How much does a month of living cost in Tbilisi compared to Moscow? Only one category is cheaper

This is my tenth month in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi.

During this time, I managed to live the same ordinary life here as in Moscow, and understand how prices and living standards compare in the Russian capital.

About five years ago, Georgia was considered a cheap country to travel, but many people think that everything has changed. I record my expenses every day and am ready to draw conclusions. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

The idea to make a post came after a conversation with a friend about his expenses. It turns out that I spend food just like in Moscow, and I finally realized that in Georgia it’s still expensive at first.

Below I will describe all the categories of expenses that I spent in my favorite application, and by category I will describe what you can save here compared to Moscow. And is it worth it?

Renting an apartment in good repair costs 55,000 rubles.

For the first time I stopped here for a long time. Now my renovation is a little more modest

Judging by the situation that I observed with my loved ones in Moscow last year, finding an apartment for adequate money turned out to be more difficult.

But there is one more nuance. The layout of budget and mid-budget apartments, due to the climate, the greed of developers and traditional conditions in Moscow, almost always involves the absence of windows in the floors and balconies.

In Istanbul, Tel Aviv and Tbilisi, finding an apartment with two people is much easier. Not all the time, but now I only choose those, because it’s possible to do it.

I was also lucky to rent an apartment and rent it out for the first time. Therefore, the price in a decent area for a new renovation and a full set of furniture was only $500 or 49,000 rubles as of November 2024.

Although the breakdown of housing and communal services varies, the price is literally the same as a two-room apartment on Preobrazhenskaya Square, which was rented in 2021.

The average group of housing and communal services leaders looks like this:

• Gas 1600 ₽ 45.7 ₾

• Internet (300 Mbit/s) 1570 ₽ 45 ₾

• Electricity 1500 ₽ 43.2 ₾

• Water 330 ₽ 9.5 ₾

• House cleaning 87 ₽ 2.5 ₾

• Elevator 1280 ₽ 36.4 ₾

_______________
Total 6400 ₽

Yes, access to the elevator is paid separately, and this is a normal issue for Georgia. You enter the cabin, put the key to the intercom and then press the desired floor. There was a house where people still give coins from the machine to go up to their floor. This is the system from the times of the USSR.

In my case, the key also opens the door to the park, accessible only to residents. If you miss payment, access to the elevator and shortcut to parking are closed. Unblocked 2 minutes after depositing money online. Thank you for sounding at the entrance without a ticket.

Finding a good apartment is cheaper, but more expensive without any problems.

In rental chat rooms, realtors constantly post listings for $1,500 and $2,500 in expensive neighborhoods. Vake. I have no idea who films this. The apartments there are ordinary, just big. I had a similar one in Istanbul for 40,000 rubles, so I don’t see any practical use.

▸ Since I pay half when renting, housing costs me 27,000 rubles.

Additional transfers of lighting with household items. I have a large balcony, this month I decided to decorate it. Another 12,000 rubles were spent.

I paid about 30,000 rubles for groceries.

My first trip to the supermarket in Tbilisi. Cheese is priced like in Russia, wine is more expensive

I eat normally. At home there is always meat, milk, cereals, cheese, vegetables; going to the store to get snacks is not a problem.

The eating habits here are almost nothing like those in Russia, only red meat has become more abundant in different forms, like teplonka fillet and beef steak, because they literally cost the same as chicken.

Compared to Moscow, in Tbilisi, chicken (800 ₽/kg), milk (200 ₽/l), chocolate (200 ₽/80 g), eggs (240 ₽/10 pcs.) are twice as expensive.

I thought that the wine here was cheap, but it’s better not to try it for less than 600 rubles. BUD home brew. But you can really find good, tasty, rich quality ones for 2,000 rubles or more.

It’s important to take into account that I mostly cook at home, sometimes with delivery. Just with ready-made food, you can accidentally fly into the red.

Food in the city is so-so and disproportionately expensive. 13,000 rubles went to fast food.

When they told me about the mega-cool cuisine of Georgia, this became one of the reasons why I wanted to visit the country.

I won’t say that it’s absolutely impossible to eat, but 75% of the time I leave disappointed.

The price tag in almost any establishment in Tbilisi easily resells Depot or Bakery Moscow, but the quality of the dishes more often resembles homemade ones, rather than food courts, cafes, and, moreover, restaurant quality. Yes, even in restaurants. Yes, not even tourist ones.

A basic lunch costs on average 30 GEL or 1200 rubles. There’s just a tray with a burger, a drink, snowballs and dessert at McDonald’s. The only plus is that of all the countries I’ve been to, it ranks first in taste along with the object.

Cooking at home and going to a cafe works out almost the same, sometimes better. This pizza, taking into account quality ingredients, cost 1,500 thousand versus 800 rubles for content. But I also have more filling 😃

It’s gotten to the point that after 10 months I still can’t recommend a particularly delicious establishment for the evening to friends who come here. If you know, write in the comments.

Sometimes I get coffee in the city, it costs from 6 to 12 lari depending on the place. This is from 240 to 480 rubles per glass. Moreover, almost everywhere they sell at the highest level, and it’s difficult to find cheaper than 350 rubles.

The drinks here are so expensive that even a friend from Germany, who came to Tbilisi in the summer, was surprised.

Doctors and drugs from insurance. The dentist spent 15,000 rubles.

The clinic where I went throughout September

At the beginning of September, I suddenly developed an acute form of periodontitis due to poorly treated root canals in a Moscow clinic. I encountered this for the first time, according to the doctor in some cases. the counter goes to the clock.

Literally the entire month at my second job I went to one of the best-equipped clinics with Russian-speaking doctors. As a result, the treatment ended with the removal of one tooth and cleaning of the canal in the adjacent place, but with the surgeon’s anesthesia, since it usually did not work.

A foreigner in Georgia can buy insurance and be treated in a wide range of local hospitals from different doctors for a minimal co-payment, including dentists. But I didn’t have insurance at that moment, I had to dump all my money.

Prices are approximately the same as in Moscow. They paid 200 GEL (a little less than 8,000 rubles) for removal, everything went easily. For treatment and sewer fillings, it was necessary to pay another 380 lari (15,200 rubles), but in case of refusal, we made a discount and took only 180 lari (7,200 rubles).

There were other situations as well. For example, finding an emergency ophthalmologist in Tbilisi turned out to be difficult. I drove around 4 blades, and ended up accepting the fifth one for 50 lari (2000 rubles). If anything happens, the Aversi Clinic will help.

Since October, I have been paying for insurance for about 3,400 rubles a month with clearer access to doctors.

▸ Other expenses in the region wellness this is a gym for 3,600 rubles per month, consultations with a trainer from Russia for 4,000 rubles per month, and various dietary supplements for up to 1,000 rubles.

A record 14,000 rubles were returned for services and services.

Mobile operator application. I buy packages for 7 days with 5 GB of internet, it’s more profitable. Collective farm on my part, I know

Here, however, Georgia is almost not to blame.

Through this wire, only mobile communications for 1000 rubles were available in Tbilisi.

The rest is gone:
• Replenishment of the App Store online wallet 3600 rubles
• Adobe package 2700 rubles.
• Month of YouTube Premium 170 rubles
• Year Yandex Plus 3400 rubles
• Year of local delivery Wolt+ 2500 rubles
• Bank commission for transferring money is 1000 rubles.

I agree, it’s a lot by any standards, but 9,500 rubles of this are one-time expenses, two of which will be repaid per year.

▸ Added that in September I had my hair cut by a local barber for 2,400 rubles (this is expensive), but was not included in the October report.

I don’t use cleaning service, I don’t call a drunk driver. But you can order a car.

I use transport a little. Sometimes it’s 300 rubles, sometimes it’s 3000 rubles

Traveling around the city by taxi in Yandex Go by tariff Comfort+ Depending on the time of day and weather conditions, it costs from 4 to 15 lari or from 160 to 600 rubles.

Metro, buses and minibuses cost 1 lari or about 40 rubles one way.

Entertainment costs vary. Excursions from 2500 rubles

Last spring I traveled almost along the border with China, it was an excursion to Stepantsminda and the dormant Kazbek volcano. A trip there cost about 4,000 rubles.

But in the summer we took a one-day mini-tour along the signs of eastern Georgia in the area of ​​the city of Telavi with wine and chacha tasting for 2,500 rubles.

It saved money by 1000% compared to the prices of everything else in the country. We made stuffed animals ourselves, walked along the 18th century Sighnaghi city wall with a view of the Caucasus Mountains and wandered around the old estate of Father Griboyedov, in whose cellar two-hundred-year-old wines were stored (you cannot drink).

A trip to the cinema costs on average 15 lari or 600 rubles, and so do exhibitions.

On average, you need 110,000 rubles for an ordinary life for one

In extreme cases, these are the expenses I have.

And these are literally average statistics. For example, the website for calculating the cost of living Numbeo indicates that expenses without rent for one person in Tbilisi amount to 1,700 lari (68,000 rubles), and renting a one-room apartment costs from 30,000 to 100,000 rubles.

According to the same website, the cost of living without renting housing in Moscow is lower (yes, lower, cheaper, more economical) by 1.6% compared to Tbilisi, while rent is as much as 34.6% more expensive. Judging by my experience, this is exactly how it was refreshed.

I honestly don’t know where I can shrink. But I can guess. In the city it is easy to find an apartment for 30,000 rubles, second-hand stores and markets for cheap vegetables, although all this will be of questionable repair, quality and condition.

Considering that in the capital of central Georgia the salary is 2,343 lari or 83,000 rubles, and in Moscow 146,000 rubles, one would compensate for the other.

If we count even more precisely. In Tbilisi, the average salary is 30% of the average, which is 57,000 rubles, and in Moscow it is about 80,000 rubles.

Therefore, it is expensive for many to live in such capitals.

But my budget is the same for both cities, so in Tbilisi it’s still cheaper due to the apartment, even though everything else costs the same.

The amount of 110,000 rubles seems small, but taking into account the exchange rate, it is 78,000 rubles in 2020.

For comparison, exactly four years ago, in October 2020 in Moscow, I returned 72,000 rubles, that is, almost the same amount taking into account adjustments. It sounds more adequate, you agree.

On the other hand, these are expenses without clothes, iPhones, mortgages, personal transport, investments, expenses for children and travel. Therefore, the resulting budget is called absolutely basic, but far from complete for normal life.

What do you think? Share in the comments how much you spend per month and in which city!