Travel Tip Tuesday: This Site Can Help You Figure Out How Much Spending Money You’ll Need

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Expatistan is a cool site that compares the cost of living of two cities.  The folks at the site describe the site as a sort of wikipedia for prices since the prices come from user contributions.  Not only is the site fun to check out if you’re curious how your city compares to another (did you know that the cost of living in San Francisco is 13% cheaper than in Oslo?), but it can also be a resource for trip planning – particularly as you figure out your budget for your next trip.  I like that it offers a break down of how much food, transportation, and entertainment typically costs in a city. Here’s an example of how San Francisco prices (in orange) compare to Oslo’s (in green).

That being said, I would not use this site as the “end all be all” for what you should budget since the site’s stats are based off of user data which may not be an ideal representation of the true cost of living for a city.  But, Expatistan is probably a safe starting point.

Help me keep this series going!  If you have any travel tips, please email me at [email protected] and your tip may end up in a future post!