Everyone talks about it. And many of them agree that the cost of living in Samoa is ridiculously expensive compared to what people earn. What do you think? Is the cost of living expensive? How can we change things? Vatapuia Maiava asked in today’s Street Talk and this is what people said:

Eti Seumanutafa - Falealupo

In my opinion, Samoa is pretty okay with regards to the cost of living. If you walk around the shop you will see some products that are too expensive and some that aren’t. It’s all up to the choices of people and what they wish to buy.

But then again, most of the products sold at the supermarket are imports and that’s the reason why most of them are expensive. If you work hard, earn money from your job or plant your own food to eat and sell then you won’t suffer as much.

Koma Talaputi - Magiagi

It’s really up to the individual person. I feel life is too expensive for those who are lazy. If you sit around and don’t plant anything or work the land then of course you will suffer from the high cost of living.

If you look around the market, you will notice from a lot of stalls that a lot of people do not have a plantation. They just try and resell other peoples crops to try and turn a profit. That’s the lazy way of living and that’s why people suffer. Life is only expensive if you make it expensive by buying expensive products and being lazy.

Lui Tamotu - Saleimoa

I actually think the cost of living in Samoa is okay. I mean we do have products that are too expensive and we have products that are affordable.

Maybe it depends on the person because those who are paid well will be ok with the cost of living and those who aren’t will have problems with it. So maybe readjusting the payment system will help lessen the burden from the cost of living.

Soti Lasalo - Nofoalii

To be honest, life is definitely not easy thanks to the high cost of living. People in this country are suffering because as prices for goods go up, our wages remain the same and that just makes life a whole lot harder for us. People who work minimum wage jobs are paid just enough to afford some salt or sugar but there are so many things they cannot afford. Using $100tala back in the days could last people three weeks but right now, using $100tala is like using $10tala back in the days. Maybe the government could help match the pay people get and the cost of living.

Patolo Faasavalu - Moamoa

The cost of living is way too high. If you look around Samoa, you will notice lots of new developments but the price of everything still remains the same. It’s not easy because too many of the products sold in this country are from overseas so it’s more expensive. We need to go back to focusing on our own cultural products and rely less on overseas products to help with the cost of living.