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Depending on your lifestyle you should
be able to live for considerably less than
in the U.S., Canada or Europe. Food, housing,
transportation and most entertainment are
cheaper and you will not have huge winter
heating bills. One of the best ways to figure
out if you can afford to live in Cuba is
to compare your income with the wages of
the workers of the country. This gives an
accurate picture of your purchasing power
and tells you how much you probably need
to maintain your current lifestyle. But
you must not assume professionals and others
earn as much as their counterparts in the
U.S., Canada or Europe. A social security
check of a thousand dollars a month will
enable you to live far better than most
professionals in the majority of Latin American
countries not, to mention Cuba.
The majority of Americans and Canadians
will be able to have a maid, gardener, go
out to eat and drink most evenings, afford
entertainment, buy clothing and food and,
in general, enjoy a lifestyle as good if
not better that they would at home.
Another factor making Cuba affordable is
the two tiered price system. It is one thing
to visit Cuba as a tourist and another to
live there. Tourists stay in high priced
hotels, eat their meals in restaurants and
generally live "high on the hog" by paying
"top dollar" for everything. On the
other hand, as a resident, you will save
money by renting, purchasing food in markets
and spending less. You will also learn to
bargain or haggle for prices as done in
the rest of Latin America.
However, the real secret to a low cost
of living and getting more for your money
is to try to "live like them locals."
This does not mean you have to live in abject
poverty but learn to economize in many situations.
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