More than ¢450.000
Needed For Family of
Four To Meet Basic Needs
A recent survey by the
Spanish language daily,
Al Día, reveals that a
family of four needs an
income of ¢447.788
(us$904) monthly to meet
living expenses,
including the cost of
food, water,
electricity, telephone
(home phone and
cellular), bus fares, a
couple of nights out to
a restaurant and payment
of a mortgage of ¢20
million colones
(us$40.500).
That figure is much
higher that the ¢107.220
colones the Instituto
Nacional de Estadística
y Censo (INEC) says is
needed to make up the
basic food basket and
more than twice the
average income of
¢259.722 colones.
According to the INEC,
general incomes range
from ¢223.350 monthly
paid by private business
to ¢371.027 paid by the
central government and
¢461.500 paid by the
government institutions
and agencies.
The Al Día calculates
that if the family lives
outside of San José,
like Alajuela for
instance, and require
use a vehicle, the
monthly cost increases
to ¢575.848, not taking
into account the recent
round of increases in
fuel that go into effect
later this week, as well
as the recent increases
in food items such as
milk, rice and beans.
For the director of the
Oficina de Apoyo al
Consumidor (Consumer
Support), Cynthia
Zapata, says that people
should avoid getting
into debt as much as
possible.
"One has to be strict
and do all possible to
keep control of the
budget. The current
condition shows that
people are not saving",
said Zapata.
Financial expert, Miguel
Díaz, advises that
families should budget
their expenses. "It is
very difficult to send a
child to school, where
they see a schoolmate
with an iPod, and of
course want one also,
but one has to say no to
avoid financial
imbalances", said Díaz.
The following is a
sample monthly budget
for a family of four as
prepared by the Al Día:
|
Basic Food
Basket |
¢107.220 |
|
Electricity |
¢11.928 |
|
Water |
¢5.576 |
|
Cellular
Telephone |
¢11.000 |
|
Home Telephone |
¢7.500 |
|
Mortgage |
¢240.000 |
|
Bus Fares (for
2) |
¢17.500 |
|
Two Visits to a
Restaurant |
¢20.000 |
|
Domestic Help -
4 days |
¢12.864 |
| |
|
|
If living
outside San José
(Alajueal for
example) add |
¢14.200 |
If a vehicle
is owned add: |
|
|
Gasoline |
¢43.348 |
|
Car Payment * |
¢84.712 |
|
City Bus Fare (
1 person) |
¢8.500 |
If children
in daycare add: |
|
|
Monthly cost |
¢75.000 |
|
Domestic help |
¢96.531 |
|
Extra Cellular
Phone Cost |
¢11.000 |
If family
enjoys cable
television add: |
|
|
Monthly cost
|
¢12.500 |
* ¢10 millones loan from
Banco Nacional
Source: Al Día
|
