“With $5,000 in India, you can live like a king for six months.”
India is cheap. Like really cheap. I was told before I came that the cost of living was considerably less than the US. Sure, I understood. Things cost a little less; a dollar can stretch further.
Understatement of the century.
When I first got to India I set aside $200 for my spending money. Hopefully, this would cover going to eat, buying groceries, cabs and other miscellaneous expenses. Once exchanged to Indian Rupees, it came out to a little less than ₹13,000.
I have a currency converter on my phone and it is pretty easy to estimate prices with $1 = ₹60, however, the first couple weeks were kind of busy. I was so preoccupied with the sights and sounds and new experiences that I was the least concerned about how much I was spending.
After about 2 or 3 weeks in, I realized I barely even made a dent in my spending money. I looked at my stack of rupees and almost all of it was still there. “How is this possible?” I thought. Ever since, I have been paying much more attention to prices and the value of items and various other things associated with the cost of living in India. It is pretty staggering.
A typical meal from a small, fast food-like hotel (read: restaurant) costs about ₹100 rupees or less, or a buck and some change.
A meal from a “nicer” sit-down, usually A/C restaurant will cost about ₹250 or about $4.
A 1l bottle of water is ₹20 or about 30 cents.
A 16oz bottle of coke is around ₹35 or 50 cents.
A cup of tea (chai) is usually ₹10.
An uber across the city is maybe $2.
Tickets to the evening showing of jurassic world, slightly over $2.
One of the first things I did was go to the grocery store. I bought eggs, milk, bread, cereal, some snacks, some fruit, some pop. A list that would usually cost around $30 dollars in the US was not even $10. I put ₹150 on my Indian mobile hoping it would be enough to cover the calls/texts I make here; 5 weeks later and I’ve barely touched ₹30 rupees worth. It is insane. Everyday items are so inexpensive.
I am writing this from a trip to Hyderabad. I am currently staying an wealthy area of the city in an apartment rented by two Americans, Kate and Justin, who are friends of friends of Varghese. The apartment is absolutely massive. I believe it was already furnished, but it one large open area with two sitting spaces and huge kitchen, two balconies. Attached are 3 massive bedrooms each with a balcony and a bath. This type of place would cost thousands in the US, especially being in a wealthy part of the city. Kate and Justin are both doctors so I’m sure the money wasn’t an issue but I was curious as to what they paid for rent.
35,000 rupees a month. May seem like a lot, but it’s not. It’s shy of $600. It’s insane. $600 can’t get you a bathroom in parts of Pittsburgh. It’s actually less than my small apartment in Friendship. To an average American it’s pretty normal rent. To those with money, it’s a steal. To Indians, it’s unaffordable.
In fact, the only thing I’ve noticed here that Is more expensive than the US is gas which, after some conversions, comes out somewhere in the 4$/gallon range. Alcohol is fairly comparable to the US. A beer is about $3-$4. Other than that it’s crazy.
One thing I have noticed though is, like everything else in the world, it all adds up. If you keep doing the conversions and thinking how inexpensive everything is, you’ll run out of money. I’ve heard this from many other foreigners here and seen it myself.
The sad part is, the above is of course only true for us privileged outsiders. For the average Indian, food, housing, entertainment is expensive. Indians are very proud people. They work extremely hard for their income, which is generally low.
Labor is so cheap here it’s insane. Almost every nicer restaurant I’ve seen is over staffed to a crazy degree. Here in Hyderabad they recently got their first Starbucks. It’s in the wealthy area if town and I figured I would check it out. It was the biggest I’ve seen with two huge floors, everything brand new and nice. The different part was the staff. It was 10 at night and they close at 1030. There were maybe 15 customers served by at least 10 employees. They weren’t busy and about to close yet still had all these people working. 5 guys behind the counter, one walking around explaining the types of coffee to customers, one offering to try a freshly baked brownie, one giving a demonstration of some kind and others just standing around. It’s weird. The same is true for nice restaurants as well. They’re are so many waiters and hosts and guys standing there looking attentive but don’t do anything it’s actually overwhelming.
The point is, these people can’t be paid much at all. It’s sad. Labor is so cheap businesses don’t care to cut hours or limit workers, they just over staff and over staff.
I’m sitting here talking about the life of luxury an American can live with a few thousand dollars while most Indians won’t see that much in a year. And I’ve been talking mostly about wealthy areas in Hyderabad, not the millions and millions and Indians living outside the wealthy areas, outside of cities, and in the poor rural villages and towns. They’re lucky to see that much in a lifetime.
It’s great but humbling at the same time. Just like all of India. The disparities between westernization and tradition, being liberal and conservative, between developed and underdeveloped, and between rich and poor are the most noticeable things in this country. And it’s these issues that the country is struggling with and will come to define it over the next few decades.
India is cheap. Like really cheap. I was told before I came that the cost of living was considerably less than the US. Sure, I understood. Things cost a little less; a dollar can stretch further.
Understatement of the century.
When I first got to India I set aside $200 for my spending money. Hopefully, this would cover going to eat, buying groceries, cabs and other miscellaneous expenses. Once exchanged to Indian Rupees, it came out to a little less than ₹13,000.
I have a currency converter on my phone and it is pretty easy to estimate prices with $1 = ₹60, however, the first couple weeks were kind of busy. I was so preoccupied with the sights and sounds and new experiences that I was the least concerned about how much I was spending.
After about 2 or 3 weeks in, I realized I barely even made a dent in my spending money. I looked at my stack of rupees and almost all of it was still there. “How is this possible?” I thought. Ever since, I have been paying much more attention to prices and the value of items and various other things associated with the cost of living in India. It is pretty staggering.
A typical meal from a small, fast food-like hotel (read: restaurant) costs about ₹100 rupees or less, or a buck and some change.
A meal from a “nicer” sit-down, usually A/C restaurant will cost about ₹250 or about $4.
A 1l bottle of water is ₹20 or about 30 cents.
A 16oz bottle of coke is around ₹35 or 50 cents.
A cup of tea (chai) is usually ₹10.
An uber across the city is maybe $2.
Tickets to the evening showing of jurassic world, slightly over $2.
One of the first things I did was go to the grocery store. I bought eggs, milk, bread, cereal, some snacks, some fruit, some pop. A list that would usually cost around $30 dollars in the US was not even $10. I put ₹150 on my Indian mobile hoping it would be enough to cover the calls/texts I make here; 5 weeks later and I’ve barely touched ₹30 rupees worth. It is insane. Everyday items are so inexpensive.
I am writing this from a trip to Hyderabad. I am currently staying an wealthy area of the city in an apartment rented by two Americans, Kate and Justin, who are friends of friends of Varghese. The apartment is absolutely massive. I believe it was already furnished, but it one large open area with two sitting spaces and huge kitchen, two balconies. Attached are 3 massive bedrooms each with a balcony and a bath. This type of place would cost thousands in the US, especially being in a wealthy part of the city. Kate and Justin are both doctors so I’m sure the money wasn’t an issue but I was curious as to what they paid for rent.
35,000 rupees a month. May seem like a lot, but it’s not. It’s shy of $600. It’s insane. $600 can’t get you a bathroom in parts of Pittsburgh. It’s actually less than my small apartment in Friendship. To an average American it’s pretty normal rent. To those with money, it’s a steal. To Indians, it’s unaffordable.
In fact, the only thing I’ve noticed here that Is more expensive than the US is gas which, after some conversions, comes out somewhere in the 4$/gallon range. Alcohol is fairly comparable to the US. A beer is about $3-$4. Other than that it’s crazy.
One thing I have noticed though is, like everything else in the world, it all adds up. If you keep doing the conversions and thinking how inexpensive everything is, you’ll run out of money. I’ve heard this from many other foreigners here and seen it myself.
The sad part is, the above is of course only true for us privileged outsiders. For the average Indian, food, housing, entertainment is expensive. Indians are very proud people. They work extremely hard for their income, which is generally low.
Labor is so cheap here it’s insane. Almost every nicer restaurant I’ve seen is over staffed to a crazy degree. Here in Hyderabad they recently got their first Starbucks. It’s in the wealthy area if town and I figured I would check it out. It was the biggest I’ve seen with two huge floors, everything brand new and nice. The different part was the staff. It was 10 at night and they close at 1030. There were maybe 15 customers served by at least 10 employees. They weren’t busy and about to close yet still had all these people working. 5 guys behind the counter, one walking around explaining the types of coffee to customers, one offering to try a freshly baked brownie, one giving a demonstration of some kind and others just standing around. It’s weird. The same is true for nice restaurants as well. They’re are so many waiters and hosts and guys standing there looking attentive but don’t do anything it’s actually overwhelming.
The point is, these people can’t be paid much at all. It’s sad. Labor is so cheap businesses don’t care to cut hours or limit workers, they just over staff and over staff.
I’m sitting here talking about the life of luxury an American can live with a few thousand dollars while most Indians won’t see that much in a year. And I’ve been talking mostly about wealthy areas in Hyderabad, not the millions and millions and Indians living outside the wealthy areas, outside of cities, and in the poor rural villages and towns. They’re lucky to see that much in a lifetime.
It’s great but humbling at the same time. Just like all of India. The disparities between westernization and tradition, being liberal and conservative, between developed and underdeveloped, and between rich and poor are the most noticeable things in this country. And it’s these issues that the country is struggling with and will come to define it over the next few decades.
