Livings Cost: Navigating Expenses from Village to Metro City

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Dear Hive friend and Hive Learner Members,

I was born and brought up in a village, and I am accustomed to village life, which I also enjoy. The best thing is that you know your surroundings, including nature as well as the people living next to you. In my opinion, people are more socially and physically supportive in villages compared to the city. Life is simple in the village; people grow their own food, there are no fancy shops, and their needs are limited, which means they have fewer expenses compared to the city. There are two factors: first, in villages, the basic items required for living, like food, are available easily, and second, village life is also away from the fancy lifestyle (they mostly prefer simplicity).

The cost of living refers to the data that represents the expenses required for basic needs for a certain period of time at a definite location. In India, the cost of living changes drastically when moving from one place to another place (I guess this is the trend all over the world). Until now, I have had a chance to live in a village, a metropolitan city (which is one of the most expensive cities in India), the national capital region, and in a tier two city. After completing my bachelor's degree in engineering, I moved to a metro city in search of a job. There were three friends living in an apartment on a sharing basis, so our accommodation cost was divided into three parts, and similarly, we hired a cook who prepared food for us. We bought the raw materials, and the cost of raw materials and the salary of the cook were also divided among three of us. So basically, the total expenses per person (for basic home needs) were within 5,000 Rupees (that was slightly less than USD 100). The sharing expenses made our living affordable in the near capital region. These sharing expenses did not include transportation, clothing, entertainment, etc. I was a bachelor, so life was running smoothly, and my salary was also not very high.

When I moved to Mumbai, one of the metropolitan cities, life changed a lot in terms of lifestyle and living costs. Fortunately, for almost the first year, I was again living in a shared accommodation, so accommodation expenses were less. The total rental cost of the apartment was 15,000 INR. We were in the outer periphery (away from the main city), so the rental accommodation was not very expensive. In the main city, it varies from 30,000 to 100,000 INR. Another thing I noticed when I moved to Mumbai was that when you asked for the price of any vegetable or fruit, you would get the price per quarter kg, whereas in my native place, the price is mostly per kg. The main reason for this is the higher price of the items itself. Vegetables and fruits were much more expensive, and you would not find prices near those of items in my native place (usually it's 4 to 5 times more). The higher price means a decrease in the purchasing power of people living there.

After my marriage, I came to know the meaning of the cost of living in a metro city. The first change was that I shifted to a separate apartment, no longer sharing accommodation, which meant I had to pay three times what I was paying before. I chose a two-bedroom apartment as this would be useful in case my parents or in-laws came to visit. A big chunk of my salary went towards rent. My kid was three years old, so he was not going to any preschool or school.

Schooling in today's time is very expensive. I must say the school fee for my first standard kid is more than my engineering course fee. Government schools are very cheap, but the education quality is not as per expectations, and private schools are too expensive. The annual school fee for my kid is more than 100,000 INR.

Nowadays, village life is also getting all the facilities like transportation, internet, etc., but still, the cost of living is less compared to the city. Education, vegetables, fruits, etc., are comparatively less expensive. My brother's family is in the village, and if I compare my expenses with his, he is in a better condition. I prefer to be in the village, but the fancy life drags me into the city.

Please do share your views in comment section.

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