291–300 of 557 posts
I come from there and while I am living in the EU at the moment, I plan in retiring early and move back soon.
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.
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…
All those countries will cost you far less than 1k usd per month, given you avoid the capital city center and other hot spot where rent is double price.
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…
> 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. So you're giving them a usurious loan basically.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nomadlist is often way off on their estimates. I'd suggest using it for inspiration only and then see prices on Numbeo
Off in one direction or just randomly?
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…
Housing returns:https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24112/w241... S&P : https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042415/what-average...
Rural Taiwan. Very good and affordable health care. Super fast and cheap mobile Internet.
Weather may be a bit more of an issue though (especially in the summertime), but cost of living is still very very reasonable.
Agreed on the language though -- Taiwan in general is a bit tougher to navigate for non-Chinese speakers. You may be able to get by with just English in Taipei, but in the rural areas or in the central/southern urban centers, it'll be a bit tougher.
Lowest average rent by state in the US is West Virginia at $628. That means some parts of West Virginia must be much cheaper than that. $400 for food and utilities seems easily doable, but probably not healthcare, so you're likely going to have to be uninsured and pray you don't get sick or injured for 6 months. I'm guessing you'd sage on moving and travel expenses by staying in the US, but maybe not enough compared…
Sold my house not long ago, moved to Morgantown, and I'm renting now. My rent for around 900 sq ft is sub $700. Electric + water + Comcast is a combined $100, that covers all of my utilities. I'm under $800 for rent + utilities and under $1,000 for rent + utilities + food.
Crime is low, as is the murder rate; I don't think there has been a murder here in roughly five years. The Internet is great (Comcast goes up to 1.2gbps here for $80/month, but I don't have a use for that). There's a decent bus system that goes to most parts of the city and is cheap to use. The area, and really the state in general, is overwhelmingly green; drive a short distance in any direction and you've escaped civilization. There's skiing an hour away in the Winter, and a few popular lakes within that distance as well. Oddly housing prices are higher than they should be for the income levels of the region, and it has been that way for a long time, so that's a downside (but this is relatively speaking, as you can buy a nice house here for under $400k; for anyone working in tech remote it's not expensive). It is a boring, docile, quiet region, and that's not everyone's cup of tea; the restaurants are lacking, and there's no consequential nightlife; the nearest relevant city, Pittsburgh, is 80 minutes away.
In the US, university cities - which the US has a lot of - are often the hidden gems of combining safe (low crime, low murder rate) + a relatively low cost of living.