Moving To A Poor Country To Be An Online Pro

Would you consider moving to a poor country where everything is ridiculously cheap?

At the moment I am making roughly $1500 a month on online poker.
In the UK that doesn't amount to much but if I moved to some countries and earnt that I would be considered rich.

It could be interesting to move somewhere for a year or two.

LOL. I love this post.

I would never move to a country where $1500 is considered "rich". All this means to me is that I am living in a hay hut and feasting on field mice or road kill over a makeshift fire for dinner. I'm good living my modest lifestyle in a location where i'm comfortable and where there are all of the amenities that I could want and need. Gotta have my taco bell, micky d's, and charmin tp. no fig leaves for these butt cheeks!!!

Hmm... I don't know if I would move to a 3rd world country just because it's cheaper... if you decide to keep me updated. You know if the hut you rent is too expensive or something Maybe I'll come join you.

You should be a rapper... I'll record you... 4 realll!

Dude, it is not cheaper. Trust me. You will struggle in my country with that salary. Plus I really doubt you will want to give up your luxuries to live where I live.

i actually used to. i won some online awards earlier in the decade, and had a brief contract with universal records. nothing ever came from it, and i kept doing local house parties for a while. kinda just gave it up one day.

rap is where its at...eminem all day everyday

lol

speaking of rap...this thread has inspired me to change my profile picture by the end of the night once i find a manly picture of my idol rapper =] be on the lookout

Where do you live?

How can everything not be cheaper in a country where the average salary is like $3000 or something?
If they had UK prices there noone could actually afford anything.

because of supply and demand. the supply is far less than the demand for these products, therefore there is huge inflation.

[x] Is baffled by the mindset of OP

I know how you feel, I was doing my best to hit it big time from recording 3 CD's all which I still treasure to this day. Sent them to record companies sent them everywhere. It's not what you know most of the time, it's who you know.

[x] Me too...
[x] Hates Checkboxes

OK op, if the average salary is 3k, that does not mean that everyone is living happily on 3k. Yes everything will be cheaper but you will be buying lower quality products and the products you are accustom to will be a lot higher due to import tariffs. You also get, a corrupt government, a ton of national debt, substandard schooling, bad hospitals (public ones that is), a ton of crime.

Still think it is worth it?

[x] Loves Crime
[x] Loves Corruption

Some westerners like to go to asia or latin america or africa a lot, but poker and cheap living ain't what they are after...

$1500 per month probably isnt enough really.

Its fine until something unexpected happens and then you are screwed.

However if you could get the figure up to $3K per month then I would consider Thailand. For a 1-2K per month you can live really well over there. So if you earn $3k then you are well within your means living in a country where you expect to be spending 1-2K per month.

Living right up to the limit of your means isnt a good idea because there is always going to be something you didnt see coming.

If I go to asia it'll be for the food... :L

How about Wales?

LOL

[x] strange people
[x] strange language
[x] strange food

Wales does tick a few boxes.

...actually, supply and demand dictates that everything is cheap (by our standards) in a country where average earnings are small. Suppliers simply won't be able to move their products if they price them too high - that's how supply and demand works.

Inflation shouldn't be a major issue because inflation is caused by loads of people spending loads of money in a short period of time. Can't happen on a large scale in a market where nobody's got that much money in the first place.

Poor countries will experience normal rises and falls in inflation, which they'll control the same way rich countries do: by adjusting their central bank's interest rates. You'll occasionally hear about hyper-inflation problems in poor countries, almost always it's a result of their government just printing money to pay workers or debts (Zimbabwe, post-WWII Germany) which is as sure a way as any to devalue your currency.

Note that we're talking about ordinary products here - food, accommodation, clothing etc that are considered normal by local standards. Luxuries will be treated differently and likely will be expensive because they're usually incredibly expensive and/or difficult to supply in poor countries. And in some countries, things like internet access fast enough to play online poker without timing out every other hand is considered a luxury.

There endeth my Economics 101 rant for the day. With regard to OP's question sure it might work but are you really willing to live with the downsides, leave your friends and family, probably learn a whole new language and accept a massive drop in living standards just so that you can sit in front of a computer clicking a mouse all day? I'm thinking probably not or if you are you've probably got some other, much more compelling reason to leave your current country of residence.

Non Welch people will not understand what a Welch person is saying.

Making that much on poker a month is darn good compared to what I make. However, doubt I would move. Wouldn't want to leave behind my family and friends. Would be fun to see to move for a short time long as I could come back without any problems though. Good luck to you if you do deside to move.

I'm sure there is a downside to this. I just don't see what it could be.

Of course the online poker player, living in a developing country, would be paid in dollars so I cant really understand why he would give two hoots about inflation.

Move to Pakistan, $1500 a month is gold, don't bother to wash either and you'll be filthy rich.

I will never move to a poor country to become an online pro! Why? What's the point in that haha

No, I would not consider moving to a different country. I'm with Jodie and her postinigs on this. Good luck....I have been in 3d World countries, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Uzbeckistan, and it ain't fun. There is more to life than poker. It is always greener on the other side until you get there. Good luck if you decide to move and congradulations on the amount of money made playing on-line poker.

Really? is Afghanistan not the land of milk and honey I have been led to believe?

That is a very cynical approach to life. Very sheltered opinion.

Afghanistan, Bosnia, Uzbeckistan.. sounds more bunkered than sheltered to me.

Expanding on Oz's post.

Just cuz cost of living is less does not mean that you can afford to live on the average, or even 50% above average, income level for that nation. I spend less on household/normal expenses than I would in the US, but not so much less that I could afford to live off of $1500/mo (which is above the average income here). Average income earners here do not have DSL connections, land line based telephones, air conditioning, computers, etc. They don't go out to dinner, they don't go out to see a movie, it's too expensive - even though these things are much cheaper here than in the US.

Unless there's a reason to live in the country outside of cost of living (you like the culture, or there's something else about it that you love, I know alot of passionate water sports people here who live here cuz of that), you'll miss things from home. Stable electricity for one (nothing more irritating to me these days than being in a big pot online and having the power cut out).

Oh, and while many things are less expensive than back home, some things are MORE expensive than back home. Electricity, water, telephones, ISP's, books, and electronic products (i.e., computers, cameras, etc.), to name a few, are all more expensive here than in the US.

Goats, sheep and drugs is more on point.

^^
I disagree with you here.
Good quality internet access is not very expensive, and is very obtainable, in the developing world.

I'd rather just stay poor in my country than impose on some other poor country. I like it here, and got other things to do than sit in a bug infested hut sweating over a laptop to buy rice... and forget medical care, u cant get sick over there...

Wales would be nice tho cos u cant unnerstan anyone or anything. Awfully damp and cold tho, yr skinny little fingers would be shaking over the keys... lol...