Going to Mexico with the idea that your European lion will turn you into the king of the supermarket? An experiment carried out by GSP definitively dispels the myth that in Latin America you live on a dime
- Sergiu Alexandru and Ionuț Iordache (photo) are at the World Championship and will sign special correspondence for Gazeta Sporturilor during the final tournament in Mexico, Canada and the USA
I put two similar budgets face to face: a blue 100 lei bill, left at a cash register in a Kaufland in Bucharest, and 400 pesos (the equivalent of about 100 lei), spent in a Walmart in Ciudad de México (CDMX).
When you draw the line at the end, the conclusion is painful for Mexicans: the table in Romania is much fuller, more nutritious and much richer in proteins.
Shopping in Bucharest
With 100 lei, a Romanian focused on pragmatism and survival can provide himself with enough calories and animal protein for a few good days.
Shopping in Mexico City
We cross the Atlantic and enter the Mexican supermarket with the equivalent of 100 lei. To be exact in terms of currency, the amount would be about 385 pesos, so we tried not to exceed that threshold.
Except that the tally at home didn't quite match the one on the Walmart shelf. The budget in pesos was simply not enough for us to replicate the list in Romania.
We were forced to completely give up flour, chicken and cheese. Instead, I took two extra eggs, for a logistical reason: in Mexico, they don't sell 10-piece forms, only 12.
If we really wanted to add the chicken, flour and cheese, our CDMX bill would have exploded to a total of 624.89 pesos (about 165 lei).
The wage gap
The discrepancy becomes even bigger when we compare prices to average wages in the two capitals. Official figures reveal an economic chasm hard to imagine when I left for Mexico.
The average net salary in Bucharest exceeds the threshold of 6,100 RON per month. Conversely, in Ciudad de México, the average income is around 14,500 pesos, which is equivalent to approximately 3,770 RON.
This means that a Bucharest resident earns almost 62% more than a resident of CDMX.
When a Romanian buys a kilogram of chicken breast with 30 RON from the 6,100 RON earned, the financial effort is minor.
But when a Mexican drops 132 MXN on a kilo of chicken from his 14,500 MXN salary, meat becomes almost a luxury.
In CDMX you have to work almost twice as much for food that has become commonplace in Bucharest.
For a European traveling to the World Cup, the Mexican market charges dearly for the illusion of cheap living. In Ciudad de México, meat is expensive, and your money is only worth it if you agree to lower the standards and learn to eat local: that means lots of corn, beans, and tons of chili peppers.
