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Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?

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Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?

#151

Post by wil421 »

dbancajas wrote: post #141
wil421 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

180 degrees from what culture? I’ve been to Belgrade a few times for work and worked with lots of Serbians for a number of years. They are more like the conservatives in the US. People move to Belgrade because it’s cheap and the food is awesome. I’ve partied at the Splavs and had a great time. Random people were much more friendlier than Germans (the Serbs told me they were robots). There are some resentments by the…

So if you're non caucasian it's a big NO?

Lol. All I can say is that if you’re Muslim or of African decent it’s not gonna be the same as a Caucasian. Many do not believe in political correctness. Not that Europe abides by that like the US does but also not something you’d see in the UK, France, or Germany. Even Indian coworkers had "issues" there.

I have childhood friends who came to the US during the Yugoslav wars in the 90s. When I mentioned them my coworkers they would quickly point out the last name was Muslim and not Serbian. Also they would point out the one or two Albanians that worked with us.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?

#152

Post by mdp2021 »

kodzoman wrote: post #35
keiferski wrote: post #17

I recommend the Balkans, in particular the less touristic countries. Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Bulgaria are all very inexpensive, safe, have reliable internet, and an abundance of cafes and co-working spaces. Most also have favorable visa conditions for Americans (e.g. Albania lets Americans stay up to a year on a tourist visa.) In terms of cities, I recommend Belgrade and Sarajevo the most. Going further east, Tbilis…

I second this, I would add Croatia to the list if you stay out of Zagreb and Split and even seaside tourist towns are doable for $300 out of season (October to June). Also Croatia offers a digital nomad visa which means you don't pay most of the taxes there.

Which levels of security will you find in Croatia - including appropriate behaviour of public officers, such as the police?

Also - how widespread is the understanding of the English language?

Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?

#153

Post by lolsal »

flemhans wrote: post #94
pie_flavor wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You perhaps missed that you get the whole deposit back. The landlord doesn't keep it. You could buy the property outright, or you could live somewhere for essentially free, as long as you don't value the interest on that cash more than you value the place you're staying.

Still, why not pay 10% more and own the building? You could still get the money back (and hopefully more) when you sell it again.

Transaction costs, taxes, maintenance, interest opportunity cost, etc. all of the same reasons that it might be cheaper to rent in the USA than buy.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?

#154

Post by dougmwne »

Lots and lots of places. Plenty of the world is safe, cheap and easy to live in for a few months.

Do you have any specific time zone requirements? That makes a big difference if collaborating with anyone.

The length of time you can stay on a tourist visa has a big impact. It is limited to 90 days in most of the EU where there are open borders. You would need to fully exit the schengen zone countries for 90 days to be eligible for another 90. This is one of the things that makes Croatia and Bulgaria popular, since they are within the EU, but outside schengen. A few countries are starting digital nomad visas, so if you want to stay longer you can look into those.

Not sure what your vibe is, but check out Bansko, Bulgaria as a nice summer and winter destination with a good set of coworking spaces, extremely cheap cost of living and expat/digital nomad community. Lisbon and Chiang Mai are also very popular in the DN community. Really a lot of this would depend on the time of year for me since I like being places when the weather is nice.

And an obligatory mention of health insurance in these covid times. Travel insurance can be quite cheap and the health care systems of other countries can have vastly reduced prices as well, just make sure you have looked into this and made a plan.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?

#156

Post by spoonjim »

throwawayswede wrote: post #83
pie_flavor wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You perhaps missed that you get the whole deposit back. The landlord doesn't keep it. You could buy the property outright, or you could live somewhere for essentially free, as long as you don't value the interest on that cash more than you value the place you're staying.

That sounds strange, what's in it for the landlord?

No credit risk from the tenant.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?

#157

Post by FabHK »

Leftium wrote: post #11

I live in Korea. Some months my total expenses are as low as $400 while living comfortably. If I spent $1000 in a month, I spent a lot of money. I'd say my average monthly living expenses are $600-$800. My main expenses are food/entertainment, and I eat out a lot (50% of meals). Housing is probably the biggest living expense. I take advantage of Korea's interesting rental system called Cheonsae: Basically, if you put…

Just for the record, I don't think that South Korea is particularly cheap. As OP demonstrates, one can live there for USD 1000/month, but that really holds for most countries. While the US is in the top 5% in terms of nominal GDP per capita, South Korea is in the top 15%. For cheap, yet comfortable and safe, I'd aim around the median, eg Indonesia or Georgia.

ETA: Nomadlist suggests €1,925/mo for Seoul, €1,530/mo for Jeju Island, South Korea; €1,047/mo for Tbilisi, Georgia; €627/mo for Bandung, Indonesia.

ETA: Nomadlist has a list of places below USD 1000/mo: https://nomadlist.com/places-on-a-budget

Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?

#158

Post by ethbr0 »

dharmab wrote: post #133
Leftium wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the system started when there were double digit interest rates (in the 80's?). Now interest rates are much lower, but Koreans got used to paying $0 rent and anything above that feels like they are being ripped off. One reason landlords like the system is because they can daisy-chain the purchase of multiple properties. They take the first cheonsae deposit and use it to purchase another property, then use th…

This reads like a Ponzi scheme, if you consider the tenants as investors.

In a country with the third highest population density in the world and a solid advanced economy? (discounting city-states and low-population states)

There are worse places to make that bet.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?

#159

Post by fhood »

rich_sasha wrote: post #143
bruceb wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

non pole here, knew a guy who wasn't white or European, not living in biggest cities, loved it there. sure its safer than many places.

Well I love it, and many places and people will give non-white non-straight people no issues. But hand on heart can I say to someone outside that narrow blueprint it’s definitely fine? Nope.

Haven't been, so I wonder how it compares with rural US, where, at least in some of the places I've been, people are quite intolerant in abstract, but almost universally friendly in person.

Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?

#160

Post by satellite2 »

gmorning315 wrote: post #18

Europe: Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania. Of these countries Romania and Hungary have the fastest internet speed. See this map and click NUTS-3 https://datavis.europeandatajournalism.eu/obct/connectivity/ They seem to have faster internet speeds than some western countries like the UK and Germany. They seem lower on crime too: https://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2... Outside Europe…

Warning in Hungary though, with Orban's government if you are not perfectly white, straight and Christian you might want to avoid it.
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