Cost of Living, Part 1

Almuerzo (Complete lunch for $2.00 USD)

We have now been in Cuenca a week and have done a lot of touring of our neighbourhoods.  We have noticed that we can easily have a very good, inexpensive meal in many parts of town. Yesterday we stopped in at El Nuevo Paraiso for lunch (almuerz0) which is a real deal just about any where in town.  We ordered a salad plate and a dish called “Primavera” which consisted of rice, vegetables in a curry sauce. Plus beverages. All of that came to a total of $3.30 USD AND was far too much food for the two of us. So we ate what we could and carried the rest home for another meal either later in the day or the next day.

While we were wondering around town I decided to take note of prices of appliances, electronics, computers, haircuts, etc.  Here is a list of what I noted:

Appliances:   Fridges $800 USD plus; Stoves $600 USD plus, some as low as $300 for smaller units; Washing Machines — Samsung with extractor for $777 USD; Dryers $1100 USD plus

Computer Equipment:  DV4 Laptop $1050 USD plus;  ACER Laptop $430 USD; Gateway $723 USD; Compaq $567; Kingston Data Travellers compare well with Ajijic at $18.92 for 2GB, $24.19 for 4 GB and $42 for 8 GB.

Important stuff like Magnum Ice cream bars: $1.25 to $1.50 (I pay $40 pesos in Ajijic!).  Popsicles for $0.15, Conettes for $1.00, Helado Casero $0.10 (homemade ice cream).

Men’s Haircut costs $2.50. Hair colour (Nutrisse) is expensive at $8.55

Handcrafted leather shoes for $15 USD

I dropped into a shoe store where they manufacture leather shoes on site.  A pair of ladies’ dress shoes cost $15 USD.  You will find that Cuencans tend toward leather shoes as opposed to sports shoes.

Fruits & Vegetables in the 9 de Octubre market

I think I mentioned the other day that fresh fruits and vegetables abound in the markets. Yesterday we purchased a pound of strawberries for $1.00 USD; 5 avocadoes for $1.00 (or $0.20/each). Cherries cost $2.00 a pound and are in high season at the moment.  You can easily find broccoli, cauliflower, a variety of lettuces, potatoes of different varieties. Shrimp for $3.00 a kilo.