Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 180 posts

Re: Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

#121

Post by jacquesm »

_exec wrote: post #120
sebi wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

amsterdam is quite a bit more expensive. i sublet an old, rusty, worndown (with views on a canal) 1 bedroom appartment in the best part of town (jordaan) for 900€/month. The bigger problem in amsterdam is to find something.

How would you recommend finding accommodation in Amsterdam? Also, any districts / neighborhoods one should stay away from? I'm looking for a 2-3 bedroom apartment in a decent location (not necessarily the centrum, but the closer the better) but I'm having a hard time finding a place without signing up with any of the agencies (I cannot afford to pay the agency fee) I tried using Kamernet but I have found that being a…

Be careful you don't get screwed. The best way to find something is to get to know lots of people, check in to 'anti-kraak' housing and if you can stay away from agencies, they'll cost you more than they're worth.

Re: Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

#122

Post by ilya_b »

eliben wrote: post #57
rarestblog wrote: post #8

Moscow, Russia typ. exp: ~600$ per each family member for food/clothes/utilities (no fancy stuff) 700-1200$ renting 1 room apt. 20$ internet (10MBit+ is common) extras: 60-100$ meal for 2 at *reasonably* priced restaurant 15$ movie ticket 10-20$ taxi ride 1$ ramen noodles (called "Doshirak" here) 2.5$ BigMac avg. salary IT (after tax) $700-1500/mth (mostly around $1000/mth)

Wow, that sounds totally unlivable

It is. No medical insurance of any kind included if you work for yourself. $200 for visiting a dantist.

About $100/month for running a simplest possible kind of local firm, maintaining accounting etc. It no staff and no taxes payed at all.

Re: Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

#123

Post by ilya_b »

rarestblog wrote: post #8

Moscow, Russia typ. exp: ~600$ per each family member for food/clothes/utilities (no fancy stuff) 700-1200$ renting 1 room apt. 20$ internet (10MBit+ is common) extras: 60-100$ meal for 2 at *reasonably* priced restaurant 15$ movie ticket 10-20$ taxi ride 1$ ramen noodles (called "Doshirak" here) 2.5$ BigMac avg. salary IT (after tax) $700-1500/mth (mostly around $1000/mth)

> avg. salary IT (after tax) $700-1500/mth (mostly around $1000/mth)

$1000 is for a stydent, twenty-something HTML/PHP programmer or Windows admin. Most companies offer >= $2000. For senior developers (Java, Python, RoR etc) or DBAs $3000 is average. *nix/Cisco admin may expect $2000-$2500.

St.Petersburg's salaries are about 60-70% of Moscow equivalents. Other > 0.5M population cities - about 30-50%. Small cities - 25-30%.

Re: Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

#124

Post by kingofspain »

kingofspain wrote: post #13

Manchester UK Expenses: Rent: £200-£500pm for a flat/small house. Lower end can be in somewhat interesting areas though. Bills: Utilities usually £40ish. Council tax £80-120 pm. Internet/Phone: Bundled from £10-£20pm. Pay a little bit more and you can throw in cable too. Bus: £10 unlimited weekly travel Train: Depends on how far you go, obv but city to outer suburbs never more than £4-5 return. Adv returns to London…

I neglected to mention healthcare since I kind of take that for granted. Emergencies are free but I don't know the costs for other things. If you are resident though, you'll be covered as the rest of us are.

Re: Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

#125

Post by rabble »

gregschlom wrote: post #47

I'm currently bootstrapping a startup on my savings, with no incomes. I moved from Paris to Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). It's a very inexpensive place to live in. - Room on a flat: $150-$200 - Food: $120

I think Vietnam has got to be one of the better places to be if you combine quality of life with cost of living.

Re: Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

#126

Post by ced »

berntb wrote: post #65
ced wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Savings. While in Germany, I had a good (tax-free) stipend and I was hoarding ~800 euros/month, for a year. Living in Asia was an amazing experience, but honestly, there isn't that much "adventure" to write about. I wasn't traveling, since that's expensive-ish. My primary goal was to do research in AI. That turned out to be quite challenging, with the lack of good libraries and peers, but the freedom to work on whate…

Stay an extra year at the next job, then you might be able to get a job to do from a distance. If I lose motivation@work (got some allergy issues around where I am now), I'm thinking of sitting down a few months somewhere cheap with good weather (== sunny) and hack/read. A question: How do you find apartments to rent for 1-3 months in random countries, like e.g. India or Japan?

It varies a bit depending on the place. The most reliable way is just to ask young people (uni students ideally) on the street. Chances are, they'll be eager to practice their English, and will help you more than you need.

I also try to learn the language wherever I go. That helps, obviously.

Beware that India is a rough place to be for a lone foreigner. There's numerous anecdotes of people who come to India only to hop right back on a plane. Thailand or Turkey (Antalya) are safer bets, and the temperature is nice in the winter.

Re: Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

#127

Post by loewenskind »

thomas11 wrote: post #96

A data point for the higher end: Geneva (also, Zurich), CH. Currency is CHF which is almost 1:1 with USD. Rent 1500-2000 (one person apartment!) Food 500 (eating at home, eating out is minimum 30/meal) Internet + smart phone w/ 3G: 150 Net salary after tax, health insurance, pension: 60,000 - 120,000 for a programmer.

If you go with Orange on the phone you can get 35CFS/mo for phone + 3G. They have a deal going for 10CFS off per month of all plans. The high end for a programmer is higher if you consult, and there is no real downside to contracting in Switzerland.

Re: Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

#128

Post by silverlake »

New York City area, NY, USA. Manhattan is outrageous but the surrounding area is cheaper. I live comfortably with few compromises at $2800/month.

Rent: $1500 for half a 1300ft^2 apartment. You can easily get much cheaper than this. Food: $300/month for expensive organic groceries Restaurants: $40/person at mid-tier restaurants, $20/person at lower end but nice places. Utilities: $150/electricity, $120/cable/phone/internet(15mbps) Transportation: $2/subway, $90/monthly pass Insurance: $250/month for health, $50/month for dental

Salary varies widely. I think $60k for college grads up to $150k for senior people. Double it if you work in finance. Roughly 30-40% goes to taxes and stuff. Lots of hipsters working as waiters live happily here, so it's possible to get by on very little.

Re: Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

#129

Post by Murkin »

TelAviv, Israel

  * Rent+Utils: 700$ (each-with roommates) / 1300$ (2 room appt) 
  * Internet: 30$
  * Food: 500$
  * Transport: 140$
  * Beer 1 litre: 12$
  * Corner Bar Food (cheap): 7$
  * Lunch deal: 13$
  * Cellphone: 55$ (~300 minutes)
  * Petrol: 2$/ltr
  * Cars are expensive, e.g.: Mazda3 30,000$
  
  * Salary: 4,000$ - 8,000$
  * Average salary in the country: ~2400$
Generally the life style of a tech person is very high compared to other professions.

Re: Ask HN: Cost of living across the world (Ramen PPP Index for hackers)

#130

Post by bendmorris »

Taiwan (amounts are in Taiwan NT):

Rent: In Taipei, $16,000+; in rural areas, you can find a good place around $6,000

Food, travel: I generally spent ~$8,000, but I ate out frequently (pretty normal there.) If you stick to mostly 7-11 food and don't eat much you can bring this down to 4,000. Food is also more expensive in Taipei than in surrounding areas.

Public transportation is excellent and cheap, there's little need to get your own car. A bike or scooter works great.

Total:

$24k ($720 USD) in Taipei

$14k ($420 USD) in rural areas (i.e. Yilan)

$10k ($300 USD) will get you by if you're really on a budget

Quality of life is very good for foreigners. The people are very friendly, and can speak enough English for you to get by (although speaking Mandarin is a plus.) You've got your standard McDonald's/TGI Friday's/Burger King/Subway/other American establishments if you miss them. Being an island, it is very humid and does get quite hot in the summer.

Also, the entire city of Taipei has really cheap wifi! A couple bucks a month gets you internet access from anywhere in the city.

Post reply on HN