How has the cost of living changed in your city? If you are living in Warsaw, how are you budgeting and got any financial tips for those moving here for the first time?
That's sad truth, in recent years gap between cost of apartment (renting or bying) and salaries has increased. War in Ukraine (and increased competition), post-covid inflation and bad government housing politics are to blame. Even lowest-income earners can still find something in Warsaw, but sometimes it will have to be a flat shared with other flatmates somewhere in the suburbs, with all its consequences (little privacy, risk of conflicts with co-tenants and landlord, long commute time). Who says "money doesn't bring happiness" is wrong - money does bring happiness if spent well, and housing is one of such examples. After housing, other things that allow enormous cost cutting in Warsaw are clothes (e.g. clothes like from Primark, Tk Maxx, Reserved, Decathlon, or even second hand), electronics (any Android phone that costs at least 1500 zł is good, buying iPhone for 10k is nonsense if you're on budget), and groceries (Żabka and Carrefour are generally most expensive, Biedronka/Lidl average, Auchan usually cheapest - but also furthest from center).
Absolutely agree. Luckily Warsaw remains livable (unlike a lot of other capital cities) but definitely takes more strategy and increased income to make it happen than before. The last years have seen a lot of rapid change. It’ll take some hustle to get that income up, especially if you’re just starting out in the city. Thanks for the tip about Auchan! 🙏
My last visit to Warsaw was pre COVID. Then I was spending about half of what I spent in the UK. The Polish people make the English welcome and I look forward to a visit this summer, Probably Krakow as I can get a dirt cheap flight with Ryanair from Stansted.
I think perhaps compared to London (never been outside of London before but I will soon!), Poland is still likely half the price but the inflation can be felt still. Polish people are just wonderful humans ♥️ so I hope you do get a chance to come back!
Hi, thanks for the feedback! Definitely still perfecting sound at the moment (playing with my mic etc.), so this is all a work in progress. Will continue to work on it 👍🙏
Even spending 250 USD per week for groceries is not much if one wants to eat healthy (lots of vegetables - luckily that part is cheap in Poland, avoiding ultra processed foods - pretty expensive as even most bakery products nowadays are very processed, 1-2.5g of proteins per kilo per day recommended by many dieteticians - very expensive, maybe even organic stuff - few times more expensive than non-organic). The nasty thing about saving on food is that it's like a taking high % loan - for now you will have more money, but eventually you will have to pay it back with enormous interest rate (absences at work, potential medical bills, potential problems with relationships).
Definitely. I think you can definitely easily spend $250 on groceries nowadays, depending on what you buy. But you can avoid processed foods quite easily without breaking the bank, at least at my local shops. Meat is particularly more expensive but your everyday staples like fruits and vegetables, grains, bread, milk, egg, cheese etc. are all pretty doable on a budget. As a single person anyway. To support a family, that would definitely take more financially, but I only budgeted for a single person here since I don't have a family of my own.
