Re: Cost of Living
i have a definition of ''graceful'' living...
You live in defence
You drive a car above 1300cc (toyota or honda preferably)
You have full time servants
You have the iphone,ipad,laptops etc
You eat mcDonalds/KFC/Hardees/Pizzahut at least one time a day
Your kids go to 'branded' english medium schools
You go shopping every week to MM Alam boutieques etc
You have a 5kv generator at least
and last but not the least........you don't forget to brag about it.....
Re: Cost of Living
Can't vouch for Pakistan, but for India
25 K for groceries - 5K INR
10 K for one live in servant - No live-in servant. That's a luxury and frankly out of the question in cramped city apartments. Maid comes in - 1-1.5K.
20 K for petrol - Use a bike or two. 6k INR 10K per month for each child's schooling. 3K per month can get you into a pretty good school. As far as I know, even Delhi public school does not cost 10K a month.
10-15K electric bill 7K. 5K is more than sufficient even allowing for air-conditioners. 5K water and gas and cable 3K. Cable/Internet 1.5K. Water/Gas Another 1.5 = 3K.
25 K random- Random expenses 5-7K.
total 33K.
You'd need about 10k savings, I'd say - children's higher education etc. So 43k. If you rent, you can live in a decent suburban 2 bed apartment for 10K. So 53k.
see even these numbers only seem reasonable if the family is living in a big city like mumbai. most indians and pakistanis dont live in big cities, and consequently don't have such huge rents/electricity bills/school fees/cars or petrol costs/even grocery bills.
Re: Cost of Living
i have a definition of ''graceful'' living...
You live in defence You drive a car above 1300cc (toyota or honda preferably) You have full time servants You have the iphone,ipad,laptops etc You eat mcDonalds/KFC/Hardees/Pizzahut at least one time a day Your kids go to 'branded' english medium schools You go shopping every week to MM Alam boutieques etc You have a 5kv generator at least
and last but not the least........you don't forget to brag about it.....
I see there is a philosopher hidden in there - enjoyed the message re: simple living is gracious too!
Re: Cost of Living
i have a definition of ''graceful'' living...
You live in defence You drive a car above 1300cc (toyota or honda preferably) You have full time servants You have the iphone,ipad,laptops etc You eat mcDonalds/KFC/Hardees/Pizzahut at least one time a day Your kids go to 'branded' english medium schools You go shopping every week to MM Alam boutieques etc You have a 5kv generator at least
and last but not the least........you don't forget to brag about it.....
hahaha. you're making sense lately.
Re: Cost of Living
see even these numbers only seem reasonable if the family is living in a big city like mumbai. most indians and pakistanis dont live in big cities, and consequently don't have such huge rents/electricity bills/school fees/cars or petrol costs/even grocery bills.
Agree. The numbers only work for the bigger cities. But I thought we were talking about Karachi here.
Re: Cost of Living
You know, I thought it was actually nice and refreshing to have the perspective of someone who currently lives in Pakistan to give a realistic view of living in Pakistan. But from this it seems like you aren’t aware of a world beyond Defense and that’s pretty pathetic.
PS I still dont’ believe that 5/10 K is enough of a decent salary in Pakistan by any means, but there IS a world beyond the borders of Defense that aren’t merely occupied by servants. You in serious need of a reality check 
Re: Cost of Living
Also, I don't understand what a 'housing society' is as opposed to a 'market area'. Is that the equivalent of a gated community? When you say 'Defense', is this entire suburb fenced off?
Aren't apartment blocks built outside of these societies?
Why wouldn't these be acceptable 'middle-class' places of residence provided they weren't in an unsafe suburb? Any block of apartments large enough would provide you with housekeeping, yes?
Re: Cost of Living
INR 32 - about PKR 60 is all that you need according to the govt. of India anyway 
For pointers, here’s a couple of journalists who tried graceful living in bombay on that budget.
http://www.cnngo.com/mumbai/life/imagine-living-rs-32-dayin-india-081690
Re: Cost of Living
Simple living is also graceful or gracious living IMO. I wonder what the median salary is of lower middle class - I am assuming it will be around Rs 18000-20000 per month. So Rs 30000 is probably 50% higher than median salary of lower middle class.
Re: Cost of Living
this thread has a lot of parallels with some old threads by a certain owner of 30% of dubai who held 3 graduate degrees, and used to take snapshots of kawway while holding a high-end DSLRs in each hand.
Re: Cost of Living
Re: Cost of Living
I can book you in anytime please have the cash ready when you land at airport.
nope i dont need u to book me...just the information would be enough! now quit the jokes =)
Re: Cost of Living
nope i dont need u to book me...just the information would be enough! now quit the jokes =)
Information was given, please read the thread fully.
Re: Cost of Living
^ just did
i found nothing except a bunch of defense walay argueing lol