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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?

#181

Post by ghaff »

jl2718 wrote: post #115

I can nearly guarantee that there are many people living under $1k/mo within 10 miles of wherever you are. That’s the low-chaos option if you really want to focus. Such a question is common from people who are running away from an unhealthy situation unrelated to geography. If so, maybe cut that off prior to and independently of the move, and then probably move anyway.

It depends where you are. You're almost certainly going to have car costs if you're not in some city--and for many cities you're going to have to put up with miserable bus service. I'm pretty sure you're not going to draw a 10 mile radius from SF, Manhattan, or Boston and get to $1K/month or it's going to be really miserable.

Your statement's probably literally true but I assume it's mostly people living with family or other community.

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

#182

Post by cloudedcordial »

rich_sasha wrote: post #59
burntoutfire wrote: post #19

Poland is doable if you stay out of major cities. You can rent a studio for $300 (incl. all utilities). Food, if you cook, will cost you $200-$250 ($300-$400 if you don't cook and want to eat out only). Wired Internet and cell phone will be around $20. State-provided health insurance is about $120 per month (this is "socialized medicine", so it provides everything with no deducible, up to treating cancer etc.), but c…

As a Pole myself, I’d add two things: it is generally a lovely country, lots of beautiful countryside etc. Less “spectacular”, more “cozy” etc. People are a bit uncertain of new things (eg foreigners in a new town) but generally warm and helpful eventually. That said, I’d you’re not white and straight, small towns could be very unwelcoming, from people staring, to telling you to go, to physical violence. Rare but tru…

Non-Pole here. Visited Poland in the past 10 years. Beautiful countryside for sure. Cities and roads were clean. Decent food.

During my last visit, wireless phone service was super in the major cities...even better than Canada's.

As a tourist, Poland was a pretty big bang on my money: Equivalent item from the west for 1/3 of the cost while enjoying modern amenities. But I can see non Polish speakers would have difficulties living there in the longer term. During my trips, I insisted on travelling with at least one native Polish speaker.

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

#183

Post by thegypsyking »

Check out nomad capitalist youtube. I know the guy, he is incredibly nice and knowledgeable on this topic. Myself, I would recommend Mexico and Bali but I’m Eastern European so really bored of the area. Georgia (the country) would be much better than Poland and other suggestions here though.

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

#185

Post by rwmj »

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…

The maths behind this is similar to UK leasehold. With a leasehold (which is a truly terrible system) you pay as if you're buying the flat, but actually you only have a lease usually with a very small annual payment and some management charges. The catch is the lease only lasts usually 99 years and for various legal reasons you have to renew it before it drops below 80 years, and that costs a bunch of money.

Leaseholders are called "homeowners" but they don't really own the home in the normal sense and are closer to long term renters in their rights.

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

#186

Post by bingohbangoh »

achairapart wrote: post #23
kjaftaedi wrote: post #20

Just FYI you will only be able to stay for 3 months in most places on a tourist visa. Most places do offer 6 month visas for artists and for things like what you are doing, but you should try and sort out this plan before you arrive at your destination, because once there you may find it harder to turn your tourist visa into something else. Either that or you will have to travel to multiple places that do not share t…

I remember the trick was to fly to another place and re-enter just a few days later to get another 3 month visa. Doesn't work anymore?

Depends on the country. Many weren't keeping digital records but most now are.

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

#187

Post by bingohbangoh »

rdevsrex wrote: post #103

I live in South Africa now, with my wife and daughter, and while I could live in less than 1000 usd, it would be in dodgier areas of town. That said for a nice 3 bedroom pay ~700 usd, and food is like 250 per person. So from the sound of things, there are much better options out there.

Serious Question: are there parts of South Africa that aren't dodgy?

After the recent riots in Kwazulu-Natal, it seems kind of wild.

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

#188

Post by collaborative »

No one has said this but one option also is to book an all inclusive hotel deal in Spain, Portugal Morocco, Tunis, Egypt, Greece, Turkey or Israel. These destinations have amazing value for money because of the volume of tourism

And you won't have to worry about cooking or cleaning. Every day delicious buffets and room service :-) you could even keep switching hotel and do some lazy traveling. I do this once a year but only for a couple weeks because I have a family to come back to. I feel reborn each time

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

#189

Post by jfrunyon »

Leftium wrote: post #74
UncleOxidant wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Basically, if you put down a huge deposit (like $90,000: 50% to 90% of the value of the property), you don't pay any monthly rent and get the entire deposit back when you move out. That's kind of a strange system. Any idea how it evolved there? Basically sounds like the landlord has to invest the money in such a way as to get a return that would be equivalent to rent but also safe enough so that they can return the…

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…

> they can daisy-chain the purchase of multiple properties. They take the first cheonsae deposit and use it to purchase another property

And then they have to return the deposit eventually... how is this different from a Ponzi scheme? :P

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

#190

Post by bingohbangoh »

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…

Vilnius can be done for $1k/mo. Rents would be $300-600, food is like $100, health insurance for non-schengen is another $200/mo. Nightlife is fun too, not expensive. Vilnius is not exactly progressive but largely chill on issues of race and alternate sexuality.
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