Is Poland Really a Cheap Country?

BIG NEWS FROM RUSSELL! HELP US GET TO TEXAS! I am on a mission to send a Polish youth baseball team from Katowice to Austin, Texas in the spring of 2025 for some PL vs. USA baseball games! If you have been enjoying my videos over the last six years, I'd love to have you contribute to this exciting idea by donating whatever you can to either the GoFundMe link or the Zrzutka.pl link below. Every little bit helps us a lot, and it would mean so much to these kids and make my decade! Thank you in advance, and see you in the next episodes :)
GoFundMe: gofund.me/0707c630
Zrzutka.pl: zrzutka.pl/7uuyv6
After hearing "Poland is so cheap" for the millionth time, I think it's a good time to clear up how Poland is anything but inexpensive for those who live and work here. Tell us what you think in the comments section!
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[@radzio40k]

Central Europe= Western prices, Eastern payments

[@JimFortune]

I'm very lucky. I have an American retirement, and Polish bills!

[@ebarteldes]

And that is why you guys are reluctant to join the Euro Zone?

[@dol672]

@@ebarteldes Not only that, there is also a fairly large party of conservative, populist politicians and the Catholic Church who at all costs make people hostile to the euro and business, while dreaming of unrealistic state projects such as the Polish National Car or Polish commercial national holding or Polish shipyards

[@TheTehMaster]

@radio2k 100% true nothing to add...

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

@@dol672 Why on earth would Poland want and benefit from euro? To be more of a slave of western nation that rob Poland and exploit Polish workers for their profits while paying little to none taxes?

[@mateuszcielas3362]

woow, coke, you must be damn rich

[@ulysses1685]

Ty, i jeszcze oryginalna, prawdziwa Cola a nie jakaś tam Hoop. Co za burżuj! 😂

[@jerryl6634]

Borrowed from someone for the footage 😉

[@Pinzpilot101]

@@ulysses1685 Hoop Cola is the worst cola in the world.!!!

[@JimFortune]

@@Pinzpilot101 I'll take Hoop over Pepsi!

[@Pinzpilot101]

@@JimFortuneEveryone has different tastes.....but to me Hoop doesn't even taste like cola? Biedronka used to do a good alternative to Coke.....very close in taste.

[@lodamaupo]

Central Europe = western prices, eastern salaries...

[@damianbuzon8119]

: )

[@corsent6791]

Basically, yes. :/

[@drawzq7706]

exactly:)

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

No it's not. Central Europe is vastly superior to Eastern Europe in everything regarding the economy and living standard whoever made this statement should seek a professional medical mental care.

[@idontfeelsogood2063]

​@@user-mh2uj7ns6h LOL, still living in the 80's? Iron curtain is long gone and centre of Europe is somewhere between Poland and Germany so pretty much Poland is Central Europe.

[@LilianFlame]

Russell, thank you so much for saying this! Living here and hearing tourists say "it's so cheap!" is really hurtful exactly for the reasons you've listed and it's really nice to know that someone not born here understands. It just makes us feel like not only are we poor, but also screwed over. Our time, knowledge and experience is much less valued here than it would be somewhere else. So once again thank you so much for this episode and keep going!

[@axolotlmex9546]

That is why many Poles are working in the UK or in other countries. To buy a house in Poland you have to work about 3 years in UK, in Poland about 10 years (without other expenses). Now actually moving to UK and coming back after few years does seem like a decent plan for a young Pole.

[@wujekstalin1]

That depends. If youre working for minimum wage youre never buying a house. You would need to save 100% of your salary for 10 years (at least) which is not realistic

[@slvva]

I don't think so, you forgot that if you go to UK you live in this country so your expenses are in GBP. If you have low skills job it will be over 80% of your earnings but you have to cut prices on food. Renting's are crazy high now I pay les monthly mortgage for 3 times bigger house than for renting 2 bedroom flat 4 years ago and now prices raised a lot. That savings you mentioned are no longer true like it was 10 years ago.

[@slvva]

​@@wujekstalin1 Exactly!!! In my town low skilled worker has about 800 -1000GBP monthly for full time but rent for one room is 350 for one to 500 for two people.

[@s99614]

Today I learned that still happens! I already knew that was going on like 100 years ago or more.

[@panthiocodin864]

Are you kidding me? 3 years in UK? I believe average salary is around 30k while properties prices are out of the sky! 3 bed property will cost you at least 200k in most of the places and TBH quality and size is far behind expectations

[@theeatht562]

Prices related to health care in the US are absolutely ridiculous. When I first heard about them from my friends from the US I thought that they were joking.

[@zurugar1530]

It is often cheaper to fly to Europe, rent an apartment for a month, pay a regular price for a surgery and bear the costs of living during recovery, fly back to US after that than pay US prices for their healthcare.

[@janekjanek2588]

​@Wolnościowiec Interesting theory ... According to that medical services in Europe are cheaper because in Europe the insurance and medical markets are totally free. Really?

[@penguinsfan251]

@@janekjanek2588 Free? Nothing is for free.

[@janekjanek2588]

@@penguinsfan251 Before you comment something, read the text you are referring to.

[@jamesnfl]

Don't you know the "L stroke" is pronounced as a "w". It's pronounced ZWoty not ZLoty. WTF?

[@blubrydarka2028]

Dobre porównanie. Mieszkam w uk i tutejsi mówią mi jaka polska tania. Mówię owszem dla zachodniej kieszeni tak, ale nie jeśli mieszkasz tam na stałe. I zadaje im pytanie, jak myślą dlaczego się przeprowadziłem do uk? Bo lubię ruch lewostronny, małe szare szeregowe i zapleśniałe domki, dwa krany w umywalce? Oczywiście że nie

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

Bo jesteś zmywaczem kibli, dlatego się tam przeniosłeś. Prawda jest taka, że Polska w 2004 miała olbrzymie bezrobocie (wynik efektów Balcerowicza kolonizacji zachodu i nieudanego eksperymentu z neoliberalizmem za który wszyscy płacimy) rozumiem, że byłeś zatrudniony przed przeprowadzką do UK? Raczej wątpie skoro 20% osób nie miało pracy, jeszcze gorzej z młodymi.

[@KingManul]

Dwa krany w umywalce?

[@AffidavidDonda]

@@KingManul angole mają oddzielny kranik do zimnej i ciepłej wody, bo historycznie mieli oddzielne systemy do ciepłej i zimnej z różnymi ciśnieniami. np. jak w zimnej rurze jest wyższe ciśnienie, to woda idzie z zimnej rury w ciepłą "pod prąd". gdzieś też słyszałem, że przyczyny były higieniczne (czysta zimna woda + ciepła woda z bakteriami), ale prawdziwy problem to różnica ciśnień.

[@KingManul]

@@AffidavidDonda Dzięki za wyjaśnienie, myślałem że to jakiś inside joke który zrozumieją tylko ci którzy mieszkają w uk. W sumie brzmi to trochę jak nazwa jakiegoś zespołu punk rockowego.

[@WoZYtaZ83071]

@@KingManul Jeden z ciepłą wodą drugi z zimną ;)

[@rcon777]

Its cheap af if you dont work there lol

[@iksvulokos4041]

Big brain

[@ebarteldes]

That’s what my friends tell me

[@pinang1]

not really. It's cheap if you work in a coutnry with decent salary. If you're unemployed in Poland it's rather worse than working.

[@OrionOnion]

Oh but it is cheap!.. for tourists

[@brzeczyszczykiewicz4476]

It used to be cheap, 10 or more years ago. Every time I visit now the GBP I earn in Scotland that I bring gets me ultimately less and less stuff in return.

[@PiotrPilinko]

Also GBP 15 years ago cost about 7PLN, while now it costs about 5PLN.

[@spiety75]

4:26 fun fact - Levi's has its own factory in Płock, Poland so this pair of jeans was not imported :-)

[@LoveMyPoland]

Hmm 🤔

[@s99614]

Or he bought it at an overpriced shopping mall.

[@LoveMyPoland]

@@s99614 No, I bought them at the official Levi's store. A friend of mine bought a pair at 500. I actually got a good deal.

[@HAL-kd7ve]

Who wears this crap anyways :)

[@Pidalin]

and we had coca-cola factory in former communist Czechoslovakia, it's really funny, you almost can't buy that, but you have factory where it's manufactured :-D

[@ThatHaitian]

Yeah Poland is very expansive. But many people sort of get around it by growing some of their food. Many people I knew had their own allotments. From Spring all the way to Fall, they would harvest their veggies, potatoes. and would pickle jar for Winter. Some of my best memories there was going mushroom picking. Poles are very resilient and resourceful. Bardzo Kocham Polska.

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

Wow, I've never seen such an ignorant comment. So untrue

[@ThatHaitian]

@@user-mh2uj7ns6h Please elaborate.

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

@@ThatHaitian Nobody cultivates own vegetables to survive.

[@ThatHaitian]

@@user-mh2uj7ns6h You misunderstood me. Some grow vegetables as a way of economical benefit. When I resided in Poland, I lived in a town, Człuchów. And it was common for the locals to grow food in their allotments. My neighbor showed me how to pickle, took me on mushroom picking, etc. And I loved it. So my statement was not to belittle Polish people. The ones that I knew were very hands on when it comes to agriculture and forestry.

[@vra_in]

Yes. I’m a polish person living in detached house and we have a garden where we harvest veggies every year. My town is quite small (7000 citizens). Every year when autumn is coming we would go to pick some mushrooms. We make lots of our own food like pickle jars as you said, but also the reason for this is tradition, but also the costs of living. The salary is even worse in tiny towns.

[@nonperson22]

Russell nie narzekaj, stać cię na cole to musi ci się nieźle powodzić 😉 My przerzucamy się na polococktę 😅

[@LoveMyPoland]

Właśnie uwielbiam Polokoktę 💪

[@ISOlatorPL]

@@LoveMyPoland Polecam sprawdzić jeszcze Czecho-Słowacką konkurencję, Kofola ;) można ją znajeźć w ALDI

[@Kostislavski1]

A może po prostu czas zacząć pić wodę, a nie ciągle słodzone gówno? :)

[@AsterFoz]

@@ISOlatorPL A gdzie można znaleźć Aldi? W Berlinie chyba najbliższe. :P

[@ISOlatorPL]

@@AsterFoz niestety Aldi nie prowadzi stałej sprzedaży Kofoli, sprzedawana jest jedynie w puszkach, zwykle leży w koszu gdzie są okresowe towary, trzeba zaglądać i sprawdzać

[@thomaspeacock7248]

Russell, Thank you for putting a perspective on wages and pricing. I visited Poland in 2018 as a member of a pilgrimage group. I loved everything in Poland. We in the USA forget that wages are higher and our currency is still fairly strong compared to others. Concerning housing, I live in a seniors apartment that is income restricted, meaning that the rental rates are partially subsidized by our state government. My income cannot exceed $38,999/year to remain living here. Plus, all residents must be at least 62 years of age. Most of my neighbors live on a fixed income (Social Security and retirement), while I work full time. My rent is $1,069/month for 580 sq ft. That alone is more than 50% of my total net pay each month. But the average rental rate here in Metro Denver, Colorado can range from $850-$2,000 per month or more for the same size apartment.

[@Qwertypp10]

Sugar tax also taxes the non sugar drinks :D

[@LoveMyPoland]

That's right! 😊

[@s99614]

Just like Philadelphia..

[@janjohnny4945]

I to jest wlasnie skandal...przecież tam NIE MA CUKRU

[@Qwertypp10]

@@janjohnny4945 Jak to było w pewnym memie, "Polacy lubią małe podatki, dlatego dam im dużo małych podatków". @Mateusz Morawiecki

[@AsterFoz]

but it taxes not: sugar itself, sweets, cookies, chocolate, desserts like Monte or Danio etc. ONLY drinks. And they say it's because they want people to eat less sugar...

[@MeteEro]

i dunno but after seeinying this vid this makes me sad :( i lived in Poland and 2 years ago ive decidet to move to UK... and think now that was best decision in my life, seeining whats goin now in Poland :(

[@celinaduguay6484]

This is a very interesting video and it's really useful. I'm planning to visit Poland when it's safe to travel again.

[@AmericanAccentMastery]

Very interesting video Russ! It's so difficult to compare cost of living between countries I find- there are so many variables to consider. Even comparing Canada and the US is tricky. I would love to be able to pay a few hundred dollars for medical though;) Happy 2021 to you and yours:)

[@LoveMyPoland]

Happy 2021 to you and yours as well! 😊

[@henryford1160]

Value of currency doesn't lie

[@glowackijacek.85]

Thank you for this video :) It's very good.

[@LoveMyPoland]

Thanks for all your compliments. I appreciate it 🙏

[@JimFortune]

I started reading price tags as dollars instead of złoty, and it works for a lot of things. I'm just afraid to go back to the US where the price tags are similar numbers, but they're dollars for dollars!

[@behemothkr2373]

Great video!!!!!!!

[@wladyslawbukowski]

Spot on assessment, thank you.

[@loveniczek]

Thank you for saying it out loud! A really clear comparison, I'll forward the video to my EU friends as a must-see.

[@MVTX]

This reminds me a lot of the Philippines. If you want Western quality, expect Western prices. And like Poland, the wages of the workers does not keep up with inflation. Cars are really expensive in the PH compared to the USA; same goes for things like fast food, gasoline, western food establishments i.e. TGIF Fridays and Applebee's. It is easy to live cheap there but you have to live like a local which most Westerners are not willing to do.

[@Pinzpilot101]

I agree with you about cars in some ways, but where I live in the Podkarpacie, the Technical test takes 5 minutes....in UK it is more than half an hour they test everything and costs a lot more because even 3 year old cars fail in UK. So running a car in Poland if you can do your own maintenance and things like brakes etc can be a hell of a lot cheaper than Germany or UK.

[@peterdurnien9084]

Yes I worked that out for myself when I visited New Zealand some years ago. Stuff was cheap, houses especially. But that was compared to UK, wages in NZ however were small, so small they were about a quarter of UK wages.

[@krismalecki8278]

One of the best vlogs of yours. Bravo Russell !

[@LoveMyPoland]

Dziękuję bardzo 😊

[@fiucik1]

There are some products that are actually cheaper in UK than there are in Poland. Deodorants, shower gel, that sort of things. In UK you can easily buy it for under one pound, which is about 5zł. And some food too. Camambert for example. Used car are much cheaper. Shame that insurance is so expensive...

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

But overall UK is Europe's one of the most expensive countries.

[@wojtekburzynski654]

In Warsaw you can get 50 square meters flat for just under half a million pln, and it isn't even in City centre.

[@ebarteldes]

I saw this place in Warsaw, it went for 500 K USD, it was this luxury building near the train station designed by Daniel Liebeskind... crazy

[@wojtekburzynski654]

@@ebarteldes i wasn't talking about any luxury stuff. Normal flat with 2 rooms, bathroom and a kitchen in Praga południe cost enough you could just buy ground and build house in other part of Poland.

[@ebarteldes]

@@wojtekburzynski654 so you’re telling me Praga is considerably cheaper than Centrum? Or Ochota? I have a friend who bought in Ochota. Got to know Praga well over the years. It has developed a lot, you know that place with the umbrellas?

[@wojtekburzynski654]

@@ebarteldes It is cheaper. Especially Praga północ. But południe not as much, but still a little. Generaly right side of Warsaw is more affordable.

[@ebarteldes]

@@wojtekburzynski654 thanks

[@TheMalina39]

As you mentioned, the prices of goods are mostly the same because otherwise you could take advatage of arbitrage. The difference in prices can be seen in services which are untradable. For instance, you can only use service of hairdresser locally. That's why the prices of such services differ between countries. In economics it's explained by Balassa-Samuelson theory.

[@kazgoz2529]

I'm Polish, I live in Canada for over 30 years close next to US border. What I notice life in the US is much cheaper than in Canada too... When there is a sale in a store in the US, the prices are at crazy discount.

[@celinaduguay6484]

I live in Canada, next to the American border too. When my family would exchange Canadian money for American, they would lose money. Canada makes a lot of bills and coins so it makes the price of an item more expensive.

[@penguinsfan251]

Canada has a massive GST on a lot of what is sold in stores. The IS has no national VAT or national sales tax. Sales taxes vary by state.

[@swedenreality6082]

thats a really nice advice about not converting currency and just taking it 1:1. It makes things easier to grasp.

[@pinang1]

well the main point is: salaries are too low and taxes too high. Nothing more to it

[@penguinsfan251]

It sounds like a lot of the Polish private sector is out to pay people as little as possible to maximize their own profits....just like American companies moving their IT to India and manufacturing to China....pay them enough to eat dirt....

[@mazurvwzone]

Wages are low because they are meant to be. I cannot imagine that a guy who clicks one button all day earns as much as a qualified employee. In such a world, we would come to the conclusion that it is not worth learning new things and improving our qualifications, if we could earn the same as a guy position higher. Unfortunately, such a phenomenon is slowly taking place, at least here in Poland. This is called flattening the wage curve. So, if schools teach us to be employees instead of employers, it is no wonder that the employee market is abundant and the employer will find another employee on the same day who will not have to raise his salary. Again, don't blame the capitalists for taking advantage of the laws of the market. Blame the education system that breeds hamsters, blame the greedy politicians who push the pro-monopoly rights of "lobbyists". This is paracapitalism

[@hdkl6892]

Thats not problem of private sector but taxes... for 1l of gasoline youre paying 80% of taxes. That's why gasoline in Poland is so expensive

[@maciejderen5005]

That's a 30-year long tradition of polish companies to pay a salary close to minimum wage. Meanwhile, the polish businessman buys new, expensive car every 2,3 year and complains about high taxes for companies. The "best" is that poles like it and still praise the local version of capitalism. :)

[@mmmbbb2482]

@@maciejderen5005 To nie dlatego kupują co 2-3 lata nowe auto, ze ich stać, lecz dlatego, że nie chcą płacić fiskusowi podatku i wolą wziąć auto na firmę (w leasing lub kredycie). A że summa summarum to wyjdzie ich drożej, to tego nie widzą, bo raty idą w koszty firmy.

[@billybobindn]

when i was in Poland last (April 2018 for a wedding, and yes Pols have wedding down perfect) a liter of gas was i think 5.25 which is unreal. and for in US terms for a good shot of any kind of spirit for 6 buck you're lucky let alone 6 bucks for a bottle

[@Pinzpilot101]

Just to put things in perspective here. My wife tells me that back under communism, her mother had a cousin that escaped to Canada and used to send her 10$ Candian every month....If she got a good exchange rate (black market) she would consistently get more Zloty than my wife's father earned a month as a tram driver. They lived better because of this 10$ Canadian every month.

[@Pidalin]

From my experiences (I am Czech), when you are far from sea, it's cheap, but when you want hotel in Gdańsk or other beach places, it's very expensive, it's better try some airbnb in such places. But Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw (I was there) are really cheap, shopping, public transportation and hotels, everything is on same level or little cheaper than in my country. I was really shocked that for example KFC in Poland is much cheaper than here, they had twister for 10 zl or something like that in Warsaw, but here in Czechia it cost almost 120 Kč which is 20 zl. Also coffee in starbucks is for normal price in Wroclaw (I am not going to starbucks, I am just saying), so it looks like those global fast foods are cheaper in Poland. Starbucks is so ridiculously expensive in my country that I don't understand how can someone go there, coffee for 4 eur, seriously??? They are crazy. We had 3 star hotel with AC for 37 eur for night directly under Wawel castle in Kraków in july, that's ridiculously cheap. But not everything is cheap, trains for longer distances are more expensive than in my country, but I would say quality of trains in Poland is better than here. Train ticket from Prague to Warsaw is cheaper than ticket from Warsaw to Gdańsk with Poles. I think beer in restaurant was also more expensive in Poland, but that's because beer in my country is the cheapest in whole world. Coca-cola bottle for 10zl sounds crazy, but I had little 250ml bottle for 3 eur in Croatia, so I am used to on vacation. Price of glasses is crazy, I paid 6000 CZK last time and I had 50% sale on glasses, that's like 1000 zl, but I wanted better hardened glass.

[@AsterFoz]

So you didn't watch the video or you didn't understand it?

[@PeterPanMan]

Lucky you, Russell! I'm one of your subscribers and I made my living for years as a currency trader...so, when I thank you for the intelligence of this video, it's coming from someone who knows what he's talking about. Very well done, my man. You probably already know this, but what you are talking about here is called "purchasing power parity". Btw, what the Zwolty is to the Dollar, the Dollar is to the Swiss Franc. It's all about the demand relative to supply of any currency to any other currency.

[@LoveMyPoland]

Thank you. My finance terminology failed me there 😊

[@beathrise4033]

Fair point. Thanks for this Russel ♥

[@LoveMyPoland]

💪😁

[@penguinsfan251]

One last thing. This is good to know. I intend to go to Poland next summer. I figured things may he inexpensive compared to the US, but Polish wages are far below ours, so it can be tough for Poles. Hope things improve.

[@frankzajac6026]

Russell, I was thinking of moving to Poland (especially now from the direction the US seems to be heading). I'm Polish, but US born. I know you talked about apartments/flats, but what about buying an actual home, or even land to build a home on? I'm looking into it myself, but you being over there and doing a great job explaining things, I was hoping you might be able to do a video about it? Also, Poland is becoming very popular here in the US because of it's fight against censorship and her strong convictions. So I know I am not the only person interested moving there and buying a home/land. Thank you Sir, for all of your good work. I appreciate it.

[@LoveMyPoland]

Good idea! Land and home prices vary drastically throughout the country. In Częstochowa, a decent house and land start from 500k. Thank you! 😊

[@frankzajac6026]

@@LoveMyPoland Great to know, thank you. And, I'm assuming that 500K is in zloty... and not the US dollar? Since I started watching your videos, I have become very interested in your area, so I really do appreciate your time and help here.

[@TracyR4]

I was wondering the same. As my husband and I were talking about this too. For me though I find it weird because my grandparents came to the US during WW2 in 1946 to get away from what was going on there and the communism at the time in Poland. Now as an American we're thinking of possibly moving to Poland because of the same. Isn't it ironic?

[@AMBOSS_Silesia]

@@frankzajac6026 as Russel have said it really can vary. Gliwice, a city where I live (Upper Silesia voivodeship) is one of the most expensive cities in Poland when it comes to houses. Around 300k for the land around 1000 sq. meters, another 250-300k for a house. If you want to buy already built house with a land it 500k up to 1.5 million even, really depens on the house and location. Warsaw is twice as expensive. To buy a quite decent house you need around 150-200k USD (average). But you know- it always can be more. 😉

[@frankzajac6026]

@@AMBOSS_Silesia thank you for the information and help. I know Poland can very a lot depending on the area/city, it is the exact same way here in the USA. I was trying to get an idea of how much money, and in what currency (US dollar or the Polish zloty) because of difference in value right now. But thanks to you and Russell, I know have a pretty good idea, so thank you.

[@macmac2584]

It's also a great point on the outlandishly long waiting times for a doctor appointment. I've heard so many people in America say American healthcare should be like in Europe. Sure, its inexpensive, but you may die waiting for an appointment.

[@jacobvhs]

Few years ago with a salary about 2500 zł (and with a little help of my family) I bought a 40 square meters apartment on a credit in Częstochowa (close to your school btw 😁). With all costs it's been way cheaper than renting one. The most expensive jeans I've ever bought was about 100 zł - for me paying over 200 zł for a pair of jeans would be paying for brand, not quality. BigMac and restaurant food is overexpensive (from time to time it's fine) but for most of the time I make my own food at home. And I can buy four McD cheap burgers for 5 zł each and leave restaurant with a full stomach. The costs of electronic devices are really high but that's why so many Poles have loans. But still - there are cheaper options. Just like glasses, cars (ex. Dacia for 40 000 zł). Many people in Poland has an easy start with family houses and options of living with their parents for some time. And usually they don't move out far away after marriage since grandparents might "work" as babysitters. They build a house or buy an apartments which might be considered as future investment. What I want to say - Poland is realtively cheap country for a people with a certain style o life. Simple life, so to speak 😉 On the other hand if someone aims high and move to a different city for a better job - it's problematic with low salary at start and high rental price.

[@LoveMyPoland]

Thanks for sharing 👍😊

[@nanab256]

2:30 4000pln is still way over average polish salary Poland is cheap only when u dont work here, average pole earn about 900usd per month, minimal is about 600usd, rent for small house is almost half of this.

[@tnickknight]

depends on where

[@paulinagalanciak2776]

Hi Russel! I love watching Love my Poland channel, cause I love our Poland, too :) You did great job preparing this video. Thank you for that. Let me tell you about my experience: I used to live in the UK and there was a reason why I lived there. It is about the salaries and how quickly I could save some money for a particular goal, of course. Cause people there used to always tell me: "oh, Poland is so cheap, a piece of nice steak costs 3 Pounds and here it costs twice more, how lucky you are!".There was much more examples. But it was much easier for me to buy more those, I would say, more luxury products there with salary in the Uk than here in Poland with a polish salary. So my advice is: just calculate how long you have to work in your country to get a particular product. On my example of nice piece of steak, here in Poland I have to work 1 hour to pay for it, in the UK I had to work 20 minutes to get the same product, even though that logically the price in the UK was much higher I could buy 3 times more steaks in the UK than in Poland working same time. British people started to understand that Poland actually is not so cheap for people living in here, but for foreigners working in West. The stopped telling me how lucky I was ;) But I still love my country! Maybe it might be useful for the future to explain people how it works economically. All the best for you!

[@LoveMyPoland]

Thank you for your kind words and story. I will keep your info on mind for the future 😉👍 POZDRAWIAM!

[@michamarkowski2204]

I couldn't agree more. When I was living in Germany, I was earning a minimal salary, but I could have more with this minimal German salary, than with my above average salary in Poland.

[@tnickknight]

He gave really really good advice on this episode

[@shakawhenthewallsfell8570]

It is cheap if the currency exchange rate is on your side, and you're there for a short time. I vacation in Poland pretty much every year (skipped 2020 due to pandemic) to see my family and relatives, and I can easily afford anything in the stores, splurge, or fund large bbq's and gatherings (beer, drinks, meats, etc.). As you said, it's different if you live there. Unless you have decent dual income, or one really solid one, things ain't so easy anymore.

[@annanajduch5201]

Spot on. Like usual.

[@Maksioja]

I used to live in Canada, Vancouver BC for one year. This is what I said - Prices are the same but in Poland we just earn 3 times less :).

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

Yeah whatever you tell yourself to be happier - even if it's untrue. Vancouver is one of the world most unaffodable cities, especially the housing, who cares if some product costs the same as in Poland if housing bills costs 5 times more. Did you live there as homeless person?

[@Kasztan_101]

Jak nic, tylko się ostrzyc i upić xD

[@kissieljp]

Myself, I awlays do quick recalculating to the price of a bread per country so you can see how much you pay for bread in X and in Y so you can estimate what is real worth of X compared to Y, and see how really expensive it is also you can try to count of how many hours (or minutes) of a minimal (or your) wage something costs

[@jaywalking7469]

Hey Russel! You know I love your videos and am a fellow FORMER Houstonite. I do have to point out that doing a 1 : 1 usd:pln comparison is not fair for either country. A better comparison would be, for example, this bottle of coke costs 4pln and $1usd in Poland. In the U.S. this same bottle of coke cost $3usd and 12pln. I am moving to Warsaw in February. The apartment we just signed the lease on today costs 3000 pln per month ($800 usd). For and equivalent (size, location, amenities, etc.) apartment in here in Austin, Texas, it would be about $4000.00 usd per month (15021,00 pln). Here in Austin, for two people, we spend about $200 usd (800,00 pln) a week on groceries. While staying for months at a time in Warsaw, we were paying about 120,00 pln a week ($30.00 usd). Honestly, I can tell you more about OUR specific situation, but not in such a public forum. Suffice it to say, for OUR situation, Poland is affordable as hell! Love ya Russell! Keep up the good work!

[@LoveMyPoland]

Thanks for that, Jay! I agree with you completely, and it's great to have you!

[@PiotrPilinko]

It is impossible to use fixed rate between currencies to compare cost of living: imported goods are more expensive, local goods should be cheaper. I guess that in the US a litre of natural apple juice would be more expensive than the same amount of coca cola (while in Poland - I would prefer to buy an apple juice).

[@LoveMyPoland]

@@PiotrPilinko You are totally right. I thought about how to make this video for months. This is the most straightforward way I found under 10min.

[@mnova]

And you earn 4000$ and I 4000zl So you earn 12000zl and I earn 1100$ Now you understand why Russel have right when compare 1 zl=1$?

[@PiotrPilinko]

@@LoveMyPoland It's a good simplification for a general cost of living, but it will fail with global products (or products where the main cost is in taxes).

[@bartoszjankowiak3157]

In general, if you really want to know how expensive life in a given country is, the best and the closest to real life methodology (but not perfect) are the Mercer's or UBS's "Cost of living Reports". Unfortunately they don't include all the cities/countries but only the representative ones, but it will still give you a good feeling how is life there. Otherwise, just find stats about average/median salary in a given country and check how much from the "representative basket of goods" you can buy for it.

[@takipan954]

Moja siostra kupila kilka lat temu mieszkanie w warszawie, w tym roku buduja obok nowy blok i ceny za 1m wynosza juz okolo 15tys zl

[@pawel3003]

Great explanation! That's the result of over taxation. Tell that your friends in the US.

[@wojciechzgodowski]

Similar amount of effort Needs to be put in to buy a home as in NJ where average house is $330000+. If someone makes $4k per month it's similar housing economies. You have to work similar amount of years to be able to buy a home.

[@AsterFoz]

I live in Germany and had to go to Poland for 2 days AND forgot to take money with me. But it's not a problem, I thought. My family will buy me food. So we went shopping and I was afraid to take anything from a shelf. It was more expensive not only in comparition to the earnings but it was simply more expensive. Especially the mentioned cola and energy drinks. I pay in Germany about 70 cents for a can of an energy drink (+25 cent pfand but I get it back later) and in Poland it was 1 euro...

[@Grawuar]

While a little insensitive, this "it's so cheap/expensive here!" reaction is natural. When me and my boyfriend moved from big cities to a smaller one, we were amazed how different the prices are. We even joked how we're behaving like some spoiled bourgeoisie. But it's normal to look from your own perspective, even if for a while. When I went to Stockholm I had a huge culture shock because of how expensive everything was. I felt lucky upon founding a small fastfood offering kebabs for only 70 zł. So everything depends. All jokes and remarks aside, people should try being respectful towards the locals, of course.

[@piotrb4240]

So true... We went to Zurich (Switzerland) for a long weekend a few years back. We found a very decent hotel deal and we were prepared for high prices of food, transport and so on. In the end we couldn't force ourselves to go into any restaurant, since prices for the most simple food (a plate of pasta) in _cheap_ restaurants started at 25 CHF (~25 USD). A big full dinner dish in a _popular_ restaurant in Warsaw was about 8-10 USD at the time. We ended up buying warm takeaway from a supermarket and having picnics at a park on the edge of Lake Zurich. Which I highly recommend!

[@edgregory1]

@@piotrb4240 Tonight I had pasta dish and one beer for $4.50 in Cambodia.

[@bartoszjankowiak3157]

Wow! You are the first person who talks about this issue from that perspective. Well done! Well done! People really must know before they come, that living in Poland with polish salary is not cheap at all.

[@LoveMyPoland]

Thanks, it was a pleasure 😊

[@ebarteldes]

I saw an apartment in Chełm for 250 K PLN and almost jumped at it. But your video reminded me of the reality in Brazil, where the situation is similar...

[@DrogowitPomorski]

A very good video. I often explained to Britons that 1€ = 1$ = 1ZŁ, many couldn't comprehend it until I gave some examples. Usually followed with: Imagine you earn 1000 GBP and I earn 1000ZŁ for the sake of example. Then want to buy groceries. 1 bread in UK is usually 50p to 1 GBP. In Poland, We had bread for 1zł in 2000, then EU came and now it is rarely less than 3,50.

[@jamilyounes3429]

Thank you so much well at the end when you love you sacrifice and yoi showed me this so thank you

[@peterdurnien9084]

How much is dental work? I am needing implants now and wondered if it were possible to get good dental care in Poland?

[@LoveMyPoland]

It varies, but it's rather affordable on a western salary.

[@MaraMara89]

that 1$ is 1zl also goes other way around through Europe. When I'm abroad I will not think that 1€ is 4,5 zl, I treat it as 1€ is 1 zl - if I would use actual rate I would not buy anything... I mean drink in pub for 10€ is 45 zł, so in Poland that would be a bottle of alcohol - thinking like that is quite normal for Poles on vacation and that's why we usually think that Europe is expensive :/

[@OurLittleScottishAdventures]

I'm glad you pointed it out, I does annoy me when people say this in the UK too.

[@mmarszalek]

4:27 Niekoniecznie importowane, w samej Częstochowie, na Stradomiu, jest firma która szyje spodnie na zlecenie rożnych marek w tym Lewis.

[@deltaZabrze]

"1 $ is 1 zloty" - I knew it a long time ago :D

[@LoveMyPoland]

Good! Now tell everyone else 👍

[@rcon777]

XD

[@lauraelopezr]

It is a good place for tourist. I'm from Dominican Republic, here 1US dollar = 56 DOP (Dominican Pesos) the fact $1 is almost 4 Pln it is good for my wallet. The average salary here in Dominicana is 320 monthly, buying any smartphone means 2 or 3 salaries, without any spending, no food, no transportation, no rent. Economy is always a problem anywhere in the world.

[@ukasiak2989]

Well said !

[@ppm83wlkp]

@ilovemypoland - hey Rus, I believe you forgot about one, but very important thing when doing your estimates - taxes. When you import products you have to pay taxes. So I think you should give some examples of products that were exported to USA, eg from Poland. PS 100% off topic - can you prepare a video about funerals and funeral meals in USA? Is it really like in the Hollywood movies? I can't imagine to have some guests in my house in such moment, and think what to give them to eat and drink...

[@utahdan231]

What about a Polish stypa? Exactly the same. You take people to a restaurant after a funeral and nobody asks if you have money to pay or not. In Usa everyone brings some food to one’s home. If it’s a widower with kids , his friends take turns in cooking dinners for them for a few weeks. You pay for small snacks , cakes,coffee only in a funeral home.

[@ppm83wlkp]

@@utahdan231 stypa, or officially konsolacja (consolation) is not mandatory of course. So if you have no money then you don't do it (or you just borrow some money). Most of the people is doing the consolation. But there is a huge difference between our consolation / stypa and your funeral meal - your comfort. You don't have to think about that gathering, you just pay and that's it. On the other hand, the USA version takes place in your own place, so you can feel more confident, comfortable etc. But yeah, that's a very interesting topic to me - how is it organized (from A to Z), is every family doing that etc.

[@mistermartin82]

To me as a British person who has holidayed in Poland a few times (3 or 4 times to Krakow, once to Gdansk) I wouldn't describe Poland as cheap, but also not expensive. Prices for museums, eating out etc are cheap compared to London prices, but compared to say the Glasgow area not a huge amount in it. Certainly comparing the 2 polish cities to Prague, Berlin Rome and Athens they all seemed fairly similar (I'd spend £40-50 a day on average for activities and food out)

[@charlies.5777]

Hej Russell, So, when the doctor examined the inside of your head, they found NOTHING??!! I'm NOT surprised!! 😀 OK, It's an old, corny🌽joke, BUT I STILL like it!! :-) ON a serious note, that was an informative video. If I EVER visit Poland - and I CERTAINLY hope to do so - I'll be sure not to mention how inexpensive things are,as I don't want to be the " Obnoxious Amurican!! " PS Have you ever tried Levi's® 560 👖?? They're my personal faves!! PPS What brand of 🍸vodka was that?! I'll have to check it out.

[@LoveMyPoland]

Thanks😊👍 Wyborowa vodka, Charlie

[@e1sYTchannel]

Poland is not cheap, but also not expensive. It depends on your salary. I'm from Slovakia, and it's typical that people living close to the borders are buying stuff in Poland. In some case the prices are much better, and I'm from CE country to. On the other hand, you are talking in the video about an average salary 4000 PLN. I checked it, and the average salary in Poland was 5331 PLN for 2020 (!), what is significantly more than you told, and little bit more (60 €) than in Slovakia which is an euro zone country. From that perspective, if Poland is "cheap" or the prices are more affordable for Slovaks, it can't be that expensive for Poles. ;-) You should make a video where you compare the salaries, prices, living and other costs with Slovakia or Hungary which are also CE countries with similar political history, and with Germany (a WE country) and Ukraine (an EE country).

[@LoveMyPoland]

Thanks for your input here! We love skiing in Slovakia 🇸🇰 ❤️. Good people there.

[@Ojcon]

5331 gross, Russel says about net, Yous sholud also check not average but median price

[@Waldek9100]

Ahoj e1 bratie zo Slovenska:). Zdravim srdecne s Pol'sko:)

[@nathandrel]

I was thinking if you are gonna mention Coke price going up, due to taxation and here it is ;).

[@frofro7134]

1 pln = 1 usd? so in USA minimum pay per hour is 18 usd like in Poland 18 pln before taxes?

[@shaddyhacker]

Thank you so much Russ! Poland is actually one of the most expensive places to live. I'd happily live in US with 4K salary. Everything here is getting expensive fast.

[@peterdurnien9084]

Sugar tax sounds like a good thing, I have just been to the dentist. Its not good all that sugar I had as a kid have caught up with me. Paying for dental treatment (mostly extractions) is eating into my pension money.

[@michamarkowski2204]

But it's not about sugar. This new tax applies to all sweet drinks (coke, pepsi, apple juice, flavoured mineral water etc.) regardless of which sweetener has been used.

[@wojciechzgodowski]

About 7 years of work= house in NJ. Other countries in some Latin counties where people make 1200 on average and new home is 90000. That's 6.25 years of work. Many places are similar. But take a look at Hong Kong where a tiny apartment costs 1.2million and people make 3000 per month. Rent there eats 50% of income. California isn't pretty neather.

[@KonradGora1]

You have to remember that whole education system here is free (including best universities). So you finish your studies without any student debt to pay. Also medical care is free (but sometimes you have to wait like said 6 or more months). ;)

[@LoveMyPoland]

But.... How many people are running around with masters degrees? That's a problem in itself.

[@michamarkowski2204]

@@LoveMyPoland One of the reasons why - we had to drop entrance exams after joining the EU. And current matura exam is a joke compared to the "old" matura. Also universities are paid by the goverment per capita, so it's in their best interest to have many students.

[@bobsimpson3661]

Invest in Poland.? Can you explain this more or possibly a video.

[@KristoffDoe]

Some of my Polish friends who live in Western Europe told me that they heard "Poland is cheap" from... companies/employers in Poland! It happened when they were talking about jobs and coming back. According to them there are some big companies in Poland which happily pay "Western European" (let's say 5k EUR) salaries but only to "Westeners". And when a Polish person applies for the exact same job, they are offered "Polish" salary (5k PLN) with an excuse that "Poland is cheap". (And to make it worse - companies undervalue their experience, so foreigner with 5 years of experience gets 5k EUR while a Pole with 10-15 years experience gets 5k PLN.)

[@LoveMyPoland]

Not at all surprising, sadly...

[@Claudiannea]

I hope that a great deal of people will see this vid!

[@dorianosatane7244]

ciesze się ze ktoś to w końcu powiedział

[@effexon]

How easy it is for a pole to import used car from germany? Still not cheap but possible, used prices there are reasonable.

[@paxvera5199]

Thank you

[@hasppl9005]

You are so right. Poland for polish people is very expensive. I moved back to Poland after living in states for over 35 yrs. I love USA because I was adopted by USA while I was in need. Great, friendly people. I miss that space, trips around USA on those great highways. There is special, unique feeling in NY, Washington DC and many other places. I almost never met Americans who will complaint like polish people do😉. They are always positive.

[@julescocovin2449]

Poland is still cheap food-wise. I know, I know... Coke :) What I mean is if you can cook - I am old enough to havo no problems with that - you get by for peanuts. And the quality of unprocessed food is decent. However.... having said that 1. we pay fortune for flats (it's a consequence of the housing policy implemented since 89, alas) 2. we overpay for Western brands (bc we're stupid).

[@themeanmachine84]

Częstochowa is quite "cheap" when it comes to flat prices. I'm from Częstochowa, currently living and working in Katowice and here, finding anything for less than 250k is a miracle. And I'm talking about a flat that can be used for living, nothing that great... In the center of Katowice, the prices can get up to 650k+ for 60m2. But to be fair - when I was living in the UK for some time (in Bristol), it would be really hard to find "anything" for less than 1200 GBP a month (for rent, I'm not even saying about buying something). There is also a huge pay gap between Częstochowa and Katowice (which is the main reason I moved to Katowice) and access to better jobs. Unfortunately, people (especially young) are pretty much fleeing from Częstochowa because all of that... :/ When it comes to cars, on one hand you are right, they are expensive (to buy, upkeep, fuel is not cheap etc.) but when I'm seeying all that Tesla`s, Porsche`s, Ford Mustang`s and mentioned Toyota`s (Corolla in most cases) I'm sometimes thinking it's not "that" bad... But overall, yeah, in most cases Poland is not a cheat country to live in, that's for sure.

[@TheTeq1]

350000zl for 70sqm is really cheap, bigger cities it is at least 2 times more

[@LoveMyPoland]

Exactly!

[@Raldz1234]

In Poznań I saw price ~360000zł for Little 30-35m2 studio apartament..

[@LoveMyPoland]

@@Raldz1234 That's just sick... 🙄

[@ThenewmanX1]

Your glasses frame are the same as mine.

[@bartoszbeling8928]

Thee good ol' purchasing power as a welfare factor....🖐️

[@AB-kd9et]

I hope that Coca-Cola pays you well for this product placement. ;) Great content, as always!

[@LoveMyPoland]

I wish... 🙄

[@AB-kd9et]

@@LoveMyPoland One day. :)

[@tomek4199]

@@LoveMyPoland Forget about benefits from Coca-Cola. I would consider contacting Wyborowa's Marketing Department. Really. I'm serious about that. Alcohol can't be advertised openly so they always look for non-standard ways to get to the customers. They cooperate with influencers and people who can be ambasadors of their products.

[@MonteKalafiori]

Wow, Częstochowa is cheap... 5000zł/m2, just wow ;P In bigger cities prices are starting from 10/11k per m2

[@jofalmi28]

It's amazing country I live there for 6 month all living goods ,house rent and everyone is cheap and polish peoples are good mainly if you go Poland polish girls shock you they're cute and familiar

[@baltazargabka8867]

ZUS pays for your retirement...you are a funny guy indeed ;)

[@LoveMyPoland]

We're saying the same in the US 😑

[@zerghydralisk1837]

belived in zus retirement is like belives in santa so...

[@johnryman1366]

JUst came back from Poland, loved the clean an doorganized country, but it is not cheap. No hotel in Warsaw and Krakaw was 100 eros.

[@robertrobski1013]

Try to live in Toronto where apartment costs you 3000 dollars monthly and car insurance 300 monthly then tell where is cheap

[@E.S.K.]

950 zlotych for reading glasses? OMG! I paid this much couple months ago for two pairs and I thought that was expensive af.

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

No it's not. It's around 300 zł. This man is delusional. He points out his own anegdotal experience as facts. It's not as expensive as it's shown in the video. Probably a clickbait video to make money. KZbin is becoming spoiled and lying/manipulation had become a norm, whatever it takes to generate views and that sweet monies.

[@mattg8431]

I live in Canada, but I visit Poland almost every year and I find prices of most goods there (maybe except beer and alcohol :-)) comparable to what I'm accustomed to paying in Canada. Poland is not cheap, but somehow I always see people spend

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

In Canada you cannot afford a house though, that's a major difference. The bit difference between the living prices of Poland vs Canada/US is the prices of housing, it's much more expenie in Canada, which is the least affordable nation in this world.

[@magdawilk6796]

​@@user-mh2uj7ns6h In Poland you can't afford it either. In citiest where there are jobs, like for instance Krakow, Wroclaw you have to pay 500K for a small flat (50 meters). It's way better to live in Canada then.

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

@@magdawilk6796 In Canada it's worse than in Poland. Canada is basically a Chinese colony at this point. No future whatsoever for this country.

[@magdawilk6796]

@@user-mh2uj7ns6h and Poland soon will be a russian colony if nothing changes.

[@user-mh2uj7ns6h]

@@magdawilk6796 Poland is now a German colony because of Balcerowicz and uneducated voters who supported his destruction of polish economy in the 90s

[@MK-lm6hb]

Well, it would be a different story if Russell compared the prices of services in the US and Poland. Apart from that, one has to remember that the US is the economic champion of the world and, therefore, the difference in GDP PPP per capita is significant, with Poland's $34,000 versus the US's $63,000. However, that difference is much smaller when Poland is compared with other wealthy countries, for example with New Zealand ($41,000) or Japan ($42,000).

[@anthonymoney6471]

I think it seems cheap compared to local prices, I have visited Poland maybe 50 times, compared to what I earn in the UK Poland is cheap, my fiancée is Polish but works in the UK.