Para esto alcanza un SALARIO PROMEDIO EN CUBA 🇨🇺 | 20$ al mes

Summary

In this video, Ary Tenorio explores the daily life and shopping habits of Cubans living on an average salary of $20 a month. Accompanied by her friend Lisa, Ary navigates the streets of Havana to understand how Cubans manage their budgets, swap currencies, and make the most of limited resources. The video highlights the challenges faced in purchasing basic necessities like food, toiletries, and everyday essentials within a strict budget and sheds light on the local custom of using newspaper for bathroom use due to its cost-effectiveness.

Highlights

• $7 for a carton of eggs almost wipes out a weekly budget! 🥚
• Many Cubans use newspapers instead of toilet paper to save money. 📰
• Street currency swapping is essential for local shopping. 💱
• $20 buys barely a week's worth of essentials, emphasizing creative resource management. 📉
• Local homes double as small shops, offering a taste of Cuban entrepreneurial spirit. 🏡

Key Takeaways

• Living on $20 a month in Cuba is challenging but possible with smart budgeting and resourcefulness. 💰
• Local street exchanges for currency swaps are common and necessary for shopping in Cuban pesos. 💱
• Eggs are a luxury at $7 a carton, often consuming a large part of the budget. 🥚
• Using newspapers in place of toilet paper is a common practice due to cost issues. 📰
• Small homemade shops in residential areas play a crucial role in providing affordable goods. 🏠

Overview

In a country where the average monthly salary is about $20, surviving in Cuba requires creativity and compromise. Ary Tenorio's exploration with her Cuban friend Lisa reveals the intricate dance of budgeting even for a week. As they hit the bustling streets of Havana, each dollar is stretched with meticulous planning, highlighting the tough reality faced by many locals.

A significant cultural insight presented is the use of newspapers for bathroom purposes. This practice not only reflects economic constraints but also an adaptive spirit in dealing with scarcity. From purchasing small quantities of food and personal items to engaging in street currency exchanges, every action involves strategic consideration.

Additionally, local culinary creativity is on display with limited resources transforming basic ingredients into staple meals. Homegrown businesses sprouting from private residences are part of a vibrant informal economy, reflecting Cubans' resilience and resourcefulness in navigating their daily challenges.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Purpose of the Video In this chapter titled 'Introduction and Purpose of the Video,' the speaker discusses the high cost of eggs, mentioning that the price of a carton of eggs was $7 and consumed almost their entire budget. The speaker also shares an anecdote about visiting a house where people used newspaper in the bathroom, a practice that started during difficult times and has persisted since then. The chapter sets the stage for discussing economic challenges and adaptations.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Shopping in Cuba: Initial Thoughts and Challenges The chapter titled 'Shopping in Cuba: Initial Thoughts and Challenges' explores the daily shopping experiences in Cuba, focusing on the financial constraints faced by the locals. It highlights that the average monthly income is less than $30. The chapter follows a Cuban woman's shopping journey on a $20 budget, providing insights into the economic challenges and the purchasing power of local citizens.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Meeting Lisa and Starting the Shopping Journey In this chapter, the narrator introduces the audience to Lisa, a friend who will guide them on a shopping journey. The focus is on spending $20 wisely, especially relevant to workers in professions such as healthcare, dependent roles, or gastronomy. The aim is to demonstrate effective savings while purchasing essential personal hygiene products.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Currency Exchange and First Purchases In this chapter, the focus is on exchanging currency and making initial purchases using the exchanged money. The narrator discusses the ease of finding someone to exchange $20 on the street or in small local stores such as restaurants. The locals are generally more than willing to exchange currency as it benefits them to have dollars. The chapter emphasizes the simplicity and convenience of the currency exchange process in the area, preparing for upcoming purchases.
• 02:30 - 05:00: Street Market Shopping: Produce and Spices In this chapter, the speaker discusses their experience with currency exchange at a street market in Cuba. They exchanged 7,000 Cuban pesos to facilitate shopping since small stores usually do not accept dollars or cards. This currency exchange was necessary to make their purchases in the local market more convenient. The chapter sets the stage for a visit to the market to buy produce and spices.
• 05:00 - 08:00: Exploring Local Shops and Buying Basics In this chapter, we follow Lisa as she explains her process for shopping and managing daily essentials. She shares her strategy of utilizing street carts to purchase basic house staples such as chives, garlic, and sweet potatoes. Lisa also mentions her choices for complementing meals including salads with tomatoes, and fried plantains, highlighting local flavors and Cuban cuisine staples.
• 08:00 - 10:00: Looking for Protein and Discussing Local Economies The chapter titled 'Looking for Protein and Discussing Local Economies' explores the conversation around local food products and their economical significance. It begins with a description of a popular and tasty local product sold for 100 pesos, which can last almost a month depending on its usage. The conversation transitions to discussing the adaptive strategies in ingredient usage, such as substituting onions with local chives in Havana when they are not available.
• 10:00 - 14:00: Cultural Insights and Local Habits This chapter provides a glimpse into local culinary practices and cultural insights. A conversation unfolds about chives, highlighting their role in enhancing flavor in dishes and being a cost-effective option in local cuisine. The story progresses through a negotiation on the price of food seasonings, reflecting local trading habits and the economic context, where items like bijol are commonly used. It emphasizes the community's approach to valuing and pricing their products, indicating cultural nuances in market transactions.
• 14:00 - 16:00: Final Purchases and Budget Reflections In this chapter titled 'Final Purchases and Budget Reflections,' the conversation revolves around completing the last purchases while staying within the budget. The speaker mentions a scenario involving 600 pesos and confusion about whom to pay among friends. After some discussion, they acquire a bag of condiments which they deem sufficient for a couple of meals, despite its small appearance. The dialogue continues with plans to buy tomatoes, consulting on the necessary quantity to reach a pound. The chapter captures the essence of careful budgeting and thoughtful purchasing to ensure all needs are met without overspending.
• 16:00 - 18:00: Concluding Thoughts This chapter covers a conversation about purchasing tomatoes and bananas. A man describes how they're trying to make up half a kilo of tomatoes, noting the weight as being a bit over a pound. He mentions they got an extra tomato as a bonus. The discussion shifts to bananas, where the man explains that due to a cyclone that destroyed much of the crop, the price per banana is 100 pesos.

Para esto alcanza un SALARIO PROMEDIO EN CUBA 🇨🇺 | 20$ al mes Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 We bought a carton of eggs , the egg is expensive, $7, this carton of eggs cost us almost all of our budget that we brought in an egg carton. And you know what, Lisa , I entered a house of some very kind people who let us in and I saw that they were using newspaper in the bathroom. Yes, why would this be? This has become quite the custom because since critical times, newsprint has been used a lot for bathroom issues and then it stayed here to stay
• 00:30 - 01:00 Hello, hello, how are you? We are in Cuba and today we are going to document what the day-to-day purchases of a Cuban are like here in Cuba, on average many people earn less than $30 a month. Today we are going to use an average of about $20 and we are going to do the shopping with a Cuban woman
• 01:00 - 01:30 with a friend that I made here so I present to you Lisa, she is going to be taking us, she is going to take us around, she is going to show us how we are going to save, how we are going to make those $20 exactly, usually these $20 It is perceived by people who work in professions such as health or dependent or gastronomic workers in stores and state places in general and well let's see how much it gives us in today's video of course to make purchases of both basic personal hygiene basket products that are very necessary
• 01:30 - 02:00 exactly let's see how much we can buy here I have the $20 that we are going to change and the truth is that it is not going to be difficult at all you can ask whoever is on the street hey do you know who changes who has change and many stores Little ones , be it restaurants or those who sell whatever, they have zero problem, okay , but zero problem in exchanging them because it is obviously convenient for them to have dollars, so well, let's see who wants to exchange our little money.
• 02:00 - 02:30 We got a total of 7,000 Cuban pesos there. That's what Ronda, the street change, chance could get them to give me 7,500 , but the man I got told me 7,000 and I said, look, I need it because of course we have to stand out here. I can't pay the small stores with dollars because many of them won't accept it even with a card either , so that's why I saw the need to change the bills to Cuban pesos. This is going to make the purchase much easier for us. Now let's go to the market.
• 02:30 - 03:00 Okay, Lisa is literally going to tell us how she would do the shopping and how she would manage it. Look, for example, at these carts on the street , there are usually quite a few of the basic things that are consumed in the house. I would get things like the chives the garlic sweet potatoes to complement the meal a little salad in front of me I saw tomatoes fried bananas that are from there the fried plantains that we eat here in Cuba
• 03:00 - 03:30 that people like so much that it is very tasty so we are going to ask the Lord yes how much of everything would you think that I don't know it lasts a long time exactly this little pot is sold for 100 pesos aha this is enough for you to cook enough I think it even goes up to the month it yields almost a month but well it depends on how you use the garlic to see the mallet it would be one of this please and this is what you use when you don't get onion exactly when we don't get onion with this we kind of complement it they call it here in Havana chives
• 03:30 - 04:00 yes chives are the onion when little chiquitica she grows and becomes an exact onion okay to give taste to the food to give it taste and it's cheaper yes she's going to give us one of this too Please, I'll pour it in a pot here, there it is and this how much does it cost you buy ah well yes to season the powders usually we buy it this is like bijol let's see and this is how much do you sell them for what you can give me no but you have to put a price on your product how much do you think this costs? to pay him here they sell these they sell for 100 pesos
• 04:00 - 04:30 like 600 pesos ah well my friend left where is he ah he's here he is I don't know who to pay and I kept the condiment okay but you're missing me how do I pay you later? There we take our bag, here you go, friend, thank you very much. Here we already have our bag of condiments, which look small, but I think it's enough. I think it's enough for a couple of meals . Let's see, what else do we keep buying? we are going to buy tomatoes we can buy 1lb yesterday help me choose the tomatoes ah if we give him another one it reaches the pound okay
• 04:30 - 05:00 we are grabbing one more tomato to have half a kilo and that's how the man that is his little weight his little weight subscale the one I can take is 1lb and and with 15g but I'll leave it to you I'll leave it at 1lb oh thank you very much look see they even gave us ñapa eh they gave us an offer the bald one they gave us an offer bananas the bananas to fry let's see oh look the man is explaining to us that the bananas are costing 100 pesos each because the cyclone devastated the harvest and the one that remains
• 05:00 - 05:30 is a little left and then the farmer in the countryside raises the price here in the city there is a bit of a shortage of bananas let's see you are the one who knows we are going to buy two of this how many meals do you think the banana will last you well I use one banana for each meal we have to save it there Who uses more of course, but well , since they are fried, you cut them in the houses, you eat them little by little, they are delicious, here are the two bananas and from here it would be everything and from here it would be everything. How much would it be in total 870
• 05:30 - 06:00 pesos? Thank you very much, thank you very much, ma'am, see you later, bye, they already gave us the change that we were going to look for now . That would be like $2.5 and we have several things we still have left, I think it was a bad decision about the condiments, the truth is they are expensive, they told me what it costs and they discounted us there, a part of chance gives us a little
• 06:00 - 06:30 but I am a little regretting that decision. We walk through the streets and we are in the center of Havana , not in the center of Havana. In fact, this is the municipality of Centro Habana where we are right now, Lisa tells me that many people have little shops in their homes. It's like it's already customary to look inside the houses and look inside the houses because they have it placed there on the same door or in the window that looks like a normal house but it's selling you a lot of things right there so as people know that in the houses there are like little shops,
• 06:30 - 07:00 so by inertia everyone goes by and looks inside the house imagine that the lady is there in a towel coming out of a bath and the people and what does she sell oh no here she doesn't sell anything sorry ma'am good afternoon ha ha exactly and we passed right now a kiosk, well not a kiosk, a little corner that had a tobacco table I eat cigarettes, alcohol, but since we don't need them at the moment, they aren't necessary products, so we're not going to buy them, we're going to continue shopping while walking, we find this little store that
• 07:00 - 07:30 is obviously a house , and they put the shelf here with all their products , and what we're going to need here is pretty well stocked. I don't know, we can buy rice, beans, sugar, spaghetti, spaghetti, we can also buy personal care and toiletry products, soap, not toothpaste, look, even toilet paper, oh, they'll sell it to you, no, yes, you can. buy people usually buy a single roll of a single roll you can buy the complete package which is adding the 4 rolls there you have detergent and suddenly if it is not enough
• 07:30 - 08:00 you buy a single roll it does not stop for the duration of each one okay well well let's ask hello how are you can you please give us a bag of rice one of bean paste look you also use the cans of tomato paste a lot that we add to everything oh because they make the enchilado not exact and we add it we also make the sauce For the spaghetti, can you give us a tomato paste for the spaghetti too? Please, they don't give us a bag here , you have to bring your own bag. Right , there are some of these businesses that do sell you the bags.
• 08:00 - 08:30 Oh, forgive me, sorry, do you have any baby bags? Yes , ah well, then let's buy the bags. Many of these businesses will sell you the bags separately, too . What are the bags? the little soaps the plastic bag I thought you were beans the grain you didn't jab ah you soaps they tell the bag I thought you were asking for other grains how much would everything be? It's $2,230, here you are, thank you very much, here we have the change that they gave us , we spent $2,300 on this little bag that we have here,
• 08:30 - 09:00 and what we have is approximately a kilo of beans, a kilo of rice, spaghetti, and tomato paste. In other words, we have spent practically half of what an average salary would be. We have about 8 or 9 dollars that we have spent. Yes, we are going to see what we can do with the rest of the money here . protein it is not necessary to buy maybe sausage chicken exactly because we are going to continue buying I was very impressed by the amount of business that there is inside the house
• 09:00 - 09:30 and I got into the habit of looking out the window of the house they are going to throw a glass of water at me one of these because I am gossiping here we found a barbershop and they say that the cut is about 500 Cuban pesos it seems like yes approximately yes before like it has been increasing in reference to the increase of the dollar on the street if the dollar goes up of course the prices of the services like these increase too and we have seen everything here next door we also saw that they were doing nails here they sell you pizza so and if you walk through the center of Havana
• 09:30 - 10:00 gossip going inside the houses is the only way to find the little stores you are going to see something there maybe they tell you go over there outside of here they will put your mother in but chance not chance you find something good and you leave with your nails done exactly and with all the shopping bags exactly this little store here sells chicken but look for the breast It's not even enough for us because it costs $5000 for 2 kilos and a half kilo , which is a little tray that they sell you like brisket. filleted I imagine 500g $1300
• 10:00 - 10:30 there is also the minced chicken that would be like ground yes it is like mixed ground meat and they sell it to you in a tube or sometimes they sell it to you in squares like that and they put it in a bag and you take it and here it would be about $300 pesos 1lb would be half a kilo but Lisa advises us that down there there is a little market where there is more stall we can see more variety and we have more options not exactly for our option is not just to buy the brisket there let's see what else sells us we bought a piece of paper for $140 Cuban pesos
• 10:30 - 11:00 just one so that we can use it for other things and you know what Lisa I entered a house of some very kind people who let us in and I saw that they used newspaper in the bathroom yes this why would this be like it has become a lot of the custom because since critical times newsprint was used a lot for bathroom issues and then it stayed here to stay using newspaper and because I saw In fact, they had them chopped like in squares, yes, prepare it
• 11:00 - 11:30 , they leave it ready for you and everything for you to use in the bathroom is very common, you know, in a very ignorant way, I thought it was because toilet paper was very expensive, well, it was very expensive, we had moments in which it disappeared, we couldn't find it anywhere and we had to start using newspaper more and that's why it became a habit practically now you do find more toilet paper out there, thank you for sharing that with us, I really didn't never know that. I had heard it, this car is practically a truck, look at the amount of bananas it has there, I suppose that this truck
• 11:30 - 12:00 car does bring it from some farm, it has up to about two bags of lemons, the owner of this car brings everything right here, right here, no, I don't need a truck or a van or anything, it looks so green there , but with the heat it's doing right now, I think that these bananas are ripened there, they are ripened, they are ripened, we call them donkey bananas, donkey bananas, why don't you don't know, I really don't know, but this one We say donkey plantain and the langiest ones that we saw right now are macho plantains okay look at a car full of donkey plantains there is the owner
• 12:00 - 12:30 there is the owner oh God tells me get in the car if you want get in the car with the donkey plantains let's see how much the chicken costs look she is looking for us here a good price so that we can afford to buy the chicken ah look look here you have something else what is that is cheese ah that is from Camaguey oh how delicious we eat that a lot with guava paste and we eat that a lot with guava jam and yes I tried it, it's delicious I tried it and it's delicious well look here they sell everything like a pound gram
• 12:30 - 13:00 so here we can buy several things there is ham here on the leg the cheese rice look there was this rice here and fresh potatoes can you please give us this piece of the chicken leg so he's going to weigh it and based on that they give us the exact price because the pound costs $310 pesos okay ah look he took the package from me and I didn't It's enough for so much, but I thank you, but look, it's going to be weighed there to see how much it will be. Ah, okay, okay , not bad. Want , could we take another one
• 13:00 - 13:30 ? Can you give us another one? Please , look, we paid exactly $620 pesos, almost $2 per chicken, for two chicken legs, two thighs , no, yes, okay, well, we already have something. a meal here at least one protein we bought a carton of egg the egg is expensive yes yes $7 this egg carton cost us almost all of our budget that we brought in a carton of egg and if you want to buy it individually you can no yes yes you can also buy it loose 80 pesos each
• 13:30 - 14:00 80 pesos each but imagine here we lost $2500 I think we have a little bit of money left let's see if we can buy something else I don't know but at least the eggs are something that one it can yield it does not yield enough for the month because there you have it exactly and you can mix it with rice with something so it is a food that yields not the egg yields enough it is good it will yield enough for us this
• 14:00 - 14:30 we arrived at a market that has a little bit of everything but we arrived at the market without money we spent the money on the way in this little market what is good is that we can find many things in bulk or in smaller portions for example look here you can buy the rice in the exact amount you want and it is cheaper they come out $280 a pound according to what the boy told me and that way you don't have to buy the big package that saves you a lot more on the budget you have at the time it's better to buy in bulk
• 14:30 - 15:00 we would have bought the rice here conchale Lisa and I'm seeing that there they sell charcoal yes they even sell you charcoal but many people cook with charcoal at home or with firewood when they have electric stoves and there is no electricity or even the cylinder runs out yes because it must be a problem to have to cook with an electric stove here the power goes out a lot yes a lot Because of scheduled blackouts and then they use induction cookers, those electric ones and no, at that moment they cannot use it and you told me that your family does not cook with charcoal or firewood
• 15:00 - 15:30 over there in La Lisa , which is a municipality that is a little far away but sometimes they set up in the patio as bonfires and they cook right there, of course, well, you have to find a way to cook and charcoal is expensive, that is, no, I don't know, we would have to ask , well, we are going to ask how much charcoal costs, we asked about charcoal and they told us that not right now. I imagine it's because people are buying a lot to cook, there must be a lot of demand, but well, look, we had a little bit of money left. I think we're going to go to the butcher shop there so we can buy,
• 15:30 - 16:00 I don't know, some sausages. Maybe maybe they sell sausages there. I think that's what we're going to see if we're going to find the last thing we had enough for was to buy these sausages, which cost $400, a little more than $1. I thought it was going to be more expensive and it's fresh and look, there are 10 sausages of good size it's not bad at all this we can mix it with the egg with the egg and it yields you it goes and yields quite a few meals exactly even with the tomato paste we can stew them and we continue rendering it look and we already have several meals there exactly
• 16:00 - 16:30 Lisa tells me that this cart that is here the bread cart right now is very popular it is the most sought after practically because you can't find bread anywhere neither in the bakery nor in or in some stores around there with your small shops there is no bread anywhere right now it is not that it is quite difficult to get this week at least because they tell me that there is no wheat flour and therefore you can't get bread so easily, exactly how crazy because the friend is doing well right now because he is the only one who is selling bread In all the shops we saw,
• 16:30 - 17:00 we didn't see bread until now when the bread boy appeared , well, that's it, that's it. For this, an average salary of $20 in Cuba was enough for us . For how many days do you think it's enough for us? I would say that at most, if we save it enough, almost a week at most , then you would say that a week for two people approximately at most , well, there you have it ,
• 17:00 - 17:30 for this it's enough . Let me know in the comments what you think and if you want to know more about Cuba , here I leave you Lisa's channel and I'll see you soon in another video bye bye mua let's go Lisa and what are you going to cook this with I don't know we'll have to add water to make the egg work well whatever we cook I hope it doesn't give us diarrhea because we only have one piece of paper look we didn't have enough for more this one we have to program we have to program exactly