American Reacts to an "American That Found Better Life In Europe"
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Living is NOT stupidly cheaper in Europe and never ever let anyone try to tell you that !!. Itis simply that the USA is criminally expensive and people are ripped off with costs such as ( vey poor quality and poisonous ) food , insurance , college fees , housing costs and the cost of healthcare and medications . I recently required a specialist wound treatment which cost me $35 which shocked me as it's the MOST expensive item I have ever purchased from a Pharmacy . So I looked online and found exactly the same brand , manufactured by the same company was listed at $300 for American consumers. Now I know for sure and certain that this overseas Pharmacy is not a charity or a source of good works - it is a business that needs to make a profit so WHERE does the extra $265 go ???? HINT - Think Lobbyists !!!
Stock buybacks
No you ignoramus. That money doesn't go to lobbyists, it goes to the near-monopolistic pharmaceutical companies because the drug market in the US is heavily regulated at the economic side of things. These regulations create artificial scarcity because it's not possible to, as a business, buy pharmaceuticals abroad dirt-cheap and make a profit by selling them with a 30-40% markup, like in most other countries. People can, and do, legally import FDA-approved drugs for personal use but very few people are savvy enough for that and not be ripped off by Chinese scammers selling you placebos (or worse, adulterated drugs).
It's also mostly illegal to do in-house manufacture of pharmaceuticals with expired patents thanks to FDA regulations so the cheap grey label meds that dominate the offerings of chemists in European countries largely don't exist in the US. Therefore the pharmaceutical market in the US is an oligopoly of a few massive multinational firms and their retail channels. These same pharmaceutical companies also are some of the greatest donor to the Democratic Party. Just like the major banks and credit card companies by the way.
What should be done is to scrap all these monopolistic legislations, abolish the FDA, and make some changes to medical tort law so pharmaceutical companies or chemists knowingly selling bad products can be sued out of existence.
southern Europe IS cheaper
@@mauriziotorrani9412 Yes Norway agrees heavily with this comment!😆
It really does depend on region, even within a country, and I suspect Sicily is a lot cheaper to live than Milan in the same country, and we see that in most countries where one region can be a lot cheaper then another.
She's in Italy and just said "Gracias". Yup, American alright.
🙄🙄🙄
You may laugh, but as long as they speak their own languages slowly, Italians and Spanish can understand each other.
Gracias almost sounds like Grazie
Nah, mate. She said grazie. In Sicily grazie actually at times sounds a little bit like gracias because of their dialects. Sicily is also pretty big so there are at least 5 different distinct dialects on the Island alone.
detto “grazie” e non “gracias” che letteralmente significa “grazie” questo è un pessimo tentativo di prenderla in giro ma alla fine hai preso in giro te stesso
Italian here. Sicily is much cheaper than the rest of Italy, the more you go north the higher are life expenses. Especially in big/turistic cities or cities with renowned universities grocery and rent are quite high if related to a normal income (but still cheaper than US).
This is absolutely right. I bet in Milan you might pay 150% of what she paid.
Yes and if go over the boarder - here in Switzerland it is even more expensive 🙈
@@MrBigbonzai more like 500%, I live in milan, rent for a single room in a student apartment is around 600€ plus bills, groceries are about 60-70€ a week
@@Inazuma68Switzerland is just absurdly expensive.
Also what she says about spending $18.000 a year when living in Sicily, she is spending.
A lot of factory workers and construction workers that work full time there only earn around €10k /year
Just to give you some perspective on what you are saying right before the 18min mark about people in the US making $100k/year.
Money, money, money, money ... the Americans' obsession!!! Spoiler alert: there's more to life than money!
Agree
It is, but with a lack of money you don't live, you at best survive.
@@jongustavsson5874 also true,but he probably ment on overspending.And obsession amd culture of having always everything new.And even that isn't enought,you need brand new car,phone,tv,and other shit.
Obviously. But being alive and actually living are 2 different things. We don't need money to be alive. But we certainly need it to live. Food, entertainment, safety, health, everything costs money. So if Americans are obsessed with money, they know why because they're the ones living in it.
@@jongustavsson5874 It is a difficult topic. Of course money is important. But it does not guarantee happiness. And even when you are poor, you can be happy. When you only see the money side of things: Well, your life is not very good in general. And it would not be much better with more money.
But if you have a happy life, family, friends, a purpose. Money is only one small part, that is not as important, because you already have a good life in many aspects.
But when work and money is the only purpose, it is hard to see that.
Life got more expensive in Europe too. Many areas have high unemployment rates, especially with young people. Especially in the south of Europe.
as a student in east germany I recieve 812€ goverment support (406 of that is an interest free loan) +250 child benefit (paid to children and adults under the age of 25, im renting a 2 room 50m² appartment in a 4 family home with garden, shed and cellar
I pay 425 in rent, ~300 in utilities transportation and car insurance
at the end of a month im usually left with 100-200 to save, im super happy my country allows me to pursue my education without having to stress about massive loans, oh and the semester costs ~350€ not 5 figures...
I am a 42 Sicilian, her 80k per year is a crazy high amount of money for our standards. The average salary of an office employee is around 22k, for a manager is around 59k. Consider that my entire house loan is 90k and I consider it a real burden. I suspect is a matter of perspective. Since the war in Ukraine started my average expense per week at the supermarket was around 50 euros, now is around 70, so you are also impacted but the surrounding nations' economy. But I must admit, life here looks way easier and relaxed. I work from 9 to 5:30 and by 5:45 I am at the beach :D
P.S. also true, antiques here are overrated because there are too many grandma's wardrobes going from cousin to cousin :D
Well, she did start with almost a million dollars, so for her everything is dirt cheap. Not a surprise when moving to a rural southern Europe region with lower income.
First time visiting the US in 1998! I remember everything was so cheap, much cheaper then France or the UK! Now it’s the opposite!
Yeah. I spent 1988 in the US and everything was way cheaper than back home in Scotland. Not any more.
This is purely the cycles of economies.
Same, I've been to the US for work in 2014, 15, 17 and just last month. Inflation in the US and the Norwegian crown tanking vs the dollar made this last trip twice as expensive as any of the previous ones.
US$10-12 per beer in the cities, 7-8 in the countryside...
On the other hand, perfect time for US residents to get that Norway trip in. You're getting a lot more for the dollar here these days than you used to. Think marginally more than NYC prices in Oslo, less outside 😂
@@WillyAndreBergstrom Alltid ølpris som eksempel, som en ekte nordmann😅
Yeah I lived in the US in 2000-2001 and I remember finding food to be noticeably cheaper (although also of noticeably poorer quality) than in France.
Now it's still bad but more expensive..
Just a quick note. 18k is comfortable in where she lives because she owns a house.
If you add rent, you’d have to make sacrifices
"Gracias" 😂😂😂😂😂😂
(Italian word for Thank you is "Grazie" - very different pronunciation).
Reminds me of a Mr Bean movie where he replies the same word after a girl tells his French is good.
That also made me laugh... really, after living there for years she says thanks in spanish instead of italian?
@@LMGLUDA e poi L'italiano non e neanche tanto difficile !! ho imparato tutto in un anno
Today i bought groceries and kept the receipt. 2 bottles juice each 1 liter,1 bottle bitter lemon 1 liter, 1 Liter milk, 200 grams dried dates, 2 big Chia buns, 1 poppyseed roll,1 glass of blueberry jam, 1 kg bananas, 400 grams roasted peanuts, 150 grams real italian Mortadella, 1 loaf of whole grain bread 500 gram. All together at 14.96 € at the next Aldi here in Germany. Greetings.
Food gets subsidized in Germany :)) That's why it's so cheap.
@@mfsars1075 Well - better than subsidize the filthy rich, isn't it? ;-)
@@gluteusmaximus1657 absolut richtig :))
Also, farming is subsidised in almost every country. Even the States 😃
@@JohnDoe-us5rq so is fuel, I know. But someone seems to get his or her percentage when food is that costly in the US, right? And it's not the citizens. In Germany the EU-subsidization kicks in or else food would be much more expensive. If you want to, take a look at what groceries cost in Switzerland and those guys are our neighbors. It's insane.
Sicily is among the poorest regions in Italy, I live in the North of Italy and you can almost double those costs. Average income is around 35k, below 20k in Sicily. I would still pick any place in Europe rather than the US for a multitude of reasons, but of course if you're living on an American salary in Italy it'll look like a dream. Try to do that on an Italian income and it'll be just the same as Atlanta. That said, I would still pick our quality of life over bigger salaries though.
It sounds like the Italian government treats it's Sicilian people very badly. Why aren't they considered equal? Is the government still corrupt?
@@Derry_AireSicily had a prosperous mafia operating there. It’s don’t know if it’s still the case. I can imagine a good chunk of money has always flown to them. So it’s nearly impossible for politics to improve the standards on the island. I hope it is now. Would be interesting to look for documentaries on that topic 🤔
well, she doesn't have heating costs in Sicily, and that's a big deal
@@Derry_Aire Like most governments around the world the Italian one is certainly corrupt, surely. But indeed Sicily is a difficult region with its rampant mafia, it's difficult to do business there and economy is agriculture-based. It's a very pretty place with friendly people, but not a good one to work.
@@simtekgroup3080 The Italian government is well known for being corrupt but treating Sicilians so poorly and just leaving them to rot seems unfair.
100$ for internet or 2.5$ for bottle of water in the US? That literally sounds like a scam.
i have a 1000mb DL/250mb UL, which is a very fast one coz i'm a gamer, for 129$ every 3 month, so 43$ per month, but the "normal" ones, u can get for 10-15$ per month... what the F are they paying all that money for?? JEEZ!
That would be considered cheap in Belgium?
Especially that nobody needs to buy bottled water for consumption at home in Europe. Tap water is always drinkable. And it's clean while bottled water often isn't. I'd never buy bottled water other than going out.
What the hell's going on in Italy...? My monthly Internet access costs US$ 21.44 in Budapest. And I'm pretty upset because it feels very expensive.
@@albertlugosi I don't know what the woman in the video has for Internet but probably not being local she got sold a very expensive subscription. In Italy you can easily get fast 1000mbit/sec fiber optic Internet for 20/25€ a month. I am paying 22.50 currently. 50+ is very weird, don't know anybody who pays that much.
1:24 this is why this is the only reaction channel that i watch. This guy also gives a lot of facts, he don't just stay there and say wow. Keep up the good work man 💪
I appreciate that 👍😎
I wonder how good her Italian is? Gracias.😂😂
😂😂😂😂
Yup. I was speechless. 😳
Yeah. I caught that as well. Muy mal, as they don’t say in Sicily.
Was all of that video even filmed in Sicily ?
I was searching the comments to see anyone commenting on it, thought I misheard or something
My niece, an american expat living in italy, has given birth to two twin girls at Rome. It was a difficult situation so she had to stay at rhe Hospital for 1 month before the babies were born. She was in one of rhe best hospitals in Italt and well known in Europe, and her doctors were world known surgeans, gynecologists and pediatricians.
She had to go into a cesarean surgery and the babies were ok buy fir precaution and trsts were kept in an incubator for 2 or 3 weeks. My niece was recovered for 12 days after she gave birth. After that, every thing went ok, girls are perfrct and the mother is happy and in awson health.
Guess how much she paid for all of that, since she git oregnant, the mujtible visits and tests, hospital, mambukance qnd everything?
0 euros. ZERO!!!!!!
Thats Italy. God bless this country and universal healthcare.
I know lots of people from sicily living here in Switzerland. They came here for the one thing that sicily doesn't have: jobs.
You nailed it.
Also, the stated prices in the EU include VAT. Expect another 8% sales tax in the USA.
No, that's just wrong. It's not 'another 8%'. It's +/- minus 20% and 6 or 8% on top of the gross price. Prices in the US are significantly lower for many consumer goods because of this, for instance electronics.
Also there can me massive differences between states. Communist-run shit holes like California and NY are very expensive, as are communist-run major urban centres in otherwise centre-right states like Georgia or Missouri, while the countryside in Appalachia is as cheap to live as Sicily except that it doesn't have a dying elderly population thanks to a much higher birth rate, which is a massive advantage.
@@classicallpvault8251 "Communist-run shit holes like California and NY" 😂😂😂 The level of delusion. You wouldn't know communism if it slapped you in the face
@@classicallpvault8251 For Europe standards you don't have communist-run shit holes states because you don't have communist political parties. You have (for Europeans) a right wing party and a much right wing party. Your most "communist" politic is considered in Europe a centre right or a leaning centre left politic.
My country works like your states too but we have the same tax in all country. I hate when I visit USA and I never know what I'm going to pay at the registre. Put the damn tax on the final price. It has more sense.
@@classicallpvault8251 Ah, a Maga-American, I suppose.
But when Orange45 kisses the arse of Putin and Kim Jong-un, everything is fine, right? Moron... Communism, LMAO!
@@classicallpvault8251 Prices in the USA are significantly WRONG because the stated price does NOT include SALES TAX. In the EU the stated price includes VAT as a matter of law. Thus, no surprises at the cash registry in the EU.
Allowing the plunder of your fellow member of the working class, through manipulation of the housing market in California and NYC isn't communist, it is fascist. Learn the fokkin difference !
im serbian 20k $ can live comfortably and travel and medical care is no problem..and i have been to most of Europe and some Asian countries..
$20k per year? You are very rich
Im romanian. So its the same for us like its for you. But 20k a year (after taxes cuz the guvernment needs half of it) you are getting paid good
That's €1500 per month - looks OK for Bulgaria, not great - not terrible. Under €1000 in Sofia you are not gonna live comfortable for sure. It also really depends if you pay for a mortgage and a car. At my last job I earned €2350 per month and with no big expenses I was feeling great, while I had colleagues getting €3000 and still complaining.
All of this is after tax ofcourse. Nobody ever talks pre-tax here.
Im from Croatia, wife and I earn around 8kE take home pay a month.
Let me tell you, with that money, you can do anything you like, travel anywhere you want, save money, buy apartments, you name it. And not just in Coatia. Anywhere in EU apart from maybe most expensive cities.
And this guy tells me that with that kind of money you may still struggle in USA? Ridiculous.
@@a.n.6374 im from Serbia. now living in Macedonia Skopje :)
It would be interesting to hear the local Sicilians' view of the "American lady with pots of money who doesn't even know the correct Italian word for thank you".
noi siciliani siamo felici di accogliere tutti quelli che amano la nostra terra
She's living in Italy on an American wage. Not many people in Sicily are earning what she's earning which makes the cost of things look more impressive. But......her happy place is their normal.
Well, if you have the chance to work remote from home for a company in another country do it . Home is where the WiFi is, just imagine working from Bali, Italy, Spain or what ever your dream country to live would be and do it like a King/Queen.
@@FunkyBuddha81unfortunalty not many comoany support home office it is a comon miscincepsion and lot of eastern europe country not so supportive for entrapenuership they make it hard and tax them high.
It really shouldn't cost a arm and a leg to put a roof over our heads, housing prices are just ridiculous now.
Totally agree, it’s outta control recently
"We want a society, where few have too little and fewer too much"
N.F.S.Grundtvig, 1783-1872 - one of Denmark's "founding fathers"
Ian, did you know that in Sydney, we can drink our tap water because it’s perfectly clean and safe? You can buy bottled water but it’s not necessary.
Here in Italy too.
@@alessandromancuso7242 I have lots of Italian friends here in Sydney and they have taught me about food and desserts. When I was in Rome many years ago, my friends decided to go to McDonald’s for lunch! I said, “Are you crazy!? We can eat McDonald’s at home!” So off they went and I walked into the nearest restaurant. I found a table in the corner and the waiter brought me a menu. I studied it for a few minutes but my decision was so easy because everything was pasta! I ordered Penne Arrabbiata and a salad. Then my brother called me and asked where I was, he joined me five minutes later and said, “You order for me because you know this food better than I do.” By the time his pasta came, I was ready for some cooling gelato, which was a trio of flavours. It was so delicious that I ordered another serving for myself and one for my brother. The total for my pasta and two servings of gelato was about $15. Back at the hotel, the rest of my friends were complaining about how expensive their McDonald’s was and how it was nothing like back home. Well, that was on them! They should have joined me in the little ristorante! 😋😋😋😃
En España tambien puedes beber del grifo y también las fuentes que hay en el exterior
I buy a few bottles of water when on holiday in Europe so that I can then carry water around as needed. When they are empty I refill them from the tap and usually put one or two in a freezer to have iced water if it gets really hot.
I would say that is the case for most European countries. On the other side the water in almost all restaurants costs money.
why would anybody pay $500k+ for a nice-looking wooden shack with a tar-paper roof ? Wood rots, creaks, molds and gets blown apart in a strong wind. And there is NO WAY that all the materials involved in building this (illusion of) a nice building, would/should cost even 50% of the market price ! Solid good homes are built of bricks, mortar, steel, concrete, hardwoods, engineered plastics, reinforced glass, and have tiled, concrete or profiled steel roofs. And they are not built by fancy dancers who throw stuff together with a chainsaw and a nail-gun in 3 minutes flat. Fit for demolition 25 years later.
To be fair, wooden house can be solidly built, resist for decades or even centuries. Look at the house in Northen Europe. Look at wattle-and-daub houses all over Europe, they are literally wood and mud houses.
Even in the USA, especially around New England, there are houses (typically the salt box models) that were built almost 400 years ago.
Wood certainly require a bit more care, require to choose an ideal land, but it can be durable.
But you are right in that even most "high end" US houses are built in the same cheap frame than their cheaper houses, out of prefabricated elements assembled together quickly.
And this is a big difference between most US houses and European wooden houses : the construction method in the US focuses on making a cheap frame quickly to save costs, then wrap up the cheapness in a fancy look.
However even in the US you will find durable houses - one example is the Miami-Dade region, where, due to both storms and marshy terrain, building with wood is restricted or banned, and building, including houses, are made of bricks or cinderblocks.
Note : not American so feel free to correct me if I got details wrong :)
Two liters of water in the Netherlands costs 0.2 cents. It is called tap water and the quality is better than bottled water. Everywhere. But for the rest, the Netherlands is for European standards quite expensive. Especially housing, although it is not as bad as in the UK for example. And education, health care, groceries and fuel are more expensive here than in Germany. Granted, the average income is a bit higher too. Sicily is not a very good example, as the south of Italy is one of the poorest regions in western Europe. There might be some even cheaper regions in Bulgaria and Romania, but that's it.
I rarely buy bottled water as well. Turin province: tap water is amazing
There are like 10-15 regions in Europe that are poorer than Southern Italy, which is a cesspool and I'd not live in it but you can't compare it with rural Spain, rural Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and half of Eastern Europe, since somehow you're comparing Bulgaria and Romania with it.
@@antoniousai1989 Yep just like you can't compare rural Emilia with rural Spain
? 1000 liters tap water normal cost 1.77 euro ,
Like the UK and Ireland (our housing is also exorbitant) the Netherlands is a small country with only limited space to build and a rapidly growing population. That is what people forget, France/Germany/ Spain etc are much larger countries with far more space, huge difference.
Why do Europeans ever want to migrate to the Divided States of America?
Europe is not perfect but it's still a better place than the Divided States of America period.
Other than than that a great video/reaction keep up the great work👍
And greetings from the Netherlands🇳🇱
Well to be fair besides eastern Europe, migration to the US from the rest of Europe continued to decrease in the last decades. And in many cases are graduated young people that want to increase their skills and earn high wages in the US without having to save money for their future children and for medical bills: they come back after few years.
@@Alby_Torino High wages???
What are you talking about those days are long gone you don't make more money over there anymore even Americans over there are having a hard time to just get by?
@@DidierWierdsma6335 American wages are higher but American costs are also higher.
@@serinadelmar6012 Which makes those so called higher wages completely pointless you don't make more money over there in the Divided States of America especially nowadays those days are over unfortunately all thanks to inflation.
RIP the American Dream it's over now it has become a nightmare sadly.
@@DidierWierdsma6335the people who goover there are doctors, engineers nurses, wages for profesdionals are much higher in the US than in Europe. Goal is probably spend a few years in the US so they can make enough quickly to buy a home in their own country and set their future up securely.
Sicily is a great place to live. Its very affortabel and a very nice island. She makes the right step. congrats to her
There are houses for free (1 Euro) in some Italian villages. All you need to
do is to restore it and live in it yourself and not resell.
Among other things. And that was just a plan to revitalise that town as most of the residents moved away from there. So it's not a bargain by any means.
@@Average_Bruh Yes not a bargain but a fair offer ☺
AFAIK that was an offer that expired long ago and was only valid for a village where everybody left and the houses were long abandoned and had to be fixed for a lot of money - it was an offer out of desperation, not really a bargain - except maybe for rich pensioners who don't need a job and an income.
@@40hup Italian here, not just one village, they are schemes promoted by the public local authorities to revitalize some places and from time to time you can find various villages offering a few houses for 1 euro. You can find them in small villages here and there in various regions of mostly southern Italy. They're not really for sale, you have to present your application to the local authority complete with your plans for renovations etc and if you're approved then you can have the house. Very often they're derelict homes that would need a lot of work and the cost of the renovation is almost as much, if not greater, than buying a decent house in fairly good shape in the same areas. But sometimes for some people it's worth it I guess.
@@40hupthere are more places than just the one village you are thinking of that do this.
Here in Sweden, we pay 30 % in taxes from our sallery but the medical care is pretty cheap and subsidised by the government. A visit to the ER cost about $40 and to stay in the hospital cost $13 a day and and when the costs go over $140 after that high-cost protection kicks in then it's for free. Same for the medication. All health care including dental under the age of 20 is free in Sweden. Moved from the U.S. over 35 years ago to Sweden and never regret it. Been having a ball here and just recently renounce my American citizenship to avoid the double taxation. Have no plans moving back to America ever again.
Congratulations honorary European! 🇸🇪
That double tax thing is terrible. Paying tax to a country you aren’t living in is robbery.
Germany! I work at DHL for 13.50 per hr, 130hr per mth. After tax, it seems it would be better if I wasn't working. So much energy spent and the reward is miniscule.
Those DHL Dudes here in berlin are next to the other parcel delivery services my personal heros!
You are better off.
13.50 EUR/h*130h = 1755 EUR, Taxes Klasse 3, no kids, no church = 1385 EUR netto.
Rent for one person with Bürgergeld in Berlin is about 436 EUR + Bürgergeld of 563 EUR = 999 EUR
So you are 386 EUR better off than without work. And you get Rentenpunkte.
I know it is not much with this wage but it is better than nothing.
"So much energy spent and the reward is miniscule"
I can understand this point.
dhl, ups or amazon, whatever.Is also paid very poorly and I'm in the province of Baden-Württemberg. If you live with your parents and that's a start for you, then fine, but a company for building a career, no thanks.My opinion👍
@@helloweener2007 You also qualify for around 170€ of Wohngeld, so the difference is over 500€. Basically twice the monthly spending amount after paid rent. And he is working around 30 hours per week, so he can still get a tax free minijob for another 538€ of income.
@@Psi-Storm
Yes of course. I forgot about that.
You can apply for Wohngeld.
Hi Ian Italian here. I would add, regarding the difference in property prices that there’s also a huge difference in the buildings between Italy ( or I should say Europe) and USA : our construction materials and building quality are vastly different and so much better than yours. Ours are so much more solid and durable , using bricks , sturdy windows and doors ( usually!) etc. So you should factor this in the difference of prices
The "House" he showed for 550.000$ in the US, is a Bungalow, a Cottage Style that has historically been built from wood in many places including Europe.
In Germany these are very common in Schrebergärten (allotments/community gardens) and for a similar big piece of land with a wooden bungalow on it one would pay not even 50.000€.
And as a German, I know that Italy has those as well... Many Germans buy/rent them as vacation homes...
@@Robin93k I’m not sure what your point is… in my post I just wanted to underline the differences of materials and building quality between the average Italian house and the average American one…. Of course there are a lot of different styles here and for sure in Italy we have wooden structures, especially in the North of the country, or on the mountains generally but that’s not the most common model for a house…. And I’m sure , anyway, that the wooden structures in Italy or in the rest of Europe are by far more solid than the cookie cutter houses I observed during my travels to the USA…. Could be wrong, of course, but just visually the impression was of rather flimsy structures, even if pleasant to the eye!
1. That desk was "cheap" because it is nor an antique nor "vintage". It is just plain old.
2.Plus, she is not talking about taxes. Depending on how long does she stay in Italy, she will be heavily charged as income will be taxed in Italy, not in the USA. So far, according to what she has explained, she got herself a holiday home in Sicily.
Ikr 😂 that was funny with the desk! She also appears to be on a tourist Visa so definitely a holiday home.
I am Dutch. Here its impossible to get a descent living for the money she discribes.
She aint living there is she? she is in sicily...
Don't forget : GDP per capita in Sicily is only 22 k€ (which is still not the actual average income)
That s why she settled down there and not in The Netherlands 🤣🤷♂️
It's impossible to get a descent living for the money she describes in many, many parts of Northern Italy as well
@@Alby_Torino Beh non è proprio così, considera che lei vive in un paesino, non in centro a Palermo, percui il paragone lo devi fare con un paesino di campagna, non con Milano.... E in un paesino di campagna, anche in Lombardia, con 1500 euro al mese e casa di proprietà non vivi male.
I am a European who chooses to live in Asia. I live in an extremely safe country (guns strictly regulated) where even women can walk at night without the threat of violence, where the police are there to serve and help people and not tyrants whose ego's are out of control. The food is not ultra-processed and therefore healthy and finally medical services are first class will not bankrupt you if you have a medical condition. I cannot believe that anyone in their right mind would choose to live in the USA unless you are fleeing for your life and it's the only place you can walk to.
European here, living in Vietnam.
Western countries used to be great a few decades ago, but now it all has become a shit show.
Lots of crime an crazy high cost of living.
It's has become a nightmare.
@@NTFiveSource?
@@arnodobler1096 Personal experience.
@@NTFive There are twice as many murders per capita in Vietnam than in Germany. Standard of living?
@@NTFive - take your meds and your paranoia will fade away. Promised!
When she lives fully in Italy and tries to get a job there, she might think different about how cheap living is. Without cash made somewhere else.
There must be something behind this story that prevents her from moving to Italy on a permanent basis. She mentioned she stays in Italy for a maximum of one or three months at a time and then goes back to the US for months. Which suggests she enters the Schengen Zone as a tourist. As an American she could get a work or resident visa very easily so that she wouldn't have to shuffle that much. But she doesn't and there must be a reason why not, we just weren't told so.
@@albertlugosi yeah she is most likely on a tourist visa and that's why she can't be there for longer and has to rent a car at a HUGE expense since she couldn't own one unless she becomes resident.
@@albertlugosiShe probably can’t get a work visa because she is self employed and paying all her taxes etc. in the US and she is probably not bringing in enough money to Italy for an “investors”type of visa. She is a digital nomad with her base in the US.
probably because the moment you're resident you have to pay taxes in Italy regardless of where you do business. So you can say bye to at least 50% of your income.
@@simtekgroup3080 There's no agreement between the US and Italy on double taxation, so you'd get double taxes. The land of the free apparently doesn't want to have its citizens free from its grasp. The US are also the only country when you are forced to pay taxes just for having the citizenship, even if you live abroad.
I live in an ugly suburb of Baltimore, and feel trapped like a rat. I wish there was some way I could live in the Swiss Alps instead!
The Alps stretch into less expensive places as well. Slovenia for example.
Switzerland is very beautiful but trust me its eye wateringly expensive. To give you an idea (ball park) petrol as we can all relate to it is between $7 and $8 a us gallon (3.78 liters).
@@markmundy3435 just about as much as anywhere in italy or europe (6-7$ a gallon)
If you think Switzerland is cheaper than wherever you live, you can't be more wrong
@@Sbinott0 I spent 10 days in Switzerland last year and one day we did drop down into Italy and the fuel was just a little more expensive which was a shock. If I remember I think we paid a little over 2.20 euros a liter.
You got excited about water. I add more. In most EU countries regulations about tap water are so strict so it is usually same or better quality than cheap bottled water. In fact quite often (at least in Poland) that cheap supermarket water is tap water put into bottles. So, unless you want one with sparkles there is no need to buy bottled water for a home. Just to have it when you go out.
In Poland you can drink tap water straight from sink without being afraid at all.
I only bought water a few times, because of construction work having tap water disabled, or I was just outside. There's no reason to buy water where I live when tap water is great.
In my small village of about 4000 inhabitants in Italy we have a public distributor that supplies natural or carbonated refrigerated water for free. Of course, tap water is also drinkable.
Here in Europe, especially Germany, we pay a lot of tax, social insurence etc., BUT this pays for the education of our children, retiring, hospitals and so forth. As I understand it from a lot of videos, in the US you pay much less of taxes, and have to pay for every thing I named extra and then some. Yes, here in Germany we have cheep groceries, that are not very healthy, but we have much more of the healthy food. Here we have a saying: If you buy cheep, you buy 3 or 4 times. I taught that, to an family that had to flee their home country, and now after discovering, I spoke true, the tell this to other families in the same situation.
Ian, sir, have a good day with your charming family!!❤❤❤😁😇.
Elmar from Germany
Also if American citizens leave the USA they still have to pay USA tax, which is crazy. Land of the not so free.
Germanys groceries are subsidized at some point, in Spain we get better fresh food but more expensive regarding my experience
Don't forget about taxes. In Europe, you can easily go up to 40-50%. So if you make 80k a year, you are left with around 40k. (In Belgium at least)
I've holidayed in various parts of the US since 1990. Back then, it was cheaper than Europe. Over the years, it's become more and more expensive. Eating and drinking out in US cities is now exorbitant. Price of wine in restaurants is insane.
Of course it's cheaper with american income. :D Average salary in Sicily is 16k eur a year (around 1300 eur a month). A lot of these videos are very misleading, they tend to forgot to tell why it is so cheap there, because the people who live there make much much less than an average american. Also electronics and cars are more expensive than in the US in many EU countries.
Agree 100%
True. But there's less to lay out, and you get more for your money.
Plus digital nomads tend to make the place less livable for locals as they tend to make rents increase (Lisbon and Portugal more broadly has a huge problem with this)
I'm not sure about electronics, but for cars, it's.. hard to tell. I was recently looking at it with American friends, and in Europe, the cheaper cars start at around 12 000€. In the US, the cheapest car is 20 000$. The cost of used car may vary, but even within a country it can vary alot.
Plus, I think those are moot points since you don't buy cars and electronics daily, so while this can be a factor, it's not so much impacting than daily costs like utilities and groceries.
Austrian here, a whole Chicken for about 3,- is not possible here. So it seems that southern Italy is especially cheap. But I´d say, a whole chicken for around 6-7 can be done. Not organic, though.
Also Austrian, organic chicken is 12-15 (ca. 1,2-1,5kg) with luck
I can find those chickens in Italy but, usually, those packages are not including the breast.
14:23 And look, nobody has a car but the "American lady with the air conditioner". 😂😂🤣
😂
You need to know that Sicily and the southern end of the Italian boot are the poorest regions in Italy. The more north you go, the more expensive things get, and also the better payed the jobs are. Sure, if you make your money on YT or some remote work, its great to live there. But for the locals its not that easy, unemployment is high, wages are low. Thats why many people (especially in rural regions) have left and moved to the cities in the north. Or even other countries, like Germany or France or so.
Its similar in many places in Europe, what are basically gems of beauty - but difficult to live in for the local population. You find that in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Croatia ect. If you have money you can live there like a king. And quite a number of people do that.
In Sicily towns give you houses for free if you come live there
but you need to invest in those houses...BIG
Nope, you have to get permanent residency. She's entering in Schengen area as a tourist.
Please take a note : Northern italian use to say " south of Roma is already Africa". The is a very poor aerea. Go and live north of Italy, let's say In the Milano aerea, It will cost you twice more as a minimum.
I am a dane and I follow an american family who moved to Denmark a "few" years back. They are called "Travellin Youngs" -They have made alot of videos comparing and explaining the differences in everyday life between Denmark and US....
regarding the store, it was a small store (compared to what we find in France: 6300m2 on average)
regarding the internet, it's 40eu per month for fiber with speed down to 1gb (and 2gb exists). mobile internet (4G, 5G...) is 20eu per month with 300gb of bandwidth
:)
But it is true that we pay very expensive rents in France (1000 eu per month for 60m2)
Many Americans love de-regulation, and less government involvement. Most Europeans are nearly opposite. After cities like London and Paris were made unaffordable for their own native-born, other European cities took actions to preserve affordable housing for lower-paid citizens, and avoid loss of culture, tradition and colour by the overwhelming influx of rich, non-native newcomers. Prices should be driven mainly by costs of natural resources and world financial fluctuations (wars, natural disasters etc.). But if you allow rampant no-limit free-market profiteering, it drives inflation, enriches the already rich, and impoverishes people who used to have a decent living wage. Simplistic but true. Who was US President 2016-2020 ? When cost-of-living prices - and the US national debt - exploded. Wasn't he a billionaire ? Real-estate mogul ?
😂 yeah I can’t quite remember his name but you’re definitely onto something!
I live in the UK and I absolutely despise big government.
@@jayc342009 Like I said - most Europeans. UK government has been a benign dictatorship throughout history, but, just out of interest - what's your alternative ?
@@terryross1754 we are still technically European we are just no longer in the union. Reducing the size of the government, we have too many ministers and MP's. Councils also have an issue with grossly overpaid councilors who aren't really needed.
Rules and regulations on what people can and can't do with their own property need to get fcked off immediately.
I just can't stand the government sticking it's beak in everyone's business.
All depends where you are. Europe is a big place with many countries, all very different.
Although I have friends and family in America and always have a good time there, I wouldn't want to live there.
I know a couple who moved from the United States to Lithuania because they want to start a family and have children. In Lithuania, we have 58 weeks of maternity (or paternity) leave 100% paid and another 58 weeks 80% paid. Maybe the climate is a bit cold, but great food, nature and a rapidly developing economy and innovation attract people.
I am always wanted to visit Lithuania. Estonia and Latvia too. Greetings from Spain 🇪🇸
@@serinadelmar6012 You are very welcome, the most beautiful time to visit the Baltic countries is summer - green and flowery 😊
30K per year in Austria is already a "lower middle-class". I retired 6 months ago and have a monthly income of 1550 Euros (14 times, even in retirement i get the so called christmas and vacation bonuses). And it´s absolutely ok. I can pay my rent, my food, TV & Internet, i don´t need a car since the public transportation in Vienna is excellent. And i am completely insured. That means medical treatment, visits to my doc, or even if i should go to hospital - i don´t have to pay a cent.
For me (in Austria) it's still some years left and I came to similar numbers what I would need in retirement. A bit more because I need (and want) a car.
@@reinhard8053 All the best for your few years until retirement. To be honest: sometimes i miss my car, but even if i had one - my last car insurance costed around 55 Euros a month. So i think i (and even you) would not get in financial troubles...
@@bladablitz I have €200-250/month for everything (car: fuel, insurances, service).
I don't need a car for living, but for my hobbies.
Im danish and seriously consider moving to the philipines or Thailand.
Thomas a she???Thailand!!!JaJa😂
me too as a german
Held og lykke med visa😛
Me too. I'm Norwegian.
You should take a look at Vietnam. Cost of living is lower than in Thailand and the Vietnamese women are way better than Thai women. Less gold diggers and scammers. Good marriage material.
Don't move to the Netherlands, everything went up like crazy here
Because of American students at UvA
Also milan in italy, rent and cost of living is insane but wages are as shit as the rest of italy
valt wel mee gewoon appie en jumbo links laten liggen en lidl netto of aldi scheelt heel veel met wekelijkse boodschappen
The prices went up all over Europe, not only in the Netherlands. My grocery bill has increased about 20% in the last year or 2 (I'm from Belgium).
My cousin bought a house in Germany 30+ years ago for €90,000. The house has two floors and a yard large enough to mow some grass and let the children play. The house is located 2 km from the center and you can comfortably go for a walk and drink a coffee in the center. Today such a house as his would cost over €700,000, with the fact that if I were to buy such a house, I would have to pay for building materials for renovation min. €50,000.
I come from Eastern Croatia🇭🇷and some things are 40% cheaper. But also better quality. For example, milk, meat, vegetables.
Great reaction, yes things can vary greatly in both places but the fact that a salary of $100,000 dollars isn’t considered a really high wage is mind blowing (I’m in Scotland)
Exactly.
Of course the more affluent people that move to places like sciliy, prices will inevitably go up making life more expensive for the locals. It becomes a never-ending circle that's hard to square
So you don’t want people bringing their money to spend in your local businesses and shops, and support your town? They don’t take your jobs they support your area. This isn’t immigrates seeking to take your limited opportunities.
@@kennethprocak5176 so you can't see this could be a potential problem for the locals, if there is an influx of well off people moving into an area. With the possible result of property in poorer areas going up in price and out of the reach of locals?
@@kennethprocak5176 she’s also not paying any tax. Think it through love.
@@alwynemcintyre2184exactly. This has happened to so many places, for instance Mallorca used to have generations of families in some of the more now sort-after mountain villages, now after centuries none can afford to stay in there. Richard Branson was the first apparently in that neck of the woods but it definitely happens.
@@serinadelmar6012 She will have to pay some taxes. Italy's 7% tax regime for retirees allows holders of a foreign pension the chance to transfer their tax residence to one of the municipalities in the South of Italy. This allows them to opt out of the standard progressive tax rate and pay a tax rate of just 7% on all foreign-sourced income.
WTF is she talking about??
Here in the EU WE ALL EAT AT 12.
Its called lunch, and in Italiy they are even more strict about it.
If you wark in acorporation or office, every one goes out at 12 for lunch.
Also not eating in company is actualy not exactly a good thing, and people do not appreciate it in here.
i mean if she is self employed she can take a lunch break any time any where. But if she wanted to go to Italy because she like the place, than i can understand.
LUNCH AT 12? where do you live, in germany? in Italy the more you go south the later people eat. In rome nobody goes to lunch before 1 pm and actually in my company, by contract, We have a specific timframe in which we can badge to go for lunch and it is between 1 pm and 3 pm (with minimum 30 minutes and maximum 1 h 30).
Nope. We don't eat at 12 in Italy, especially in southern Italy. Lunch break would most often start at 1 and the average lunch time is probably around 1:30. Even school hours are between 8-8:30 to 1-1:30 in most places.
*"Here in the EU WE ALL EAT AT 12"*
You're just making assumptions that everyone eats at 12. Yes lunch is usually at 12 in most work places, but you can't just force people on eat if they aren't hungry.
People should be able to decide they want to eat or not, not everyone likes eating with strangers.
Nope.
I'm in Belgium. At the company I work we the office workers eat somewhere between 12 and 2. Time available for lunch being 1 hour that you are free to choose and we can take the time to have lunch at the company or go outside to some place. The only caveat is that the time traveling to and fro + lunch shouldn't exceed 1 hour but it's not as if anyone is keeping track with a stop watch.
Is my experience standard for every company in Belgium. No. But neither is your experience.
I'm Japanese with permanent residency in Slovenia. The only time we eat lunch at 12:00 or around that time is on Saturdays and Sundays when the whole family is together, during the work week we have a "snack" break from 12:00 - 13:00, most people don't eat anything during that time, but just go out for coffee. Then whoever comes home first from work cooks lunch so we eat lunch between 15:30-16:30, kids have lunch in school, or if they don't they'll wait to the same time. And dinner hear is something light, just like breakfast, mostly for kids, and me and my husband usually eats the leftovers from lunch, but I mostly just indulge in some fruit or snacks.
In EU there is no property tax. Or if it is its really low in comparison to US. As in I pay 10 euro / month municipal tax on my 350k euro apartment. Our main tax is VAT.
Meaning if you own your home (as you should before retirement) you need only to pay for utilities. And those cost 200-300 euros a month for say 3br property, family of 4.
And transportation is much cheaper here because distances are shorter and most stuff you can do on foot or biking. Also - healthcare is free for pensioners. Expect 20-30E / mo copay for some medicatons tops.
The rest is pretty comparable to US. As of recent your food got hit hard by inflation, but going back few years, it was pretty much same all.
So, wife and I retired projection in the future breakdown:
Housing 300E
Food: 500E
Transport: 400E (say a small car), public transport is like 7E/mo for pensioners
Misc expenses: 300E (clothes, appartment maintenance, etc)
We would need around 1500E / mo for basic comfortable life for two of us. Add say 300 more for travel and a bit of luxury and its a grand life. And ofc paid off home.
I cant wait for your Europe tour vlog. I have faith
In Finland my internet is 600MB and 35€/month.
in France, illimited 5 g data =15.99€ phone andSME s illimited incluse
@@christianc9894 I think he's talking about the internet connection speed being 600MB at home, not mobile data limitations.
In Italy you can easily get 1000Mbit/sec for 20-25€/month, I don't know anybody who pays 50+, very strange, probably this woman not being local got sold a very expensive subscription that she thought was cheap.
Wow, that's expensive! In Turin 2gb/seca: 25€. With 10€ more you can get 1 sim 5 g unlimited data. Probably since she's in Europe with a tourist visa she can't get a regular subscription. And in small rural areas of Sicily you won't get fabric connections.
@@Alby_Torino It also depends on the location, which make sense. Here, in Czech Rep., there are appartment building blocks, in larger cities, where you can get 2Gb/s sometimes even for 10€ (usually 10-20), because 1) there is available infrastructure and 2) more ISP companies, which means heavy competition, which means heavy pressure on prizes downwards.
On the other side, if you live in a small village in the middle of nowhere, with only wireless available and only one ISP, who can dictate prizes, you can easily pay 20€ or even more and you are lucky if you get 100Mb/s. I know places, where all you can get is 20Mb/s.
Sicily is poor as hell to be fair
For someone who prefer a quiet life, warm weather and good Itialien food is Sicily ok ,it ´s a beautiful place
There's a reason for that, you know why.
one of the worst most ugliest places I've ever been to in europe (apart from seeing romanian/bulgarian ghettos on yt)
so much trash and garbage on the streets and beaches....
Mmm even if sicily has one of the lowest income per capita in Italy, services are still better than the US average.
@@Danielik25 Food is what you make yourself, most Europeans don't go to restaurants on the daily, only on special occasions such as birthdays and other events, which is usually less than 5 times a year, except for business dinners and when you are vacationing, then you usually eat out for the duration of your holiday. Most Europeans cook their own lunches, dinners, and they cook whatever they want, including in Italy, they don't just eat constant Mediterranean cuisine, I'm on the Mediterranean, and we cook from schnitzels to pasta, to goulashes and bogračes, to sushi and hamburgers, anything you want and know how to cook. There is "good" food literally everywhere, nothing inherently better in Italy than any other place, Sicily is just cheap when it comes to food because of their economy, and this lady from USA is eating out every day, is the exception not the rule of many Sicily natives.
Well, to give some context, with 62000 you can't afford neither a car box in Milan, Italy, too. It depends a lot by the fact she went to Sicily that is very cheap also for italian average prices. Milan is the most expensive city, but also southern italy, in little towns like that, in particular, is the most inexpensive part of the Country.
It's worth mentioning that Sicily is relatively poor, with high unemployment etc. That, of course, is reflected in housing prices. Grocery prices vary widely between European countrys. In Scandinavia, for example, you can easily double the prices mentioned here, if not more. Especially in my country, Norway.
Utilities, like water supply, electricity etc. isn't that bad, although electricity has gone up a lot over the last few years.
I'm surprised that internet connection is so crazy expensive in the US. With prices like that there must be people who can't afford internet connection in the US, which is basically unheard of here in Norway.
Antique furniture in Europe is never cheap unless it is a fake.
Love your videos but most videos like this, including the one you are reacting to here paint a picture that is relatively "fake". I could make the same video moving from Paris to some little rural area in the US and show how cheap the US is. She is coming from a very expensive area in the US and moving to one of the cheapest areas in Europe. That isn't even to mention that she is living off of a US salary which is at least 2x more than she would make in Italy doing a similar job. Yes prices in Europe can be lower but our salaries are as well, even our "Free healthcare" usually comes out to about 20-30% of your salary going to taxes to upkeep the system, which is the same as an American spending 1500$ on personal life insurance each month. I love living in Europe and do agree with the systems in place but dislike this sort of fake propaganda.
Not 20% to 30% at all. In Uk You have. Personal allowance that’s free of taxes all together £12570 To keep the maths easy . If you earn £52000 a year from the government web site and then it’s a graduated scale and you will pay. roughly £59 a week that’s £3050 a year which is roughly 13% of your salary . A lot less than you 20 to 30% of your insurance . Not to mention not only do you get your healthcare from that 13% you will also get a guaranteed government pension at age 66 to 68 depends when you were born. A hell oh a lot less than 20 to 30 percent that you quoted.
It’s really complicated and pages and pages of govern,ent websites to go through but and I can’t be bothered to do the maths exactly but your estimate of 20 to 30% on healthcare alone is widely out.
Ian, in Italy (Sicily) you can buy a house for €1 if you agree to fix it up and live there for 10-15 years. There are so many abandoned buildings due to emigration to wealthier areas. You can find videos of renovations here.
I've seen news articles of France doing the same thing to attract young people into small villages that are slowly dying because everyone moves away.
In the UK i can easily live on £1500 a month. I pay £500 a month in rent for a 2 bedroom apartment (would be more like £750 today but my landlord is chill), internet is like £25 for gigabit, phone is £10. My total bills monthly are less than £1000 total then add food and recreation and travel. I have 0 debt at all. No uni debt because i went to scotland, the concept of medical debt doesnt exist in the uk at all, it doesnt exist. My full time work week is 30 hours and i get 35 days off per year. I earn about 30k per year which sounds low but i mean i just dont need more money. I travel to spain, turkey, greece etc 5+ times per year because in the uk we have bank holidays which means you can often get a 4 day weekend so a lot of us just get a cheap flight to spain. Like i can get flights for as low as literally £9.99 to a bunch of places in europe, we also have 'city break' packages. An all inclusive family holiday in spain for a week for 5 people can be as cheap as £300-500. I drive a diesel 2011 skoda octavia (cost £750) and a petrol 2013 Nissan QashQai (£1000) my insurance is about £500 per year, petrol and diesel are about $7 a gallon which sucks but remember everything is closer in europe haha and my diesel skoda gets 55mpg easy on the motorway and the nissan gets about 35-40mpg. Quite a lot of us do have cars in europe btw you just dont need them for work or transport, theres 400 million cars in the EU compared to 300 something million in the usa.
£9.99 for a flight but you do have to pay for a seat on top of that. Realistically cheap flights are around £60 each way, they used to be cheaper for sure. Your rent though, that’s so cheap, where do you live?
SHE LIVES IN A POOREST AREA OF ITALY ,WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE [ OF COURSE EVERYTHING IS CHEEPER ]. THIS IS A WRONG IMAGE OF EUROPE
No it is not..most of the prices are quite general in EU.. stop bullshitting people
It may seem like it's super cheap in Europe but you have to take into account the salaries people make, for example lets say you live in Spain, Greece, Italy or whatever and start comparing it to American prices for things, it might sound so cheap and good but when you look at the salary differences it's not as cheap for the locals. As an example now I used to live in Greece where my rent was 300 euro which is about a third of my current one in Sweden but the difference is that I make 4-5 times more in salary here compared to there.
Moving to Europe permanently isn't as easy as some might think. Europe is a diverse continent with varying immigration rules and is not an open land for everyone seeking a better life, including Americans. To stay longer than 90 days, you need a permanent residence permit. One way to obtain this is by investing, with minimum investment requirements starting at $250,000 and often including the need to create jobs for local residents. The more money you have, the easier it is to meet these criteria.
For instance, here in Italy, an option for permanent residence is through demonstrating passive income, which is typically suitable for retirees. Another pathway is through Italian descent, allowing you to apply for citizenship.
It's worth noting that anyone can buy property in Italy without needing permanent residency, but you still have to leave after 90 days and can only return after 180 days. While Italy and Europe offer many benefits such as a high quality of life, free healthcare, and affordable university education, obtaining the necessary documents for permanent residence is challenging and not accessible to everyone. So, my question to this TH-camr is, how did you manage to live here permanently? That will be the most important question. I have for her and if you are still employed in the US I assume your consulting biz your us based you have to be paying double in taxes. Last point let me ask you to imagine what is like the life of the average Italian family of 4 living here in an average income of 1200 per month. Imagine what it feels to hear people telling us how good you live here in our country because it’s cheap and affordable to you. Btw I heard you saying “gracias” wrong country, the word is grazie.
I caught that too, the most elementary Italian and she said it in Spanish! 😂 All else you said is very true too, especially the final point.
If you want to live in the uk expense free just come across the channel in a dinghy
Well when it comes to housing, Italy is not very pricy. Depends on the country how expensive it´ll be. Especialy here in Germany you can pay up to a million € for a house. Countrys like Denmark or Italy for e.g. are very affordable when it comes to housing. You can easily buy a house in Denmark for under 30 grand :)
I am from Poland, living in Germany. I earn like not even 50 k a year, we live a pretty deacend life. Travelling, eating good, driving a new car witch I payed cash☝️I work as a social worker in Frankfurt am Main. One of the most expensive City in Germany. Love your channel!!! ✌🏼
In Italy, the prices of houses and living in general vary a lot between north and south. Not only that, if you are looking for a house in a big city you will pay much more than if you are looking for it in a town or village.
France suppose to be a very expensive country to live in and my monthly grocery spending is about 250€(271$) for three people. And I buy bio products and direct from local farmers. So it’s cheap and way more healthier than USA. And here in central France three bedroom house coast around 400000€(435000$). So it’s still lot cheaper than USA. And we don’t have medical spending and half of our transportation spending and half of our health insurance as well as totality of life insurance policy is paid by our employers. We have 31 day summer vacations and 15 to 20 days winter vacations as well as two days per week free so we have the time and money to travel around a lot( we even get free 300€ vacation vouchers and 250€ restaurant vouchers by the employer). And the state gives us a 100€ voucher per a year to pay for the electricity bill. If we need to buy ecological transportation( electric cars electric bikes cycles etc) state helps up to 3000€ financial aid. So you see in the end France is a way better place to really live than money hungry capitalist USA
Very interesting topic. I've seen several videos where people say that the minimum amount of money that people need to live comfortably is about $75,000 in the U.S but only about 20,000 euros in Europe, and I've wondered where that difference comes from. Especially because according to a lot of videos that tourists make, the price of food is about the same and it can also be higher in some parts of Europe.
Maybe the most interesting difference for me here is the price of transportation. So she pays $1,164 a month in Atlanta and I pay 61 euros for a 30 day bus card. That certainly will ad up over time.
Then it gets really American when she starts talking about how much she needs to save to be able to retire. Um... I've never known anyone who would save money for retirement because everyone gets a pension after they turn 65, that's not something that people would need to worry about themselves. If someone wants to save something extra for the future, sure they can, but that's not something that everyone would need to do.
Saving can help you retire sooner. I really would like to go that way if possible. My father only had a few years in retirement befor he died. I hope to get more from it.
I pay €240 per month for my car (no credit or leasing) including fuel, insurances and service.
550 000$ for a weak wood house a few decades old, against a 62 000 stone house a few centuries old. 😊
All prices in Europe are with tax included. So it's even harder to compare…
I'm as you could say dirt poor. Internet per month is 23€ I have only bough water few times in a year, 'cos it is free in a tab. This is one of the most expensive countries in the world, or so I have told. My living expenses are about 800€ per month (9600€/y). I don't have a car, I bicycle everywhere around the year.Only thing that worries is the electricity. In wintertime, it has made people rethink the usage of the electricity, 'cos they are bankrupted for the bills. The country I live in is Finland.
Its not about prices only, its about freedom. You in America, you have like 50% of freedom compared to my country in central europe.
I never met an american, who was not shocked about liberty and quality of life in my part of europe.
I wish all the americans to start visiting other countries. You may find, that you can live a better life with your family and children in a safe country, where you get paid for your job properly and live in peace.
Traveling is good, it opens eyes and mind.
@17:17 I more or less expecting you calling: "Honey!!! We need plane tickets to Sicily! Urgently!!!"
In Italy, all the food is of a higher quality than you can find in the US and you can shop cheaper than what she mentioned. Because in every city in Italy there is a square market where the farmers sell what they grow themselves, fresh meat from their animals and in Italy all the animals go outside and graze and they get feed from some factory but everything they eat comes from the land outside that has never been sprayed with pesticides. Even fresh fish that the fisherman has been fishing in the early morning, at coastal towns. The same applies to Spain.
Then what she didn't mention in the video but that I know about, regarding the school food and that is that all schools in Italy have real kitchens where every day they prepare food from scratch with fresh ingredients. It is forbidden in Italy to use processed food, it is forbidden to use raw materials that have been frozen, everything must be fresh. Then every little Italian child knows since they are little 2-3 years old, they know where all the food comes from, what all the crops are called. At this age, the children are already allowed to participate in the butchering of animals.
Then in Italy there you never stress and then most places are closed between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. during the day because you take a siesta then and you do the same in Spain.
Exactamente, y me encanta los dos país. ¡Saludos de Granada!
I was born and grew up in Italy I came to us when I was 29 now I’m 45 and from my experience I can tell you that when you move to a different country,you adapt to the lifestyle and accept things that you would not accept in your country so despite the income or the cost of living you just feel better.
Sincerely, since the NW of Spain , recently nominated by National Geographic “the best place for holidays”, I don’t want see more tourist , never more . Please all to Albania or Greece or Croatia or Creta. Please!!!!
If you move to scandinavia you dont need to buy water on bottle. The water you have in the tap is better quality than most expensive bottled water
I've found Gullane, Scotland, to be so soothing, after living in or near Chicago. funny name coincidence. I worked in Gallina. now I drive 20 mins to Gullane, to walk my old dog on sandy beach.
I am Italian, from Piedmont, and I have really appreciated your intellectual honesty talking about U.S.A.; Italy is not a perfect world but living in southern Italy may be interesting for many people. Just pay attention to several other things like, for instance, the water: is there enough?
guarda io in piemonte non ci sarei neanche gratis rgione di una noia mortale
@@MsSicily86 ma a me che cazzo me ne fotte che tu non staresti in Piemonte? Tra il Piemonte ed il sud preferisco stare con i noiosi (non sai di cosa stai parlando, è evidente...); io, in ogni caso, vivo in Svizzera...
A lot of smaller Italian communities have problems as their young ones very often seek to relocate to the cities in their areas. Hence many of them offer people buying houses in these villages/small towns at ludacrisly low prices. A friend of mine moved his family from Sweden to the middle of Italy after finding a 500 sqm house for more or less 100€. He spent 50K renovating it into what he wanted and went for it. They're less than 1,5 hrs away from Rome, an hour from the coast.
It's not for everyone though as in order to get the housing so cheap you actually do have to commit to live there full-time. Most Italians in the countryside are also on the older side meaning they mostly only speak Italian. So gotta learn the language for the full quality of life.
GRACIAS! 🤣🤣
17:12 This is why there is such a push away from owning a house in many countries. Once you own your house, the cost of living is actually affordable. You could take that 18k per year and go live comfortably in at least 10 countries in Europe (some of them in the EU, like Italy). If you think smart, have a remote job like this woman, you can get a neat house in a European village, like she did, for under 100k and live like a king off your remote job or your investments. Then again, you could do that in rural Dakota or Montana. Let us not pretend that the USA doesn't have states where life is cheap, but a lot of americans seem to ignore that idea, right up to the time where they cannot live in a city.
in Czech i think around 15k a year (which is average) would sustain you and for 30k a year you would really live good
Prices of houses went throught the roof , it depends how close to big city are you , but like 20km away from city a house with 3 bedrooms , living room , kitchen , 2x garage and decent size garden would go around 500k
Living comfortably for about 18k a year sounds reasonable. In Germany a full time minimum wage job gives you a bit less than 25k per year before taxes and insurance. In most parts of Germany you can easily live off that as long as you don't buy luxury brand stuff. So I am not that surprised about the general cost of living in Southern Italy. The food seems a bit cheap but then again a lot of food is produced in southern Europe so it kind of makes sense that it is cheaper in Italy than in Germany.
less than 2 dollars for 2 litres of soda here in denmark!bacon is hella expensive these days although we are one of the biggest pork exporting countries!
But damn it’s good. I actually blame Denmark for breaking 15 years of vegetarianism but discovering Danish ancestry did help to justify this. 😂
Denmark we got Fiber-optic (up/down the same) Mbit/~$ pr. month :
2500/80 : 1000/60 : 500/54
more or les the same from all the ISPs
In Turin 2gb/sec: 25€. With 10€ more you can get 1 sim 5 g unlimited data
The average U.S. household income in 2022 was $105,555, while the median U.S. household income was $74,580. Adjusting for inflation, median household income dropped 2.2% from 2021 to 2022.
According to the annual report by ISTAT (July data), the average salary in Italy in 2023 amounts to 27,000 euros gross per year.
4:50 : I heard that mobile internet cost a lot in US, so you often try to use wifi. Here we don't need wifi, we can remotly work anywhere just using 4G/5G as it's very cheap (like 20 euros for 100Go, 30 euro for 250 Go/month). So she can really work from anywhere 🙂
I'm also European from Belgium... And I wish I'd make $80.000 a year 😳 That is about 3 times a average sallery here
Northen Italy and most of Northern and Western Europe are much more expensive and close to USA prices.
But the grocery prices she showed are similar here in the Netherlands, or Germany and Belgium.
Another metric regarding houses here in Europe is that our houses are built in brick, block or stone. How can houses built with sheet plywood justify their price, particularly in areas subject to tornadoes ? Remember ' I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down .... '
Some average prices in Finland, depending of course about the quality of living you wanna live with and how rural you wanna go etc:
- 2 room rental apartment with kitchen = rent approx. 500-800€/month.
- Water bill of that apartment = 25€/per person (sometimes cheaper, and sometimes is included on the rent).
- Electricity = varies (for that apartment I mentioned, in storey building, approx 50-70€/month, used to be cheaper).
- Internet = about 20-30€/month (some houses have free basic connection with low speed, which you can upgrade to higher speeds too).
- Food = varies between 150-300€/month I'd say (if you don't eat outside, food is not cheap here).
- Annual home insurance for that apartment = 150-250€/year (again, varies depending the options you have with it).
- Your own car parking spot = about 5-35€/month (usually it's just a spot with socket for preheating, but there is garage spots available in some places).
- Visit to a basic level doctor = 41.80€ (most of it is covered by government through the tax system that supports healthcare expenses).
- Gasoline = approx 1.80€/L at the moment (used to be as low as 1.35€/L years ago, and on average at 1.50€/L).
- Meds = about 5-20€ for basic, non-prescription painkillers etc.
- Cigarettes = 9-11€ for 20 cig pack.
- Sixpack of beer = 10-12€ (you can get loose cans for as low as around 1€/can)
Depending what you do and where you live in Finland you don't need a car.
That's the beauty of a lot of European cities is you can manage with public transport.
Btw I spent some time working in Finland.
@@MsPeabody1231 It works in the capital area and in couple other big cities, if you live close enough of them. But apart from those, own car is pretty much mandatory. And of course, it's your own preference too, some do live without car even in smaller places, going with bicycle all year long.