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"... just getting the business prepared ended up costing me about 550 more dollars than I was expecting. That's one month out of the 4 taken out." You saved 20

"... just getting the business prepared ended up costing me about 550 more dollars than I was expecting. That's one month out of the 4 taken out." You saved 2000$? OMG I would wait until 10000€ at least (Spain). At the end, he says: 'I know I can get hired for a good salary again but I don't think it will happen this year'. What do you mean by good salary? Because if you say you have a low mortgage in a low cost country but that only gave you like 2000$ savings for the game...

bolololo1 9y ago
He leaves in Romania not in Spain.
- duiker101 9y ago
  Depending on where in Spain, it's not too much more expensive. I live in Tenerife, and here you can live just fine with 700euro a month But yhea, even 4/5 months of saving is not enough to start this kind of journey.
- gerardnll 9y ago
  It doesn't care. I'm talking about income/outcome or savings. The problem here is if you have a bad sense of what you think is 'enough' for going all in.
d3ckard 9y ago
I live in Poland, which is more expensive as Romania (as far as I know), but close enough. My first salary as a developer was 750USD net per month and I was able to live out of it easily, partying a lot and not cooking much (and I'm a smoker). His assumptions were not too unrealistic, he just didn't factor out additional costs and should have had bigger margin of safety. You shouldn't compare money like this between countries, differences are big and Romania is on the bottom of EU when it comes to income (though they are currently developing super fast, so it will definitely change - good for them).
AdrianB1 9y ago
The average salary for a developer in the top cities in Romania is around EUR 1,000 or $1,100 after taxes (that is about $2,500 in US before tax - yes, taxes are that high, actually a bit higher). A very good developer gets double. $2000 in savings are 4 months of living on the edge, not regular living. Getting a full time job as a developer in Romania is extremely easy if you have any decent skills, there is a shortage of skilled people, but anyone reading the story will not hire him; he made absolutely all possible mistakes, including the ones specific to Romania (like his new apartment), so anyone that is looking for an example of how you can screw up big time can point to his article as an example.
- jorams 9y ago
  > The average salary for a developer in the top cities in Romania is around EUR 1,000 or $1,100 after taxes (that is about $2,500 in US before tax - yes, taxes are that high, actually a bit higher). Can you explain that ratio? €1000--€1100 is roughly equal to $1200--$1300, and some quick searches tell me income tax in Romania is a flat 16%. That ends up very far from $2500.
  - gspetr 9y ago
    I know nothing about Romanian tax system, but in Russia the tax is flat 13%. What that doesn't tell you is that employer also pays 30% on top of your gross salary in "social insurance", so maybe Romania has something like that in place. And you don't even do your own taxes if you're employed in the vast majority of jobs. You do them if you're an entrepreneur or contractor.
  - AdrianB1 9y ago
    The income tax is one of the many taxes you pay; on average for $1 you keep after tax, the state takes $0.85 on the pay day and another $0.19 when you spend it. You pay 2 health taxes, 2 pension taxes, unemployment tax and some smaller ones. Only a part appear on the payslip, so most people don't know the real cost they have for the employer. People think that Europe has free goodies - there is nothing free when taxes are 60-70%. The free health care is actually a tax that does not give any guarantee you will ever receive anything, you may die waiting for treatment and it happens a lot. I have included as taxes everything the employer is paying for you to the state without you having any decision power. Nothing of what I mentioned is optional or giving you anything guaranteed. The pension is also a tax because if you live to get something in return or you die before retiring, all the money you paid during your life are lost. The beauty of socialism is that the state takes almost everything from you and then it gives you some back, making you dependent on the state's good will.

bolololo1 9y ago

He leaves in Romania not in Spain.

duiker101 9y ago
Depending on where in Spain, it's not too much more expensive. I live in Tenerife, and here you can live just fine with 700euro a month But yhea, even 4/5 months of saving is not enough to start this kind of journey.
gerardnll 9y ago
It doesn't care. I'm talking about income/outcome or savings. The problem here is if you have a bad sense of what you think is 'enough' for going all in.

d3ckard 9y ago

I live in Poland, which is more expensive as Romania (as far as I know), but close enough. My first salary as a developer was 750USD net per month and I was able to live out of it easily, partying a lot and not cooking much (and I'm a smoker). His assumptions were not too unrealistic, he just didn't factor out additional costs and should have had bigger margin of safety. You shouldn't compare money like this between countries, differences are big and Romania is on the bottom of EU when it comes to income (though they are currently developing super fast, so it will definitely change - good for them).

AdrianB1 9y ago

The average salary for a developer in the top cities in Romania is around EUR 1,000 or $1,100 after taxes (that is about $2,500 in US before tax - yes, taxes are that high, actually a bit higher). A very good developer gets double. $2000 in savings are 4 months of living on the edge, not regular living. Getting a full time job as a developer in Romania is extremely easy if you have any decent skills, there is a shortage of skilled people, but anyone reading the story will not hire him; he made absolutely all possible mistakes, including the ones specific to Romania (like his new apartment), so anyone that is looking for an example of how you can screw up big time can point to his article as an example.

jorams 9y ago
> The average salary for a developer in the top cities in Romania is around EUR 1,000 or $1,100 after taxes (that is about $2,500 in US before tax - yes, taxes are that high, actually a bit higher). Can you explain that ratio? €1000--€1100 is roughly equal to $1200--$1300, and some quick searches tell me income tax in Romania is a flat 16%. That ends up very far from $2500.
- gspetr 9y ago
  I know nothing about Romanian tax system, but in Russia the tax is flat 13%. What that doesn't tell you is that employer also pays 30% on top of your gross salary in "social insurance", so maybe Romania has something like that in place. And you don't even do your own taxes if you're employed in the vast majority of jobs. You do them if you're an entrepreneur or contractor.
- AdrianB1 9y ago
  The income tax is one of the many taxes you pay; on average for $1 you keep after tax, the state takes $0.85 on the pay day and another $0.19 when you spend it. You pay 2 health taxes, 2 pension taxes, unemployment tax and some smaller ones. Only a part appear on the payslip, so most people don't know the real cost they have for the employer. People think that Europe has free goodies - there is nothing free when taxes are 60-70%. The free health care is actually a tax that does not give any guarantee you will ever receive anything, you may die waiting for treatment and it happens a lot. I have included as taxes everything the employer is paying for you to the state without you having any decision power. Nothing of what I mentioned is optional or giving you anything guaranteed. The pension is also a tax because if you live to get something in return or you die before retiring, all the money you paid during your life are lost. The beauty of socialism is that the state takes almost everything from you and then it gives you some back, making you dependent on the state's good will.