"NEW YORK - Moscow has eclipsed Tokyo as the world's most expensive city, a new survey says."
...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060626/ap_on_...xpensive_cities

Yet another reason why finding a bargain is hard in Moscow and limiting your stays makes a lot of sense.

I would take these ratings with a grain of salt. This data is used by companies to adjust the pay of their employees when sent oversees. It is no coincidence that 95% of the cities are below the baseline, as the employer is then justified in cutting your salary.

Also, these lists are a poor comparison, as they leave out the most expensive costs. Number one is taxes, which don't figure in here at all. (and Russia is cheap in that respect).

I’m with you.
Prices over there keep increasing, especially real estate. Taxes are not an issue with me since I pay them here at home, like most foreigners in Moscow do. I found a piece of property (raw land) in a Moscow suburb selling for $14k in 2004, which sold again for nearly 200K earlier this year. It’s a little scary, as we don’t know whether the values will continue to rise.

Good for you! Seems like international companies don't pay attention to such data when hiring local people.

Regardless of all factors, Moscow sure is expensive I find it amazing how Russians can actually afford to live there. I understand they must make larger salaries then those outside Moscow, but still...

I've been in both Moscow, and Seoul (#2 on the list) and neither one of them is anywhere near as expensive as right here in the good ol' US of A!

Sure, those lists are for what you're going to have to pay for "western-style" accomodations and luxury, which is what get's all of us on here when we travel there to meet our sweeties. But, like Satellite has said numerous times, if you live like a local while you're there, it's really not too expensive.

I was kind of happy to see this article though, at least now my story is a little more credible when I explain to everyone how "hard and painful" the visa process is... including a short stay in Moscow, the world's most expensive city, to see my fiancee.

(Interesting side note.... one of our first dates was to an amusement park in Seoul. We took the bus to the park for $5, admission was $13 or something, then we took the subway for $2 to a hotel room for $30 a night, ate at a local restaurant for about $8, then the bus home for $5. Admission for 1 to the park here: $46/day!!! So, even Seoul isn't that expensive!)

Couldn't agree more. Try putting a 1 week vacation to Disney World together! You can easily get a few weeks vacation to Mexico for that kind of money.