Cost of Living in Loja

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately from people who are planning to or thinking about moving to Ecuador.  One of the more common questions has been about the cost of living so I thought I’d jot down prices I’ve paid for some common things:

1. Food.  There are a lot less pre-packaged, pre-made food products available in Ecuador than there are in the States so I usually end up making more things from scratch.  That means that my food bill is much cheaper than it was in the States, but I spend much more time cooking than I used to.  We spend about $60 to $80 a week at Supermaxi (the big supermarket chain in Ecuador).  We also go to the local market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.  Prices can vary (especially for gringos), but most things at the market are pretty cheap. The other day we bought 4 avocados for $1; eggs are 10 cents each, bananas are 4 or 5 cents each, green peppers are around 5 cents each, potatoes are around 15 cents a pound, etc.  We buy coffee at the market at $2.40 a pound.  Chicken is also around $2.40 a pound. 

Restaurants vary, but you can find a pretty good lunch of traditional Ecuadorian food (soup, rice, salad, meat) for around $2.50.  Other types of food can be a little more expensive.  We go to a Chinese restaurant that is about $5 a plate and the local barbecue place is also $4 to $5 a plate.  Of course, there are higher end restaurants where you can spend much more.

2. Rent. We are currently living with my sister-in-law and don’t pay rent, but when we were looking around Loja most of the apartments that we liked (3-bedroom) were around $300/month.  A one-bedroom would be cheaper, probably around $150 to $200.  Again prices vary greatly and there are places that are much cheaper.  There are also a lot of, shall we say, ‘not so pleasant’ places out there so it is important to look around.  

3. Utilities. We pay about $20/month for our land-line phone.  The bill would probably be cheaper but we call cell phones once in a while (they charge much more for a land-line to cell phone call) so that increases the bill a bit.  Our electricity bill is about $15/month.

We (like most households in Ecuador) use propane for cooking.  And we also have a “calefon” – an instant hot-water heater for our shower and for washing dishes.  The propane tanks cost around $2.00 to fill up and one will last for about two to three weeks (depending on how much we cook).

4. Cell phone. There are three major cell phone companies in Ecuador and many different cell phone plans.  We pay about 5 cents a minute if we call another phone within the same company, and about 8 cents a minute to call a cell phone from another company.  It costs up to 25 cents a minute to call a land-line (we avoid doing that).

5. Internet and Cable.  Our internet bill is $45/month and we have what they call “broadband” although it isn’t fast enough to watch videos online.  Our internet provider is the phone company.  Several months ago they reduced their rates to around $25/month but when we went to change they told us that we would lose speed if we did so we stayed with our current plan.  Also they only have a limited number of lines so when we wanted to open a new line at the restaurant they told us that there were none available at the moment and that we should come back in a month.  After several months of that we finally gave up.  The cell phone companies supposedly offer very fast internet for about $55 a month but we haven’t looked into it yet. 

If we were in one of the bigger cities like Quito or Guayaquil the internet would be faster and cheaper, but Loja is still kind of isolated.  We don’t even have fiber optics yet (even though we’ve been hearing for several years that it is “coming soon”).

We have cable and it is about $30/month.  I don’t watch it very much but there are a some kids’ channels, and other channels like National Geographic and Discovery Channel (dubbed in Spanish).  There are also a lot of shows in English with Spanish subtitles.  And there are a couple of movie channels.  We used to have CNN in English but that disappeared.  We still have CNN in Spanish and it is pretty good (more interesting than CNN in English, I think). 

6. Other Things.  Due to import taxes, etc. many things that one can find cheaply in the States are much more expensive here.  One of the things that I really miss about the States (and I never thought I would) are stores like Walmart and Target that offer an endless variety of reasonably-priced things.  The closest thing we have to that here in Loja is “TodoHogar” – which is like a small Target.  They have a pretty-good selection of bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and electronic items, but the prices are always a little higher than what I’m used to (for example I paid $16 for a laundry basket that I could have bought at Walmart for around $7).  There are lots of other little stores around town that sell the same type stuff, but it is hard to find it all in one place and the selection is always hit or miss (you may or may not find what you want).  So shopping for little things takes longer that it should, in my mind.  The larger cities like Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca have other big discount stores, with larger selections, but they haven’t made it to Loja yet.  (Although one of the benefits of this is that there is less temptation to buy more “junk” and we end up spending less money in the long run.)

Electronics are also much more expensive here than in the States.  About a year ago we bought a camera at the Sony store in a mall in Guayaquil for about $300.  That night we found the same model on the Best Buy website on sale for around $150. 

As for clothes, I avoid buying them in Ecuador. They are outrageously expensive and usually of poor quality.  A pair of cheap, stretch jeans that you’d find in the States for $12.99 can cost $30 or $40 here.  A while back I spent $20 on a jacket for Christina and after I got home I noticed that it had a few flaws.  It appeared to be a second that someone picked up cheaply in the States and brought here to sell. 

7. School.  Christina is in a private school and we pay $150 a month for tuition and transportation.  Most schools in Loja are within that range.  Her school does not require uniforms and the cost of the books and other supplies is included in the tuition.  Some of Lucho’s nieces and nephews have to spend about $400 (or more) at the beginning of each school year for uniforms, books and other school supplies.

These numbers are for Loja – other parts of Ecuador may be more or less expensive.  And of course, everyone’s spending levels will vary depending on their consumption habits.