How come Poles have 2 cars, mobile phones - but make so little money?

If my information is slightly out please forgive me but I have several polish friends who work in the lezno/wroclaw area - I know it's a big area. They all tell me the typical average wage is 1000pl a month but all have mobile phones, two have cars and all

do not seem particularly short of money.
Yet if you go to the galleria shopping centre in wroclaw all the shops are expensive, is it media market ! with a 100 different types of tv's, ipod,s, stereos etc etc, some are more expensive than the uk and media market and the centre always appears busy.

The figures do not seem to add up.
Why is this !
Thanks for any views........

If they have a partner costs may be shared on things like the TV and stereo. Also, there are a lot of things bought on credit. 1,000zl is low, many people earn more.

thats what i was thinking coz i know a guy who is earning about 4,000zl

Prices in Poland are high.Due to demand?Not exactly.There is a certain rip off,corruption distracts market values.
Average income is 2400 zloty per month,though mean is different(of course you will never know that).
I am not sure much about polish economy appear on paper.

I thought average and mean were the same? Did you mean median?

I m sorry,median.The value where 50% has income above and 50% of population has income below.Anyway income differences in Poland are less striking than in Russia for example but higher than in CR.

So, take the 1000 zloty with a pinch of salt !
Even if you double the monthly money it would still not explain
how media market stay in business !

Hehe, there is funny text about it... maybe someone will translate it to English :>

"Polska. Oto znajdujemy się w świecie absurdu. Kraj, w którym co piąty mieszkaniec stracil życie w czasie drugiej wojny światowej, ktorego 1/5 narodu żyje poza granicami kraju i w którym co 3 mieszkaniec ma 20lat. Kraj, który ma dwa razy więcej studentow niż Francja, a inżynier zarabia tu mniej niz przeciętny robotnik. Kraj, gdzie czlowiek wydaje dwa razy więcej niż zarabia, gdzie przeciętna pensja nie przekracza ceny (!) trzech par dobrych butow, gdzie jednoczesnie nie ma biedy, a obcy kapital się pcha drzwiami i oknami. Kraj, w którym cena samochodu równa się trzyletnim zarobkom, a mimo to trudno znależć miejsce na parkingu. Kraj, w ktorym rządzili byli socjalisci, a święta kościelne były i są dniami wolnymi od pracy (!) Cudzoziemiec musi zrezygnować tu z jakiejkolwiek logiki, jeśli nie chce stracić gruntu pod nogami. Dziwny kraj, w którym z kelnerem można porozmawiać po angielsku, z kucharzem po francusku, ekspedientem po niemiecku, a ministrem lub jakimkolwiek urzędnikiem pństwowym tylko za pośrednictwem tłumacza. Polacy..! Jak wy to robicie..?"

Ewerybody are talking, that polse earn more than 1000 PLN. meaby someone tell them abroat how dificult is to live in poland, about lot of people do not go out I mean to the theatre, cinema, pubs or restaurant, becouse they want to buy new TV or something else. Self-denial - this is base in poland

LOL !!!

First of all may Poles dont have money but the things they have are things which they get from family members living in the USA for example, my friends dont work but they have a house and car because they get evrything they need from there families in USA hahahahaha secondly to own a cell phone means nothing u can get a contract for 2 zl a month hahaha also many Poles live on debt so dont think its paid for ....

One word: kombinowanie!

People live these "higher" life styles artificially. Rich or well off parents buy their kids everything they want. They also set them up with well paid jobs. In many cases these parents buy everything "na kredyt" and can't go a single minute away from work because that would put them in financial trouble. They do this mostly na pokaz (for show). Not everyone, but most.

Polak potrafi.

amen..

Spot on, These are golden words and I couldn't agree more..well said...

The point is that a lot of the things that the Poles have is 'just for show'. They are like little children and never think about tomorrow. They never put anything by for a 'rainy day' and instead just spend for the moment. The never keep money for long and are not used to a capitalist market system.


Czy to nie to samo po calym swiecie? Czy Prezident Bush mowi po polsku na przyklad ?ale wiem co najmniej, ze nasz Tony Bliar mowi dosyc dobrze po francusku. Czyba ktos w barze mowi obce jezyki bardziej bo on albo ona pracowala za granica dlatego, ze nie ma takiej pracy w Polsce.

I also think that Poles like to show off. They (we) are particulary crazy about clothes. I know families who have old furniture, dirty carptets at home but when parading on street would always be dressed up. The cell phones aren't that expensive if you buy them in pawnshops and there's planty of those. You would also find many folks who would generally care little about what they eat and rather save for that car or phone or flat screen tv.

generalisation....
i know other families who do not.. infact an elderly mother who quit smoking just to ensure her daughter could have textbooks at school not a barbie doll?

it is true in many other communites - i think the point u r missing is that 'this is materialism' and human nature of pride.. a connection..

True, but in Poland everyone is trying to "out materialize" their neighbour, friend, etc... everyone! Poles are very individualistic and compete with one another.

Last summer i was amazed by this behaviour as everyone tells their friends (and basically everyone they know) about their extravagent vacations to exotic places, what they buy, how much they make.... Things that I would never brag about with my peers/family nor would most here in canada.

now they say in Poland

Ameryka dla byka, Kanada dla dziada, Polska dla Pana

I can see the same type of behavior brought to the USA. It gets really bad if there are many people from the same town in Poland. They always rival with each other who got the most here, a bigger house, a more expensive car, a newer, bigger TV a most recent trip to some exotic place - you name it. People are so quick to reveal how much money they make and, it is always more than the person they are talking to. Yes they work hard for it, sometimes two jobs so they can brag and show off the goods they acquire. Listening to conversations like that makes me happy that I don't know of any person here who is from my town... :)

My American friends, my neighbors or my coworkers don't give a darn what I drive or what I wear and I don't judge them based on their earthly possessions either. We live in nice burbs, we have good jobs, we have houses/condos...whatever, but they are not a reason for competition. So much less pressure! :)

is it Bialystok or Monki ?

Generalizing as usu! It's true that we talk about money, but maybe because I live in Podkarpacie where the money is different, it's not braging but the other way round :) My friends moan all the time how little they earn, which is actually around this 1200 zl ( I know exactly how much they get) still they have cell phones, cars, most live in flats/ houses they could buy after their weddings or with the help of their families or by saving the money they earned abroad.

I know people though that earn less and get paid irregularly and I know some that earn a lot lot more.
I moved to the country this year and my new neighbour has a dvd player, internet connection but ... no running water ( toilet) at home so perhaps its just a matter of priorities .

hahahh that s what came to my mind at first, when i saw title of the thread^^