Okay, first, hello to you all,

Here's my deal...

I'm an American living in New Orleans, La. The cost of living here is INSANE!! Yet still not as bad as other major cities like Miami, New York, Los Angelas, etc.

I'm looking to move to another part of the world for numerous reasons which I won't discuss here.

All the information I've researched talks about how Brazil is a great place to live, the cost of living is low, the property taxes are low, free mediocre healthcare including free prescriptions and bar none you can make your $$ stretch further here than 95% of the other places in the world.

Now don't debate with me that Peru is cheaper for this or for that, or Europe is cheaper than this when it comes to electrical goods, whatever... I'm talking OVERALL general cost of living. Of course some things will be more expensive, other things will be less...

I currently pay $1650 usd (approx. $1030 Reais) for a 3 br, 2.5 bath townhouse (approx 1500 sqft) in your typical suburbia-style neighborhood. Electric runs about $150-$300 usd per month depending on how much I run the AC/Heat, cook, leave lights on, do laundry, etc.

The water bill varies as well, usually between$40-$100 usd. I don't eat caviar and prime rib, but I don't eat like a poor man either. My grocery bill is usually around $300-$500 usd per month depending on how often I entertain, etc.

Gas here is around $4 usd per/ USgal and expected to climb to around $6 per gal by the end of summer. 4 years ago we were paying around $1.35 to $1.60 per US/gal. Our country is heavily dependant due to how spread out we are from the cities. Commuting 50 miles 1-way to work is certainly not uncommon. The increase in fuel has almost doubled our costs for everything from veggies to shoes because mainly we have to use semi-trucks to haul our goods.

I pay about $150 usd per month (single male w/no kids/dependants) for health insurance through my work and it's good health care but obviously not the best. On top of that I have a $25 dollar office visit charge and a $20 deductible for generic medications. It's well over $400 usd per month for a family of 4. (and that's not top notch health-care either. If you buy it as an independent person you need your spouse to work merely for the health insurance!!!)

I've read almost all of the posts in this thread and I can't believe that Brazil is "expensive" compared to many other places like the UK and the USA. I've never been to the UK but I do have friends there and they tell me many of the things in the UK are FAR more expensive than what we have in the USA.

As for some of the things several of you have mentioned in your threads, well it's rather common sense stuff. If you live in a tourist area, expect to pay tourist prices, which if you go to ANY tourist area in the USA you will likely pay 2 to 3 times what you pay at the local market. So that scenario can't really be used as a basis for a valid argument when your talking about the OVERALL cost of living.

Pick the average, not the means or extremes of a situation when comparing them.

I know for a FACT that there is probably not anyplace on Americas coastline that you can buy a 3br, 2 bth, 2000 sqft home ON THE BEACH, in decent condition for less than $400k. Maybe a few remote areas here or there with crappy, rocky beaches, but those are still less than 1% of the average at best.

I've only been to a few sites checking real estate and I've found numerous listings for decent homes on the beach for $250k or less. heck some have been around $150k. (Yes they need some TLC but what home doesn't).

Go to ANY average property on the Gulf Coast area, Florida, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and expect to pay an extra $50k-$100k for just a view of the ocean.

Go to California and expect to pay double that for a view, 3 or 4 times that just for the lot on the ocean. In the prime locations you'll pay $550k to over $1 million just for the property. (those are the extreme high end areas obviously, like San Diego, Venice Beach, etc.)

Not to mention that many areas are now requiring that you submit plans through the city or association for the house you will be building AND it has to be worth so much or they won't let you build it. many of these which have $100 to $600usd+ monthly "association fees" just to live there and keep the properties maintained.

I'll be taking my first trip to Brazil this winter (Brazil's summer) hopefully and will do alot of checking for myself. Hopefully you all are debating the means and extremes of various situations and not the common "norm".

Thanks for all the info though, I guess I'll look harder at other places around the world to live.