Which Country Would You Go to Escape The Cost of Living?

BluebirdV on 11/06/2023 - 10:54

If you were to pick a country to live in and still maintain a high standard of living, which one would it be?

Countries like Türkiye or Argentina come to mind. Inflation has eroded both currencies.

India and Nepal are supposed to have a low cost of living. How about the lifestyle? Mountain climbing appeals there as it would in the other countries mentioned.

Also, how about visa considerations?

I guess being a digital nomad one could keep having an income.

Interested to hear different perspectives.

Travel

Comments

  • illusion99 on 12/06/2023 - 12:21
    +3

    It looks like we are assuming you are not earning a local salary but are still earning an Australian level salary and just living abroad? So basically trying to have the best of both worlds? Everyone always says SE Asia is cheap but it's not cheap if you are earning an average local salary

  • Ozbar Gain on 12/06/2023 - 12:38
    +8

    As an immigrant to Aus I strongly feel we have it better here than most of the rest of the world. Yes, housing is expensive, but that issue is not unique to the land down under.

    On the other hand,
    Australia is a safe place to live
    With good healthcare.
    You probably have a good support network here comprised of family and friends (which is the hardest part of emigrating).
    The country has made if through previous financial storms and will this one too.
    You'll be surprised how inefficient systems work in some other countries

    So, my suggestion is to not move abroad but make changes to make your life here work better for you. Do you need to get a new job? Do you need to move out of a capital city? Do you need to rent a smaller place? Do you want to & can you enter the property market?

  • bohn on 12/06/2023 - 16:06
    +2

    Thailand or Portugal.

  • baldur on 12/06/2023 - 16:45
    +2

    Lol at thinking turkey is cheap. Turkey is even expensive for aud, usd or euro earners.

    The ignorance levels of some of these posts Never cease to amaze me here.

    • Brick50 on 12/06/2023 - 17:01
      +4

      OP clearly has a Turkish Netflix subscription and thinks it’s a cheap place to live

      • baldur on 12/06/2023 - 17:08
        +1

        Probably.

        Iphone pro max 256 gb is 60000 try which is equal to 3000 aud. Good luck living in turkey in better conditions.

    • s1Lence on 12/06/2023 - 17:46
      +1

      aynen

    • Roney on 12/06/2023 - 18:42

      Turkey is a great place, under the feathers.

  • Protractor on 12/06/2023 - 18:00
    -4

    Not a fan of the place?
    When the going gets tough, the rats dessert the ship?(oops mixed metaphor)

    Just leave repairing the local economy to our efforts.
    We'll let you know when you can come home and cash in again.

    Poor old Straya,more leaners than lifters these days
    I wonder what other countries say about economic refugees coming from the land of hypocrisy?

    • eris on 13/06/2023 - 05:47

      Oh god, you're quoting Joe Hockey.

      • Protractor on 13/06/2023 - 10:34

        It would be a first. He must have said something relevant that I missed. Not hard, the guy was easy to ignore. You should try it sometime

  • Eeples on 12/06/2023 - 18:24
    +1

    Australia.

    Greece is pretty cheap. (when I visited as a tourist this year).

    Moreover a Greek friend (in Australia) of mine told me that towns out from the main cities are like ghost towns (with young people leaving) and you can buy an established old-family house very cheaply. I wonder if that is true.

    • belongsinforums on 13/06/2023 - 00:09
      +1

      italy has those $1 houses that they want you to renovate for them

  • kosh52 on 12/06/2023 - 19:50

    Londone

  • ItchyBallsack on 12/06/2023 - 20:22
    +1

    Pay off your mortgage, rent it out and live in Bali permanently with the rent money. 💰 🤑 💸

  • payless69 on 12/06/2023 - 22:39
    +1

    Move to Germany!
    Eat Sauerkraut each day.
    Unlimited speed on the Autobahn.
    Endless Beer.
    Comrade Scholz paying you Harz4 to live for free!

    • smartazz104 on 13/06/2023 - 07:33

      Unlimited speed on the Autobahn.

      Isn't most of the Autobahn limited to 130km/h?

      • payless69 on 13/06/2023 - 09:33
        +1

        At the moment it is still over half unlimited.
        Despite that road fatalities are way below European average.
        Their 3 automakers are still having some respect.
        Watch Autotop.nl on youtube,

  • Xfinityad on 12/06/2023 - 23:46
    +2

    I'm originally from Turkey and visited there 2 months ago. To be honest, prices were almost same to Australia except rent. Inflation doesnt mean always cheap because most of raw materials are bought with US Dollars and that affects prices.

    • JamesLucas on 14/06/2023 - 15:27

      I found Easten Turkey to be quite cheap, I was a bit shocked when I got to the western side and saw the prices, Id rather be in the Greek Islands and probably not have to spend much more if I was smart.

  • Cheap Gamer on 13/06/2023 - 06:58

    OzTopia. It's my commune in the Byron Bay Hinterland. You are welcome for a million dollars. No riff-raff thanks!

    Focusing on just cost of living is pretty narrow. There are so many other factors to consider. Finland isn't the cheapest, but it's the happiest.

  • smartazz104 on 13/06/2023 - 07:33
    +1

    More than a handful of cookers in here.

  • zombie hunter on 13/06/2023 - 07:42
    +2

    Tasmania

  • tonka on 13/06/2023 - 08:11
    +3

    A 'high standard of living' is incredibly subjective.
    You could pick out a quiet country town in Australia and go live there for free with government handouts and free health care and go to the local pub every day. Go for nice country walks totally safe and not even natural predators.
    Or is it theater and fine dining you're after.

    • Stromae on 13/06/2023 - 15:49
      +2

      Except for the flies in summer

  • Bid Sniper on 13/06/2023 - 09:52
    +1

    If you were to pick a country to live in and still maintain a high standard of living, which one would it be?

    Define high standard

    Certainty thinking more and more of leaving but the problems are world wide, despite its problems we have a lot of good things here but needs to be fixed. My exit plan was back to Canada, really hope Australia doesn't end up like that, why these problems need to be address and not kicked down the road.

    • frostman on 16/06/2023 - 21:45
      +2

      It was my idea, but it's gone terribly woke.

  • alikazi on 13/06/2023 - 10:34

    Just move to India and keep your Australian income, live like a king. Don't like my answer/Can't keep your Australian income? Don't ask the question then.

  • usbc activist on 13/06/2023 - 10:54
    +3

    India has gazillion cities. Avoid the metros. Many of the tier 2 cities in the south have excellent infrastructure, international connectivity and great cost of living. In India, you can go as cheap as you want or as costly as you want. To reduce your outgoing expenses, even consider buying an apartment which u can sell later at a profit.

    • RADICALIST on 13/06/2023 - 16:02

      I like to use toilets and not the side of the road

      • Daabido on 13/06/2023 - 21:03
        +3

        Well la-di-da, your royal highness.

        • baldur on 14/06/2023 - 07:14
          +3

          Using a toilet is only for elite people? This is not the year of 1189 dude.

      • Eeples on 15/06/2023 - 14:14
        +1

        Don’t go to the USA then.

    • nephilim on 13/06/2023 - 17:25
      +2

      Buddhist city on the beach like Visakhapatnam seems nice, I think British railways doco showed a few others too.

  • User102430 on 13/06/2023 - 11:30
    +5

    Having visited 60 countries and lived in 4 others, wouldn't live anywhere outside of Australia.

    Despite of raising cost of living, still the best overall balance of… everything - jobs, quality of life, freedom, climate, food, diversity, nature, etc.

    • Stromae on 13/06/2023 - 15:50
      +1

      Which 4 countries have you lived in?

    • frostman on 13/06/2023 - 21:09
      +4

      freedom

      Looks like you weren't here during the lockdowns, you couldnt walk down to Coles with your spouse, haha

      • Eeples on 15/06/2023 - 14:15

        Sounds sensible during a pandemic.

        But for the record plenty of countries had lockdowns.

  • Dack Smith on 13/06/2023 - 12:36
    -3

    Mozambique

    But it’s for people really wanting to get out of Australia

    So goodbye - if Australia ain’t good enough for you, time for you to leave and take your dependents with you to a third world paradise

    I heard Laos is super cheap too

    Adios and don’t return

  • Marcsie on 13/06/2023 - 12:58
    -4

    If you can’t afford to live in Australia,you seriously have a problem !

    • plmko on 13/06/2023 - 17:36
      +5

      Hilarious people think they can survive in a 3rd world country or cut-throat developing one when they can't even make do in Australia.

      • JamesLucas on 14/06/2023 - 15:30

        Also worth remembering that if you are living well in a developing country you are doing so on others poverty in reality. It's fine if you realise that and do what you can for people, but otherwise I find it can de depressing.

  • Sammy Boi on 13/06/2023 - 13:07

    Russia

  • stingyindian on 13/06/2023 - 13:26
    +5

    Here is an unpopular opinion: US. I have lived in the US for more than 4 years and I can understand why at the first look many might abhor the thought.
    * You need to pick the place you live smartly and the North-western US is a very good option, which is where many Americans go buy a ranch (farm) and retire It has the terrain and climate similar to the Nordic countries.
    * like many pointed out here, COL in Australia is very much in control compared to Western Europe and on the same lines its even cheaper in the US though the currency is somewhat higher, (There might be things like good quality meat which are better and cheaper in Australia but US is still cheaper if you average what a person buys over an year like appliances, electronics etc).
    * Culturally similar to a great extent to Australia, especially that part of US (from personal experience, I have done my masters in Montana

    • rumblytangara on 13/06/2023 - 19:13
      +1

      I've spent close to a year in the US, broken up into chunks.

      I would never choose to make the country my home (and I could- my wife is from there). I refuse to have anything to do with a country where you have to so carefully pick and choose a city and suburb to live that isn't messed up in some obvious way, that has such glaring racial issues, and some crazy backwards view on medical care.

      In fact, two years ago we had to choose a country to move to for the long term, and we deliberately chose not to make that the US.

      I'd take Canada in a heartbeat though. Preferably BC, and not the flat bits in the middle.

  • Seraphin7 on 13/06/2023 - 13:57
    +1

    Depending on the totality of your circumstances, I would be valuing quality of living over cost of living, at least based on the examples you have proposed.

    If you are genuinely thinking in the way you have described, I would definitely be looking at regional Australian towns long before considering Turkey, Argentina, India, or Nepal.

  • kachi on 13/06/2023 - 14:11
    +1

    after having travelled quite a bit and lived in a number, i still think australia is really good!
    moving isn't hard, but what aboutthe visa/residency steps in the country you want to move to as well? visa / being a citizen or non citizen can have a great effect

  • Hangryuman on 13/06/2023 - 16:09
    +1

    I like Malaysia for the food and relaxed culture - but too hot and humid for me

    I like India for the food - but mostly too hot and humid, and too much crime and Hindu nationalism for me

    I'm staying in Sydney - my preferred temperature, my own paid-off home, familiar things I like, and recently named the best place in the world to live - https://www.timeout.com/sydney/news/sydney-named-the-best-pl… - why would I want to live anywhere else ?

    housing costs about $10Kpa for 2 of us (strata levies, rates, electricity, internet, water, insurance),

    and most food is discretionary - we could spend very little but with enough in retirement we eat out like twice a week and probably spend about $5pa for 2 for restaurants, and similarly for other stuff like household grocery or other shopping.

    • JamesLucas on 14/06/2023 - 15:32
      +2

      I'm heading to India next month. What type of crimes should I be focused on?

      • payless69 on 14/06/2023 - 19:04
        +1

        Ride on a Volvo bus tour: On the bottom of every receipt is a statement:
        Please help to make India a corruption free place by requesting a receipt for every purchase.

      • MITM on 14/06/2023 - 21:04
        -1

        @JamesLucas You could try pickpocketing to start with and work you way up to managing a boiler room.

      • virhlpool on 15/06/2023 - 19:46
        +1

        Keep your valuables safe and focus on good things that the country has to offer! Some aspects of life, culture, and economy will blow you away, positively.. They say once you visit India, you want to visit it again.. Have a great trip, mate!

        • JamesLucas on 15/06/2023 - 21:00
          +1

          Cheers, looking forward to it. Was last there 20yrs ago and took the general class train from Mumbai to Delhi. Life changing experience!

          • virhlpool on 16/06/2023 - 03:01
            +1

            @JamesLucas: That's the beauty really.. You can enjoy the best of food, luxury/hospitality, and nature and also experience and observe the general life around you at the same time. The country serves every type of tourist - be it a technologist, spiritual, adventurist, foodie, nature-lover, wildlife-lover, education-driven, shopper, festivities and vibrancy lover, history-lover, hospitality-lover, desert or snow explorer, or beach lover. Moreover, every state is a country in itself, each with a very distinct culture so it never gets boring really. Rare to find all this at depth within one destination.

    • vroomkroom on 16/06/2023 - 06:59

      Nice .. what you are saying is once the house is paid off, it only cost 10K PA to run it plus maintenance ? And 5K in grocery and other house hold essential for 2 people ? Is this even possible ?

  • madrigal on 13/06/2023 - 16:23
    +2

    El Salvador.

  • nephilim on 13/06/2023 - 16:37

    Thought about this a few times, HK would be good. Luxury of $200 flights to Japan, $800 flights to Aus.
    Thats if you have a degree thats in demand.

    • El cheepo on 13/06/2023 - 19:01
      +2

      HK is an expensive place to live if you want a western standard.

      • nephilim on 14/06/2023 - 13:35

        Yea thats why I said, knew someone who did a phd in accounting and came back to aus and bought a small farm.
        really depends on your profession

  • cycleri3 on 13/06/2023 - 18:17

    Move out of capital cities/to the bush.

  • Bohlen on 13/06/2023 - 18:19

    https://nomadlist.com/

  • grr1701 on 13/06/2023 - 18:47
    +1

    Maybe Thailand. Phuket???

  • Unacceptable on 13/06/2023 - 20:09

    When I retire I will live in Thailand during winter in Aus.

    • Griffindinho on 13/06/2023 - 23:23

      Find a beautiful Thai wife.

  • frostman on 13/06/2023 - 21:11
    +3
    • Dubai
    • Turkiye
    • Bangalore / India
    • Canada (if you can brave winter)
  • Mister Popo on 13/06/2023 - 21:39
    +3

    My family's from Malaysia, so I'd say there. Decent level of English spoken there in certain cities.

    • LayG on 14/06/2023 - 00:46

      All those varieties of food. I would pick Ipoh or Malacca if I were to settle there.

  • helpme on 13/06/2023 - 23:14

    Asian countries are cheap because of the conversion rate, Australia living cost is already getting pretty screwed but we're far from the worse yet. Why would you want to make living costs even harder for people in second or third world countries?

    • MITM on 14/06/2023 - 21:09

      1 among millions is hardly going to mater.

    • BluebirdV on 15/06/2023 - 15:11

      How are you making it harder for them? If anything you will put money into their economy.

  • We Out Here on 14/06/2023 - 00:28
    +11

    Not a hypothetical

    I actually did it march this year

    For context, 35 Male, house paid off in Sydney with a successful finance career - left for Vietnam to teach English

    Most thought i was crazy..i will try to rationalise my reasonings below

    Had enough of the rat race in sydney, i didnt need money that badly anymore, and with the teaching wages here, you can definitely have a very comfortable life

    I eat out at nice places, travel, rent a nice studio near the beach. Dating here is also much easier than Australia

    Vietnam is rapidly developing, heaps of expats here, modern amenities. Inflation here is barely felt (it feels like VN escaped inflation altogether?!). Australia has enormous issues right now with the cost of living and housing issues, amongst other things

    If and when i have enough of this, i can always return back to syd and live mortgage free with a less stressful job

    • johnfuller on 14/06/2023 - 08:37

      for now looks like its working for you but when its time to settle down, maybe you might have to come back..

    • Bystander on 15/06/2023 - 19:51

      Which city/town did you move to?

      • We Out Here on 16/06/2023 - 00:28
        +1

        hi mate, im in Nha Trang

        • Bystander on 16/06/2023 - 15:44

          Sounds nice.
          How did you line up the teaching work?
          You can PM me if you like.

          • We Out Here on 19/06/2023 - 12:45
            +1

            @Bystander: Hey mate sorry for the late reply

            essentially I just went to Vietnam and started applying. use facebook or apply direct to the schools

            things you need before you go:

            Any Bachelors degree (non negotiable, they wont hire you without one), TEFL/TESOL certificate, criminal record check

            however, you can also apply from abroad and get a skype interview

            you cant work in Vietnam without a TRC (visa) and the schools grant these. let me know if you need anything else :)

  • cc81 on 14/06/2023 - 00:41
    +8

    You're living in a prison planet my friend, some cells just have better views.

    • johnfuller on 14/06/2023 - 08:31
      +1

      its only a prison, if you make it a prison.

  • Ryanek on 14/06/2023 - 06:00

    I often fantasise about this but there are three things that would hold me back.

    The education standards for my kids.
    Being away from family.
    But most importantly the health care. If you get a major illness, be prepared to pay a lot.

    • johnfuller on 14/06/2023 - 08:36

      crime?
      security?
      safety?
      law enforcement?
      corruption?

      we have it good in Australia, the only real downside is cost of living.

      you can reduce cost of living by 90% but you will be in a country with other issues outlined above.

    • leiiv on 14/06/2023 - 15:20

      There is always a good and bad education anywhere in the world.
      It is more about what style of education you believed in and the level of standard/quality vs the cost.
      Public schools in Australia are much better compared to most developing countries for the price (which is free). To get better standards there you need to pay $$$.

  • ttt888 on 14/06/2023 - 11:31
    +1

    Go to CHINA!! very low inflation there… even contracting….

    • johnfuller on 14/06/2023 - 12:40
      +1

      you cant work in china, you cant buy a house in china.

    • El cheepo on 15/06/2023 - 10:23

      The cost of living in a major city in a nice 1/2 bedroom apartment is stupid expensive.

      Food is only cheap if you buy local.
      Western food and comforts cost an arm and a leg.

      And visas are very specific and not for everyone for work.

  • Dack Smith on 14/06/2023 - 11:51

    Still waiting for the crybabies in this thread to move to a cheaper third world country

    Do or do not…. There is no try

    Come on the neg vote people do what you preach

  • nomadspartan on 14/06/2023 - 11:58
    +2

    You can move away from Australia, but it's hard to beat the overall quality of life and opportunities that Australia provides. In certain areas, there my be countries that do better than Australia (e.g. public transport, housing) but chances are they're worse off than Australia in other areas (environmental tourism, healthcare etc). Australia is a jack of all trades, it does many things well, making it one of the best countries to live in.

    Now can we talk about increasing our motorway speed limits to 140km/h?

  • johnfuller on 14/06/2023 - 12:42

    rural australia /thread.

  • SupeNintendoChalmers on 14/06/2023 - 14:01
    +2

    Cambodia. Cheap and super friendly people.

    I predict in the next 20 years entire towns will exist there purely for 1st worlders to retire there in luxury.

    • Griffindinho on 14/06/2023 - 16:28
      +2

      White boomers are already retiring in SEA with their SEA wives.

  • Danger on 14/06/2023 - 14:40
    +16

    Heaven is an American salary, an English house, a Chinese cook, and a
    Japanese wife.
    Hell is a Chinese salary, a Japanese house, an English cook, and an
    American wife.

    • buckethat on 14/06/2023 - 18:13
      -2

      Japanese wives are known to cheat - so maybe not?

      • cucumber on 14/06/2023 - 19:24

        so those jav are actually based on true stories?

        • buckethat on 14/06/2023 - 22:11

          Hahaha, maybe.

          My comment is based on some family members I have that lives in Japan, and thats what they hear from their social groups.

          Also seen quite a number of those Youtube videos where people go around interviewing Japanese people asking if they've cheated, and majority of the people interviewed were. Of course they could've cut out the outs that didnt, but based on those vids and anecdotal stories.. I'd say theres a clear trend.

    • congo on 15/06/2023 - 16:07

      Hahahaha

  • buckethat on 14/06/2023 - 14:54

    I may be a bit ignorant but I would not have thought that any of the countries you mentioned had high standard of living.

  • ContinuousCustomer on 14/06/2023 - 15:55

    I’d suggest staying in Australia.

    Unless you can speak the languages in those countries.

  • capslock janitor on 14/06/2023 - 16:09

    DOWN-UNDER

  • capslock janitor on 14/06/2023 - 16:18

    Escape The Cost of Living?

    WHICEVER HAS HIGHEST CHANCE OF DTH

  • Blargman2001 on 14/06/2023 - 16:56

    Most places with cheaper cost of living also have lower standard of living. Pretty much anywhere in SE Asia, South America, Eastern Europe will be cheaper than here and will seem like ok places to live when you visit as a tourist. It's different when you live there and actually require the services, laws and regulations to work for you. I've spent considerable amounts of time in SE Asia and heaps of expats love it there but the corruption, lack of regulation on health, retail, laws in many areas, and transparency in government is severely lacking. Believe it or not, these are some of the things that make Australia a nice place to live. For example you can walk in to a doctor's clinic here and pretty much expect them to act in your best interest, in an ethical way. In some parts of SE Asia doctors are not afraid to upsell you on crap treatments you don't need or compromise on care for the sake of money.

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