What to do next, once you know the numbers.
Two tools come first: one asks seven questions and returns a shortlist, the other lets you sort nineteen cities yourself by whatever you care about. Below them, three guides cover the weeks before you land — the budget to plan against, the one-time payments that arrive before your first month of rent is due — and the shopping habit that decides your monthly spend once you are here. None of them repeat city-level figures. Follow through to a city page when you want the numbers for one specific place, or to Systems if you want to know why any of this works the way it does.
Before you land · Budget
Three Lifestyle Budget Tiers
City choice is only one piece of your monthly expense. Your daily lifestyle decisions — how you eat, where you live, how you move — often create a far larger gap than the city itself.
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Before you land · One-time
Up-front Setup Costs
The real budget shock hits in week one: large one-time payments — deposit, agency fees, household goods, visa and health checks — that swallow a month's living reserve before your first meal.
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Everyday · Food
Where to Buy Groceries
Five shopping channels compared, from evening markdowns to import aisles, and why the same city can produce monthly bills that differ by two or three times.
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Want the numbers for one specific city? Browse Cities →
Curious how any of this actually works day to day? Browse Systems →
After the reasons behind it? Browse Insights →
Curious if a move would actually pay off? Try the calculators →