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What are my chances in Poland?
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Oztobeyond



Joined: 04 Aug 2015
Posts: 53
Location: Sydney, Australia

PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 6:19 am    Post subject: Re: Costs... Reply with quote

dragonpiwo wrote:
Let's say you have 2,500 a month. 1,000 chips will go on rent and that leaves you 50 Zloty per day.

How that could break down in Wroclaw (I live in Poznan), quite near and a similar city in many ways, especially prices.

2 tram tickets=5 PLN (1 to work, 1 back)
A sandwich for breakfast from a bakery or a hotdog=5 PLN
A coffee in a coffee shop=7-12 PLN
Lunch in a milk bar ie soup and a roll=6 PLN
A bottle of water=2 PLN
Dinner in a kebab shop=10-15 PLN
1 beer=5-9 PLN
That's your 50 PLN a day. Don't expect to be going out.

Don't know if you smoke but smokes= 15 PLN
Pair of cheapo jeans from Tesco 80 PLN
Pair of winter boots= 300 PLN
Average night in a hotel=200 PLN, hostles 100 PLN
JD and coke 14 PLN
Internet in your flat 50 PLN
Electrcity and Gas 200 PLN/month
Local rates on your flat (czyncz) upto 400 PLN
Gel stick deodorant=15 PLN
Toothpaste=8 PLN
Haircut=25 PLN
Soap=2.5 PLN
Petrol=5 PLN/litre
Cinema=25 PLN
Entrance to a club=20 PLN
Bottle of wine in a restaurant=50-150 PLN average
Bread=3 PLN
Eggs=5 PLN
Gym membership=100 PLN/month
Average taxi=12 PLN often more (especially after 9pm ie when you go out)

My advice on that salary:

1-Get a girlfriend with a job because most Polish girls expect a guy to pay for them, not all the time but certainly when you first start dating
2-Drink at home and then go out-load up on sobieski cheap vodka
3-Go vegetarian as vegetables are really cheap
4-Come to an understanding with your mum and dad that they will pay for your ticket home
5-Don't get sick (150 PLN to see a specialist ie quickly)
6-Don't go to a dentist (100 PLN at least just for a clean)
7-Don't smoke

All things said and done, if you're overweight, you won't be after 6 months on that salary.


O.O

Thanks for that, genuinely helpful but a bit scary. Haha.

Question - how does this compare to the average local salary?
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dragonpiwo



Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin

PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's a run down by country on average salaries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_average_wage

You'd definitely have to get some privates/overtime sorted out asap and maybe go into some translation agencies and try and get a proofreading gig. Thing is when I go back, I'll be in the same boat more or less and I've got tonnes of experience. There's only 1 record playing in Poland and it's this; you earn more by working longer. The cost of living has outpaced the pay teachers get year-on-year for 20 years I'd say. You only need 2 or 3 business English clients a week to add another 1,500 to your monthly wage but it's finding them and accepting that they are usually very unreliable and often peter out after a while.

Poles often have an extended family to help them out. For example an uncle has a cottage so that's where they go for cheap vacations. Babcia's on her own, so that's dinner twice a week etc etc. They can and do live cheaply. You will have to acquire that skill and fast.

I went to Poland in 1995 after meeting a woman in the UK. Back then, like now, the vast majority of expat teachers were men and it has to be said, men who liked drinking and women. It was a place where people went for a year and then stayed forever because they'd met someone way out of their league or because they could party like it's 1999. Most of that generation, like myself, are now normal, middle-aged people with a lot of good stories, wayward eyebrow hair and and a questionable dress sense caused by years of buying cheap clothes in C and A. All of us at some point hit the 'Should I stay or should I go?' barrier. Each made their own choices based on what was right for him or her. Some of these relationships work out but many don't. Some people can keep a lid on the partying, some become raging alcoholics. Some people can handle having to be frugal, some can't. Some got in early and bought flats which are now worth a lot more and some didn't.

Look if you're looking for a place that may surprise you, go for it. However, don't be under any illusions. For your first 2 years, you'll be broke.

No doubt, a bunch of people will write and tell you they came to Poland for the pierogi or the bird watching or the architecture-yeah right. I know and my generation knows why you're really coming Wink
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sparks



Joined: 20 Feb 2008
Posts: 632

PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On that salary the thing you should be aiming for keeping those full-time hours all bunched together so you can bang them out and then go earn better money doing privates. Treat this "reputable language school" (whatever that means) as your slave owner and try to minimise your hours of slavery each week so that you can spend time doing other things to try and earn.
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash

PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2017 12:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
"reputable language school"


As noted earlier, if it's a school that is willing to hire a US citizen from abroad, it's dodgy by definition. Do be very careful regarding what you agree to and sign. They are likely to be extremely exploitative, as they've got serious leverage over you on the visa issue.
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dragonpiwo



Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin

PostPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Learn to love Biedronka. It's the cheapest supermarket out there. This should cheer you up a bit because there's 0.5l Carlsberg for 1.79 PLN in the promotion!
So you could skip your 7-12 PLN coffee and buy 5 of these every day and sit in your room glued to the net necking beer. Half a kilo of turkey mince for 4.25 PLN-burgers! Biedronka is your friend.

http://www.biedronka.pl/pl
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dragonpiwo



Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin

PostPosted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:51 am    Post subject: and here's a menu in a cheap cheap place Reply with quote

And this trashy restaurant chain, which has been around for ages, will give you an idea of prices in a cheap, cheap restaurant-NB a basic burger is 30 PLN. On the street you'll get that for 12 PLN.

http://www.sphinx.pl/nasze-menu/
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Master Shake



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Biedronka rules; Sphinx is overpriced crap. There are so many restaurants which have tastier food and cheaper prices.

I figured you'd know to avoid Sphinx, dragonpiwo, having lived in Poland for so long. Maybe there's not much to choose from in Poznan.
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dragonpiwo



Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin

PostPosted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 7:58 am    Post subject: tbh Reply with quote

Tbh haven't been there for years, it was just an example of what to expect. Must say, there are lots of crap restaurants in Poz but at least you can get good burgers these days. Thing I find is this: The settings are usually good and everything looks ok but the service is crap and the food poor and overpriced for what it is. The great old-style bistros are few and far between these days. Must be the rents.
Very hard to find a decent steak in Poznan and forget seafood. Actually, you can also forget non-Polish grub too, especially Chinese nosh.
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Master Shake



Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 1:34 am    Post subject: Re: tbh Reply with quote

dragonpiwo wrote:
Tbh haven't been there for years, it was just an example of what to expect. Must say, there are lots of crap restaurants in Poz but at least you can get good burgers these days. Thing I find is this: The settings are usually good and everything looks ok but the service is crap and the food poor and overpriced for what it is. The great old-style bistros are few and far between these days. Must be the rents.
Very hard to find a decent steak in Poznan and forget seafood. Actually, you can also forget non-Polish grub too, especially Chinese nosh.
True, that. Most ethnic food in Poland suffers from having the spices turned way down and an unwelcome dose of surowka - Chinese food especially so. Warsaw is sort of an exception to this. The restaurants tend to get worse in the smaller towns.
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scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2017 5:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can probably avoid starvation or malnutrition while TEFLing in Poland. You will not earn what the rest of the world considers to be a living wage.
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