Rural Taiwan. Very good and affordable health care. Super fast and cheap mobile Internet.
Very good food, too. The downside of Taiwan is to learn the local language.
Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
191–200 of 557 posts
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#192Go to south west Turkey. Several kite surfing towns, food is very similar to Greek, people are super friendly, weather is fantastic. Internet is good enough. Finally, 1K USD a month is equivalent to a local mid-level engineer net salary.
Eastern part is cheaper and less crowded.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#193Ukraine fits the bill, you can rent a nice apartment in downtown part of town, internet is cheap and fast, food costs something like 3 times less then US, cities are walkable, you don't really need a car. Lviv or Ivano-Frankivsk for a more cozy atmosphere or Kyiv if you really want to live in a big city.
Climate is on the other hand, winters could be cold and summers unpleasantly hot so in that regard Balkans could be better.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#194Southern Italy. You can live in a small but beautiful village in the south (e.g Sicily) or any seaside village during autumn/winter. If you like mountains you have to go north (Dolomites) but it’s harder to find a small village for 1k/month in winter. Obviously living in big city like Milan or Rome costs around 1500-2000€/month for living.
Honest question: if you’re a long-term visitor, do you get affected by the organised crime at all? My general impression is that tourists are fine, but business owners are in the receiving end of the nastiness. Digital nomads feel like something in between.
You are probably not going to open a shop - so, I guess you will be basically "invisible" anyway.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#195Romania, some major city that's not the capital. The outskirts of Cluj are perfect, maybe Sibiu or Brasov.
Access to all sorts of nature and activities, affordable housing (big apartments, could even find a nice detached house for less than $500), great food from around Europe, great selection of restaurants/fast food, easy access to the rest of Europe and the world, lovely people who will speak English enthusiastically (maybe not that well though) and of course great Internet for very cheap.
$1000/mo without paying local taxes is enough for all of the above.
In the cities, crime is very low if you're worried (the criminals moved west lol), bureaucracy is on par with Germany (OK that means it's shit), corruption is very low. Whole damn country is a hidden jewel of Europe. Just maybe not that affordable to locals heh.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#196I 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…
Thank you! Now I understand rent fraud (as seen in "Stranger" https://m.imdb.com/title/tt6461346/ ). I couldn't understand how rent fraud could end up costing someone all their life savings - but now I see.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#197Pichilemu, Valparaíso (Viña del Mar) or Santiago of Chile are actually pretty good, safe and cheap, and there's a Google node just a couple of streets of the port in Valpo. Chile is also 8th in the world in Fixed Broadband. source: https://www.speedtest.net/global-index
Can confirm as a Chilean. Santiago gets more expensive as you approach the main part of the city (Which offers more amenities), but overall, living with 1k USD is very doable (specially with the actual conversion rate).
Living in other regions will be MUCH cheaper, but they tend to be more simple (outside the tourists hubs).
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#198chiang mai, thailand, bali indonesia
Don’t forget the new darling Costa Rica
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28179018
Though looks like $1000 might not cut it.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I'm putting 90% of the value, why don't I just add another 10% and buy the property outright? Are there restrictions on who can buy a house/apartment in Korea?
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.
Didn’t miss it, just also noted that if the landlord loses the money or goes bankrupt or just skips town, in a foreign country without strong connections and shaky command of the language, you are likely screwed.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not like anybody is checking this, I'm speaking from e experience. I had several coworkers over the years who used to live for much longer in Schengen countries without registration. In Austria this works moderately well so does it in Hungary, but of course it has some drawbacks too. Usually in countries where people tend to curb laws to their liking as well as "forget" to pay taxes (this is the case for Hungary) mor…
Yes, yes they are.
Enforcement may be discretionary in some regions, but like all arrangements like this, don't stake your life on such.