When shopping, it is really difficult for me to understand what "expensive" means here. For example, tea for 17 rupees, which converts to about 17 cents is one heck of a great discount for me, while here, 17 rupees for tea is considered really expensive and 7-10 rupees is a reasonable cost for tea. For me, as a rule of thumb, I multiply the cost in rupees times three to get an approximation of what is expensive or not. For example, if the cost of tea is 20 rupees, I multiply it times 3 or 4 to get 60 rupees, which converts to about 60 cents. Spending 60 cents about five times a day (since people literally drink tea every other hour) can turn out to be a very costly expense.
It is not simply that the standard of "expensive" is set really low here, it is rather that things actually cost a third of what they cost in the US. If that was the entire matter, then I would not be so concerned. There are however two main things that make affordability a large concern here.
One issue here is that salaries are less than even one third of the salaries in the US. For example, a standard salary that can still provide an acceptable living in the US is $2000 per month. However, about $200-300 per month is considered an acceptable salary in Pakistan, and seriously $400-600 per month is considered a really good salary. What I cannot imagine is how someone can survive here if they earn about $100 per month, which many people do.
What makes matters worse is that some things are extremely expensive here, and I cannot imagine how people here manage to afford those things. Clothing, for example, is really expensive here. The simplest casual wear outfit that I could find cost about a 1000 rupees, which is about $10. And if you earn about $100 per month, that is like paying 10% of your salary for casual clothing. To put things in perspective, if you earn about $2000 per month in the US, then the simplest outfit costs you about $200. Can you imagine having to spend $200 on an outfit that you can barely even walk outside in because it is too plain? And outfits that people wear to the religious center or a restaurant, cost at least about $40-70.
It is ironic that clothing is expensive in the country where export of textile and clothing is the second or third largest in the world. So this country provides clothing for the entire world, and yet it cannot supply for its own citizens.
This is the main reason why clothes are so often passed from one child to another, and then if no child can fit the outfit in a family, the outfit is given to another family, and after it has been passed on to everyone possible, it is given to the maid in the home so her family can utilize it.
Oh and basically, there is really no such thing as a real sale on clothing. Any time I saw a sale board, it was either for items that were literally unwearable because of intense deterioration, or the sale was in a store that was already completely not affordable, that even with a 50% off sale, the items are no where close to affordable.
When I first came here two months ago, I was so surprised that no one seemed to be dressed up at all, and their clothing was so plain. Fashion of fancy Pakistani clothing is in the US and I honestly assumed that it was a copy of the clothing style in Pakistan. But really, Pakistanis wear really rather simple clothing. And I believe that this trend is at least somewhat rooted in fact for super fancy clothing is simply not made affordable enough for Pakistani citizens. It is really a shame.
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