Even if you're in France working for the worst staffing companies, the lowest bill for a developer is 400 E a day, times 218 working days per year so roughly $1

Even if you're in France working for the worst staffing companies, the lowest bill for a developer is 400 E a day, times 218 working days per year so roughly $100k a year. So we're already starting at almost double what you planned for and there are much more costs to cover than just staff. Large scale projects are insanely expensive and hard. It's not just mismanagement.