Living Expenses (D&D equipment)

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Unofficial rules compendium

This table summarizes typical costs of living for families of different status. One person in the household is assumed to earn an income, the rest do chores to reduce costs.

Weekly Expenses	Who lives thus?	Standard of Living
3 sp	Beggar, Slave, Thrall	Food: Vegetables or a cereal. Little or no meat. Drink is buttermilk or water. Housing: Perhaps none; maybe a tiny room or hut for a family; no furniture. Often housed on the workplace floor. Clothing: Sackcloth, homespun, rude leathers, nudity.
1 gp	Laborer, Serf, Apprentice, Footsoldier	Food: Vegetables, cereals, cheese, and eggs. Occasionally meat or fish. Beer. Housing: One good room shared by a family or a decent pallet in the workplace. A chest or two, bench and tables, lamps. Clothing: Shoes, 1 new suit of clothes a year; winter clothes will be warm and protective. Servants: Dependents in the family may act as servants.
3 gp	Yeoman, Journeyman, Sergeant	Food: Meat or fish with most meals. Beer and table wines. Housing: Small house or apartment. Good bed, fine furniture, decorations or display items. Clothing: High-quality linens and cottons, occasional luxury such as fur trim or jewelry. Servants: This is the first tier to have servants, a simple maid or other household help is not uncommon.
10 gp	Courtier, Guild Master, Knight	Food: Plentiful meat, fowl, shellfish, etc. Pastries and breads. Good wines. Housing: Multi-roomed villa or grand apartment. Artworks and fine rugs. Clothing: Silks and satins, decorative trims including gold and silver threads. Gold jewelry with gemstones. Servants: A valet/butler, cook, and maid is typical. Someone at this level is an employer and employees living in the household often function as servants.
100 gp	Noble	Food: Luxury items such as bird nest soup, candied fruits, and rare beasts. The finest wines. Large banquets and parties. Housing: Several large dwellings including a country mansion and a townhouse or small palace. Clothing: Trend-setting, exquisite garments of the rarest materials, fine jewelry and accouterments. Servants: A secretary, valet, cook, driver, steward, and a staff of servants, grooms, and and maids. Possibly a bodyguard or expensive courtesan, house mystic, or an artist on patronage.
1,000 gp	Baron	Food: Rare or outré luxury items such as hummingbird tongues, enormous and complex meat pastries, elaborately prepared platters, strange fruits, and rare beasts. Housing: Palaces. Clothing: Beyond style, one-of-a-kind items, accenting large and beautiful precious gems. Servants: A court waited on by a small army of cooks and grooms. A small personal guard. Several court specialists and advisers, such as priests or wizards.
10,000 gp	King	Food: Elaborate presentations. Enormous parties. Housing: Large palaces. Clothing: Designs which accent the wearer's ritual or political functions. Several exquisite crowns, scepters, keys, etc. Servants: A court of advisors, specialists, and lesser lords, waited upon by a host of courtiers of every stripe. A large honor guard.
100,000 gp	Emperor	Food: State dinners are events talked about for months and years. Housing: Palace complexes the size of medium cities. Clothing: Wearable works of art, so marvelous that even the sophisticated are astonished. Servants: Several distinct royal courts, often in rivalry with each other.