3500 Euro Gross in Poland for a family of 2 Adults and a kid, any good?

Hello Friends,

How good is an offer of 3500 Euro Gross in Poland for a family of 2 Adults and a kid ?

How much would it cost for a 2BHK Warsaw ?

3500-4000 PLN per month inclusive of building fees, security and underground parking. ( 1,000 Euro )

Thank you for the reply. I think the rent is too high. I was looking more at a max of 2000 PLN. Do you think that the salary offer is worth for a freelance IT Specialist with a moderate life style ?.

Also can you please tell me how much will be the tax for this amount ?

2000 PLN will get you a one bedroom flat. (45 m2).
Subtract a third to get net pay.

Thank you. I was told that the tax will be around 26%. Now I know its more than that. Do you think this is a good offer for a IT Specialist in Poland?. Is it good enough for a family of 3 with a moderate life style ?

No idea if it's a good offer without knowing what you're offering exactly - there's IT and IT.

3500 Euro after tax should net you around 2200 Euro = 8800PLN at current exchange rates. You won't save a lot but you'll live comfortably enough, with room to spare.

I think you would struggle, life's not cheap in Poland anymore, I'm paying 6-7 EUR for a mall foodcourt lunch each day in Warsaw. Have you thought about where you would send your kid to school ? International school fees in Warsaw are in the range of 20k USD per annum. Who are you going to be working for - Wipro?

I'm not in IT but have friends who are in Warsaw. Here is the range I know but other might give you other examples. At Warsaw University - 3000 PLN; writing code for private banks - about what you are offered. I would say the offer is good. A two bedroom flat will range from 2500-4000(garage, security) like Warszawski wrote. Say that you pay 3500 for housing, which is about a third of your net pay, and I would say you will do fine.

A captain in the police - 4500PLN.
An engineer with LOT- 3500 PLN.
A PKO bank manager- 4000 PLN.
Minimum wage- 1300 PLN.

Edit:

Here, I already found you a decent flat near the Wilanow Palace. This will skip the culture shock:

rentbuyestates.pl/en/offer/rbe567/3-room-apartment-at-sarmacka-str-miasteczko-wilanow

If it's 14000zl a month (3500 euro - though I'd strongly urge that the salary should be negotiated in zloty and not in Euro) - then unless I'm totally wrong, he should be getting around 9800zl a month - or what, 2450 euro net? That's according to this - money.pl/podatki/kalkulatory/plac/


Depends on what you want as moderate. There's no need to pay for underground parking garage, security for the building (Poland isn't unsafe - and while guarded estates are fashionable as hell at the minute, there's really no harm in living somewhere unguarded - probably the nicest estate in Poznan is unguarded, for instance - the guarded ones are horrible places to live - could be different in Warsaw, though).

But yes, it's certainly good enough.

What I'd actually recommend would be renting a place for a month while you get the feel of Warsaw - then you'll know where you want to live and what you can afford. Poland can be incredibly cheap (a monthly public transport pass in Warsaw is 20 euro, for instance) or incredibly expensive - it all depends what you want.

Look at the areas of Kabaty and Ursynow or Bielany, they are on the metro line, so it will make travel a little easier. Kabaty would be good if you have a child, friendly area with lots of young families.

Thank you Guys. I have an option to choose between Krakow or Warsaw. I am not sure which place to choose. I have read that both cities are excellent.

No I am not working for Wipro. My baby is just 1 and a half yrs old. So as of now I am not worried about schooling. But thanks a lot for the info. May be I will be staying for another 2-3 years depending on the job. So I should also collect info about kindergarten/Primary schooling too. Is it really that expensive for private schooling ? I had heard that education standard are good in Poland. Regarding food, I will be having my family with me. So mostly it will be home cooked. :)


I agree. For me the only concern will be safety and not fashion. I don't want to spend too much on housing. What I would be looking for is a descent apartment in a friendly neighborhood. By moderate I mean I am not too much into nightlife/pubs/dance bar etc. Also I will be using public transport mostly. I have no plans of buying a car as of now. I intend to save some money for future. So basically what I am looking for is a descent life with some savings.

No it will not be more: it will actually be less than that. The problem is that you shouldn't listen to Poles who have no idea about earning that kind of money. All you do is set yourself up as a sole trader (pretty easy to do) and then invoice your employer. That way you pay 19% flat rate tax and ZUS (approximately 200zl per month for the first two years and approximately 700zl per month after that). This also means that you can deduct things like a percentage of your rent/bills as a business expense and your car, laptops, etc, etc as well.

On 14,000zl a month you will pay no more than 3,000zl total tax and ZUS. I certainly don't pay more!

Alas, I think he's non-EU and non-American, so that route won't be open to him. I was wondering the same thing myself, but saying 2BHK points at being Asian.


Ah, you can get much cheaper than that - that's just the price for the "international schools" for rich spoiled kids of diplomats and suchlike. For someone such as yourself, there are plenty of decent schooling options available outside of that sector.


Shouldn't be a problem at all then - but I'd strongly recommend living somewhere along the metro line.

Depends on what rights Poles have in his country. I know that non-EU non-Americans can be sole traders here (I know Kiwis, Aussies and Saffers who are).

Thank you for the clarification Harry. Is it only applicable for contract jobs or can we do the same for permanent jobs ? I mean, Is there any specific conditions to do that ?

It can be for permanent jobs. The problem is that you lose all labour law rights and that you can only have one invoice per month going out to the same company. However, that's not such a problem: all you do is agree with your boss your annual salary and then vary the monthly amount by +/- 10% and make sure the annual total is right. Also you buy a few invoice from friends who also have one-person companies.

Its very high for a Polish IT developer, probably double or more a local's pay.

It was really helpful. Thank you very much. Is there a link for Krakow ? Most the sites I have checked don't have english language option. Can you please suggest some good places in Karkow too ?

How much does a good english speaking Nursery/Pre-school cost ? I don't see much information over websites.


Thanks for the info. I was told that the company will be finding a house for me. I will check with them. They had told that they will take care of the relocation.

here's one in Wilanow (Warsaw) with prices.

Thank you for the info. I am not a developer. But I would say that salary in Poland is much lower compared to other countries like Germany or Switzerland. May be due to the difference in cost of living.

I'd be very careful in this respect - companies have a bad habit of putting people into soulless expensive apartments in areas which are very unfriendly and "cold".

What I'd suggest is getting them to sort you out with a short term let for one month - and then you can find somewhere yourself. As others have posted, you can find somewhere nice quite easily and inexpensively.

db1874

Hi,
I am Anand from India. I am working in wipro in IT. I have to travel to Poland for an long trip(may be 2 years). My office is in Piaseczno(near warsaw). Right now i am planning to move alone & later next year i plan to take my family. I have a daughter of 6 years who is studying 1st class now. I think i will be gettng around (approx.. it will not be less than that) 3000 euro's per month as gross salary. Is that will be ok for having a moderate life in poland with my daughter's schooling(next year 2nd class) in some moderate school teaching in english? Please advice me on this.

link??

Read the post: those numbers are what people told him.

Hello Everyone!

Frankly, I need your help to figure out if I have to accept a job offer or decline it. Probably I will get a job in Gdansk (Poland) tomorrow as final decision, for more clarification the Job title will be as "Help Desk Support" and I am looking forward to get your assisstance in order to know what is the most proper expected monthly Salary should be ?

I have 2 MSc degrees (MSc Computational Structural Engineering) and (MSc Environmental Economics and Sustainability), but the Job offer mentioned above far away from my proffesion some how. I have a familly therefore I need you to tell me what is the monthly cost of living in Gdansk for 2 adults and 1 child (5 years old) ?

I will be so appreciated for your kind and fast reply before I make the final interview and sign the contract.

@Azhar PhD

Help desk support is unlikely to pay enough to support a foreign family of three in Poland. Housing, all inclusive, rent, administration fees and all utilities except internet/TV/telephone will set you back 2000 to 2500 PLN. Food and household expenses will set you back another 1500 to 2000 PLN, depending on how much you cook at home versus eating and snacking away from home. Then there is clothing, other purchases and travel and recreation. And school for the child. Good schools in English medium are very expensive.

Forget about savings. You will have trouble saving up even a modest rainy day fund.

And don't forget to deduct the cost of relocating to and from Poland from your monthly wages. This includes all travel expenses, visa fees, and the cost of getting your residency permits.

My advice is to conduct a proper job search focusing on richer countries. The best jobs are advertised solely by word of mouth, face to face in the real world. Recruiters and internet sites get only the table scraps, the jobs no one else wants because the work $ucks and the wages are low. Build up, develop and exploit your real-world network of contacts, especially those who have worked in ricer countries. With your qualifications, you will be able to find something far better than a help-desk flunky in Poland.

Bread cost 3zl, butter 5zl, milk 3zl, potatoes 1zl, muesli 4zl, chocolate 10zł ;) I have spent 700 zl pcm for food. Clothing is rather expensive in PL. Bus, tram 4zl.

@DominicB

I am so appreciated for your detailed clarification and great advise :) ... Based on that I sent an email to decline the offer. I hope to find better job as soon as possible because as everyone know that I had a problems to get a proper job due to that I am an Iraqi citizen firstly and not a European citizen from another side! Thanks again and I will be optimistic as possible as I have to in order to keep going and reach my dreams.

@peter_olsztyn

Thanks alot Peter! . In fact I visited poland 3 times before 1 year therefore I have an Idea about the food expenses based on visit to Krakow and Warsow. But I had no Idea about the Utilities expenses there and the TAX issues, But I became have some clear information because of your help guys :). The Job offer I got wasn't proper for me as I am sure now, because the monthly salary was less than 2000 Euro and according to that I will suffer alot if I accept the offer. I will try to search for better Job opportunity as DominicB advised me to do from logical point of view.