Cost of Living

Re: Cost of Living

I would not type what i have not or could not do myslef. Now you have taken offence at something I said, what exactly? You cannot live without a maid or car?

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ok that makes sense because the baby is held in mothers arms. Ma Pa, 2 kids + baby.

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nahi g! :smack: that baby held in arms was counted in the 4 i saw :snooty:.

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I refer to families of five on one motorcycle.

Do you use a motorcycle for family?

I can understand having ridden on one to and fro from college/work as a bachelor.

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Well if they had laws in Pak, 5 people wouldn't be allowed on a bike and then where would people be.

Anyway, in the other thread, I think the OP used a bad choice of words when she said 'survive'. People in third world countries are 'surviving' on practically nothing.

The question should be, how much do you need to live a comfortable and secure life? So you can meet your basic needs, educate your children and also save for the future because you don't know what might happen in life.

What I hear from people who are earning sums like 15K to support the whole family (so wife and kids) is that they would do anything to earn some more. Not for better food, or better clothes or a new mobile but for security. I feel this is being overlooked in these threads.

For this kind of person, something happens where they need medical care or drugs afterwards for example, they need money, where is it going to come from?

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^ great point stoppit. Families earning 15-25K cannot set aside ANYTHING for accidents or for unexpected costs. Any sudden problem would send their finances out of whack.

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what a full set of subjective and vague terms to make estimates…:hehe:

carry on people!!

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Here is harsh but rationale statement IMO.

Everything except for following are actually luxuries (but we are so dependent on those luxuries now that we have made those necessity

  • Home/Rent (no not that 40k per month apartment in Defense)
  • Electric bill
  • Gas Bill
  • 1 Telephone line (or cell phone...and no not that 30k phone with 3000 per month plan)
  • Cloths (For heaven sake, Tommy and CK cloths are luxury and not required for living)
  • Food and other necessities (NO, eating out 6 days a week is not normal)
  • Education (kid does not need to go to B.V.S.Parsi School and pay 20k per month. There are good schools with less fee but you will not be able to brag about that in your circle)

Re: Cost of Living

If you are comfortable living in Rs 25,000 per month then that is comfortable for you ... if you are only comfortable living in Rs 250,000 then that is what is comfortable for you ...

I consider those people who are living "comfortable" - as a genuine state of mind - within lower means then they are blessed people - They have a lot of barakah.

The terms "living" and "comfortable" are not absolute terms and hence carry a meaning that is specific to the eye of the beholder.

It is the age old debate regarding "need" vs "luxury" ... what is the value of "need" ??? It cannot be quantified ... An elephant has a larger stomach than we have yet it does not need to earn any money to feed it ...

A person who practices staying without learns and develops to live within tighter and tigher means ... those who practice to indulge and live without restraint find it harder and harder to live in lower incomes ...

The "cost of living" in my opinion is that it is "free" - however if we want to compare earnings then the mode average is one measure to do this and the mean average is another measure. (This is based on relative incomes)

Rs 15,000 to 20, 000 would be the mode average from what I have seen
Rs 25,000 to 30,000 would be the mean average

However if we say that "comfortable living" is defined as anything 20% above average then I would have to say ...

Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 may be a comfortable living ... which is just under a luxurious living ... perhaps ...

Anyway there is another measure ... that is the measure of "available reserves" ...

Consider Family A -

Household income is Rs 40,000 per month, they spend 35,000 and save Rs 5,000 per month ... that is a saving of 1/8th of their salary ...

On the other hand

Family B

Household income = Rs 120, 000 per month but their monthly expense is Rs 110,000 ... giving them a saving of Rs 10,000 per month which is 1/12th of their income ... Even though Family A save less, their proportion saved is higher than Family B and hence one can say they are better at living within their means than Family B. One could conclude that Family A is more comfortable than Family B ...

Hence the Comfort Factor could be a simple ratio between Saving and Income ...

Comfort Factor = (Saved Income/Income) ... which as you can see has no bearing on overall earnings, but takes into account ones own expenses relative their own circumstances.

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good points in both psyah and Decent 6Chora posts, i would take it further, Think back to how cave men lived, clothes home made, rub two sticks to make fire instead of gas for cooking, hunt your own food. walk to your friend as there is no phone.

In reality a human requires very little to survive, i would say add ons are all luxuries. Then comes pride and showing off, status etc.

If 80% of a population are showing they live on 15k to 20k or less then anything above that would be comfortable. Double that to 60k would mean 50% luxuries, thier own comfort level.

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Are these dual income homes or only a single earner?

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lol so much effort on this discussion - if put to actual use, it would actually prove helpful

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Tum chup ho jao. Jalebi aur juice provide hi nahi kar sakte tum toh

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my estimate is based on these rough calculations. Except we have two cars and I have to drive a lot during work. So our petrol expenditures are more than normal. And we dont have to spend on schooling. So far our actual expenses are less than what you said but based on categories, I knew 150K is reasonable.

However, People live in much less. It depends on your means and luxuries etc. One MUST save whenever one can. It does not make you miser or spendthrift but more efficient.

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u hav to control ur expenses urself even people in pak living in 5k to 10 k though they dont spend much lik others do still they r living with grace so u hav accormodate urself within ur monthly budget.

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woah, you've taken us into a whole other ballpark now.

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my father is a retired general i dont hav any issue with the expense still i guess my monthly exp is below 10 k ... i prefer to help othersss when i can control my exp thn other can also try n save much n help others

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Are you living on your own within 10 K or is that your "pocket" money to spend as you please?

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i m livin with my parentss thts jst the total expendituree tht i spend ... though i get alot of things ready made jst in short i try to control my expenses as much as possible .

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Yes so you are not spending on
food on a daily routine for family
electric for a family
servants salary
fuel for car for all family

you arent spending anything you should be saving all your money.