Information about living in Budapest - can we manage with 380000 HUF

Joy_20 wrote:

.....He will get gross 380000 HUF, and we don't know how much he will get NET consider that i don't work at the moment. ...Do you think that we can manage there both to rent an apartment not far from distric 5 6 11 ? ....And how much it will cost rent a studio type, renovated? cause on internet seems too much expensive...

I looked for you here:

Some Apartments

Looks like 90-110K HUF for 2 rooms. That will be plus electricity, gas, water  and common costs like cleaning of common areas. I don't think it's really enough money to live on for 2 people and have a good life. That's just a bit over 1000 EUR and a bit on the low side when factoring in clothes,.entertainment, transport etc.  You can say ~50% of the gross salary is taken in taxes, social insurance and healthcare.  So it's not a lot left when ~50% of your nett salary is taken in housing costs.  If the nett salary is 3 x the rent (~70% available for other things) then it's within limits for budgeting an existence in Budapest. But 5 x is safer (i.e. 80% of nett available  for things other than accomodation). 

Obviously I know nothing about you and your hubby so I could not say anything about your lifestyle, kids, travel or whatever else you are up to re: disposable income.  I was using rules of thumb for norms for mortgage affordability (not that I assume you want one) applied as risk to create the 3 x and 5 x factors noted above.  It's not a great indicator but it's probably good enough to answer your question.

At the moment rents in Budapest are going up.

Hello Joy_20

A post from our Hungary Expert fluffy2560, made on another same thread you created, has been merged with this thread here.

Please avoid double topic, the other one has been removed from the forum.

Regards
Kenjee

Fluffy's answer pretty much covers it.
If his new job covers health care and transportation that might be a big help.
My husband and I live dirt cheap here but we do not pay rent and like to cook at home, we hardly spend any money since we are retired  and have done all the spa's, eating out etc. years ago. We are happy to go where the locals go and not have drinks in cafe's.
Our retired friends still have drinks out but I doubt they save anything from their SS at the end of the month.
We can save more then half our SS without feeling it living here in HU.
Not exactly exciting for younger people though,I still think if you really settle for a small flat and don't go crazy shopping you can still mange to have some fun here and eat out once in awhile on his income.
You will just have to realize you are living here and not on holiday. It can be tempting to spend more if you see all the tourists out and about spending like crazy. Have to remember they are only here for a short time and planned on spending.
I used to live in Las Vegas and know the locals are not the high rollers in town, no way  can anyone live the high life for long. I used to be a game dealer there, the few locals that spent allot on the tables could be seen a few years later looking like bums with home done haircuts and lost businesses.
Frugal and you might have a nice few years experience here.

fluffy2560 wrote:

You can say ~50% of the gross salary is taken in taxes, social insurance and healthcare.  So it's not a lot left

The current combined rate (income, social insurance and health care, retirement) is 34.5%. But because salaries are so low in Hungary, it certainly does feel like it is 50%. 

And I agree on everything else, with a net income of about 800 Euro, not a lot left to spend with rent/common costs, Western EU level prices on most consumer goods with the additional 27% VAT bite.

We are moving to Debrecen & having not really spent much time in Budapest, would you say there is a noticeable difference in the cost of living between the two cities?

desertbhoy wrote:

We are moving to Debrecen & having not really spent much time in Budapest, would you say there is a noticeable difference in the cost of living between the two cities?

Go to:

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/co … ry=Hungary

And select "Budapest" and "Debrecen" to compare.