Living Costs

(This page makes no sense. The information in the chart below is also available in plain text. Feel free to perform any statistical analyses on it. The bars are links to the diary. )

[Chart displaying my alcohol and coffee consumption in Budapest.]

If you had Javascript turned on, like all idiots unaware of any security issues, you could use this simple currency converter. The exchange rates used by the converter and everywhere on these pages are from September 1st 1999:

One Finnish mark equals 42.6 Hungarian forints

One dollar was 239.72 forints.

One euro was 253.29 ft.

One Hungarian forint is 100 Hungarian fillér.

(The Page Begins Here)

Living abroad is expensive, they say. They also say that Hungary is a cheap place for a foreigner. In fact, Budapest has long been Europe's cheapest (big) city for foreigners. (Not any more?)

My living costs were about the same in Budapest as normally in Finland. The money was wasted on quite different things, though. Living in Martos is practically free. Thus food constituted the largest part of the living costs. In principle food was also cheap, but we ate in a restaurant about every day. In Finland I never go to restaurants but cook myself. Summasummarum: I spent 50% more on food in Budapest than at home. The exact numbers are in the end of this page, for the curious.

Alcohol was so cheap that increased consumption cancelled the saving. The same probably applies to cigarettes and those who smoke.

Using one's phone abroad is expensive. I don't talk so it didn't bother me. I also dislike buying things I don't need. They wouldn't have been too cheap in Budapest either.

Travelling is cheap as long as one stays in Budapest or within the reach of local busses and trains. Trips abroad are costly, but they are worth it.

Some Numbers

Living Costs by Category (in forints)
Month	Rent	Food	Studies	Travel	Alcohol	Nonsense	Other
September	3500	35020	11212	61940 ⁽¹⁾	5692	14160	60736 ⁽²⁾
October	6520	36180	10432	15960	2648	7880	18380
November	24520 ⁽³⁾	31400	0	5400	2932	7880	3464
December	3500	37600	400	55880 ⁽⁴⁾	7648	41760 ⁽⁵⁾	139896 ⁽⁶⁾

Flight to Hungary, trip to Croatia
Bureaucracy, clothes
Accommodation for the trip to Italy
Trip to Italy, flight to Finland
Ski-pass
Clothes, broken wrist

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