Big Mac Index Publishing Dates

Big Mac Index 1986September 6, 1986
Big Mac Index 1987January 17, 1987
Big Mac Index 1988April 2, 1988
Big Mac Index 1989April 15, 1989
Big Mac Index 1990May 5, 1990
Big Mac Index 1991April 13, 1991
Big Mac Index 1992April 18, 1992
Big Mac Index 1993April 17, 1993
Big Mac Index 1994April 9, 1994
Big Mac Index 1995April 15, 1995
Big Mac Index 1996April 27, 1996
Big Mac Index 1997April 10, 1997
Big Mac Index 1998April 9, 1998
Big Mac Index 1999April 1, 1999
Big Mac Index 2000April 27, 2000
Big Mac Index 2001April 19, 2001
Big Mac Index 2002April 25, 2002
Big Mac Index 2003April 24, 2003
Big Mac Index 2004May 27, 2004
Big Mac Index 2005June 9, 2005
Big Mac Index January 2006January 12, 2006
Big Mac Index May 2006May 26, 2006
Big Mac Index February 2007February 1, 2007
Big Mac Index July 2007July 5, 2007
Big Mac Index 2008July 24, 2008
Big Mac Index 2009July 16, 2009
Big Mac Index January 2010January 6, 2010
Big Mac Index March 2010March 17, 2010
Big Mac Index July 2011July 28, 2011
Big Mac Index January 2011January 12, 2012
Big Mac Index 2012July 26, 2012
Big Mac Index January 2013January 31, 2013
Big Mac Index July 2013July 11, 2013
Big Mac Index January 2014January 23, 2014
Big Mac Index July 2014July 24, 2014

Buying a house in college

This is the summary ….

1. Searched Craigslist for home sellers willing to sell their house on a land contract and eventually found one that made financial sense (see below for details on land contracts).

2. Borrowed $5,000 from my parents and used $10,000 that I had saved up as a down payment. The sale price was $54,000 so the remaining $39,000 was on the land contract.

3. Since the interest rate on the land contract was 7%, I paid it off as soon as possible using student loans (see below for issues relating to using student loans as a down payment or for paying off real estate purchases).

4. Found a renter (also using Craigslist) who rented the house for $950 / month. The $950 covered the land contract payment, property tax, insurance, and the payments on the loan from my parents.

If you are a college student and interested in purchasing real estate, please check out my full guide to Buying a House as a College Student.

 

January 2013 Big Mac Index

The Big Mac Index was published both in January and July 2013. The January 2013 Big Mac Index is shown below. If are looking to get the entire dataset going back to 1986, click here to download the complete spreadsheet. Big Mac Index information is from the Economist, click here for the Kindle version of the Economist.

Big Mac Index - Published January 31st. 2013

CountryLocal Price$ Exchange RateDollar PriceDollar PPPDollar Valuation
Argentina19.004.983.824.35-12.58
Australia4.700.964.901.0812.21
Brazil11.251.995.642.5829.22
Britain2.690.634.250.62-2.73
Canada5.411.005.391.2423.51
Chile2050.00471.754.35469.39-0.50
China16.006.222.573.66-41.10
Colombia8600.001773.184.851969.1411.05
Costa Rica2200.00500.834.39503.730.58
Czech Republic70.3318.893.7216.10-14.77
Denmark28.505.505.186.5318.69
Egypt16.006.692.393.66-45.20
Euro area3.590.744.880.8211.69
Hong Kong17.007.762.193.89-49.83
Hungary830.00217.473.82190.04-12.61
India89.0053.401.6720.38-61.83
Indonesia27939.009767.502.866397.18-34.51
Israel14.903.724.003.41-8.40
Japan320.0091.073.5173.27-19.54
Latvia1.690.523.280.39-24.90
Lithuania7.802.543.071.79-29.81
Malaysia7.953.082.581.82-40.96
Mexico37.0012.742.908.47-33.49
New Zealand5.201.204.321.19-0.98
Norway43.005.487.849.8579.56
Pakistan290.0097.672.9766.40-32.01
Peru10.002.563.912.29-10.54
Philippines118.0040.602.9127.02-33.45
Poland9.103.092.942.08-32.61
Russia72.8830.052.4316.69-44.46
Saudi Arabia11.003.752.932.52-32.84
Singapore4.501.233.641.03-16.56
South Africa20.909.052.314.79-47.10
South Korea3700.001085.483.41847.19-21.95
Sri Lanka350.00126.452.7780.14-36.62
Sweden40.566.356.399.2946.27
Switzerland6.500.917.121.4963.14
Taiwan75.0029.502.5417.17-41.79
Thailand87.0029.762.9219.92-33.05
Turkey8.451.774.781.939.39
UAE12.003.673.272.75-25.19
Ukraine19.008.142.334.35-46.58
United States4.371.004.371.000.00
Uruguay105.0019.285.4524.0424.70
Venezuela39.004.299.088.93107.93
Austria3.390.744.600.785.33
Belgium3.800.745.160.8718.07
Estonia2.700.743.660.62-16.11
Finland3.750.745.090.8616.51
France3.600.744.890.8211.85
Germany3.640.744.940.8313.09
Greece3.300.744.480.762.53
Ireland3.490.744.740.808.43
Italy3.850.745.220.8819.62
Netherlands3.450.744.680.797.19
Portugal2.950.744.000.68-8.34
Spain3.500.744.750.808.75