Cost of Living in Galway, Ireland

10 Feb

Miscellaneous, Personal

Before coming here I was wondering what the cost of living was like in Galway, a city that had a huge growth in the last few years and is now suffering quite a bit with the economic crisis. And while I found some stuff, it was all either too generic or a bit outdated. To make it easier for any Galway newcomers, I’ve compiled a list of some stuff that might help in getting an idea of the prices (if there’s anything else you want to know, drop a line in the comments):

  • 1 pint (0,57 liters) of Guinness in a pub: €4.20
  • 1 can of Guinness 0,5 liters in the supermarket: less than €2
  • 1 pack of Lucky Strike (20 cigarettes): €8
  • Cellphone call: €0.29 per minute
  • Public water-supply: free
  • 1 frozen pizza: from €2.50
  • 1 bottle (700ml) of vodka: €20+
  • 1 bottle of Porto wine (700 ml): €12+
  • 1 bottle (1 liter) of Martini: €13
  • 1 double cheeseburger at MacDonald’s: €2
  • 1 room in a shared house near the centre: €250 to €400
  • 1 t-shirt: as low as €2.5
  • 1 kebab: €7
  • 1 bottle (1 liter) of water: €1+
  • Broadband Internet: €20 to €50 per month
  • 1 supermarket bag: €0.22
  • 1 Kg of rice: €1.80
  • Sliced bread (400g): €1.50+
  • Taxi minimum fare: €4+
  • 1 bus ticket: €1.60
  • Dinner at a restaurant with real food: €20+

I hope this helps in getting a better picture of how much it actually costs living in Galway. And if you’re a smoker and love vodka, this might not be the place for you. Just go to Ukraine instead :P

6 Responses to “Cost of Living in Galway, Ireland”

  1. Gil Sousa February 10, 2009 at 9:07 PM #

    Ok…, that’s not living in Galway…, that’s surviving!

    Who can live without wodka? :P

    • Farinha February 12, 2009 at 4:55 PM #

      Yeah!
      It would be nice to have a way to ship vodka and whisky from somewhere…

      Even Jameson (which is an Irish brand), is expensive as hell!
      But apparently that doesn’t keep people from drinking, as Ireland is near the top of the list of countries where people drink the most.

  2. Pati February 11, 2009 at 8:03 AM #

    FODASSE A VIDA É CARA!!!!!

    comparações:
    * 1 pint (0,5 liters) in a pub: €4.20 >>> €1,3
    * 1 pack of cigarettes: €8 >>>> €1
    * 1 bottle (700ml) of vodka: €20+>>> d certeza menos:P qd recebo pedidos d encomenda?
    * 1 bottle of Porto wine (700 ml): €12+>>n reparei, mas temos cá o Biedronka :P dps digo
    * 1 bottle (1 liter) of Martini: €13>>>>>n me lembro..
    * 1 double cheeseburger at MacDonald’s: €2>> ainda n pus lá os pés
    * 1 great house in the centre: €500
    * 1 kebab: €7>>>€ 2 (Cola incluída!!!)
    * 1 bottle (1 liter) of water: €1+>>>>> €0,2??
    * 1 supermarket bag: €0.22>>>> € 0,1
    * Taxi minimum fare: €4+>>>> € 2 ou menos
    * 1 bus ticket: €1.60>>>> €0,4>>nunca ando, moro no centro:P
    * Dinner at a restaurant with real food: €20+>>> € 10? (há mt poucos restaurantes de jeito!!!!!!)

  3. Vlatko February 13, 2009 at 12:23 PM #

    It seems like there is no big demand for t-shirts there :) :)

  4. steve October 24, 2009 at 4:29 PM #

    so Im looking at a job in galway, moving from the US
    so I havent a clue what a good salary is. the dollar/euro
    rates change so much and overall cost of living there.
    (the above list was somewhat helpful though.)
    but as for taxes and whatever else is taken out of paychecks over there I dont know.
    so basically what is a good annual salary in this town?
    thanks much.
    steve

    • Farinha November 5, 2009 at 11:56 PM #

      Hey Steve,

      Glad to know the list was helpful. Sorry that I took so long to reply.
      I’m still a bit confused about the taxes here. Because I only started getting taxed around the middle of the year, they do some kind of crazy calculation. It’s not just a percentage of the salary. So I’m not the right person to answer that question.

      These sites might be helpful:
      http://www.revenue.ie/
      http://www.welfare.ie/

      And I would say that an annual salary of about €20.000 would be pretty comfortable.