Sort of a side tangent, but what is the best way to go about choosing a place (even in the US) to live? Aside from budget ofc.
Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
211–220 of 557 posts
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Organized crime have international business operation bigger than us. They don’t care about you. It’s just a movie stereotype. If you go to Sicily you should more worry about you how much good food you will eat rather than organized crime :)
I loved loved LOVED Sicily as a tourist. One of the few things holding me back from moving there would be the above concern.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#213Southern 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.
As Italian, I can say that there is not any risk about organised crime for a "normal" person, unless you are not going to open a shop.
I would feel safer in Sicily than in some zones of Milan.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#214Rather than looking at entire countries as a whole you should consider the urban vs rural split. Major cities in Eastern Europe or Korea or even third world countries are still going to be a lot more expensive than, say, some random town 200 miles outside of San Francisco or New York. First decide what kind of lifestyle you are looking for.
Depends on what you count as major cities; the second biggest city in any EE country will be much cheaper than the capital. But in Eastern Europe you also get health insurance much cheaper than in the US.
Not true for Romania, where Cluj is more expensive than Bucharest.
Also not true in Germany where Munich is more expensive than Berlin.
Probably not true in most countries.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#215Serbia offers a 180 degrees different culture than most of what you experienced in US plus is very dynamic, cheap and great for young people. Couple of a links to get you started: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/serbia-best-places-to... https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20170822-belgrades-floati... https://theculturetrip.com/europe/serbia/articles/an-expats-... https://www.quora.com/What-is-life-like-for-Amer…
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…
I meant culture of living. Things like cities with lots of parks and pedestrian zones, more walking/less dependency on cars, hidden coffee shops between old buildings, ability to live decently on a very small budget, free education and healthcare, generally easier to make friends, specially if you are a foreigner - things like that.
I would not necessarily compare Serbians to conservatives in US (we are both generalizing now). What you may have experienced in general is 'caution' because that region of the world experienced wars every 30 years on average for the last 1000 years (unlike US). So it's not like its resisting change, but the progress was hindered so many times, having to rebuild everything from scratch. And it is hard to be 'liberal' in an environment where in some places you do not have basic infrastructure. Political 'progressive' thinking usually comes after you solved basic needs. That's just my assessment.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#216Earlier 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…
But why couldn't the renter use the deposit to buy a house instead?
It makes zero sense to me that you would have 80% or even 50% of a property’s market value and not just buy the place as opposed to letting someone else.
Do they not do home mortgages in South Korea? Are properties expected to go down in price?
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#217Albania.
It's still a developing country, but the climate is perfect, places are stunning and you can live with a lot less than 1k/month.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#218- Eastern Europe
- Balkans (South-East Europe)
- Portugal
All cheap, decent healthcare and if you play your card rights you can avoid downsides (like heavy pollution mentioned).
As a rule of thumb, check all the countries with an average monthly salary below 1k $.
Bonus points if the average monthly salary in the capital city is below 1k $.
Then sort out all the countries with heavy downsides (check HDI).
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I think if people get to know you, they are indeed positively surprised that “despite” being foreign etc you’re actually nice etc. That wouldn’t be my concern so much.
It would rather be the odd skinhead on the bus or in the street. The current government is also quietly accepting such behaviours, as it is their voter base, so the few “bad apples” feel they can act with impunity.
I don’t want to overplay it, it’s not Nazi Germany, but for sure something to consider. Nice place one way or the other.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#220I 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 lived in Albania for three years - it's not at the level of the other countries on this list. It's firmly a developing country - water, electricity and other infrastructure are not great in the capital and degrade precipitously in the countryside and second-tier cities. It's a great place if you're adventurous - if you're looking for stability, it isn't the place for you. Upsides are that Albanians love Americans (…
Eh, it’s the Balkans. I wouldn’t call it a developing country, but sure, many parts of this region are rough around the edges in terms of infrastructure.