Living in Cuiabá: budget breakdown for a 68 m² flat in a residential area

The first time I’ve been to Cuiabá was 5 years ago and I thought I was going to die because of the heat 🥵

I never thought I’d be living in this city, yet here I am with Davidson and Ellie.

We started to look for a place to live in October 2020.

Here were our requirements

• At least 2 bedrooms
• At least one bedroom with aircon
• Close to Davidson’s work at Jardim das Americas
• Budget max for the rent: 1600BRL

It took us less than 2 weeks to find our new home and another 2 weeks to gather all the paperwork.

Here’s how much we’re spending for our apartment

• Rent: 1256.95 BRL
  • 2 bedrooms
  • 1 bedroom + aircon with 1 bathroom
  • 1 bathroom
  • 1 living room
  • 1 kitchen area
  • Balcony
  • 1 parking spot
  • 15-min walking distance to work
• Condo: 502 BRL
  • includes water
• Electricity*: 261 BRL
  • Fridge
  • Aircon
  • Lights
  • Plugs for laptop, internet, phone chargers
• Gas*: 32 BRL
  • 4-burner stove
  • Oven

Total : 2051.95BRL

*Note: in Brazil, you don’t get to choose the electricity or gas company. Each city has its own. So this means no competition and thus salty bills (especially for electricity).

We sure could’ve rented something cheaper**. But then we’d have to spend on transportation for Davidson to go to work.

**Note: the cheapest we visited was a 2-bedroom flat, no aircon and not the neighborhood we wanted. Price: 800 BRL.

The perks of living in a residential area

• We have access to a swimming pool, a gym and two playgrounds.
• It feels safer with the security guards at the entrance.
• Every Wednesday, it’s food truck night in front of the residence. It became our weekly night, especially for Ellie eating her açai with chocolate candies 😋