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I prefer to do my own laundry, but it’s not always possible to iron your clothes and they, at times, have to be outsourced. Typically, in Bangalore, the laundry lady charges Rs.3.5-4 per cloth. Today when we were charged Rs.20 for a saree, it got me thinking.

Folks returning from India get a rude awakening when they see prices in India. While we hardly felt the inflation while in the US, it’s a totally different story in India.

Over the last few months itself, prices of onion has gone up from ~Rs.15/Kg to more than 80/Kg. While most fruits and veggies still are cheaper – pound for pound – in India compared to that in the US, there are others that makes you wonder what the heck’s happening. With high import duties, check the pricing –

1) Petrol (gas – oline): This hurts! India at ~Rs 82/liter or ~$5.16/gallon. Current prices in US are averaging $3.43/gallon

2) Laptops: A similarly spec’d laptop is ~Rs.25,000 (~$416) more expensive in India.

3) Similar is the case for smartphones; they are at least Rs.5000-10,000 ($83-166) more expensive in India.

4) Cars: The same Toyota Corolla costs ~$7000-9000 more in India than in the US.

These notwithstanding, the things that are still (heading towards change though) thankfully cheaper in India include medical care, everyday grocery and produce, flight, manual labor (try getting domestic help in the US), and few other things that do make a difference in everyday living (think college education, most books, …)

But seeing that salaries in India are on the lower side, it’s hard to prop up the savings with decent living standards. It becomes necessary for both the husband and the wife to keep themselves professionally occupied.  Moreover, it forces you to improve your financial literacy so a dollar (or rupee) could be made to grow better!