Chile Forum

this is a basic run down of our general monthly costs for two in Concepcion:

Rent: 160,000 for a 3 bedroom house in a fairly quiet neighbourhood.
Luz: 10,000 - 15,000
Agua: 5,000 - 10,000 (not being conservative at all in shower times)
Gas: 10,000
TV/Phone/Internet : 45,000 (tv with 60 channels, Phone with 350 minutes free call in the region, 4Mb Connection)
Cell Phones: 25,000
Transport: 40,000
Food: 120,000 (I tend to buy a lot of imported stuff which is very expensive)
Car Rental (one weekend a month) = 65,000 car + 35,000 fuel

*We're moving to Temuco which will eliminate a lot of the costs especially the car rentals (we go see the in-laws once a month) but that's our average cost per month to live here in Concepcion

Is Viña significantly more expensive than Concepcion? Any opinions on a percentage?

Vina will in general be about 2 to 100 times more expensive depending on how you live, where, and time of year. It is a high rent district, high tourism zone, with lots of second weekend vacation apartments/condos for the wealthy from Santiago to get away. It would be kind of be like comparing Beverly Hills to some Midwest town/city in the United States.

Okay I see. But do my estimations above seem reasonable for 2 people in a small apartment living a simple lifestyle?

V Region > Provincia de San Antonio


12 months of gastos in a roomy 3 bedroom, 2 bath, conserge staffed complex, dpto with a view


Gastos Comunes - 35.858, 32.315, 36.108, 34.656, 33.123, 32.954, 33.853, 30.093, 32.639, 31.212, 32.110, 31.673

NOTES: More evidence of inflation.


Telephone/ADSL (Telefonica) — 34.352, 31.853, 31.732, 35.070, 30.063, 31.522, 31.339, 32.108, 31.815, 32.520, 32.585, 34.444, 34.205

NOTES: Recently found I was paying 1.440 a month for long distance service that was never contracted (slammed by telephone vendor). Always use Skype for landline domestic and international calls. Try to limit calls to Chile cell phones via your landline during the evening, weekend, holiday rate hours.


Water (EsVal) — 15.228, 18.188, 18.976, 16.212, 9.525, 12.146, 11.796, 11.657, 7.644, 10.827, 9.036, 12.408

NOTES: Rate increase this year. Main influencing factors: washing machine use, length of showers, dishwashing sessions, guests.


Electric (ChilQuinta) — 14.400, 16.290, 15.650, 14.970, 8.640, 12.760, 11.270, 11.160, 8.640, 11.840, 10.460, 10.430

NOTES: Rate increases the past year. Main influencing factors: guests and entertaining guests, I'm a night owl, Christmas lights.


Gas (Abastible) — 13.700, 18.200, 18.450, 16.900, 21.400, 17.050, 18.500, 11.450, 17.950, 24.400, 9.300, 17.000

NOTES: Gas from centralized tanks located on the apartment complex grounds. When I lived in Santiago was on gas directo (connected to the natural gas grid) and prices were significantly cheaper by a third or more. If you do a lot of cooking, especially the oven, this can add up. Other influencing factors: length of showers, dishwashing sessions, guests. Always set the califont to a less than max setting for the most efficiency depending on what you are doing (if you have to turn on the cold water tap to adjust temp, the setting is too high).


Food, household, personal care items — I budget 2.572/day or around 18.000/week for within Chile. Every year though, I bring in a year's supply of spices, condiments, personal care items, nutritional supplements, etc. that I cannot get in Chile or is very expensive in Chile. I shop at the once a week feria down the road for my vegetables and fruits (part of the average weekly budget - average spend is around 2.000-3.000/week).

We are living in the ponientes in Vina in a 2.5 bed 90 sq mt apartment.

Monthy costs are about:

Luz - 23,000 (125 kWh)
Gas - 13,000
Internet/Cable - 30,000
Condo Fees - 50,000

Condo Fees will vary building to building but water is covered. Cable is the most basic. I have a prepay cell phone and use Skype for most landline calls in Chile and to USA.

Weekly costs:

Food - 5000 at the farmer's market, about 25,000 more for supermarket (sampling Chilean wines)
Transportation - 3000 using micros/collectivos

The ponientes are expensive and I sometimes find price differences with supermercados in the orientes. Sadly the Guiness is always expensive.

In reference to Skype, on my last trip to the states I picked up a Netgear SPH200D phone with a transformer from Radio Shack. I must say that even though it does have a cheap feel, being able to have an actual phone to make calls back to my family and not being attached to the laptop is really nice. The verdict in forums is mixed on the phone but so far this is one of my recent best purchases.

The other costs would be gym and eating out which is not cheap.

I also expect gas and luz costs to increase in the coming months in response to heating. Most apartments do not have central heating and so you will need to either heat electrically or by gas. I know a building where the advertised radiant floor heating. The building designers did not add in recirc system and so all the hot water going to the floor eventually goes to drain. The people living there said they turned it on once and the water heater stayed on three days non stop and they got a 80,000 gas bill that month. In short bring warm clothes and hope your apartment does not face south.

I am currently living with the belt loose and could easly tighten it up a bit. Vina is going to be more expenxive than a lot of other places in Chile but it is worth it.

I just want to say that I am sitting here incredulous. The budgets you all are showing are lot less than what we are paying right now in the Philippines and it's supposedly a cheap country. I guess I gotta look for plane tickets.

[quote="Rook"]Transportation - 3000 using micros/collectivos [/quote]

I should add that this was in the context of weekly expenses. However, to me this seems a very low number, are you using micros & colectivos daily, or is this infrequent use? I will likely be taking 3-4 micro rides a day (is it at 400 pesos now?).

Micros in Concepcion are running between 300 and 450 and colectivos are from 400 to 500 all depending on the route you are on.. these prices can be negotiated with the driver but as mentioned on another thread this is done at your own risk in the event of an accident if the driver did not give you a ticket.. although i am told that in the event of an accident the bus driver is responsible for all passengers regardless of the ticket stubs but that's hearsay..

No I do not use micros daily, in Vina, I typically walk instead of taking micros/collectivos. I am fortunate and have access to a car for the trips to La Feria but for trips to supermarket, mall, downtown/center and such, I typically walk. In the summer, we biked up to Reneca, but will use micros to Valpo. Micros - Vina to Valparaiso - 430 one way. Vina plan 310 one way. Bus to Santiago is about 6000 round trip.

Great, thanks for the information Rook. One further question, given that you had mentioned that you are living in los ponientes, do you have a favorite grocery store or panaderia in the area. If my memory isn't failing me, I believe there is both a Santa Isabel and an Unimarc close to the 4 - 5 norte con 2 - 3 poniente area. Any preferences there?

I really don't have a preference. I know people have said the bread is better at Unimarc. One nice thing about Santa Isabel is that if you have a large purchase and live reasonable close, the kid that bags your food will push the shopping cart with food all the way to your apartment door. Not a bad deal for 500 pesos or whatever you feel comfortable tipping. I assume that Unimarc has the same deal but have never used it. Supermarkets in Vina plan (excluding Lider < NO EMAIL > the mall).

Santa Isabel = 1 poniente between 9 & 10 Norte
Unimarc = 7 norte between 3 & 4 poniente
Santa Isabel = Calle Quillota between 5 & 6 norte (los oriente)