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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?

#301

Post by [deleted] »

randycupertino wrote: post #221
walrus01 wrote: post #40

Lots of places in Pakistan and India you can do that on $1000 USD a month. If you don't do really well with hot weather you could pick a traditional hill station location (Murree, Darjeeling, Shimla, etc). They have lots of domestic tourism accommodation, I'm sure it wouldn't be impossible to negotiate month-to-month terms with some of the property owners there.

How would Pakistan be for a long-term visit for a woman traveler? I've zoomed around some of the mountainous areas on google maps and as I'm interested in the hiking/mountaineering areas and one thing I've noticed is that there are ZERO photos of female travelers on any of the google images from those areas. Basically anywhere outside of Karachi I am not seeing pictures of women. Between that and this recent thread o…

[deleted]

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

#302

Post by walrus01 »

randycupertino wrote: post #221
walrus01 wrote: post #40

Lots of places in Pakistan and India you can do that on $1000 USD a month. If you don't do really well with hot weather you could pick a traditional hill station location (Murree, Darjeeling, Shimla, etc). They have lots of domestic tourism accommodation, I'm sure it wouldn't be impossible to negotiate month-to-month terms with some of the property owners there.

How would Pakistan be for a long-term visit for a woman traveler? I've zoomed around some of the mountainous areas on google maps and as I'm interested in the hiking/mountaineering areas and one thing I've noticed is that there are ZERO photos of female travelers on any of the google images from those areas. Basically anywhere outside of Karachi I am not seeing pictures of women. Between that and this recent thread o…

Frankly would not recommend it for solo travel unless the woman in question is a really tough individual with experience in even more difficult developing-nation environments.

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

#304

Post by drusepth »

rwmj wrote: post #176
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…

But why couldn't the renter use the deposit to buy a house instead?

Since you seem to get the whole deposit back, it seems like it'd be preferable to rent in many situations if the landlord still assumes liabilities (repairs, disasters, etc) and the costs associated with them. If it's "free" to live there either way, I'd rather someone else cough up 10k for a new AC, heater, etc.

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

#305

Post by marvinkennis »

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…

Maybe I'm missing something here, and I just read the Wikipedia article you linked. If the landlord takes the cash and buys the property, then the cash is gone and there is no cash to get interest on. Does the landlord just pocket the property appreciation?

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

#306

Post by hn-is-life »

In order of increasing cost of living:

Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania.

Why these countries:

* cheap (this is why Greece is not there)

* Christian i.e. culturally closer to America than say Turkey or Albania or Bosnia)

* 0-wokeness (if you are LGBTQ you will probably find it a bit more difficult, but Tinder/Grindr works so you can definitely find people for sex)

* good internet for near 0 cost

Probably best to pick the capital of each of them, or a large coastal (or mountain) town.

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

#307

Post by busterarm »

FabHK wrote: post #157
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…

Give Busan some consideration.

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

#308

Post by jimbokun »

ethbr0 wrote: post #158
dharmab wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That sounds like the reasoning used in the US before the big 2008 housing market crash.

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

#309

Post by villasv »

Look for countries where the USD is in a 5y high. Brazil, for instance, was 2.5:1 a few years back... it's now 5.2:1. I imagine one or another G20 country that didn't handle COVID very well can be in a similar situation. This won't last forever, but it will last at least one or two years so it's a good opportunity for you.

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

#310

Post by SavantIdiot »

How long?

I spent 4 months in Vietnam in 2007 in HCMC. Rent was $300/mo for a sweet pad down the street from the Ben Thanh market. Food was $400/mo, and I didn't cook much at all because street food is cheap and delicious.

However, I'm not sure how this would work out long term, like decades. I couldn't commit to living in a country like that full time. The language barrier would be overwhelming, and I did get tired of friends vanishing after just a few weeks. I'm a het-dude, and the local women I dated really wanted families asap and I wasn't ready -- there are a lot of highly successful women there who I got on with w/o much of a culture barrier since they had studied in US/Europe; I wasn't there doing the creepy-US-dude-looking-for-boomboom thing. Not sure I could have made a life for myself there and been happy into old age. I can't imagine what long term healthcare would be like into my 80's as an expat in Vietnam.

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