Bulgaria, very nice country with forests, mountains and sea. Also sort of tax heaven. Or Georgia, very visa friendly.
Do not go somewhere hot with too many distractions. It will ruin your productivity.
Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
81–90 of 557 posts
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#82Poland 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…
> should not be hard to include games in this category
You better put aside the remaining 13% for 5 years, just in case the inevitable happens.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#83Earlier 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.
That sounds strange, what's in it for the landlord?
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#84spain morocco
I loved loved LOVED our three week stay in Morocco in 2019, and their cellular infrastructure was pretty decent (like, traveling all over we were never without cell service and at least some level of internet), but the internet in the places we stayed was pretty terrible across the board. Having said that, the food was so amazing that I'd be tempted to deal with the slow internet. :/
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
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. It won't work in the Schengen because the visa waiver is 90 days within a 180 day stretch.
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) more often than not, this visa situation not a big deal
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#86Earlier 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…
> 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 the cheonsae deposit from the 2nd property to purchase a 3rd property, and so on...
That sounds like it’d be a disaster during a liquidity crunch.
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#87I 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…
Korea is something I have on my mind for so long. I would love a detailed blog post regarding your experience living in Korea as an expat with breakdown of cost and how you ended up there. Seems like an interesting journey to know about.
It's been quite an interesting journey! The original plan was to study Korean language for just a year, then I kept extending the trip...
I haven't blogged in a long time, but here are the Korea-related blog posts:
http://blog.leftium.com/2007/06/my-life-prologue.html
http://blog.leftium.com/2007/06/past-month-in-review.html
http://blog.leftium.com/2007/06/my-life-chapter-i.html
http://blog.leftium.com/2010/08/dragon-flies-and-praying-man...
http://blog.leftium.com/2010/09/how-to-eat-korean-food.html
http://blog.leftium.com/2010/10/october-update-whats-good-in...
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#88Earlier 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…
Sounds like a recipe for a housing market collapse...
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#89Earlier 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.
Sounds like a too good to be true situation...
Re: Ask HN: Where can I live off 1k USD per month?
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
That sounds strange, what's in it for the landlord?
0 interest loan I guess