At my first post-college job, as an entry-level engineer in the Department of Submarine Screening / Demagnetization, at Leningrad’s Central Naval Electrotechnics Research Institute, I was paid a hundred and twenty rubles a month. In 1979-1981, to the best of my sporadic recollections, and with the aid of some perfunctory and doubtless imprecise online research, with a hundred and twenty rubles in a large Soviet city one could afford:

12,000 boxes of matches (50 matches per box), 1,200 glasses of carbonated water (no fruit syrup) from a street vending machine, 12,000 standard pencils, 12,000 slices of bread at a public cafeteria.

6,000 pay-phone calls.

4,000 glasses of carbonated water with fruit syrup (flavor indeterminable) from a street vending machine, 4,000 small (.25-litre) mugs of kvas (a popular drink) from a street vender, 4,000 copies of most Soviet daily newspapers (Pravda, Leningradskaya Pravda, Izvestiya, Soviet Sports, etc.), 4,000 streetcar rides, 4,000 glasses of tea (no sugar) at a cafeteria, 4,000 eraser-tipped standard pencils.

3000 trolleybus rides, 3,000 hot meat / cabbage / liver / potato / fish pirozhki from a street vender.

2,400 metro / bus / Ferris-wheel rides, 2,400 sprigs of dill / parsley from a street vender, 2,400 bubliks (a fresh-fried Russian bagel of sorts), 2,400 table-tennis balls, 2,400 tins of mint tooth powder, 2,400 glassfuls of sunflower seeds from a street vender.

2,000 large (.5-litre) mugs of kvas, 2,000 regular postcards, 2,000 meat patties (kotlety) at a cafeteria, 2,000 small tins of vitamin C.

1,710 paper cups of fruit ice cream, 1,710 buzz cuts at a barbershop, 1,710 portions of generic vegetable salad at a cafeteria, 1,710 standard-strength light bulbs.

1,500 pryaniki (hard honey cakes), 1,500 standard pocket-size notebooks, 1,500 glasses of birch-tree juice at a grocery-store counter.

1,333 paper cups of milk ice cream.

1,200 glasses of tomato juice a at grocery store, 1,200 kilos of salt, 1,200 boiled-sausage sandwiches at a cafeteria, 1,200 kilos of potatoes, 1,200 boxes of hot mustard plaster.

1,091 hot, large, open-faced meat pirozhki (belyashi) at a cafeteria, 1,091 copies of Literary Newspaper, 1,091 portions of chocolate ice cream on a stick (Eskimo).

1,000 kilos of carrots.

923 chicken eggs, 923 standard loaves of wheat (white) bread.

857 packs of cheap, unfiltered Prima cigarettes.

800 kilos of watermelon (in season; availability uncertain).

750 kilos of wheat flour, 750 triangular .5-litre milk packages, 750 large round loaves of rye (black) bread.

600 kilometres’ worth of cab rides within city limits.

545 packs of unfiltered Belomorkanal cigarettes (papirosy).

500 small (.25-litre) mugs of beer at a street-beer stand, 500 .5-litre bottles of vinegar.

480 loaves of high-grade white bread, 480 movie tickets, 480 packs of margarine, 430 .5-litre bottles of milk.

430 .33-litre bottles of Pepsi, 430 bars of imported soap.

400 soft packs of filtered cigarettes, Yava or Laika.

360 cans of anchovies in tomato sauce.

343 large (.5-litre) mugs of beer at a beer stand, 343 plastic hair combs, 343 packs of mid-level Bulgarian cigarettes, Rodopi or Aeroflot.

320 preset-menu three-course dinners at a cafeteria.

250 tulips at Kolkhoz market, 250 state-lottery tickets, 250 packs of high-end Bulgarian cigarettes, TU-154 or Opal.

219 cans of condensed milk.

170 pairs of scissors, 170 standard ballpoint pens.

167 3-litre jars of apple juice.

160 metal hair combs.

150 cast-iron frying pans, 150 packs of high-end BT cigarettes.

133 pairs of socks, 133 hand towels, 133 kilos of granulated sugar.

120 quality cafeteria dinners, 120 days of shared-room accommodations at Black Sea resorts (peak season).

118 bottles of Cabernet wine.

114 bottles of dessert red wine.

109 bottles of table white wine, 109 kilos of bananas (in theory; rarely available).

92 copies of either the first or the second part of the most popular Soviet English-language textbook (edited by N.A. Bonk).

86 kilos of oranges (in theory).

80 small (.25-litre) chekushka bottles of Moskovskaya vodka, 80 bottles of white vermouth, 80 months of home-phone bills (in theory; rarely paid).

73 bottles of sunflower oil.

71 kilos of Chainaya boiled sausage.

63 kilos of low-grade meat or chicken (so-called blue bird), 63 standard music records in paper sleeves from the state-run music company Melody.

50 bottles of Rkatsiteli white wine.

48 pairs of domestically manufactured swimsuits.

45 Fairytale cream cakes.

42 .5-litre bottles of Moskovskaya vodka (green label).

41 kilos of high-quality Doktorskaya boiled sausage.

40 kilos of quality cheese (Rossiisky, Dutch), 40 standard dinners at a restaurant, 40 pairs of made-in-China Keds, 40 new books, 40 pairs of imported underwear, 40 months’ worth of electricity bills (largely in theory), 40 leather soccer balls.

38 pairs of tracksuit pants, 38 bottles of domestic ersatz port 777.

33 bottles of Soviet champagne, 38 .5-litre bottles of Pshenichnaya vodka.

30 wooden chess sets.

29 bottles of three-star Soviet “cognac,” 29 bottles of Extra vodka.

28 aluminum frying pans.

24 irons.

18 feather-stuffed pillows, 18 bed sheets.

17 wooden chairs.

14 pairs of made-in-China summer sandals.

12 kilos of chocolate truffles, 12 Leningrad-Moscow train rides.

11 half-linen tablecloths.

10 wooden tennis rackets, 10 rabbit-fur winter hats, 10 months’ worth of apartment fees (in theory).

9 folding cots.

7 regular shirts.

6-7 Leningrad-Moscow flights.

6 inexpensive photo cameras (Smena).

5 flights to the Black Sea (Odessa, Simferopol).

4 pairs of Soviet-made dress shoes.

3 vacuum cleaners.

2 cheap bicycles.

1.8 Soviet-made suits.

0.8 Soviet fall coats.

0.67 flights to other end of the country (Vladivostok), .67 pairs of black-market jeans (if lucky).

.6 cheap black-and-white TV sets.

.4 cheap bicycles.

.35 Vega record players.

.3 Minsk, or comparable class, refrigerators.

.27 portable Elektronika mini-TVs.

.17 color TVs.

.024 Moskvich-412 automobiles.

.01-.0001 most other automobiles.

Being young and carefree—well, obviously, priceless.

Mikhail Iossel, the founder and executive director of the Summer Literary Seminars International programs and a professor of English at Concordia University in Montreal, is the author of “Every Hunter Wants to Know,” a collection of stories.

Photograph: Sovfoto/UIG/Getty.