-Own apartmant, appraisal cost of 240K USD

-Utilities roughly 250 USD for a 2 bedroom apartment for a family with one teenager child,apartment is on 14 floor of a 16 storey building in the outskirts of Moscow

Food - 500 USD family of three, mainly home cooking.. almost no eating out,

Transporttation - 20-40 USD - subway pass depending on the number of trips
Gas for BMW Sedan 1,8L - 100 USD as the only time we use car is weekend shopping in the big chain stores like Auchan and REAL (European brands of hyoermarkets)

If you are an expat you will probably live in the center of the city and will eat out a lot.Your expenses will be 2-3 times bigger than with the average muscovite.. keep in mind that a cup of coffee in Moscow is almost twice more expensive than on Hawaii beach

Why is the cost of living in Moscow [and other parts of Europe] so expensive ?

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Moscow (2011), I live in my own apartment, so not mortgage or rent cost. Around 100 re month on flat bills, plus 70 euro per month on electricity. Spend about 100 euro per month on petrol for my 1.6 car, and around 200 euro on food, leaving alone. Night life is not cheap, cappuccino at 8-10 euro, same for tea, dinner w/o alcohol from 30 euro, lunch in cafe near office can be from 10 euro. Taxi from 5 euro