Right, this might probably sound as yet another hipster style article and probably you are right. The thing is - during month of October I have decided to write down my everyday expenses and in the next month I will provide article on Cost of Living in Tbilisi (Georgia). Since it was start of October, I headed to Google Play store to download first expense tracking app and started to write down my expenses.
I had to visit Tbilisi Dezerteer bazaar just to buy some groceries, and I decided hey it actually would be neat if I would write down actual prices for vegetables and fruits there. So I did. I must admit it was fun and entertaining to enter that app after each purchase I made (I don't want to miss a single item).
- 1 kg garlic - 6 GEL
- 1 kg potatoes - 0.70 GEL
- 1 bunch of spring onions - 0.60 GEL (or buy 3 for 1 lari)
- 1 bunch of parsley - 1 GEL
- 1 bunch of dills - 1 GEL
- 1 kg washed carrots - 2 GEL (1.5 GEL for regular ones)
- 1 watermelon (~6kg) - 5 GEL
As you can see it's not a perfect consumer basket, but hey that's what I was looking to buy.
Goods from the Tbilisi Dezerter market
So I spent for the all above 14.8 GEL which equals to USD 6.21 or EUR 5.55 - you don't have to be a genius to tell that actually that's a pretty cheap price I had to pay for all the goodies I got. On the other hand you might argue with me telling - that the start of October is just after harvesting season and market is overflowed with goods, so prices are so low, and probably you are right again.
It will be interesting to see how prices will change in holiday season (December/January).
Currency exchange rates on October 1st,2015
- GEL/USD: 1GEL = 0.42USD
- GEL/EUR: 1 GEL = 0.37EUR