Moving to Poland with Family - cost of living and salary?

Hi Everyone,
This is Arun from India currently in Singapore. I am planning to move to Wroclaw Poland. Could you please guide me about the living cost in Poland. How much salary is needed to live a normal life and to safe some money. Need everybodies valuable comments. Thanks.

Regards
Arun

Hi Arun,

It depends on what your employer in Poland is going to provide you with, for example accommodation, transportation, health insurance, schooling allowance for your children etc. It would help if you elaborated some more.

From what I hear from friends, cost of living in Singapore is higher than in Poland.

Thanks for your reply Polsyr. I will be offer 3000 Euro. But sure about the other allowances. Could you please elaborate some approximate expenses about rent, transport, provisions for a month etc ...

regards
Arun

Hi Arun,

I think I am in the same position as you were around 2 years back. I am planning to relocate to Gdynia from India.
May I ask you did you moved to Poland?

If yes, or if you have some information based on your research could be please help me with some information.

What is cost of living in Gdynia?
- House Rent (1 BHK / 2 BHK)
- Groceries
- Bills (electricity, internet, mobile (specially call to India) )

Cheers,
Gourav Kandari

Hi We are a family of 4 from Singapore. Moving to Warclow. What would be total cost of living? Is schooling free for indian kids? Are there any international schools?

Hi Forgot to add. We are pure Indian vegetarians. How easy/difficult it would be if we plan to move to Poland(Warclow)?

I can't answer the schooling question, other threads can do that.

Regarding vegetarianism, there are several vegetarian restaurants. Having used some of them, I'd say they're OK although one of them is pretty poor from what I sampled.

For cooking at home, if you're good at vegetable and lentil recipes you'll be OK. If you hope to find prepared vegetarian ready meals or TV dinners, there are very few options. Dried soya pieces in bags are available, but there's a limit to what you can do. Also a few other soya and flavouring (add water and cook) products but they're heavy and not particularly good. Tesco occasionally stocks vegetarian chicken nuggets. There are some vegetarian salami-style products in some supermarkets and also health food stores.

see also polishforums.com/work-43/pln-month-enough-people-live-wroclaw-69895/ et al

Hi Guys,

I would like to know minimum lease period that we can expect for studio apartments?

Do we easily get 6 months contracts?

Thanks!!

if you look for them YES its possible.

Merged: How much gross salary per month for a family of 3 moving from India to Wroclaw

Hi Friends,

I have been given an opportunity to work in this beautiful country. The discussions on salary side is on going. I would need your help to help me arrive at right figure. In India me and my wife we both work and my 8 year old goes to English school. We have our own car but rented apartment of 120 m2. Given all this, can you tell me how much a gross salary would be enough after taking into account:

- Schooling for 8 yrs old in English school (if possible please provide school details too)
- 80-100 m2 apartment on rent
- Transportation pass for 2 adults and 1 kid for a month
- Electricity, Gas, Cable & wifi charges for a month
- Grocery for 3 if cooked at home
- Charges if eaten out once a week
- Price of clothes - men & women
- Income tax rate for foreigner working in Poland
- What permit is needed if my wife wants to work too?

Any other thing that I should take in account and what I should be careful about while moving.

Thanks in advance for your help. Have a great weekend.

Cdt,
Amit

I think 7000 pln should be enough.

Witam! 7,000zl even clear for a family especially if sending kid to English speaking school (check for instance tuition at American School and at British School in Warsaw ;)) is NOT enough. One needs to also consider that a foreigner does not live, does not eat like a local and hence needs more money. Most Polish families manage with much less than 7,000zl since 70% of Poles make less than 2,700zl per month but they do not send their kids to expensive private schools and don't buy for instance foreign food products or very rarely. A single foreigner in Warsaw in order to enjoy life and not to have to count groszy needs at least 4,000zl netto per month so saying a family can live on 7,000zl, including tuition at an Engish-speaking school is nonsense. I would say for instance min. 10,000zl netto in order not to have count groszy. Struggling financially is very frustrating and quickly becomes unbearable when abroad.

Thank you Billy & Gosc. It gives me a perspective. So it is safe to say that a good English school will cost 4000+ zl that would be just tuition fees, right? Breakfast/Lunch for my kid and transportation will be extra.Any idea how much that would be?

Also can you throw some light to, how much it costs :

- 80-100 m2 apartment on rent
- Transportation pass for 2 adults and 1 kid for a month
- Electricity, Gas, Cable & wifi charges for a month
- Grocery for 3 if cooked at home
- Charges if eaten out once a week
- Price of clothes - men & women
- Income tax slab for foreigner working in Poland
- What permit is needed if my wife wants to work too?

And I completely agree no point to move to a struggling financial position abroad.

@Amit: a - good - English speaking school costs in Warsaw min. 1,000 usd/euros (not zl) per month (British and American schools, several times that). As to your expenses, nobody can give you détails but as I said, you need no less than 10,000 clear per month and it won't be a fortune especially if sending your kid to English-speaking school (beware of socalled "'international" schools which are cheaper but genuine Polish schools staffed by Polish teachers murduring English (and other languages ;) and who don't stay on the job very long;). Re your wife, in oder to work, she'll have to find a job for which potential employer shall need to apply for a work permit (to be renewed every year) which shall be issued only if no local (Pole + foreign resident) can do said job. Also realize that you may need to buy tickets home once in a while (your boss may pay for one a year but I am talking about unexpected trips because of family emergencies...).

Your wife is very unlikely to find an employer who will want to go through all the hassle of getting a work permit instead of just hiring somebody who doesn't need a work permit.

@Harry: you are absolutely right. Besides Poles, they are so many foreigners in Poland who don't need work permits so very unlikely for wife to find work...

ps: sorry for my mistake, I confused Euros and ZL. I confirm that in so called "international" schools, it is min. 1,000 euros/usd in Warsaw (the school in Kabaty was already 1,000 euros/MONTH some 8 years ago) and the British School and the American School were already 5,000ZL/MONTH at same time (so probably now min 6 or 7,000zl)

Can you provide actual examples of schools that charge several thousand dollars per month?

@Polsyr: Do read my second message. I meant ZL re the British School and the American School. I personnaly know that some 8 years ago, it was already 5,000ZL/month (so now probably 6 or 7,000). There are quite a few of those 'international" schools which cost min. 1,000euros/usdollars per month (I know 3 of them also personally). Needless to say, they are for expat kids whose tuition is paid for by employers and for very very rich locals...

Full fees at the British School in Warsaw are currently 80,900zl per year.

Thanks, Harry, to confirm my saying ;). The American School is about the same.... IAS was 1,000 EUROS/month 8 years ago and so was Montessory 4 years ago. It sure costs a lot....

The American School of Warsaw now goes up to USD11,880 plus PLN 41,000, per year, so about 85,000zl.

Looks like I started writing before you posted and posted after you. I guess somehow I manage to live in Warsaw yet remain disconnected from such expenses for now.

@Polsyr: No sweat! :) You know, such schools are amazingly expensive.. Anyway, life in Poland has become very expensive these past few years and a lot of things are now as or even more expensive as/than in the west (clothes, shoes, medical care, cars, gas, appliances....).

You will be a part of the small groups who sit by them selfs around here in Poland and get stared at daily. Then you leave.

Your better off in another country perhaps your own would be a good step. Lets face it your skills are not in demand and can easily be replaced by locals.

So expect the minute your company downsizes (and they all do!) and lets face it the world markets are in trouble that you will be on the list to be replaced first. The locals are much cheaper and you would have to move again, all that trouble will break your family life apart and sooner or later you will be a lonely bum on the street wondering what happened when your wife leaves you for a better man... and for what

For a few shiny pieced of gold is what happened.

Tell me about it... It would be nice if you sign up for the forum so people can write to you.

Amit, kaisa ho? do a research on what the average going salary for the position in the local market (many large agencies publish such reports annually in English, and they even give separate numbers for each major city) and find out where you stand. The apartment you are looking for is big by local standards. Let me give you some numbers to help you establish a baseline. The numbers I am going to list are monthly, including tax and in PLN.

Rent for 60-80 sqm apartment: About 2000-3000 (check what is included and what is not included in the rent agreement!)
Groceries for 2 adults and 1 child: About 1200-2000
Power + Gas + Water + Heat etc: About 400-800
Bus passes for 2 adults and 1 child: About 600-750 every 3 months so about 200-250 monthly
Mobile phone plan with data access: 50-100
Home Phone with internet: 75-100 (more if including TV channels)
Clothes: bring with you from India. Have an extra box shipped if you have to.
Meal outside for 3: McDees 45-60, decent local place 75-150. Not including alcohol. Finding veg/vegan cuisine can be challenging in some areas if this is of concern to you.

Fuel for a small car: assuming consumption 6L/100km diesel, assuming PLN 5 per L, PLN 300 per 1000 km. Parking in some areas can be expensive. Car rental is stupidly expensive. Buying a second hand car might be more financially sound. Insurance for owners without local license can be difficult or expensive to buy though. Stick to public transit whenever possible.

Wow...thanks a lot folks for the details. Special thanks to Polsyr. Main aacha hoon. Aap kasie ho? Much appreciated.
Can anyone share details on income tax slabs and rates please?

Witam! If in Warszawa, a 60-80sqm costs much more than 2,000/3,000.. FYI, I used to live on Hoza (till last Fall) and can say that a renovated and decent studio in Centrum often costs around 2,500zl. ;) and that in my building, renovated 55sqm were at 4,0000zl. There is no way to find a 60-80sqm for 2-3,000 in Warszawa unless a rundown communist shhole in lousy neighborhood or move out of the city (like to Raszyn where most Indians live).

sorry, 4,000 ;)

Hello All , I am planing to move to Wroclaw , and need to know about average cost of living now. I can see some useful information above , but I need some accurate stats for Wroclaw , as I have seen that Warsaw being capital city is bit more expensive. Also , do we have some specific Indian locality in Wroclaw , as we do have in Warsaw?

Thanks
Rishi

Hey Rishi,
Polsyrs stats above are accurate Wroclaw stats.

Hi Guys, is poland is good place to bring family (kids n wife)? and settle here.. please suggest... thank you

Really?. All high end. Rents here in Gdynia for 65 metres are around 1,600 for modern /high standard. Gas 300 (in winter) Bus/ SKM 200 zl.Internet 120 MB 70 zl. Are you quoting Warsaw prices?