<<previous Long time no see, here I come again with an updated list of what's the cost of life in Uruguay these days, when the american dollar is cheaper and cheaper, and uruguayan peso stronger. I've recently moved,..again, still with my girlfriend, and making plans to get married this summer, so my budget is in crisis...again (it's been almost three years already since the cost of life post... im getting old). It turned out that the info about how much does it cost to live in Uruguay did seem to help, and it even got mentioned in a book, or so I've been told.
Let's start by the beginning, right now the exchange rate is about 20 pesos for 1 american dollar, and rates are expressed per month. So without further ado, here is the table:
Item Peso UY USD Comment Lunch at restaurant from 100 to 200 from 5 to 10 Places where you sit, and there's a waiter Dinner for two in a fancy restaurant from around 500 to 1200 from around 25 to 60 appetizer, main course, dessert, good wine for both Lunch at Mac Donald's 120 6 MD is not considered a cheap meal Movie Theatre/Cinema from 50 to 105 from 2.5 to 5 105 weekend price Theater around 300 around 15 expensive 20km taxi drive in Montevideo around 350 around 15 from carrasco to ciudad vieja Urban bus ticket 13.5 0.675 government is making it cheaper 1 lt of gasoline 32 1.6 got a car now Renting a one bedroom apartment in a fancy neighborhood from around 6000 to 8000 plus common expenses from around 300 to 400 neighborhood being pocitos or punta carretas Renting a two bedroom apartment in a fancy neighborhood from around 7000 to 12000 plus common expenses from around 350 to 600 for some reason real state bubble hasnt burst here, again this is per month. Electricity bill around 1000 around 50 Phone bill from around 1500 to 3000 from around 75 to 150 five person house, one teenager Water bill around 300 around 15 cable tv bill around 600 around 30 internet broadband (256k download) from 200 to 600 from 10 to 30 at least some things are less expensive Kilo of Potatoes around 20 around 1 Kilo of apples around 30 aroundaround 1.5 Kilo of bananas around 25 around 1.25 1 lettucearound 12 around 0.6 Kilo of fatless grinded meataround 138 around 6.9 Kilo of beef loinsaround 170 around 8.5 1 lt milk 18 0.9 1 loaf of bread 18 0.9
As you can appreciate everything is much more expensive than 3 years ago, specially if you rely on dollars (which I dont). The perspective of moving to Uruguay might not seem as cost effective as it used to be, at least not to americans.
I don't have the mean income info, but if i have to guess it, i'd say for 70% of the population it's below 1000 usd/month.
