $15 per hour but that wouldn’t change much since if you work 8 hours a day that’s $120 and 40 hours a week that’s $600 and per month that’s roughly $2400. That’s a minor difference only $160 more.
Discount stores here are expensive too like food basics and no frills. Also not to mention it takes time finding cheap deals and going to the store and shopping there many working on minimum wage just don’t have that time they rather pay a couple dollars more and order online and get home delivery.

 

[Wood]

I put $340 as monthly total for groceries which works out to $85 for one person per week for food.
Also yeah I forgot they raised minimum wage to $15 per hour but that wouldn’t change much since if you work 8 hours a day that’s $120 and 40 hours a week that’s $600 and per month that’s roughly $2400. That’s a minor difference only $160 more.
Discount stores here are expensive too like food basics and no frills. Also not to mention it takes time finding cheap deals and going to the store and shopping there many working on minimum wage just don’t have that time they rather pay a couple dollars more and order online and get home delivery.

1) OP had asked about weekly wage. So I misunderstood you.
2) No frills is cheaper compared to Loblaws or Metro. I find that the Chinese chains can be even cheaper.
3) I will not recommend minimum wage people to order grocery for home delivery

 

[Genghis khan1]

US min wage is $7.25/hr. Which after whole day of work, and after Taxes and mandatory deductions is good enough to buy a drain opener and drink it.

 

[313ghazi]

Well for a family of 4, the grocery bill ( including vegetables, lentils, cooking oil and 40 kg flour etc ) cost 14 thousand PKR per month. That is 3500 per week for a family of 4 and 875 for an individual per week. Daily minimum wage in KP is 700. So it would take a person 1.25 days to earn a week of groceries. If out of these 4 only 1 person earns, then it would take him 5 days to earn 1 week of grocery bill for family.

But, just like your calculations. Mine also only focus on grocery bill and exclude health expenses, education, electricity bill, gas bill, transportation expense etc.

I think that's the shocking reality people don't always know. Although why is labour so cheap in KPK? In AJK we have to pay 1500 a day for mazdoor. Maybe that's because we don't have many people happy to work. A lot of our labourers, especially skilled tend to be from other provinces.

Another BIG problem - average Pakistani family size is 6.5

Canada more specifically Toronto minimum wage is $14 a hour assuming someone works 8 hours a day that’s $112 or 40 hours a week that’s $560. In a month that would be $2240.
Monthly expenses:
Rent: Depending on which area you live average for 1 bedroom in Toronto is $1877
Food: Average cost of groceries is $340 but if you include dining out average cost is $535
Transportation: Public transport monthly pass for a adult is $156. If we include Uber Lyft and public transport average comes to $263
Phone and internet: Average total bill is $176 per month

Total:
$2851 average cost of living in Toronto.
(No wonder why most of us are in debt )

Monthly earnings: $2240 - monthly expenses $2851 = $-611

So basically more then $600 in debt every month

Source for my info:

Cost of Living in Toronto

The average cost of living in Toronto in 2021 Disclaimer: These numbers represent an estimate of what it costs to live in Toronto based on LowestRates.ca data, external sources as well as our writers' personal experiences. It’s entirely possible for people to live in the city for much less...

www.lowestrates.ca

I left out many other expenses the site mentioned and this site has recent data from February 2021. The data is pretty much accurate as my expenses are pretty much the same.

so it looks like in Canada you can buy a weeks grocery with a days earning?

1) OP had asked about weekly wage. So I misunderstood you.
2) No frills is cheaper compared to Loblaws or Metro. I find that the Chinese chains can be even cheaper.
3) I will not recommend minimum wage people to order grocery for home delivery

Are you single in Canada or do you have a family? What do you think the weekly cost of food for a family of 4 is in Canada?