First of all, it's important to remember that all the values I'll post here are set in Brazilian Real. It varies from time to time compared to American Dollar, but normally US$1 (One Dollar) is equivalent to R$2,20 (Two and twenty cents Brazilian Real).

-Rent: 800/1000 for a house or apartment with two bedrooms in good spots of the city. Plus if you're going to rent an apartment, it's important to notice that there's some extra payments for the maintenance of the building. It mostly depends on what's the services of the building: if there's a pool, square for sports, etc. But usually it goes around from 300 to 600.

-Transportation: The tax to ride a bus is 2,30 and the subway pass is 2,55. In São Paulo the government adopted the "Bilhete Único", which is a card that gives you some benefits like taking 4 buses in an interval of 3 hours paying just the tax of 2,30; plus, if you're going to take bus+subway, you pay half for the second transportation of your choice (for example, if you pay 2,30 for the bus, then you're going to pay less for the subway pass).

-Food: If you don't want to spend a lot of money eating but you still want to eat some decent food, then you'll spend around 15 for each plate you eat.

With around 3000 you can have a good life in São Paulo.

How much would a one bedroom apartmnet cost to rent per month in RIO or Sao Paula

Thanks

Marcus

I own my own home and property tax is fairly low out here. As a condo owner I pay just $20 per month on my share of local property tax. House prices are $50 per sq foot to $200 per sq foot depending on the neighborhood. Food runs us about $500 per month (for 2 people) - that`s groceries and going to a 3/4 star restaurant once a week plus occasional fast food. My health plan costs about $125 per month. Cinema tickets are around $8 per person. We recently went to see the Cuban National Ballet and it cost us $125 (for the best seats in the house). A dozen eggs cost $1.00 at the supermarket and steak is anywhere from $3 per pound to $9 per pound depending on the cut and brand (the highest prices are for top cuts imported from Argentina). Gas is about $5 per gallon and a new car costs from $10,000 upwards.

For your $500 for food...are you shopping on the street markets or the store? Does that include soaps, personal items? What does electricity cost there?
Thank you

Rent: R$4,000, 400sq mtr house with pool, 4 bedrm suites, office, 4-car garage

Electrical: R$400-500

Water: R$200-300

Food: R$2,500

cinema: R$15.00

video rental: R$6.00

Monthly you are expected to expend for a family of 3 persons: rent of a little apartment = NZD 1,500;

not much electricity, as winter is not so cold = NZD 80;

food at home plus restaurants = NZD 1,500;

private health service = NZD 600;

recreation including 9 cinema, 9 theatre and one weekend per month at the beach = NZD 1,000;

transportation may be very expensive if you choose cabs, but you may use busses, which are dreadfull, or buy a small car, which costs around NZD 20,000 plus taxes and fuel, say around some more NZD 4,000 per year.

Living in a Southern district of São Paulo City - 100 square meters apartment

2 Adults + 2 children

Mortgage = USD 2,000/month

Electricity Power = USD 100/month

Natural Gas (for water heating) = USD 75/month

Telephone (fixed line) = USD 50 / month

Mobile phone (per person) = USD 60 / month

Condominium Taxes = USD 400/month

Cable TV (+ Internet broadband) = USD 120/month

Food Costs (for the entire family - supermarket, groceries, bakery, etc) = USD 2,000/month (not including restaurants, etc)

Fuel + car maintenance (1 car) = USD 400/month

Recreation = USD 1,000 / month

Health Care = USD 1,000 / month

Values in US Dollars

Apartament Condominium / Maintainance (including water): $700
Rent: I'm not sure because I own the apartment (may be something around 3000) - 3 BR + 2 BTHR (1600 sqr ft)

Power: $90

Cabe TV: $110 (top choice)

High Speed internet (4Mb): $40

Supermarket: $1500 (that for 2 adults and 2 children 4y + 1y, breakfast, lunch and dinner at home monday through Friday)


Private school: $1200 (top school for the 4years old - but not international. That would be around 2.100)

Restaurant: $600 (4 days alone and 4 days w/ my wife)

Cell phone: $400 for 2 person (around 1200 minutes)