Hello, My husband and I will be moving to Chennai for fertility treatments. We are planning to live there for a year. We have no idea about the cost of living in India as its been more than 20 years since we left India. Kindly help us to determine the amount needed to live comfortably in Chennai. I have listed all the things we need. Please add if I have missed any crucial points. Note: All costs are for two adults 1. Groceries including vegetables and fruits 2. Non food expenses - soaps, shampoos, detergents, cleaning liquids 3. Water 4. Electricity 5. Internet - Broadband 6. Transportation 7. Entertainment - movies 8. Dining out 9. Hand phone 10. Gym membership 11. Rent (Arumbakkam, aminjikkari, vadapalani) eventually it depends on which clinic we choose. 12. Cable Tv 13. Gas I have listed all the things that I can think of. Looking forward to replies from you.
50 to 55K.. in Vadapalani.. rents are bit high in this area (donno why) even though locality is bit crappy..
Interesting post. I need the info too as hubby and I have plans to stay in Chennai after our retirement. Our retirement is many years away but we can certainly make the preparation from now if we know what to expect.
Since it is just the two of you can look at a 2bhk in the areas you have mentioned. you can look at places closer to these areas instead of on the dot. this way you can get a calmer place for a lesser rent. again it is based on your preference. if you go for a flat there would be maintenance. a 2bhk on nelsonmanikkam road towards arumbakkam anywhere between 18-22k and add maintenance depending.(1000-2500) and vadapalani a bit higher for all these areas, you can just google on 99, magicbricks or even on fb.choolaimedu would be around 15k along with maintenance closer to all the 3. trustpuram/gill nagar and some parts of aminjikarai are decent. 1. Groceries including vegetables and fruits since you are going to be on fertility treatment, you may wan to check out organic and the stuff costs 1.5 to 3 times higher than the regular stuff. groceries and vegetables and fruits could cost you around -7k 2. Non food expenses - soaps, shampoos, detergents, cleaning liquids - depends on the brands. 1000. some of these items are not going to be monthly.. 3. Water - drinking if it is can it would set you back by 35rs/can for a local brand to 85/reputed ones. so if you use 2 can/3days for your cooking and drinking it will x15 4. Electricity- depends on usage. if you have appliances running..then 3000k to 6000k depending on the usage.hotter days we do tend to use more..bimonthly.so average of 2500/month 5. Internet - Broadband - you can get a bsnl combo or any prvt player combo..1000+(increase is on the way) 6. Transportation - this would set you back. depending on whether it will be ur own vehicle or cabs. a 4 hour package these days comes at 700rs. 30 km... Autofares are a minimum at 50 no bargain. if the autowallah moves a 100m he charges 40-50.. 7. Entertainment - movies - no idea i don't do movies. but i assume a ticket costs 120-150 add the food..should set you by 500/movie on a conservative line and 750 on a little more spending. 8. Dining out - depends on where and frequency. a couple buffet could cost you 600 while eating at a good restaurant could set you down by 1200-1500.. 9. Hand phone - you gt lot of prepaid or offer that you can negotiate. 10. Gym membership- you can negotiate a couples' membership again depends on where you want it. some of them are reasonable and give you a nice offer on annual membership. 11. Rent (Arumbakkam, aminjikkari, vadapalani) eventually it depends on which clinic we choose. 12. Cable Tv - again depends on the programs you want to watch and the availablity of cable where you rent. if not you can take a subscription from dish/tata/sun. it would set you back by 300-600 for dd and more for hd. you can opt for a annual package/semiannual. 13. Gas - you can get a connection provided you can give proof of residence. right now most gas cylinders are at cp- 704-750(and do add the tip of 20). 50k would easily be a very comfortable life along with the rent. and there are people i know who live with just 20k too. it depends on your lifestyle. after 20 years, you cannot be without certain things.so you have to find a balance by trial and error.
