Rent : ~500Euros for a flat with 2 bedrooms, rather new. 4th floor with elevator. No heating in it, 2 A/Cs
Food: 300Euros half of it cooking and half of it take-out
Utilities: around 50 per month. Could get up to 200 if you have gas or oil.
Transportation: Bus fare costs 50c if you buy it on a newsstand or 60c if you get it on the bus. No Trains or Underground yet tho we expect the UG on 2010. There are no bicycle roads and i wouldnt recommend it. Taxis cost less than the rest of Europe with a standard of 2.80 fare, starting at 1E.

All in all, the rent costs alot more than the rest of the expenses. However the salaries here are low with only 650E being the "basic" starting one. You have got to have a roomate

August 2010

Rent (The prices have dropped by 20% since the beginning of the year due to the economical crisis, so now it's): €420/mnth for a 2 bedroom 90sqm absolutely beautiful flat with a huge balcony in an area (Charilaou) 5 mins away from the centre (it takes quite some time though to find something as wonderful as this)
Electricity: €70-80/mnth
Telephone+ADSL: €40/mnth
Water: €8-9/mnth
Groceries (food and other supermarket stuff like detergents etc): variable, of course, but in my case (me and hubby) €320-350/mnth, and we mainly eat in
About €45 for a meal for two in a good Greek tavern

Health care (huge issue): if you have your own business it varies, but in my husband's case it's €230/mnth. If you are employed, your employer pays it. But keep the following in mind: this national health care you(or your employer) HAVE to pay, but god forbid you have to use it, the national hospitals are crap, and you usually have to book an appointment 3 months in advance. If it's an emergency, like a bad bad cut on the head in my case, you will get sown by students and it will leave you a HUGE and completely unnecessary scar. And while PULLING your stitches OUT, they will make you another cut!!!! If you go for a surgery, there's a huge possibility you will catch MRSA - and for those who don't know, trust me, you don't want to even think about this infection!
So then you get to also have to pay for private health care which is about €50/mnth.

Petrol .... currently the most expensive in Europe, about €1.5/l
Gym: €50/mnth

I strongly advise NOT to move to Thessaloniki at least at this time unless you are relocating for a job that pays enough to live OK and don't count on getting anything better when you get here (no jobs available). Also do not move from a big city - you are going to wither. I used to live in Belgrade (Serbia), which is a NY compared to Thessaloniki, and now I'm relocating to London, one of the main reasons being the inexistence of open mind and a good cultural life in Thess.

Also, YOU HAVE TO SPEAK GREEK, or at least to learn it over here ASAP, as people may say they do, but they actually do not speak English and you won't manage to do any paperwork whatsoever (let alone find a job) if you don't speak Greek.

On the other hand, this is a cute little city (if you're looking for LITTLE and if you're self-sufficient in the social sense), one hour drive away from the most beautiful beaches in the summer, and one hr drive away from relatively decent ski slopes in the winter.
The food is very good and the fruit and vegetables over here still have a taste, and what a taste!