# Numbeo



## cowichangang (Aug 11, 2012)

Hopefully this thread won't get closed like one of my others did, (for reasons unknown to me) But does anyone have any experience using the website "Numbeo" to compare cost between different places. If so, I was wondering how accurate the prices are for places in Mexico? I compared Vancouver BC with several places, and some prices weren't that accurate for Vancouver, especially some food items, so wondering how accurate the prices for Mexico are, as some of the prices given for Mazatlan seemed lower than I remember, and have read about.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

cowichangang said:


> Hopefully this thread won't get closed like one of my others did, (for reasons unknown to me)


Forum Rule #5: Please don’t discuss moderator or admin actions in the forums. Use the PM facility to contact moderators.

Thanks!


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## cowichangang (Aug 11, 2012)

Isla Verde said:


> Forum Rule #5: Please don’t discuss moderator or admin actions in the forums. Use the PM facility to contact moderators.
> 
> Thanks!


Sorry, my bad, :Cry:, but didn't think I was discussing it,  just stating what is public knowledge to anyone that views the thread and see's "Closed Thread", and as you now know, I did PM you to which you replied after I posted the thread. But i'll try and behave in the future, just hope others do as well. :fingerscrossed:ray:


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

cowichangang said:


> Sorry, my bad, :Cry:, but didn't think I was discussing it,  just stating what is public knowledge to anyone that views the thread and see's "Closed Thread", and as you now know, I did PM you to which you replied after I posted the thread. But i'll try and behave in the future, just hope others do as well. :fingerscrossed:ray:


Thanks for taking my constructive criticism in the spirit with which it was given. 

In any event, this is a good time to remind ALL forum members to take a look at the Expat Forum rules: http://www.expatforum.com/expats/general-expat-discussions/2397-forum-rules.html.


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## gringotim (Jan 5, 2011)

The info on Numbeo is based only on what people like you and me put on there, so you have to take it all with a grain of salt. People can say anything they want and are under no obligation to state the truth. Did you see the data for health care in Mazatlan?, every category was a 100% satisfaction rating, but that is based on only 1 person having done the survey. and that was from October 2012. So no matter what the category, look at how many people have submitted data, and when, and then remember, they may not have all been telling the truth. Another example, most of the grocery prices listed for Honolulu are higher than what we pay when there, but then we are thrifty shoppers and know where to shop. You are also from the Duncan area, where groceries can cost 20-30% for the same thing depending on what stores you go to, and the same applies pretty much anywhere else in the world, (at least where I have been).


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

cowichangang said:


> Hopefully this thread won't get closed like one of my others did, (for reasons unknown to me) But does anyone have any experience using the website "Numbeo" to compare cost between different places. If so, I was wondering how accurate the prices are for places in Mexico? I compared Vancouver BC with several places, and some prices weren't that accurate for Vancouver, especially some food items, so wondering how accurate the prices for Mexico are, as some of the prices given for Mazatlan seemed lower than I remember, and have read about.



Chowichagang:

This is an impossible inquiry to answer with any accuracy. I don´t know this website "Numbero" but I would say that any website honestly comparing costs among different places just in Mexico, which is many different places with many different cost structures, would prove a monumental task and one subject to gross inaccuracies. I am going to keep this example simple just so I may get through to you about why your inquiy requires a complex response.

I can walk a few blocks from my home in the El Cerrillo Barrio in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas , a very nice barrio within a short walk of a myriad of tourrist attractions in an ancient tourist oriented town and buy an enormous variety of foods, textiles, furniture, appliances and all sorts of staples in the vast indigenous market there for peanuts or I can walk in another direction a few blocks toward the historic center and more expensive shopping áreas of the city and pay premium prices for everything I might desire to buy. I own my house there but I could buy or rent for virtually nothing or pay top peso and end up, in either case, with a nice home in a nice part of town. This situation is not unique to San Cristóbal but also exists in our other home town of Ajijic, Jaiisco on Lake Chapala although the prices for everything there are comparatively more expensive than in poverty-stricken Chiapas. The only way you will find your desired cost of living in Mexico is to go there and check it out. 

Here are some suggestions.

* Living out in the boonies is not necessarily the answer. Three are resort cities such as Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, just to mention two out of many, that have adjoining large metropolitan áreas where mush affordable housing is available and there housing can very reasonably prices for rentals or purchases. On the other hand, living in the sticks in Mexico is a gamble and may be neihter cheap nor welcoming any more than hardscrabble Nebraska, Ukraine or Provence. Cheap housing and food does not a nice place make.

* Move to a place you like in Mexico and rent for while and then decide if that place is for you. If it´s not move on. I´ll tell you from experience - you do not wish to make the wrong decisión down here. Get to know your neighborhood before you make any serious commitments or suffer the depths of hell no matter the costs . Choose right and live in paradise.


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## gringotim (Jan 5, 2011)

*Case in Point re Numbeo*

I just lowered the overall satisfaction rate for health care in Mazatlan by simply clicking some choices, WOW! what power. But it just proves my point, take it all with a grain of salt.


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## UltraFJ40 (May 20, 2014)

gringotim said:


> I just lowered the overall satisfaction rate for health care in Mazatlan by simply clicking some choices, WOW! what power. But it just proves my point, take it all with a grain of salt.


It'd be real nice if you could raise the overall satisfaction rates for the VA hospitals in the US. I do realize it might take you a few more clicks though.



Kidding aside, I find it pretty unreliable as well. I have been trying to do some global comparisons of late and just in the beginning stages of finding sources.

FWIW, I look at Numbeo but do not give it much weight. Grocery and store ads as well as sites like craigslist have been much more helpful.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

It is a silly site if you are serious about comparing prices. Don't even know why it exists except for the AD's

Mexico compared to Seattle .... how insane can you get.


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## sillywilly (Apr 7, 2014)

I would compare Numbeo for cost of living to maybe Tripadvisor for travel, it's accuracy can't be trusted. For example, I just looked at some of the data for Nanaimo BC, since I go there once a week to visit my mom and go shopping for her. Some things are close, but most things, especially food stuffs are way off, thinking most of the people must not have shopped at WalMart or similar type, store. Example, Numbeo- = .33 litre Pepsi or Coke, $2.01, I never pay more than $1.50 for a 2 litre, and often buy on sale .99 for 2 lt, 1 litre milk $2.22, I pay around $1.29 , Bread- $3.36, I paid $1.50,, but some costs shown much lower than real life price, , apples, $1.80 kg, most stores , (even Costco) are double that, So in short, don't believe anything on Numbeo. I also looked at Victoria since I live there, and know that most prices are the same as Nanaimo, but not according to Numbeo. I know Canada is expensive, but Numbeo makes it look a lot more costly than it is., so wouldn't trust Numbeo for prices in Mexico either.


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