Real costs of living in Cuenca

We, like many of our friends who live in Cuenca, have become concerned about the world-wide publicity that Ecuador is getting in the press, publicity that often shows only the glowing side of things and not the whole picture. While this attention is mostly justified, Ecuador is often misunderstood as being a cure-all for every problem with dirt cheap living costs. In the past few years, Costa Rica and Panama received similar accolades which led to overbuilding and a rapid increase in the cost of living and eventual disappointment by many who came to find their paradise.

We have seen the effect of the world-wide recession on friends and have met and corresponded with many people who are looking for answers to their own desires for change that might bring a full and comfortable life style.  Almost all are near or in retirement and are looking for a way to conserve their remaining assets and to live as well as they can on their retirement income. Living in the States and in Europe has become dicey at best for many of them. Often this means they must find a way and a place to live on Social Security and their pensions. Fortunately, this has worked for us and we have managed to live well on our retirement income. We do worry, however, that this will not remain the case if Ecuador follows the “progress” of Panama and Costa Rica. We are concerned about overbuilding, a rising cost of living, and a change in the character of Cuenca brought about by a huge influx of “wealthy” newcomers because the income, though modest by US standards, is “rich” by Ecuadorian standards.

There will be some disagreement with the lists that follow but these are our real costs not just estimates out of the blue. The column on the left represents our actual costs for two adults plus school for Jonny. The column on the right is an estimate of how these costs for two could be reduced to a lower monthly total. Somewhere in between is probably where you might land.

Rent                $740 -large 4 B/R apartment $300 - 2 B/R apartment

Food               $500 -supermarket food      $400 - for two at Mercados, etc.

Dining out        $240 - twice a week             $120 - once a week

Utilities            $60 – electric,gas, water       $40 – electric, gas,  water

Cell phone       $30 – 2 phones buy minutes  $10 – 2 phones used infrequently

Internet            $90 – Best speed                  $30 – slower plan

Computer        $15 – supplies – high use       $5 – supplies– low use

Cable/Satellite $76 – Direct TV w/ extras     $30 – Direct TV basic

Transportation $60 – car with gas expense   $60 – no car, use bus and taxis

Vacations        $100 – One trip a year          $0 – No vacation

School            $250 – private school            $0 – No children

Maid               $135 – 3 days at $15 day     $0 – no maid

Clothing           $15                                      $5

Haircuts           $10 – for two                      $10 – for two

Gym                $40 – for two                      $0 – no gym

Medical           $50 – pay as you go            $50 – pay as you go

Vitamins          $5                                       $0 – no vitamins

Cash               $400  little things                 $300 – fewer little things

                            $2816                                 $1360

The above expenses don’t include any emergency costs, unexpected medical bills, or one time purchases that always seem to pop up and ruin the budget. Our expense of roughly $3000 a month is less than half the same categories and their cost in North Carolina. Other expats will have other ideas of what it costs for them to live in Cuenca but, no matter how you massage it, the expenses for two living here will probably come somewhere within these two totals.

What's cheap, expensive or hard to get?

We remembered that before we came to Ecuador, there were many questions in our minds over what to bring, what we could and could not get in Cuenca and what might cost more than in the US. This is a controversial subject as some of the following items may be available and we just have not found where to get them. But, with that said, let’s take a look at three categories of what we have found to date. The lists are far from complete but will give you an idea of what costs more or less and what is hard to get in Cuenca. This is a favorite subject for the Gringos. We would appreciate contact from people who live in Ecuador with additions to this list and we will post it again soon with more information.

What costs more in Cuenca?

At the beginning of the 2009 economic crisis, the government of Ecuador imposed a high protective tariff on almost all imported goods which raised the cost of imports considerably. The government has promised to eliminate most if not all of these tariffs in early 2010 but we shall see. We are hopeful that when present supplies have been restocked, prices will come down on imported goods.

Nevertheless, we still find some items more costly like shoes, blue jeans, cars (especially if you want an automatic shift), cameras, toys, mail to the US, children’s school workbooks,

What is hard to get in Cuenca?

A large selection of almost anything, children’s clothes, off size clothes (Ecuadorian’s are generally smaller in size than North Americans), high thread count sheets (300 about top count), Levi jeans, aspirin in 325 and 85 mg size, cold medications, frozen foods, parsnips, good salad dressings, baby foods, chicken bouillon cubes, prepared foods like Whole Food in the US, full range of vitamins, A3 copy paper (only A4 available), English language books, TV and camera accessories, DSLR cameras, a full school day (classes end at about 1:00PM), high-end gyms,

What costs less in Cuenca?

Maid service ($8-10 a day), Utilities (did you know that there are no heating or air conditioning units used or necessary in Cuenca?), housing (both rental and purchasing), taxis ($1-2 anywhere in the city), fresh vegetables and fruit, Restaurant food (also tipping is much less), computer printers (most under $100), medical care, gasoline($1.48 gallon), In-country air fares, South American wines and liquors, custom made furniture, granite counter tops, labor ($10-15 day depending on job), DVD’s ($1.50 each),

Let us know what you think could be added to this list. 

Senior Discounts

We have been here almost a year and have not yet taken advantage of the supposed Ecuadorian senior discounts. Therefore, we post this with a grain of salt as getting correct information is hard to verify. There are a number of websites that state that those people over 65 who have residency are entitled to senior discounts that can be quite substantial. We will look into them one by one in the near future and post our experiences. But, in the meantime, the senior discounts we have heard about are the following:

-          50% off public and private transportation within Ecuador including the Galapagos.

-          50% off tickets to most cultural and sporting events including movies

-          50% off electric and water charges

-          50% off airfare for international travel for round trip tickets offered by Taca, Copa, and AeroGal when purchased here and for flights originating in Ecuador.

-          Free domestic landline telephone service

If all of this is true and the companies involved respect the discounts, there is a huge savings available to those who take the time to follow up. All that will probably be required is to present your cedula (identity card) at the particular company and you will be billed far less than the average citizen.

We have recently heard that, after registering with SRI on Avenida Remigio Crispo, you can submit bi-monthly your facturas (official sales receipts) for the previous two months.  Most retailers will ask you if you want a Factura when you go to pay your bill. SRI will give you a 50% discount on the 12% IVA tax imposed on most sales and then deposit it directly into your bank account. You can submit up to $1560.00 refund per year. Again, we have yet to do this but will apply at SRI very soon as this is too good a deal to pass up.

Cost of Living

There are three of us living in a high end apartment building in Cuenca. Except for unusual expenditures, we are living on Social Security and a pension which amounts to $3000 a month. We have those amounts automatically deposited to our bank in the US. When we need cash we withdraw fairly large amounts from any one of the many ATM machines in town. There is a $5 international transaction fee for each withdrawal. But, this is by far the most efficient way to pay for daily items in Ecuador’s cash society. Again, we are living very well and two people and a child, like us, could live far less expensively.  Here is a rough breakdown of our monthly expenses.

$740 – Rent – We pay $600 rent and $140 building maintenance fee. You would not have this expense if you owned and most apartments are less expensive especially if they are unfurnished.

$45 – Electric bill – we pay no water or gas bill as it is included in rent. It would run about $30 max.

$60 – Gasoline and maintenance – Taxis and busses are cheap but we opt to own a car so we could travel easily.

$108 – Internet – this is expensive. We have two computers therefore we need two Porta USB modems at $54 each that connect to our computer’s USB ports.

$70 – Direct TV – Cable is less expensive but Direct Satellite TV is the most English friendly and is very reliable.  We have contracted for almost every channel they offer. Fewer premium channels would cost less.

$120 – Maid – For two days a week cleaning and two evenings a week as a sitter.

$222 – School – The primary schools we have investigated run from $126 to $350 per month.

$100 – Expatriate meetings – About $25 per Friday evening covers wine and appetizers for two.

$240 – Eating out – We eat out about 8 times a month. Each evening runs approximately $30 for two.

$15 – Haircuts - $4 for men x 2, $6-11 for women x 1

$60 – Gym – 3 times a week at $5 for two for each visit

$200 – Cash – Miscellaneous pocket money

$800 – Food – purchased at the Supermaxi and the co-op, we spend about $36 a day for 3 people. Buying produce at one of the mercados would save a great deal of money.

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$2780 – Total per month for three of us. This leaves about $200 for all those unexpected items like a $25 visit to a doctor, or some new clothes, or a new cell phone, etc.  Again, I want to repeat that we are living very well on about 30% of what we spent each month in the US. We know many expatriates who are living on less than half of what we spend per month.

Here is a more detailed list of a recent visit to Supermaxi.  We have not included much produce as it is so inexpensive at the coop  and the mercados as to appear almost ridiculous.

The following list is for items that we think might be more expensive than in the US.

$6.31 – Box of Aunt Jemima’s pancakes

$1.20 – 2 liter bottle of Coke Light

$4.74 – 2 kilograms uncooked whole chicken

$6.35 – Quart of Florida Natural orange juice – This is almost out of sight costwise.

$1.34 – Box of Ritz crackers

$6.21 – 40 Huggies diapers

$2.17 – 350 gram bag of Ruffles potato chips

Some of the following items are familiar and some are Ecuadorian rake-offs of more expensive imported products.

$5.93 – 12 bottles of Pilsner beer.  This is a good local beer that most people drink

$3.32 – 6 pack of yogurt – There are about 10 different brands. Yogurt is popular.

$2.89 – 500 grams of La Chonta cheese – an excellent local stringy cheese

$4.54 – 0.5 kilogram of flank steak

$0.93 – Bag of microwave pop corn

$0.80 – Stick of butter

$0.59 – liter of fresh milk in a plastic bag – milk comes in plastic bags or boxes

$3.43 – 550 grams of Gonzalez Cheddar cheese – So far the best cheddar we have found

$2.08 – 6 La Europa hot dogs – many brands available in all sizes beef and chicken

$1.73 – 200 gram package of sliced ham – many brands available in different hams

$0.91 – can of tuna

$0.74 – 400 grams of spaghetti

$2.25 – Bottle of Rubino Spaghetti sauce

$1.36 – 400 grams of Maggi ketchup

$2.43 – 400 grams of Maggi mayonnaise

$3.77 – 600 gram jar of Meil honey – This is a lot of honey

$1.84 – 550 gram jar of fruit jam

$1.34 – 2 kilograms of sugar

$2.05 – 2 kilograms of rice

$2.65 – 2.5 kilograms of small potatoes

$0.81 – bag of bread crumbs

$1.43 – large cantelope

$1.54 – 500 grams of fresh strawberries

$2.14 – Box of McDougal’s corn flakes

$1.16 – Box of Schullo’s granola – not up to par with some in the US

$1.93 – 350 gram bag of locally made potato chips

$1.18 – box of Ricas (Ritz rake-off) crackers

$2.37 – Liter of Garasol sunflower cooking oil

$1.61 – box of 12 fresh eggs – strangely they don’t refrigerate eggs when on sale

$2.37 – 3 kilograms of juice oranges – five different kinds of juice oranges available

$1.51 – liter box of Nestle orange juice

$4.85 – Liter box of Clos white wine- a very decent Chilean wine in a box

$9.12 – 750 cc Bacardi Cuban rum – yes Cuban rum. It is fantastic

$2.67 – 750 cc bottle of Zhumir Tacao chocolate liquor – actually rivals Bailey’s

$2.36 – 12 fresh red roses – this is expensive. Can get 18 for same price at flower market

$7.00 – 4 kilograms of Procan dog food – Procan is the preferred dog food here

$1.47 – Spray bottle of Virginia cleaner (Windex)

$2.21 – Roll of Diamond plastic wrap

$3.42 – package of 12 rolls of Supermaxi toilet paper

$2.20 – package of 3 rolls of Elite paper towels

This is possibly a lot to absorb but hopefully, this list will give you some comparisons when thinking about the cost of food.