The economy in Russia is out of whack (you hear about it in the news, but you don’t really know until you visit). Here’s some examples…

• A Hummer costs $120,000
  

• A Kia costs $38,000
  

• Gasoline costs $1.50 per gallon (for 95 octane no less). Maybe someone there should start selling gas mail order. heh
  

• A normal apartment runs $500 per square foot (to purchase).

Now this might not seem extraordinary, but it’s not abnormal for people to make less than $500/month at their job.

Necessities are cheap though… you can buy an ice cream cone (yes, this is a necessity) for $0.20, and we bought 2 bags of groceries for like $7.00.