Гроші For Nothing and Some Perspective For Free!

I had a chat with my old PCBG buddy, Tim D. Wade, about how much I was paying for a gym membership in my village community. The answer is 320 UAH. That, of course, means nothing to him. It's actually quite expensive for my community, and strangely more expensive than other gyms in Ukraine despite its lack of toilet, showers, and locker room. I thought it might be fun to put some expenses and costs in perspective for my American audience. I'm partial to the Portland area on account of having roots there so I'll compare to there.

The Peace Corps gives me a stipend of 3600 UAH each month on which to live. This amount is meant to mimic the average Ukrainian salary (which is actually closer to 5000) so that Volunteers live at the same level/standard as their colleagues - and will have an easier time integrating with them. This 3600 UAH is my living allowance for food, drink, fun, and whatever else, like a gym membership.

If I go and blow 320 UAH of my 3600 UAH on a gym membership, that's 8.9% of my take-home pay. If an average Portlander (who's average in Portland?) blew 8.9% of their take-home pay on the gym, it would be 240 USD per month! I used to pay 15.00 USD per month for a 24 Hour Fitness membership, and it had a sauna! That's a pretty big difference in ratios of costs to incomes between my two homes.

To get my "averages" I consulted government websites, data nerd websites, crackpot websites, news websites, and fake news websites for their interpretations of an "average salary" in Portland. For 2016, the numbers varied and no two websites had the same number. So, since I'm not a professional numbers guy (just a hobbyist), I'm gonna say that the average salary in Portland for 2016 is in the ballpark of 53,000 USD per year. More or less. And the average take home bit, minus taxes and 10% into savings, is roughly 2700 USD per month.

The average salary in the two Ukrainian places (city/village) in which I've lived so far, is right around 2,300 USD a year. Using some math to pull that down to a monthly level makes it right around 190 USD per month. Ish.

The local currency here is a called a "grievna" and is represented by UAH. Every time someone tells me the price of something, I hear Ryan H. Haberlache in my head yelling, "Grievance!" Now-ish, each USD is worth about 26 grievances.

For comparing things a bit more fun, I'll start with beer. It would be easy to look at a menu here and see a beer listed for 20 UAH and think, hot damn, that's less than a dollar and it isn't even a happy hour price! In fact, I've heard many Americans insensitively exclaim, "It's so cheap here!" It's really just cheap for us, and comparing local costs with local earnings tells a very interesting story. The 20 UAH for a beer here would transpose to Portland pricing at 15 USD! Can you imagine paying 15 bucks for a beer in Portland! The cafe in which I'm typing this up and flirting with waitresses is charging me 17 UAH per basic black coffee. That would be like 12.75 USD in Portland. I've only been gone a few months, is Starbucks close to that yet?

The following are what things cost for the Ukrainian people I know. They're not paying 15 bucks for a beer, but they're paying an equivalent to 15 bucks for a beer because of the percentage of their income it takes to purchase a beer. These prices obviously vary slightly from store to store, and stand to stand. And probably city/village to city/village.

Beets are 12 UAH per kilo → 4.09 USD per pound

Onions are 15 UAH per kilo → 5.11 USD per pound

Carrots 18 UAH per kilo → 6.14 USD per pound

Milk 28 UAH per liter → 84 USD per gallon

Wine (the ones I like) 70-90 UAH per bottle → 52.50-67.50 USD per bottle

Gasoline 24.56 UAH per liter → 73.68 USD per gallon

Toilet paper 7 UAH per roll → 5.25 USD per roll

Sunflower oil 35 UAH per liter → 26.25 USD per liter

Bread 8 UAH per loaf → 6 USD per loaf

Pepsi 22 UAH per 2-liter → 16.5 USD per 2-liter bottle

Whole Chicken 50 UAH per kilo → 17.05 USD per pound

Chicken Breast 70 UAH per kilo → 23.86 USD per pound

Pork 125 UAH per kilo → 42.61 USD per pound

Movie ticket 70 UAH → 52.50 USD

Protein Candy Bar 30 UAH → 22.50 USD

Unlimited internet (if you can find it) 150 UAH per month → 112.50 USD per month

Installing an internet connection 5000 UAH → 3750 USD

Really Pretty Mountain Bike from a generic sports shop in the mall 15,000 UAH → 11,250 USD

MacBook 40,000 UAH → 30,000 USD for the same MacBook I brought with me.

With these prices, it doesn't leave much room to save for retirement, investing in hot stock tips, or buying a plane ticket to come visit me in Portland. This is an extension of the reason why people who don't make USA wages have a much harder struggle at affording life than we do. Not putting down anyone's struggle in Portland. I know there's a housing crisis and all. But, it's good to know that one of the luxuries of Portland/USA is its livability, wealth, and financial security - and to understand what that means in comparison to some other places. I remember complaining when my 24 Hour Fitness membership went up from $12.50 a month to $15.00 a month. I was so disappointed. That $2.50 a month was $30 a year! That's a full first date! (#gosmallandthengohome #alone) I used to think I'd be miserable with one less first date a year. I'll try to remember this perspective, after my service, every time I don't pay 15 bucks for a beer in Portland.

For a gram of further thought, my buddy Graham L. Bearden, found this interesting comparison between Portland and Lviv (the cultural/coffee capital of Ukraine) made by people who understand numbers better than I do.