Hive PPP Index — Life is EXPENSIVE! (an Inquiry by @livinguktaiwan)

Thought I would create my own post in response to @livinguktaiwan's recent post about creating a HivePPP to compare cost of living among Hive members in different parts of the world.

I'll start by saying that we live in western Washington state near Seattle, which is one of the spendier parts of this country. Making ends meet around here is always quite a challenge...

I chose to make my own post because (a) I'm a bit "late to market" and (b) there's a lot of conversion/explanation needed because the US is still stuck in archaic Non-Metric Land, and many things are not sold in the same "units" as the rest of the world... dozens vs 10's, pounds vs. kilos vs. gallons vs. litres and so forth.

Besides, I wanted to use the pictures I took at the supermarket today... mostly as evidence that yes, it really does cost that much to live in the US of A, at least around here.

So let's start at the top!

One month mobile phone plan with 5GB data

Had to look around a bit for that, as we don't typically use that kind of plan.

The going rate seems to be about $24, unless you go to some sketchy back-alley non-name operator that may — or may not — actually work.

That translates into €22.08 or £18.48.

Our actual service is two phones/two numbers with unlimited data and calling, and that runs US $126.73 a month, equal to €116.59 or £97.58.

While on the subject of data, we have fixed connection high speed cable Internet; 1GB speed with unlimited data, per month US $139.40, equal to €128.25 or £107.34.

Yes, this stuff is e.x.p.e.n.s.i.v.e. in the USA, compared to most places.

1 litre of standard unleaded petrol/gas

On the other hand, fuel is one of the places where the USA is relatively cheap.

When I was in town earlier today, a US gallon of regular unleaded was $4.39.

That works out to be US $1.16 per litre, which converts to €1.07, or £0.89.

Grocery Items:

Most visitors to the USA say they have never seen such selection in stores ever before... but except for a few places — Switzerland and Norway, perhaps — grocery items in the States are quite expensive... even for things you would not think would be expensive.

500 grams of pasta — which is sold by the pound in the US, so I had to multiply by 1.1 to get from a pound to 1/2 kilo — is US $2.52, or €2.32 or £1.94.

Next we have six eggs. Not easy to find, as eggs are sold by the full dozen, 99.9% of the time... but Safeway, to their credit, does have eggs in "half packs."

Eggs, in general are getting closer to the price of gold, every day... the price being US $4.69, which is €4.31 or £3.61.

Next on the list is 1 kg of flour. Again, some conversion work needed, to get from the closest comparable (2 lbs) to 1 kg.

Which gives us 1 kg of flour costing US $3.84, which is €3.53 or £2.96.

Then we have the price of 1 kg of minced beef. For this item, I assumed the comparable to be basic "hamburger grade," not the premium lean; converted to kg price.

Which gives us a kg of minced beef for — drumroll — US $18.68, which is €17.19 or £14.38. We have reached a point of pretty much not eating beef, anymore.

Continuing with the grocery items, we come to 1 kg of potatoes. Again, some conversion from pounds to get to kilos.

Final outcome: 1 kg of regular yellow potatoes cost US $2.84, which is €2.61 or £2.19.

Last on the grocery list is One single can of 330ml Coca Cola. A little trickier, as single can Coke generally only shows up in vending machines; "single serving" Coke at groceries and convenience stores are normally in 20oz bottles... so I did a bit of conversion magic to get accurate unit comparison.

End result: 330ml of single-serve size Coca Cola costs US $1.67, which is €1.54 or £1.29.

Entertainment and Diversions:

So now we get to the "entertainment" part of the equation.

Starting with one cup of hot latte, medium. A bit subjective, but around here, that will be the 12oz (355ml) size. Cost at my local coffee drive-thru: US $5.45, which is €5.01 or £4.20.

Next we have One large pepperoni pizza from a sit down restaurant (dine in). This being the USA, it should be taken with the caveat that tipping 15-20% is normal in this country, but I am just giving you the menu price from a local pizza restaurant.

Pizza cost: US $19.50, which is €17.94 or £15.02.

Then we have One cinema ticket to watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster movie, which was easy as our son juse went, last week. Cost of movie ticket was US $16.49, which is €15.17 or £12.70. That's from the Regal Cinemas chain... but I expect they are all about the same.

Lastly, we have 1 pack of 10 can beer. Conversion time again. We don't have 10-packs in the USA, we only have 6-packs or 12-packs. Moreover, beer *(at least the decent kind) is more often sold in bottles than cans. The OP showed Carlsberg lager so that would be an import in the UK... so I chose Heineken as a comparable, and converted the price of 1 6-pack to what it would cost for ten bottles instead of six.

Final outcome: US $26.54, which is €24.42 or £20.44. Now, in fairness, 12-packs of bottles were on sale this week for $21.99, so it can pay to shop around!

I have also summarized the whole thing in the table below... without a doubt it is shockingly expensive to live in the US, especially after I started seeing some of the other comparisons being posted.

And that extends far beyond just the supermarket and entertaining.

For example, our mobile phone plan — two phones, two numbers, unlimited calling and data — runs US $126.50 a month, once all the taxes and fees have been added to the bill. Our fixed line Internet (supporting two graphics/data intensive home businesses) runs US $139.40 a month for 1GB speed and unlimited data.

And there you have it... another data point for the research project!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your weekend!

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Created at 2025.03.16 01:10 PDT
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