[Note: Please also see Let's Talk Money, a newer and more comprehensive post on the cost of living in SA.]
One of the questions I get most often, and have the most trouble answering, is the one about the cost of living in Joburg or South Africa overall.
I mean, it's really hard to give a standard answer to that. Some people have four kids, some have none (and some have four but deprive them of every possible privilege that might cost a dime, if you ask them). Some take long showers and some prefer to stink. Some are snobs when it comes to food and some like to own thirty-plus handbags.
So until now I've successfully skirted this subject, because it seemed too much of an undertaking.
But I've literally been bailed out and will take the easy route on this one, because my friend Martina just wrote an excellent blog post about that very subject. It's from her own perspective of course, and based on a London-Joburg comparison, which may or may not work for your purposes. But it gives you a very good idea what to watch out for, and where to perhaps ask your employer upfront to budget a cost-of-living increase, if you are in a place to negotiate such things.
She's basically sorted every expense into one of three categories: Cheaper than home, the same, and more expensive. And I must say, it is all spot on, with the obvious adjustments you must make for things like petrol prices or healthcare which might differ coming from another country, as well as school fees and other child-related expenses you might incur.
So go on over to Martina-in-Jozi and read for yourself.
More on the cost of living in South Africa: Let's Talk Money.
One of the questions I get most often, and have the most trouble answering, is the one about the cost of living in Joburg or South Africa overall.
I mean, it's really hard to give a standard answer to that. Some people have four kids, some have none (and some have four but deprive them of every possible privilege that might cost a dime, if you ask them). Some take long showers and some prefer to stink. Some are snobs when it comes to food and some like to own thirty-plus handbags.
So until now I've successfully skirted this subject, because it seemed too much of an undertaking.
But I've literally been bailed out and will take the easy route on this one, because my friend Martina just wrote an excellent blog post about that very subject. It's from her own perspective of course, and based on a London-Joburg comparison, which may or may not work for your purposes. But it gives you a very good idea what to watch out for, and where to perhaps ask your employer upfront to budget a cost-of-living increase, if you are in a place to negotiate such things.
She's basically sorted every expense into one of three categories: Cheaper than home, the same, and more expensive. And I must say, it is all spot on, with the obvious adjustments you must make for things like petrol prices or healthcare which might differ coming from another country, as well as school fees and other child-related expenses you might incur.
So go on over to Martina-in-Jozi and read for yourself.
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| Wish this was in ZAR, then our monthly expenses would be less of an issue |
More on the cost of living in South Africa: Let's Talk Money.
