4 ms·

You can't compare income from FL between 1st and 3rd world countries. I know for a fact that some of countries don't have other choice but to do FL business ove

by re1ser 13y ago

You can't compare income from FL between 1st and 3rd world countries. I know for a fact that some of countries don't have other choice but to do FL business over various semi-shady sites like Freelancer, Elance, oDesk, Guru, etc, where it is incredibly hard to generate >$20k/year income.

negamax 13y ago
I worked on oDesk from Mumbai for a while making ~50k/year. It was surreal.
- jhh 13y ago
  could I ask what kind of services/technologies you were offering? With this kind of income you can make a very decent living in India.
  - mritun 13y ago
    $50k in India won't get you far in Mumbai, especially if you are married and have kids
    - negamax 13y ago
      Have you lived there? It's not that expensive. Primary costs would be rentals. And they fall exponentially as you move away from Nariman Point (city center)
    - csomar 13y ago
      Depends on your lifestyle. You can live comfortably with a small amount, but if you have personal preferences (like having a smartphone, Macbook air, skiing in winter, and a good car) the location won't really matter much.
    - lut4rp 13y ago
      That's a little more than 2.5 lakhs a month. There is no part of India where you can't live comfortably in that much money. Bear in mind that living in Mumbai doesn't mean living in Pali Hill. The suburbs are significantly cheaper.
      - jhh 13y ago
        and if you don't have to commute it's relatively attractive not to live in the city centre.
- amalag 13y ago
  That is great money for India.
eriksank 13y ago
Well, it is hard but not "incredibly" hard. Not all clients there are bottom feeders, even though the majority probably are. Even then, it still definitely beats being an employee on a fixed salary in most "developed" countries. Someone told me that the average programmer in Poland makes 800 EUR/month. That doesn't sound spectacular either ;-)
- pjmlp 13y ago
  In Portugal the minimum wage is currently 485€ per month, before taxes. With a degree one usually one starts at around 1000€ per month and grows from there. You have to be already quite senior to even dream of the 2000€ barrier, in a few selected companies. However with the current economical situation, many people are quite happy if they happen to just get something.
  - mantas 13y ago
    That's funny. Up there in Lithuania 1000eur is average salary for non-senior developers. Senior developers may easily get 2000eur in a good company. Or they're not that senior. 3000eur/mo is not unheard of for really good seniors. The main (uneducated) public is in the same spot though, with minimum wage of 290euros. Good time for IT guys.
    - kutakbash 13y ago
      Strangely, this is not so different from Belarus as you would imagine.
- tartle 13y ago
  850 EUR is average salary in Poland (before taxation). Programmers would usually get more, at least in big cities.
  - michas 13y ago
    Programmers can make a lot more: starting at 1500 EUR (as junior developer) up to 4 000 EUR (minority of senior developers). That's also before taxation
tartle 13y ago
"2nd world" (Eastern Europe) freelancer here - it really depends what things you work on, even on Elance, oDesk etc. It's not that hard to generate >20k, of course if you know what you're doing. oDesk clients brought me >40k this year, most jobs north of 5k (I do mobile apps). There's of course a lot of crap job postings there, but once you get a minimal reputation, you don't even look at those "make website for a peanut" contests. Of course rates are well below those that American developers usually get, but really not <20k year, at least when you work full-time.

by re1ser 13y ago

negamax 13y ago

I worked on oDesk from Mumbai for a while making ~50k/year. It was surreal.

jhh 13y ago
could I ask what kind of services/technologies you were offering? With this kind of income you can make a very decent living in India.
- mritun 13y ago
  $50k in India won't get you far in Mumbai, especially if you are married and have kids
  - negamax 13y ago
    Have you lived there? It's not that expensive. Primary costs would be rentals. And they fall exponentially as you move away from Nariman Point (city center)
  - csomar 13y ago
    Depends on your lifestyle. You can live comfortably with a small amount, but if you have personal preferences (like having a smartphone, Macbook air, skiing in winter, and a good car) the location won't really matter much.
  - lut4rp 13y ago
    That's a little more than 2.5 lakhs a month. There is no part of India where you can't live comfortably in that much money. Bear in mind that living in Mumbai doesn't mean living in Pali Hill. The suburbs are significantly cheaper.
    - jhh 13y ago
      and if you don't have to commute it's relatively attractive not to live in the city centre.
amalag 13y ago
That is great money for India.

eriksank 13y ago

Well, it is hard but not "incredibly" hard. Not all clients there are bottom feeders, even though the majority probably are. Even then, it still definitely beats being an employee on a fixed salary in most "developed" countries. Someone told me that the average programmer in Poland makes 800 EUR/month. That doesn't sound spectacular either ;-)

pjmlp 13y ago
In Portugal the minimum wage is currently 485€ per month, before taxes. With a degree one usually one starts at around 1000€ per month and grows from there. You have to be already quite senior to even dream of the 2000€ barrier, in a few selected companies. However with the current economical situation, many people are quite happy if they happen to just get something.
- mantas 13y ago
  That's funny. Up there in Lithuania 1000eur is average salary for non-senior developers. Senior developers may easily get 2000eur in a good company. Or they're not that senior. 3000eur/mo is not unheard of for really good seniors. The main (uneducated) public is in the same spot though, with minimum wage of 290euros. Good time for IT guys.
  - kutakbash 13y ago
    Strangely, this is not so different from Belarus as you would imagine.
tartle 13y ago
850 EUR is average salary in Poland (before taxation). Programmers would usually get more, at least in big cities.
- michas 13y ago
  Programmers can make a lot more: starting at 1500 EUR (as junior developer) up to 4 000 EUR (minority of senior developers). That's also before taxation

tartle 13y ago

"2nd world" (Eastern Europe) freelancer here - it really depends what things you work on, even on Elance, oDesk etc. It's not that hard to generate >20k, of course if you know what you're doing. oDesk clients brought me >40k this year, most jobs north of 5k (I do mobile apps). There's of course a lot of crap job postings there, but once you get a minimal reputation, you don't even look at those "make website for a peanut" contests. Of course rates are well below those that American developers usually get, but really not <20k year, at least when you work full-time.