I remember saving lots of money in Switzerland because it was too expensive to actually buy anything. When that frappechino costs 8CHF, you think hard about getting it (now it's probably even worse!).

> I think averaged adjustments for cost of living are senseless as this is quite individual.

Well it's a base to work from. If it costs, on average X for Y things, and you know you are happy with about half of Y, then it'll still be cheaper to live in Cyanide Springs, Oklahoma, than in central London.

Very true. Different individuals have their own spending amount. I tried to use a reasonable average when adjusting the salaries but if you are far away from average, then your own calculations will be different.

But do you think you are the exception or the norm? I've looked into Zurich real-estate last year and 1000CHF wouldn't even come close to the prices I saw for a small 2br.

The idea of the average adjustments is to get a general idea of the cost of living.

I am an exception as I rent a room for 500 CHF (the norm is 750-1000 CHF). Also, I pay 200 CHF for the cheapest insurance. Then, I budget about 300 CHF to buy food.

If you insist on renting a nice 2bd aparment, you can do so for 2500 CHF in Zurich-city. If you move just slightly out of town, prices drop. I live on the southern end of town and my company is in the north. It takes me only 35 min to go through the whole city (Zurich is rather small).

In my opinion, cost-of-living averages give a misleading idea because people mentally give "cost of living" equal weight as to net-salary.

Although my life in Zurich costs more than my life in Munich, the ridiculous-high salaries and excellent working-conditions (I pay only 16% as taxes) make me feel that I win the lottery each and every month on pay-day. However, in case of sickness I would probably take a day off work and go to Germany (45 min trip) to go to the doctor there as doctors in Zurich also earn double as much.

It's easy to say COL is innacurate if you're a single person willing to live a frugal lifestyle. These are typically based on average family size, so in the US, that's a family with 2.3 children. I'm not sure what the average family size is in Switzerland.

My point being- I used to be able to save a tremendous amount of money; something like 65% of my after tax income, when I was single. Now that I'm married with two kids, I'm only able to save a much smaller 35%. I still live frugally, however, when you have young kids going to school, it's no longer possible to live like a monk. School is expensive, and kids are expensive to raise.

Cost of living is a very valid metric. At a minimum, it reflects the local property tax rates, which are basically the cost of schools and other government services.

Even so, the way a family with 2.3 children lives can differ significantly between cities. A successful middle-class family with 2 children isn't abnormal if they live in a 2-bedroom apartment in NYC, but they are well outside the norm in most other cities.

> Also, I pay 200 CHF for the cheapest insurance.

What insurance do you buy? And do you live at home?

The point of COL is for comparison. As long as the factors are equally applied, then the value of COL averages still make comparisons valid.

Last time I was researching, good enough flat (with 2+ bedrooms) in Zurich costs 4K+ CHF per month.

In Zuerich maybe, I rented 3.5 room apartment in Adliswil for 1.970 CHF last week. Close to nature, and for me close to office since my company in in Binz.

Moved away from crowded Berlin, no regrets.

Same here, move from Berlin to Zürich. From time to time I miss some things, but now I can fly there and spend a weekend more intensely than while living there ;)

BTW, I think I saw that appartment in Adliswil. Switzerland is so small ;)

Hey, you live sort of next door.

Anyone interested in a HN meetup in Zurich? Mail me plz (e-mail-address in my profile).

HN meetup sounds great, count me in ;)