Standard  of living in Surinam is quite high almost everything that you can buy in other western countries is available, there are many supermarkets and small shops. A variety of Dutch products can be found at Choise or Bestmart if you want to shop cheaper and don't have a big problem with less hygiene then  you can go to the Combe supermarket.
 

Eating and drinking out door

There are several restaurants in Paramaribo more information about these restaurants you can read on the page “ Emigration Culinary”

Clothes

In Surinam there is a large range of shops where you can buy your clothes, many boutiques can be found at the Hermitage and Maretraite Mall and down town Paramaribo. They offer a good variety of shops pleasant walking promenades and parking space. On the Tourtonnelaan there is “Waldo” who sells clothes and shoes only for men.

Electrical equipment

In Surinam you can buy all types of electrical equipment most of the time the prices are, when you compare them with western countries, low. Be careful when you buy cheap Chinese equipment the quality of this equipment is poor.

Junkfood

frietnlThere is also junk food in Suriname, in Paramaribo you can still buy your Big Mac or cheeseburger. There is Mc Donald, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Burger King and many others places that sell fast-food. If you want a one hundred percent Dutch snack then you can go to Friet.nl at the Tourtonnelaan 48 in Paramaribo.

 
 

 

Monthly budget

What is a reasonable monthly budget in Surinam, this depend on many factors, such as possession of a house and your medical and retirement facilities. If you going to work in Surinam then your salary is, when you compared it to what you are used to, low. Retirement facilities are really bad.
 
Renting a house  will cost you  300 euro or more per month. Additional living expenses are something like 800 euro per month. So 1.300 euro per month for cost of living is reasonable.
 
Of course, everything can be done cheaper, but you have to remember you’re not born and raised in Surinam, your lifestyle use to be Western. Many Surinamese have to live on a third of the budget we mention bud that is as they call it Pinare (poverty). To have a reasonable standing of living many Surinamese have multiple jobs.
 
If you have benefit or pension there is also the tax measures, for further information can be found under “ Emigration / Tax”.
 
Below you see a table with a number of grocery’s  purchased at Choice in Paramaribo We compared these prices with the prices of Albert Heijn one of the most expensive supermarkets in the Netherlands. In the first column prices paid in SRD the second column converted into euro (rate 4.2) and the last column prices of AH in the Netherlands.
 
Crosery's   SRD   Euro   AH
             
Toilet paper 4 rolls   6.75   1.61   1.09
Mixed Nuts   14.75   3.51   1.75
Jonker Frits brown beans   3.50   0.83   0.69
Carboneli olive oil   38.75   9.23   7.19
Spa Fruit berry(soft drink)   9.75   2.32   0.98
Hunts Spaghetti saus   4.75   1.13   1.96
Butella sunflower oil   6.95   1.65   0.85
Sucar 1 kilo   1.90   0.45   0.85
Parmesan cheese 1000 gr.   9.75   2.32   2.98
Bleech 1 L   2.45   0.58   0.79
Herbs boemboe saté   5.75   1.37   0.78
Herbs sajoer beans   8.75   2.08   1.10
Heinz hot ketjup   12.75   3.04   1.66
Coca cola 1 L   3.50   0.83   1.35
Amstel Beer 24 bottels*   60.00   14.29   10.09
Spa reine (soft drink)   3.00   0.71   0.54
Dutch cheese 1 kilo   50.00   11.90   8.84
Milk powder completa   11.75   2.80   1.65
Surinamese rice 5 kilo   16.75   3.99   7.48
Kitchen cleaner Muscle lemmon   13.75   3.27   1.82
Egs 12   6.35   1.51   2.70
Brown beans can   3.50   0.83   0.69
Remia mustard   6.75   1.61   1.23
             
Total   290.25   71.86   59.06

 

 * We compared the price of 24 bottles of Amstel with 8 Joggo beer(local product).