Cost of living in Italy – 2015

I live in Latina Scalo, which is about an hour south of Roma by train.

Accommodation/utilities: I pay 400 euros monthly for a 45mq one-bed flat.  I keep my place set on about 15C, the three of us each take a nice hot shower every day, cook and drink coffee/tea all the time an end up paying an average of 20 euros per month for gas (obviously it costs little to heat the water in the summer and no need for heating the house so these factor in).  I think I pay like one or two hundred total per year for water--turn the water off while brushing your teeth etc.--and my electric is about 20 per month since I don't run anything expensive and have no aircon.  I pay roughly 30 euros per month for DSL internet up to 20 megas with a fixed phone line good for calling other landlines here and in the US, and it's not bad service. But I will keep an eye out for one of my provider's competitors to offer up something similar for 20 per month eventually and switch.

Transport: A city bus from Latina Scalo to Latina proper--15 minutes away--costs 80 cents.  A train ride to Roma is like 4 euros one way; don't know what the abbonamento costs but it's probably not worth it unless you commute daily.

Food: I go to Vittorio Emmanuele area, near Stazione Termini in Roma to get fish ranging from 3 euros to 7 euros per kilo.  I've gotten some fine lean ground beef for as low as 2 euros per kilo.  If you shop at the Egyptian/Tunisian-run produce stands, you can get good fruit like apples, bananas, oranges, kiwi, and much more in the summer, for about one euro per kilo and maybe 1,50/2 for the ones of higher aesthetic quality (which I don't need because I'm not showing off and the regular fruit tastes awesome compared to what I'm used to in the US).  In the winter, tomatoes are more expensive so I get a bottle of paste for 60 cents--I think 1/2 liter.  Tea and coffee for those willing to buy store brand are cheap--25 bags for 75 cents and 250g of ground coffee for 85 cents.  Peanut butter can be bought for 2 or 3 euros per 500g jar but only from ethnic vendors; Italian supermarkets charge way too much.  The milk I drink costs 69 cents per liter in a cardboard container; fresh milk--which may be better--costs 1 or 1,30 per liter.  I usually buy pasta for 75 cents per kilo, fresh bread for 2 euros per kilo, rice from the Filipino store at 1 euro pr kilo, and potatoes for 50/60/70 cents per kilo and type "00" flour for 50 cents per kilo.

Clothes: Branded clothes are often more expensive in Italy than what I'm used to elsewhere.  I saw a pair of Timberland boots the other day for 200 euros and a pair of Nike sweat pants for 75 euros; that's like twice the price in an American mall.  Although if you go to the right stores, find the right sales going on, such as when they are clearing out the winter clothes for the spring/summer editions, you might find them marked down by 25-50%.  I got a pair of Nike running shoes for 50 euros towards the end of the summer at a sporting goods store.  A good place to look for pants, shirts, jackets, underwear etc. is the 'bancarella' or open market.  Most of the time it is not branded, but except for footwear (don't buy unless it's branded), it's not bad quality and you can get a pair of sweat pants for 5-10 euros and a thick parka jacket for 20-30 euros.  If you're into martial arts, it's not too hard to find a decent Judo gi for 40 euros and a groin guard for about 10.  But stuff like rash guards, muay thai steel groin guards, BJJ gis (which are less baggy than their Judo counterparts) seem to be available online only and rather costly.

Books: near the metro station Repubblica in Roma you can find a used book store where I got a nice 300 page Italian-English dictionary for 3 euros.  Or you can go to a premium book shop and get it for 8.

Restaurants: I was really hungry yesterday and stopped in a pizza shop, got two slices and a fanta and after I inhaled it all, realized the dude charged me 10,50.  Restaurants are expensive but usually the shwarma shops in Roma, places that serve Halaal food etc. are more affordable and I particularly like Middle-Eastern food.  I almost never go to McDonalds and can't afford restaurants with waiters.  I think even the bars and cafes are all a rip off.  It's probably better to marry someone who can cook.

Childcare: If you live in a place with no public daycare, you're looking at up to 300 euros per month for full-time at a private one or maybe 200 for half day.  Generally the quality is excellent but always check the place out thoroughly and try to get opinions from others about the place and who runs it.

TV: I prefer youtube to regular network tv.  I've heard of deals where you can get Sky with like 4 or 500 channels along with DSL internet for 25 per month.  I've also heard that everyone has to pay 130 euros per year for public TV--some Rai tax or something--whether you want it or not.

Medical care: if you visit the emergency room, it's supposed to be free.  But if you need to get a blood test or xray or something, you could end up paying 75 euros or more.  Still better than the American system though.  It's usually easier to get a ''ticket esenzione'' for children under 6--I think that's the age-- so you don't have to pay for their tests and scans etc.

Fitness: running is free, so is doing push ups, sit ups etc.  Dumbbells, barbells etc are too expensive so you could just buy bags of builder's sand at 2 euros per 25 kilo sack and put them in empty rice sacks that you can usually get for free or maybe one euro from an ethnic foods shop. Some small gyms offer memberships for as low as 30 euros per month.  MMA/boxing/BJJ programs usually run 40-60 euros per month for 3 days per week of training sessions.   If you want to join a gym--especially for martial arts/boxing etc. you have to get a medical clearance and this is usually 50-60 euros in the Lazio region and good for one year.  It seems ridiculous and bureaucratic, but you'd pay more like 100 euros per month for a martial arts program in the US anyway so it's not so bad.