[Bushdoctor]

There have been many good posts about the subject of what it costs to live in LOS. I've searched this forum and read most of them, and thanks to the BM's on this forum I have a pretty good idea what to expect. But in my opinion it's a flawed question to start with. It's like asking what the cost of living is in the US or UK. It's all relative. Everyone's experience is very personal and unique.

I know people who live on less than $1000 USD a month in the US, but they are struggling and apply for all the government programs available to them. Some of them are happy, some miserable. Their $1000 USD a month would go a lot farther in LOS. Then I know people who make 8000-10000 USD a month and still don't have much to show at the end of the month other than good memories, but their lifestyle is much better. So I guess it depends on the lifestyle you are used to, or the one you strive for in LOS. Obviously most of us don't want to move to LOS to be poor or to just get by. We want a better lifestyle than the one we have currently.

I've been thinking maybe a better approach to the question would be to ask how much an ex-pat used to live on back in their home country, and what they live on now. And then consider if their lifestyle has stayed about the same, or improved. This doesn't have to be said in dollar amounts, but can be better said in percentages. For example, if someone was used to living on X USD a week, and maintained the same semi-comfortable lifestyle in LOS, what does it cost in LOS. Would it be 50%, 75%? The percentages probably don't work the same at the extreme low end, so let's keep the bare minimums for another post.

Personally I don't have the pleasure of being able to bar fining beautiful BG's where I live now, so to be fair, keeping the same lifestyle would be impossible for me. Also, as helpful as long time ex-pats may be in their advice, I think if they have been away from their home country for years, they might be surprised at what the cost of living actually is in that country today.

The best suited person to answer a question like this IMHO, short of moving there yourself and finding out, would be an ex-pat with only a year or two living in LOS. This way he can compare apples to apples. Dodger comes to mind, but there might also be more BM's that fit into this category. Another concern, many people who move there go from working to "retiring", and I'm sure with the extra time it costs a bit more to live. Also once you actually live in LOS, with all the temptations, trying to maintain the same lifestyle might go out the window. Any comments are appreciated.