大咖福利影院

• Grocery Bill: R$500 - R$750 per week, I eat out a lot and shop at higher end grocery stores when I cook in
• Rent: R$1.200 per month, I'm renting a house in a more rural part of my state. 3 bed, 3 bath
• Cell Phone: R$300 per year
• Internet: R$100 per month (200mbps down)
• Cable TV: I cut cords to all cable TV many years ago. I pay R$35/mo for YouTube Premium Family and share with friends
• Car: Purchased. You can get a cheap car for like R$30-50k. Either way you'll need to get a despenchante who will probably charge you like R$100 for his services or something like that. I got a Compass for R$135.000 and put it all on my US credit card due being a paranoid about banks flagging large sums of money coming through my account... I still haven't found an accountant to deal with my nonsense yet. Other Expats reading this piece, feel free to provide feedback or roast me here. I'm in genuine need of advice if any exists. For now, I will plan on paying the car tax each year but all income is made abroad and almost all expenses are put on US credit cards.

TAXES:

• If you rent, in Brazil, it's customary for the renter to pay property taxes which I didn't know. I pay R$750 per year for my landlord's taxes... His antics motivate me to want to buy my own place.
• Car taxes: I paid a good R$7.000 in taxes for this first year. I'm not sure how much of that was sales tax or actual excise tax for the vehicle. I can't recall if I paid taxes up-front at the dealership or during registration.

@okcummings Thanks for the heads up! I wasn't aware you had to pay taxes for the house or apartment you rented!

Brazil income tax.

If you are a permanent resident, after your first year you must file income taxes.聽 They know how much flows through your banbk account and how much you send here, and also those visa card purchases where you give your CPF.聽 They can get copies of your USA tax returns if you pay taxes there.聽 You are liable for Brazil income taxes on any income you have worldwide although there are some credits for foreign taxes paid.聽 Its complicated.聽 Better to find out before they fall due rather than after they come looking for you.

My family of four thinks that an income of US $2,000 a month gives them the life of leisure and luxury.聽 I don't argue.

12/26/22 We had a thread on this topic back in March and April:

/forum/viewtopic.p 鈥� 52#5385529

My responses haven't changed since then.

Numbeo provides benchmarks and comparisons for many cities:

聽 聽 Grocery Bill聽 聽R$ 800-R$ 1,000 a month

聽 聽 Rent聽 Depends where you live. Sao Paulo, for 2 figure R$ 3000 a month

聽 聽 Cell Phone Service聽 R$ 100 a month

聽 聽 Internet

聽 聽 Cable TV / Satellite聽 聽Combo Cable, Broadband R$ 250-290 a month

聽 聽 Car if leased or typical payments Ditch the car. Cab fares are inexpensive. Get a bicycle

@abthree Thanks checking now

@Inubia It's a great idea not to give your cpf, it has very little advantages.

I always look at the minimum wage and I can never figure out how many survive here on that amount of income.

@ltoby955

Correct.聽 You are feeding the enemy with nuggets of valuable data.聽

BTW, my figures are based upon a household of two to three people, with a balanced diet, living in a relative decent dwelling ( not upscale ).聽

Anyone know particulars on the process of leasing a car and cost?

@ltoby955 l suspect they do it the same way people do it here in the US. Several people living together in a small apartment and dividing the bills. You work a few side hustles for cash, and somehow you get by. Most everyone l know did it at one time or another.

Anyone know particulars on the process of leasing a car and cost?
-@jasonlovesdogs

Click "Ver Parcelas" under the chosen vehicle.聽 You are more likely to be bothered by sales call.聽 Say, no Habla Espanol, and that might dissuade them.

Maintaining a car can be quite costly, until you've spend enough time around and have determined you need one.聽 聽

Granted you live in a sparsely populated area, or do a lot of errands, or the public transportation is awfull, then it might justify owning or leasing a car.

Car installments are the only part of the equation.

Then there is

-Mandatory Insurance

-Excise Tax ( IPVA )

-Fuel here used to be more expensive than the US, only cheaper than Europe

-Those hidden cameras on moving violations

-Parking

-Repairs ( good mechanics or Auto Technicians are hard to come by out here )_.

-Parking

If you are in Rio or Sao Paulo, cab fare isn't that expensive.聽 In Sao Paulo you can cut trough the city in R$ 50, at most, while your couple miles might cost you about R$ 20-25. An Airport run from the City, about R$ 100-120.

Most cabbies here are decent, not the thievery types you will find in Athens, Ankara, Moscow, Cairo ( these Cities hold the reputation for unsavory practices, and I used to get my updates from Carriage News a defunct monthly rag distributed to Greater聽 Boston Cabbies聽 )聽 Maybe the language handicap might be against you, but since 2013, I've yet to log a complaint against any.聽

If you must own, then an聽 older car past a certain age treshold are Excise exempt.聽

I like to drive.

The first time I came here, in fact, In rented a car from Hertz for a month.

I was able to buy a moto with my VISA card when I was still on a tourist visa.聽 Fabulous way to get around but my wife didn't like it.聽 100 mpg.

I bought a car within weeks of getting my RCNM......parking is free everywhere here, I have insurance but many don't, I have never, never been caught by the speed cameras, halof of them are not operational anyway.

We just got back from a 2100 km road trip to Belo Horizonte.聽 Had a wonderful time......fantastic scenery.

I found a new, glitzy shop where they know what they are doing and they are genuinely interested in making me happy..聽 I did buy a recent used vehicle in a model thats extremely common here.聽 Much much cheaper than in the US,

We had a flat a few weeks ago on a lonely stretch of road in the Chapada.聽 It was raining and the place I had to pull off was muddy, so getting a jack under the car was tricky.聽 A guy on a moto came by, looked over the situation, and went back home and brought a shovel.聽 The three of us got the job done and we were very proud of ourselves.

Weekly / Monthly Costs:
Grocery Bill
Rent
Cell Phone Service
Internet
Cable TV / Satellite
Car if leased or typical payments
Taxes:
House (Property Tax if owned)

Are there any other taxes I should be aware of?
-@john8670

BTW,

Your dollar will go farther if you stay away from State Capitals.聽

i am unaware of聽 your age bracket, but quality health care and pictoresque locations don't go hand in hanrd.聽

Second tier cities are best for the best of both worlds.

Curitiba-PR

Florianopolis-SC

Blumenau-SC

Campinas-SP ( and satellite cities such as Valinhos/Vinhedos, Hortolandia, Indaiatuba, Sumare, Holambra )

Ribeirao Preto-SP ( It's hot out there )

Uberlandia-MG

Juiz de Fora-MG

Santos-SP

The Greater ABC-SP (emphasis on Santo Andre and Sao Caetano do Sul )

Outside Sao Paulo聽 also Sao Roque, Atibaia , Cotia/Granja Viana, Mogi das Cruzes

Itu-SP - A lot of rich folk relocated there, mostly to gated communities . Great if you play golf.

Piracicaba - SP Two World class universities ( one is Methodist ). Perennial Powerhouse in Women's Basketball

Americana-SP聽 聽Textiles. Lots of US Southern Heritage there and in Santa Barbara D'Oeste

Sao Carlos-SP - College Town

Fortaleza-CE- Very progressive and a business magnet

Sao Jose dos Campos-SP聽 聽Aviation town.聽 Also by the Paraiba Valley, Taubate is worth looking into

Weve found that Uber is so prevelent in Salvador, we dont need the car or bus anymore. The Uber cost is laughable too.

Get an address in a non income tax state in the US.

Get a Brazilian visa don鈥檛 put down you live in Brazil.

Dont need cars in major Brazilian cities

Rent is depends where and lux

Food depends on people鈥檚 tastes 1000 reais/month at least

cell phone depends how much gigs you need

tv cell internet packages run around 300reais/month

Apts have condo fees which can be up 1000 reais/month in S茫o Paulo so to live a middle class lifestyle in SP expect to need 10,000 reais a month. That鈥檚 2000usd now but who knows in 10 years what the exchange rate will be

@jc1234 A great reply, the big one is if prices go up and are like me on a pension, mine currently is index linked how ever governments are looking to change this in the years ahead.

@john8670聽 The tenant also pays for HOA (called here 鈥淐ondom铆nio鈥�) if you live in an appartment building or Gated community.

01/09/23
Get a Brazilian visa don鈥檛 put down you live in Brazil.

-@jc1234

Most of those points make good sense.聽 I don't understand what this one means, however.

@john8670 Not only thee city taxes... if you rent a condominium, you will have to pay the condo fee as well