How to survive in Moscow on 50 thousand and save up for an apartment

Over the 25 years of my life in Moscow, I talked with hundreds of visitors: masters in beauty salons, sellers, cleaners, taxi drivers, minibus drivers. Most of them have an income of 30 thousand - 70 thousand rubles. According to Rosstat and personal observations, about half of those working in Moscow have such an income or even a little less.

But people with roughly the same low salary have completely different standards of living. Someone lowers everything to eat and eat, quickly becomes disillusioned with life in the capital and dumps home in debt. And some manage to entertain themselves culturally, send their children home and, in a couple of years of hard work, save up for a car or an apartment in their hometown.

Below I will share some secrets of economical living in Moscow. Most of them are drawn from conversations with visitors from Central Asia, some from office neighbors from the Russian regions, and some from personal experience.

Two typical scenarios for arriving in Moscow

Simple Russian gouging

Once I got into a conversation at the station with a guy from Ishimbay (Bashkiria). He wanted to move to Moscow, saved up 50K in six months, took a train, and arrived. Immediately got a job as a driver for the same 50K. There are many acquaintances in Moscow. Great start!
Rented an apartment for two with a friend for 15k per person. He began to go to the dining room twice a day and leave 700 rubles there. And on the weekends, according to an old habit, he drank himself unconscious. And two months later, at the time of our conversation, he is going home, his mother buys a ticket back for him, he owes 30K and tells everyone on the phone what a shitty city Moscow is.

Wise oriental people

My friend named Ziyadagul works as a manicurist in a cheap beauty salon. She gets only 2-3 thousand for 14 hours of work (large salon commissions, few clients). She rests 5-7 days a month and earns about 50k a month (a Russian manicurist with such a schedule could raise 1.5-2 times more). The husband works as a driver, also plows from early morning until late at night and receives the same amount. They have two children who live with their grandmother in their homeland.

For five years in Moscow, they managed to buy two apartments for children in Samarkand (according to the old rate, they cost 600-800 thousand rubles). Now they will collect a little more to build a house for themselves and leave forever. And they don't live in the basement, they don't eat Doshirak, they don't catch pigeons on the street for pilaf, but they lead a completely civilized way of life.
When she told me about two apartments in five years, at first I didn’t quite understand how it was possible at all. But after talking on this topic with other Uzbeks, Kyrgyz and Tajiks, I found that many of them, in 3-5 years of hard work and very modest spending, earn real estate / cars / capital to start a small business and start a new rich life in their homeland. Although there are also a lot of those who manage to drink everything on drink.

Let's see how it turns out. I think that all Russians who hope to accumulate a significant amount of money in Moscow have something to learn from them.

Life hack number 1. Apartment outside the Moscow Ring Road in clubbing

The city of Zheleznodorozhny is a 35-minute train ride from the Kursk railway station. And in 20 minutes you can drive to the Novogireevo metro station. And there are several dozens of such cities near Moscow.

A little killed three-room apartment in them can be rented for 25 thousand. Three married couples can live in it. In this case, the costs will be as follows:

4 thousand (25/6) for housing per person;
1000 rubles for a communal apartment (7000/6);
1,430 rubles for a ticket for the Bolshaya Moskva train;
2000 for a metro pass;
500 r for phone and mobile internet.
Total 10 thousand. mandatory expenses.

And if you don’t feel sorry for two hours on the road, then a three-ruble note in Orekhovo-Zuyevo can be found for 15,000. Many visitors from Central Asia spend about 2000-3000 per month on housing. But these are already too harsh conditions.

Life hack number 2. home food

There are three main rules for saving on food: buy everything at Auchan, eat only “homemade” food, and keep a clear record of expenses. On the site 2000diet.ru you can calculate the cost of each dish. For example, products for 30 servings of pilaf cost 1,200 rubles. And it's lunch month. And such economical dishes - darkness.

Sample menu for the day:
40 rubles - pilaf.
20 rubles - a portion of oatmeal with butter for breakfast (2nd picture);
30 rubles - a serving of naval pasta (3rd picture);
30 rubles - an omelette (4th picture);
15 rubles - a pack of branded "Ashanov" cookies;
15 rubles - an orange (60 rubles per kg / 5 oranges per kilogram).

For 150 rubles a day, you can provide 6 different meals, even with some meat. It is easy to get used to such a diet and you can live on it for a very long time.
And this is according to "expensive" Russian recipes, taking into account average prices. And an experienced oriental hostess can make pilaf for 30 servings for 500 rubles or less. You can also try to find products cheaper. For example, instead of chicken, take the soup set "Every Day" at 120 rubles / kg.
10k + 5k = 15k expenses

Life hack number 3. "Gardener"

"Gardener" and "TC Moscow" are two huge markets where owners of clothing stores from all over the country come to buy goods. For example, one of my friends from Arkhangelsk takes jewelry there. He buys rings in Moscow for 20 rubles, and sells them at home for 200-300 rubles.

But to buy something there at a wholesale price, it is not necessary to take a lot. You just need to try to buy in the pavilions away from the entrance, know which sellers to go to (there are a lot of reviews about the market on the Internet), carefully look at the quality of the thing and bargain, bargain, bargain furiously.

Clothing for three winter months for a man who does not need to follow a dress code (all prices are taken from reviews of successful purchases on the Gardener with iRecommend).

Down jacket - 3500 rubles
Hat - 250 rubles.
Scarf - 250 rubles.
Boots - 2000 rubles.
Jeans - 700 x 2 = 1400 rubles.
Jacket - 500 x 3 = 1500 rubles.
T-shirt - 100 x 5 = 500 rubles.
Panties - 70 x 10 = 700 rubles.
Socks - 25 x 10 = 250 rubles
Pajamas - 500 x 2 rubles.
Slippers - 200 rubles.
Bag - 1000 rubles.

13,250/3 = 4,500 rubles for men's clothing in the coldest month. A woman, if she is not prone to impulsive purchases, needs less money.
10 thousand + 5 thousand + 4500 ≈ 19,500 rubles.

Someone might think: “OMG! In my life I will not wear a down jacket for 3500 rubles and boots for 2000! But a quarter of Moscow is dressed there (the people are always there to the eyeballs) and you will look quite organically.
Moreover, another quarter is dressed in online stores and city shopping centers, where they sell the same things from the "Gardener". But there the same down jacket costs 10 thousand, and boots 6 thousand.
P.S. By the way, at the "Gardener" there is a bird market where you can look at scorpions and husky puppies.

Life hack number 4. FixPrice

In the FixPrice store, where everything is 50 rubles each, you can buy all the household chemicals and cosmetics necessary for life:

Washing powder (3 packs for 6 washes) - 150 rubles.
Toothpaste - 50 rubles.
Shower gel - 50 rubles.
Liquid hand soap - 50 rubles.
Shampoo - 50 rubles.
Oil / hair conditioner (2 packs) - 100 rubles.
Body lotion - 50 rubles.
Razor (4 packs) - 200 rubles.
Facial cleansing lotion - 50 rubles.
Face cream - 50 rubles.

Total 900 rubles. Another 100 can be allocated to decorative women's cosmetics, which are consumed very very slowly.

The calculation is made with a large allowance. It is difficult for one person to spend this amount of money in a month. If you think it's too cheap and the $50 facial toner will make your eyes fall out, don't worry. There is always a huge crowd of buyers in this store and everything is fine with them (but if anything, the author is not responsible for the use of these funds).
To buy economically at Fix Price, you need to understand the assortment a little. Some of the products there are simply amazing quality, and some are complete crap. Videos on YouTube for the keywords "My purchases at Fix Price" will help you figure it out.
Even cheaper cosmetics and household chemicals can be bought in Auchan, Ridiculous Prices or Customs Goods stores.
10,000 + 5,000 + 4,500 + 1,000 ≈ 20,500 rubles.

Life hack number 5. Purchasing medicines wisely

Prices for the same medicine in Moscow can differ by 20 or more times. For example, Aevit vitamins for women in different packages can be bought for 10 rubles, or you can buy them for 200. The difference is only in the packaging. This alignment can be even in pharmacies that are on the same street.

Suppose that a person is not sick with anything, he only needs vitamins, remedies for a mild cold, and birth control pills:
"Undevit" (general strengthening vitamin complex) - 35 rubles.
"Galazolin" (drops from the common cold) - 30 rubles.
"Paracetamol" (tablets for fever) - 20 rubles.
Ambraxol (cough syrup) - 40 rubles.
"Jess" / "Yarina" (contraceptive pills) - 800 rubles (there are options from 300 rubles, it depends on the doctor's prescription).
10,000 + 5,000 + 4,500 + 1,000 + 1,000 ≈ 21,500 rubles.

Life hack number 6. Free entertainment

Moscow is one of the best places in Russia to expand your horizons. Here you can join the culture for years and not spend a penny on it. It would be free time :-)

What do you think of what was written? Would you be able to live like this so that later you could buy an apartment and lay low on the bottom in the Pskov region? Burn, you know how)

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