Tools · Budget calculator

Can you afford it?

Tell us what lands in your account each month. We will set it against the four costs our city guides can actually source, rent, a desk, weekday lunches and getting around, and show you what is left for everything else.

Cape Town, a month

£714 to £767 for the basics.

Add your take-home pay above to see what is left.

Not every cost has a checked figure for Cape Town, so the real total is higher than this. The missing ones are marked below.

RentAverage rent, all unit types, Western Cape (PayProp). ZAR 12,125
£554
A deskCoworking hot desk, plus VAT. ZAR 2,000 to 3,145
£91 to £144
Weekday lunchesNo checked weekday lunch price in the guide
Not included
Getting aroundMyCiTi monthly bus pass. ZAR 1,500
£69

South Africa's Remote work visa asks for about £2,480 a month in income. Check your own case

The Cape Town guideCompare every city

What is counted. Four costs, and only four, because they are the ones every guide can source: rent, a desk, a lunch on each of 22 working days, and getting around. Food shopping, bills, a phone, insurance, tax and evenings out are not in it, which is why the answer is what is left for everything else, not what is left to save.

Where the figures come from. Each city's guide, checked against official statistics, the operators' own price pages and dated listings. Each line says what it is. Where a guide only publishes rent per square metre, the line says what size flat it assumes. Last copied from the guides on 3 October 2026.

The exchange rates. The same daily feed as the visa checker, from ExchangeRate-API, last updated 20 October 2026. Pesos are converted at the official rate.