Postby SilverbackPeru » Wed Sep 06, 2017 5:58 am
Yep I have to agree on all of that. The cost of living against wages is just insane in Lima, I really have no idea how the average Peruvian manages to survive.
I wouldn't say the wages are 20% higher but definitely around 10% in Europe although it's not as easy to get by here either compared to the past with more and more job going it tends to mean if you are unskilled then the usual job only involves 20-26 hours per week. Most of the time the boss expects you to be flexible for his needs but if not it's easy to pick up a second job however to make a pretty decent wage.
I remember someone mentioning on this site that they had met a friend of a friend who had a pretty high ranking government job and who was on 8,000 soles a month, which if you compare the fact I'm making over 9,000 just delivering take aways shows you the difference in income. I just need to work one weekend to make more than the Peruvian average monthly wage.
The cost of food is another problem. I totally disagree with this fact that it's cheap to eat in Lima. La Menus are just plain awful.....Fact! They are usually 8 soles for a reason and even then most of the 15 soles meals are pretty bad too (I'm sorry but a massive plate of rice and potatos isn't a proper meal!). I can easily get a Chinese or Indian meal here for £6 or £8 here compared to the 22 soles I had to pay for a Chinese meal in Villa el Salvador which left me on the toilet for over a week. even my local Chinese it's 13 soles just for a chicken soup.
Housing prices, well a family member just bought a single bedroom apartment in the town centre for £35,000 fully furnished so that's all you need to say about the housing price differences really.
Then there's the over priced department stores like Saga which charge a fortune for Pepe jeans just because it has the word London underneath the logo. Pepe jeans are so bad the only place you would find them in the U.K is on a back of a van market stall on a Saturday morning. But hey, I guess sticking London, Paris or New York on any clothing can justify increasing the price by 30% in a South American store!
I just feel so sorry for Peruvians as they just seem to be getting screwed over by these giant stores on the prices for most things. I'd really love to see a Lidl or Aldi open up in Lima, that would be a real cat among the pigeons and you'd see some of those giant Peruvian chains literally S**t themselves at serious competition and none of their cosy monopolies!