Cost of living 2018 in Brazil

Rent varies as per city or state that you are in , currently in recife and in suburbs your looking about 300 to 750 real per month, hydro and energy varies about 100 - 200 real a mais ,  internet i have a specialized fiber optic business line so not adverage for individuals, costing about 250 real a month , daily food about 20 to 30 real every few days but thats feeding me my wife and our raw food diet for my cane corso . Hope this potentially helps anyone in pernambuco area

Hi, Folks,
My husband and I live in Manaus, Amazonas.  He's a native Manauara; I'm an American expat.
We pay rent of R$2,300 per month for an airy, 110 sq. m./1184 sq. ft.  3 bd/2 bath (with service area and additional service bath) apartment on the 8th floor of a 50-year old high  rise in Centro, with great views of the city and the Rio Negro, and 24-hour concierge.  We have A/C in our bedroom and one of the guest rooms:  the old wiring won't handle more.  With a balcony and sliding glass doors in the living room and every bedroom, they're not oppressive at night.  Electric showers in both baths, not that we usually need them.  Our landlord pays the condominium assessment, we pay any special assessments.  When we signed the contract last September, the rental market in Manaus was quite weak, and we were able to negotiate; I'm not sure how true that will be when/if we re-up. 
Living in Centro, we don't feel that we need a car:  our most frequent shopping, as well as my in-laws, are within walking distance.  Buses in Manaus go everywhere, and are pretty dependable (the streets they speed over, however, are not -- try to sit down, if you can!).  Bus fare is R$3.80.  Uber has come to Manaus, and is priced to be very competitive:  an Uber to the airport from our apartment, a 14 km trip, can cost as little as R$25 via Uber, vs. R$75 fixed fare by taxi.  We've gotten into the habit of just taking Uber, if a trip would involve a bus transfer, or if we'll be carrying a lot of packages home.
Electricity is expensive in Manaus.  We pay between R$450 and R$500 per month.  A lot of people here, including the well to-do, have a "gato" attached to their meter, a device that makes it under-register.  Many of the same techs who install the meters during the day, install the "gatos" at night.  There's a fine if you're caught with a "gato" on your meter, and it's not a risk we're willing to take.
We don't skimp on Internet:  we have a Vonage phone with a US number for calls to and from the US, we have two Rokus, and my husband is a university student.  We pay
R$265/mo. for combined satellite Internet and TV (dish and wiring were already in place.)  We're happy with the bandwidth:  as I write this, I'm listening to streaming music on Amazon Prime.  The OTHER Amazon. ;-)
We spend about R$300 a week on groceries, mostly in supermarkets.  If we were big fish eaters -- we're not -- it would be less.  Manaus has wonderful fresh fish from the rivers, and it's not very expensive.  This city of over 2 million has no land connections to any other major center in the country, so most meat comes up frozen from the south by river freighter.  Selection is limited and prices are rather high.  An unholy alliance (that's how I think of it, anyway) of environmentalists and shipping interests keeps blocking the attempts of the Federal Government to restore BR-319, the Manaus-Porto Velho highway (currently unusable), so this situation will continue indefinitely.
Saturday night after church is Date Night, and we always eat out.  A nice, but not extravagant dinner in a semi-formal restaurant for two costs ~R$75, with beer for one.
For health care, we're both on SUS for the present.  We've just started the process of shopping for private insurance.  Some of the companies with good reputations in the South have bad ones here in the North, and vice versa:  it's complicated!
Some miscellaneous costs:   R$2.00 for fresh breakfast bread for two, piping hot out of the oven, at the bakery a block away every morning.  A 1 kg bag of whole bean coffee from Santa Clara (never see them that size in the US!) for ~$R35.  All you can eat rodízios of pizza, or sushi, or burgers, or all three, in various parts of town, $R20 - $R30 per person.  We pay TIM ~R$50/mo for our cell service per phone; our phones are high-end unlocked Samsungs that we brought from the US, and inserted TIM SIMs.  After adjusting the network settings -- you can find out how on the Internet -- they work fine.
A wonderful cultural resource we have here is the Teatro Amazonas, famous throughout the English-speaking world as "The Opera House in the Jungle".  The Teatro has been beautifully restored, and has extensive programming, often at very low prices.  We've been to several concerts where seating in the boxes was R$20, and in the Orchestra was free.  And it's within walking distance -- in fact, we can see it out our back windows.

Living inbetween Curitiba and Belgium

rent 1000rs for a studio in Merces, a safe neighbourhood
internet 250rs
phone 100rs
food, about 1000rs per month
ubers, about 600 rs per month, I hate taking the bus so I uber everywhere

Dear friends
                       I am specifically interested in knowing about the cost of living in Rio de Janeiro. If someone can give real time information, it will be very useful to me and I will gratefully appreciate that. Thanks.
O P Sharma

Hey man, cost of Rio depends a lot of where you are staying

Does anyone have one for Salvador, Bahia near Barra or somewhere near it?

The website custodevida.com.br ranks cities in general, and capitals in particular.  Salvador looks really good for a city of its size.

Tudo bem amiga,
I retired to Brasil in 2006, lived there continuously until 2013 and returned from Brasil in September 2017. I have lived in several States.  Bahia is the best.  More beautiful from a nature and people perspective although like most of Brasil it is not without its' challenges.

Rent for 1 bedroom with a view in Barra may include internet R$1.500 (2 bedrooms add R$500 or perhaps a little more), this is furnished.  You pay electric, buy gas.

Food at Bom Preco etc. for two people with a growing son...R$500 a week at a minimum unless you are a vegetarian.

Clothes depend on how you like to dress.  Casual very affordable since the preferred clothing choice is t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops.

Entertainment is variable since there are so many free concerts and the occasional ''grand visit'' by someone like Jorge Aragon at the theater by Campo Grande park will cost at least R$100 per person.

Private school is a necessity if you want you son to have the skills and discipline to advance.  Minimum R$1.000  per month.

Bottom line one can live a comfortable no-frills life in Bahia (Salvador) given the current rate of exchange with $2,000 USD per month , $5,000 and you are living solid middle class.

Travel around Bahia to the smaller towns like Cachoeira, Itaparica Island, Morro de Sao Paulo, Ilheus,,,there are many great smaller Cities with better quality of life but still close to Salvador.  I fortunately never had any problems in Brasil.
Hope this helps...boa sorte
Calvin
Now in Marrakech Morocco, back in 2019 to maintain my Permanent Visa.

Thank you for the info!