Silver Links

The Currency

Traditionally, in asian empires atleast, the unit of currency was one tola silver. Infact the word "rupiya" comes from the hindi word "ropa" which means "silver".

One tola = 11.664 grams

One tola silver = Rs. 1300

One Pound = 454.55 grams = 7000 grains (always of wheat in this article)

One gram = 15.4 grains

One tola = 179.63 grains approx 180 grains

Link to Food

Referring to The Easy Food Article it can be easily noted that price of food for one day per person is equal to 1/10 the price of 1 tola of silver. Ofcourse due to inflation as price of food varies so do the price of silver. So a person needs 3 tola per month for food which is equal to Rs. 3900. It is when the food is purchased in raw form and cooked at home and no labor cost of cooking is included. In case of eating food from a hotel the cost doubles.

Link to Clothing

Lets move on to other calculations. After food ofcourse we should talk about clothing. In Pakistan clothes are cheaper than in most of the world because we have abundant production of cotton. In Pakistan a person can make a suit (shalwar-qameez, the national clothing) in as little as Rs. 650 including the tailor cost. In this calculation its better to take some better quality clothing, so Rs. 1300 is taken as the figure, that is double than average.

A few things need to be explained. Even though a suit can be purchased tailor-made in Rs. 650 in Pakistan, in most of the world it would take double the cost. Therefore we take a figure that can be used in any country of world. Living in a country with abundance of cotton we can have the luxury of wearing better quality clothes in the same price. The suit talked here is for average person, means 4 sq meters of cloth is used. For a grown up man it means 6 sq meters cloth but the Rs. 1300 figure is for the average person. The cloth is of average quality, that is, no designer clothing, no fancy stuff, no expensive embroidery in women clothing etc. Also it should be noted that the intention of the clothing here is to wear it usually at home. Its not specifically party clothing.

The figure above is for the actual suit. Cost of under garments, socks, shoes is not included. I assume that an equal amount should be set aside for it. Ofcourse it takes 50% to 67%, not equal but lets keep some room for some designing, embroidery etc so that party clothes can also be accounted for.

An equal amount, that is Rs. 1300 must also be kept aside for use of clothing that is not wore. It includes bed covers, curtains, cushions etc.

So, how much clothes do a person needs. Having one new suit on every festival, that is on the two eids is two new suits per year. That is the bare minimum before wearing rags. Its better to make 4 new clothes every year, one in every 3 months. Therefore it comes down to Rs. 3900 in every 3 months. The breakup is: Rs. 1300 for suit; Rs. 1300 for undergarments, shoes, socks etc; Rs. 1300 for bedcovers, cushions, curtains etc. It means Rs. 1300 per month or 10 u.
Ofcourse a person can go for 5 or 6 suits per year instead of the calculated 3 by pressing the other amounts. There is room in the other amount to handle this. The other amount s (the Rs. 2600) can be reduced to 75% or even 50% without must damage. Ofcourse instead of increasing the quantity the quality can be increased. The point is, 10 u or 1 tola silver must be set aside per person per month. This ofcourse is for the average person, when taking into account the poors and also the richs and also the middle class.

Link to Services

So, 3 tola silver per month per person for food, 1 tola for clothes, what else? Well we must keep 1 tola aside for services. The services includes barber service, maid service, maintenance service of the locality etc. Children education service is not actually consumed because its an investment for future so not included here. Utility bills are included. Transportation costs are not.

Link to Cash-In-Hand

Another 1 tola must kept aside as cash-in-hand stuff. This is to entertain guests, carry out usual wear and tear of house like plumbing etc and to have some extra food on weekly holidays. Entertainment costs are not included here.

Recap

Altogether, for every person, there has to be 6 tola of silver every month just to carry out the necessities. To account for entertainment, transportation costs 1 tola each must be added. So, 8 tola per month is a good figure. Infact 9 tola per month is a very sufficient amount and can with some difficulty handle the education cost of school going children too.

If there are five members in a family, then the income of family should be 45 tola or Rs. 58,500 per month.

Case Studies

Lets study some usual cases. A salary of Rs. 10,000 for a family of 5 or even 4 is so less that there is no way a house can be run in that. Infact the salary of labor is set to Rs. 300 per day at minimum by govt. In such families there are usually two incomes because women have to work too. Altogether the income not doubles because women are paid less so its like 15,000 to 18,000. Its 12 to 14 tola. That comes out to 2 or 3 tola per person. That can either fulfill food requirement or not even that. Such families have to either consume less quality food or let go some of the nutrition or take some kind of help. Consuming less quality food is ok as long as person is healthy and young but can be problematic for ill or old people. Less quality food is usually half the price of average quality food accounted in the above calculation. Some of the nutrition can be let go for some months but in longer durations it results in complex health problems. Taking help from outside is an option, for example maids and watchmen do take food from houses of their masters.
For a living without outside help and with sustainable health condition in long term, the bare minimum lies somewhere between 4 and 5 tola. There is no room left for entertainment and parties though. 4.5 tola means Rs. 5850 per person, so for a family of 5 it means Rs. 29,250. Infact no family of 4 today can live in any amount less than Rs. 20,000 (approx 16 tola).

The Pressing

How much can we press it? By taking out honey and dry fruits and some other expensive stuff we can reduce the food cost to 2 tola. The quality of remaining food is maintained but not all nutrients are achieved. Today some vitamin pills can be taken at cheaper cost than taking the vitamins from food, so 2 tola is a doable thing. It not go less than 2 tola no matter how you arrange it. The clothing can be easily reduced to half but not any more than that as long as the person still go to work and have some social life. So, 2 tola for food and half tola for clothing. Utility bills must be paid and its not easy to cut one’s own hairs, also some kind of transportation to and from work have to be there. Whatever we do, 1.5 tola have to be there for the combined services and transportation cost. So, 2 tola for food, half tola for clothing, 1.5 tola for utility bills and transportation costs. 4 tola is really the bare minimum. It can very easily slip to 4.5 tola if some guests come or person miss a bus or some essential crockery is broken. Actually 4.5 tola is what it would actually be though the theoretical amount is still 4.5 tola. In a family of 4, that means Rs. 23,400. If a family near you claims to live in less than that then please note that there have to be some costs that are shifted elsewhere, may be the family is getting clothes in gifts, or the utility costs are in some way reduced or there is some hidden help or a secret but small extra income.



Note: This article was written using prices in Pakistani rupees in Karachi as of 23rd Sep 2010.