Living in Poland tips 3: How much will I earn in Poland?

This must be the number one most common question people ask me and it's an impossible question to answer, second most common question is probably, 'how much money do I NEED to earn in Poland' which again is impossible to answer because I'm not you and you will need a different sum of money to live on than me but nevertheless I do give some advice

When I moved to Poland I made a whole lifestyle change and promised myself to start again. Out with the old and in with the new so to speak. I decided not to be dependent on a car and not to be dependent on credit. After making these two changes my lifestyle is now pretty relaxed. I no longer feel I have to work here in Poland more like I work to go on holiday or work to buy a new floor for the kitchen.

Once more I will regurgitate a post I made a long time ago and I think it adequately answers the second question, 'How much do I need to earn in Poland' plus it will give many other perspective workers in Poland a figure that they should aim for. Basically, If you earn 710PLN per week you will survive. You can buy some ciggies, drink a few beers, maybe even be able to save some away and importantly, not live in a complete shit hole. But saying that, If you plan to live in Poland long term you need to adjust your sights somewhat and aim for around 1000PLN per week. However you need to then increase that figure if you will factor children or a car into the equation.

I remember when I first started in Poland that figure was the holy grail for me and other teachers, and it seemed a little unrealistic to achieve. We all heard the rumours of English teachers who worked for themselves and earned 1000PLN per week and thought they were either fictitious or living the life of riley. But I will say this, If you work hard in Poland and continue to develop yourself (Even as an English teacher) there is no reason why you can't earn plus 0f 1000PLN per week or even more.

For those interested below is my original attempt at tackling this subject; from around August 2010 (I think)

A very common question I get asked is 'How much money will I earn in Poland teaching English'...

I will try to answer it here using my Economics degree...

You will be working as a teacher and teachers are never rich, please bear that in mind! but it's easily possible to earn a better than average income in Poland as a language teacher.

Look at this scenario...

Polish GDP per capita is somewhere around $11,000.

Ignore the bullshit about PPP or GDP being an unreal average income value, look at what this figure represent... It is the sum of everything produced in Poland divided by the number of people living in Poland. Therefore it is the empirical average income and your best indicator as to what to aim for in terms of income.

let's take that figure of $11,000 and turn in into PLN, using an exchange rate of 3.1 as an approximate 12 month average.

So $11.000 x 3.1 = 34,100PLN

divide that figure by 48 weeks - the other four weeks of the year are your holiday ;)

leaves 710PLN per week.

divide this figure by 25 hours per week, an average language teacher workload...

leaves 29PLN as an average lesson fee. Now check this figure by browsing on Ang.pl

and you will see that the average lesson fee is around 30PLN.

Market forces, supply and demand, whatever you want to call it, 710PLN is the figure I aim to earn every week and I do OK. If I want I nice holiday, I work a few more hours. Your ability to manipulate your workload is a useful luxury as an English teacher. Achieving an average lesson fee of 30PLN is easy to do also, in fact most hours you get working for a school will generate you between 40 and 60PLN per hour. You'll never be rich as an English teacher but maintaining a nice lifestyle with a little bit of effort is easy to do here in Poland.

Of course, depending on your lifestyle and location, you might need more or less money but 710PLN is the magic number for me and the magic number I quote to all the other newbies who ask. You might here stories of English teachers who earn 6k or 7k per month here in Poland, it's possible to do, especially in Warsaw, but I bet they'll be working there arses off to achieve it. Once or twice over the past year I took home 6K in a month but I worked practically everyday to do it and it just isn't necessary.

If everyweek you take home 710PLN, you'll do fine.