Insha Allah, I’ll try beefing up this page to include more items……..
These are prices for Sana’a, but I would guess that they are probably in the same ball park for other Yemen locales, Allahu ilm.
Electricity
In Sana’a, your bill might range from 1500 (or less) - 5000 riyals per month, but 5,000 is on the high side, the average for say a refrigerator, computer (running all day) might be around 3,000 riyals.
Not sure of what the prices are in Damaaj. We never had electricity until we bought a generator and then the cost of that was for the gas to run it.
Bills come monthly.
Housing
In Sana’a, you can find decent apartments, 3 bedooms, 2 bathrooms, for around $150-$200 (and up to $1200), for a new place.
In Damaaj, we rented a two bedroom, two bath mud house for I think $400 – $600 for the year, can’t exactly remember (this was in 2004).
I am not sure what the cost to buy a house is in Damaaj, I think I posted on here in the past, that a house in Damaaj was being sold for $4,000.
Internet
Dial up and DSL is available. For always on service, we were told the price ws around 26,000/month. Dial up, of course, if dependent upon your usage, but we were averaging around $50.00/month.
Phone
For Sana’a, the cost to get a phone line ranges from 12,000 – 20+k and I remember when we were in Damaaj, we were told the cost would be $100. We never got one while we were there, and at the time, we were told there would be a three week wait or so if I remember correctly.
We have been told that you can get a line put in for around 12,000 riyals, but we have always paid around 20k. (12,000 ~ $60.00). Depending upon who you are dealing with will determine how quickly you can get it put in.
I think the bills come monthly. We just used to run to the bill place and pay it and never got a bill.
For details on mobile phones, please see my http://tjyemen.wordpress.com/about/mobile-networks/ page. You can purchse mobile phones here readily from like 30 dollars to 300+.
Food
I recently read that the price of milk in the United States was at a record high. Its been about five years since I have been in the states and in that period of time, I have actually forgotten what some things cost.
I thought someone perhaps might be interested in knowing how prices were here so I put together a short list as examples:
Rent: $100-$150 dollars can get you a reasonable 3 bedroom apartment with two bathrooms in many cases, a brand new apartment.
Electric: Of course varies depending upon usage but around 5-15 dollars per month (of course that is without air conditioning, most people do not have any type of air conditioner).
Water: 10-20 dollars a month, again depending upon usage
Groceries: A few items….Now of course it depends where you shop. The more modern stores, like City Mart, tend to be cheaper than the small neighborhood stores although a few of the western stores are kind of expensive.
1 liter of milk (haleeb) ~ 230 riyals ~ $1.10
1 lb of potatoes (though the usual measure is in kilos) ~ 50 riyals ~ 25 cents/lb
3 small medium onions ~ 20 riyals ~10 cents
1 loaf of bread. This is becoming more common, when I first moved here, I could barely find it and the loaves I found were pretty sad, but since then I have found some pretty good loaves. ~90 riyals ~ 50 cents
6 small apples ~ 350 riyals ~ $1.75
1 kilo ground beef ~ 2.2lbs ~ 1000 riyals ~ $5. It’s pretty fatty and could come from buffalo.
10 cheese slices (similar to Kraft) ~ 170 riyals ~ 90 cents. Kraft singles are about twice as much.
Doritos. The authentic ones from the states will cost you like 1000 riyals ~ 5 dollars. However if you get the Doritos brand that are made say in the Emirates, you will pay about 280 riyals, about $1.50.
If you are curious to know what other items cost, just drop me a line: Talibiddeen Jr.
