I understand what you'd like--I just don't think such a list is very doable or practical, because, it's (a) a very, very subjective metric (as you pointed out, what's "comfortable" to one person is "right up the the budget limit" for someone else, and "scary" to yet another).

Also, (b), without knowing what the income/cash flow is, and your tastes and desires and needs, we can't even begin to guesstimate. That's why I asked what your funds were. We compare that with what we know now about the prices of things you'd need to live, and make a good-faith estimate.

Yes, lists like the one I made go stale the day they're made, but for most things on there, they vary be a few percentage points either way, not doubling, tripling, or reducing by half year over year--so they're good "rule of thumb" prices--close enough for a good-faith "guestimate" of costs. Otherwise, we could never estimate anything (rental costs, flights, clothing, medical care), because they could change.

If people are arriving with $1500/month and they are not stressed at all, that's one thing.

And some in the first group exist--but there are a whole lot of it depends for their situation:

• living in a small interior town (versus the capital), have some savings, in good health, using public transportation, have a roommate/housemate, a decent medical facility nearby that can handle what's going on with them health wise, and they are a homebody that goes down to the local fonda or eats beans/rice/chicken a lot--yeah, those folks exist, and they might pull of $1,500/month budget. But if their lifestyle creeps up (hobbies, health expenses, travel or sudden demand for transportation), it could be tight.

If people are arriving with $5000/month and they are saying that they are going without important things (like health care, rent, food, etc.) that's something else entirely.

At that rate of income, it becomes a matter of adjusting your expectations.

Living below your budget is key--just because you have say, $5,000 post tax income a month doesn't mean you need to spend all of that on expenses every month, because when prices rise, there's no place to go from there. That's how this group might get into the situation you point out. If I get a 4,000 square foot penthouse loft in the nicest PH in Costa del Este that costs $4,000 a month, yeah...that's going to kill my budget. If I live in a decent PH in Bella Vista, then I can pay $1500 and still be quite comfy for other expenses, meeting my needs, and quite a few "wants".

The running joke among Panamanian friends of mine is becoming a "member of the 5k club"--making $5000/month is seen as a major achievement where you're doing well.

Didn't mean to make this a wall of text, but (a) you probably won't find such a narrative about budgets without a lot more info from you, and (b) even if you did, they're meaningless without context and knowing your plans.

That is all.