Archive for the ‘life and living’ Category

Polish prices going up…

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

one of the reasons I was happy to sell up in the UK and buy in to the Polish property market was the simple fact that Poland is/was cheap but prices are steadily climbing. It’s simple economics – zillions of złoty pour in to the Polish economy everyday from foreign companies investing here, Poles abroad sending money back, or Poles abroad returning with their hard earnt savings.

An example is the PLN – GBP exchange rate. A couple of years ago you could get 6 zloty to the pound, now it’s around 4.8 zloty to the pound.

But it’s a double-edged sword of course – while the increasing strength of the Polish economy makes Poles ‘wealthier’ relative to established western economies, the cost of living is also rising. Things like food and rent are going up which makes Poland a less attractive and more costly place for me to live. Still, with no council tax to pay (well OK, about £50 property tax a year) and petrol still cheaper than back in the UK I think I will be happy here for some years to come…

Still it pleases me when I see constant reports like this one of foreign companies pouring money into Poland.

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Getting Internet in Poland

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

It was essential for me to get a reliable Internet connection set up in Poland. I rely on the Internet to run my little business. I like to use email and skype to keep in contact with friends and family and I like to read news sites such as BBC news to keep up to date with what’s happening back in the UK. Not to mention the handful of websites I run (and this blog too!).

In the UK there is a plethora of Internet Service Providers to choose from. In Poland where things aren’t yet so commercialised/privatised there are currently 3. The Polish equivalent of BT is called TP (Telekomunikacja Polska) and still has the monopoly on phone and internet. The new kids on the block are two fast-growing competitors – Netia.pl and Tele2.pl

The website www.szybki-tani-internet.com is only in Polish but shows prices from all 3 and has the links to their offers.

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Why we moved to Poland

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

With reports of anywhere between 500,000 and 1 million Poles now living in the U.K. it does indeed seem strange that I went “against the flow” and now live in Poland. But after marrying a Polish girl and becoming disillusioned with life in England we decided to make a change.

Not wanting to commute into london until I’m 65, getting burgled just before Christmas 2005 and seeing the groups of sometimes 30 or more hoodies congregating on street corners were the deciding factors. We looked at the possibility of moving to Poland and soon realised that with the equity in our house, we could have the same sized house mortgage-free in Poland. With no mortgage to worry about and very low living costs I realised that this would buy me enough time to try and start a business of my own.

So in 2006 I sold my car and bought an old van. In September we put the house on the market. In October we quit our jobs, loaded up the van and drove to Poland.

It took us a little time to get organised over here, but in 2007 we bought a house south of Kraków, we bought a car and in February 2008 our first baby was born. So everything looks set for the future.

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