My Romanian salary vs Steem salary: why it allowed me to become full-time Steemian and shape my future plans!
After complete silence for two months while cycling Denmark to Romania some of you might have noticed my sudden activity explosion. Well, there's a good reason for that and it is my intention with this post letting people know what I am doing in Romania and how I managed (and chose to) to become a " poor" full-time steemian.
Romanian salary vs Steemit salary
When first arriving in Romania I started looking around for jobs, I found 1 VERY well paid job for 1000 euro a month but didn't manage to get it. Let me tell you in my home country Denmark earning 1000 euro is absurdly low for a full-time job, but for Romanian standards, you will almost be considered rich. Just to put some perspective into when I am talking about salary, you will often see jobs ranging between 300 to 500 euro BEFORE the 40% taxes.
For example, I had a job opportunity for a half-time job where I would work every day for 4 hours and in total after taxes earn 120 euro. That is about 6 euro a day if I work 20 days a month. Sure that job was a really low paid job but also an interesting one, but sadly the low salary put me off completely. I simply did not see reason in compromising 5 days a week for such a salary. When I instead could go all kind of places whenever I please with my laptop and write what's on my mind.
This is where I turned back to the opportunity for creating myself a Steemit salary.
Given you barely need 300 euro a month to live well in Romania you can imagine that with a little bit of effort earn this.
Focusing on Steemit as my new jobs give me more than just money in my pocket
Right now according to my calculations I can actually live from Steemit simply because Romania is dirt cheap. 125 euro to live in an apartment plus the cheap food is just absurd if you think about it.
I was to live in Denmark(my home country) I would never be able to work on Steemit as my job simply because the money I would earn would barely cover my food budget. But by living in Romania I now have time not only live from my steem income, but also build this "carrier" into something that might even allow me to travel more or settle down other places down the road. I guess you could say the more popular you get on Steemit is about the equal of an endless opportunity for salary raise.
But the money is far from everything for me. I love writing, I love traveling and I love feeling part of this cool community we are having. I have already gotten in contact with so many amazing people on this platform it blows my mind, all of them having something interesting to offer.
Also, I have found it oddly entertaining to be much more active. To me, it doesn't even feel like a job, more like a hobby. Being in contact with other amazing people on this platform, write about interesting articles that both are about my adventures and the current situation of Steemit. It just all fits together for me and every day I feel more and more blessed to be part of it.
The only part of this that gives me bad taste in my mouth..
Up until now, I powered up all of my steem I have earned throughout my 15 months on Steemit. While I will never power down below my investment limit (+6000 SP) it still feels bad SOME of this steem I am earning now will have to be seen as a salary and not adding to my investment. ESPECIALLY with the low steem value right now. But I will try to live off my saving until it raises at least a little bit. I guess anyone who wishes to be serious about Steemit has to make this decision of selling off some of their steem eventually. But isn't that the whole purpose of this steem? to sell and buy?
My hope is I can get myself into a rhythm where I can earn enough while steem is high and save it while steem is low. This would be the ideal world for me.
I know selling steem might be looked upon as an opposite direction of wishing value for Steem. But maybe this is not completely true. Steem needs both sellers and buyers at all times and I think I simply just become a part of that now when I spend even more time on Steemit.
I guess I am just doing what steem is here for, creating value and make a living from it. By being another member devoted to Steemit it is my hope to create value to the platform through other means and of course still power up every spare penny I am getting beyond what I need to have a home and food on my table.
Despite this, it is still my aim to reach 10k steem power hopefully by the end of this year if I predicted some of my other investments will go as planned so I can put them into steem before steem itself rises once again, but we will see about that. If steem should make another bull run before my other investments do, it's still a win for me.
While I know I have made this opportunity myself, I still feel privileged
While I don't believe purely in luck but in those who take the chance when an opportunity presents itself I gotta admit I still feel lucky.
If I ever wanted money, I could just find a job in Denmark according to my education and earn money that way. But the freedom by choosing where to live and how long without any restriction is so much more valuable to me. I don't need a huge salary to do what I love..I just need enough to get around and food to eat. I don't dream about the big house, I dream about ultimate freedom. So despite my all-time lowest income ever through my small "steem salary", I feel richer than ever.
-holm
Before the value came down this low, I was living completely on Steem
Hey my fellow "poor full-time Steemian" :D That´s exactly how I feel these days :D Anyway, you made tons of very valid points in the article, as usually ;) Dan @world-travel-pro has a great term for the lifestyle you seem to be trying now in Romania, its his legendary concept of "pay-less-get-more" - I am sure you have seen it on his blog if you follow him regularly ;)
Being a digital nomad for the past few years, I have also tried living at a couple of difference places and so far, Mexico was the best for me. But South-Eastern Europe might be an interesting choice too. Btw are you on the Steem chat or somewhere so that I can contact you privately? I might have some questions about living the life of an expat in Romania.
Btw 2 - don´t feel bad about selling some of your hard-earned Steem. If you want to be steeming full time, you need to cash out sometimes to cover your expenses of course... I haven´t powered down yet (and I am not gonna do that anytime soon) but I have already sold some of the Steem (SBD in the past) that I have earned here. We all need to live out of something, no matter how cheap place we are based at.
I am really happy to see more and more people trying to go for their dreams, against all the social norms and expectations. I love the last statement of your post. Good luck my friend!
I think you would love South Eastern Europe (Greece could also be a solid choice)! If you have discord you can add me there:
holm#6624
thanks for the great comment as always, we gotta keep chasing what we want in our live, nobody is gonna hand it to us:)
Oh yeah man, Greece is sweet :) But considerably more expensive than most other Balkan countries... I messed up something about my discord and I cannot use it anymore :D :( If you decide to create a Steem chat account, let me know ;)
How do I do that lol? never used it, not to my knowledge! But I can create one.
I do not remember exactly but I know it was very easy and you can do it here https://steem.chat/home
I had an account already, think I managed to write you in there!
I had an account
Already, think I managed
To write you in there!
- holm
I'm a bot. I detect haiku.
Thanks for complimenting my poor but pretty beautiful country. It's nice to see you got the good part of it and feel motivated to live in it. Many of us would trade Romania for Denmark in seconds. I would also in summer. I've driven once through Denmark and I liked what I saw, but after living for one year in Norway I don't think I would go to a Scandinavian country again and live for a full year. Too much clouds...
Good luck with your adventures and your staying in here!
I think I would never want to settle down in Romania permanently so in that sense I see why Romanians would prefer Denmark. But who knows? Maybe I will fall in love with the country despite its faults. I've met some who now live in Romania for more than ten years and originally came from the States.
I can imagine myself one day settle down in one of the Scandinavian countries one day, like Norway for example!
Thank you for your words.
I was wondering what you ment when I read the headline.
But it all makes sense. That´s what I say very often.
A cheap country can lead to a new perspective. And that´s why I do not want to invest anymore in Germany.
For me my dream (and I´m workin´ on it) would be to earn enough money with my trading and have a part time job somewhere in Sardinia.
That´s all. :-)
You did everything very right, Sir! Have a good time and let us know how you create the sallary.
What you have to do for it and how much time you put into it.
upvoted&resteemed
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah, sometimes we just have another dream than what our country has to offer. Not that there is anything wrong with neither Denmark or Germany but some of us just wish something else. I hope you will achieve your dreams, my friend!
I found your article very interesting. Thanks for complimenting my beautiful country. Let us know how you create the sallary.
You have balls, my friend. You are in an amazing journey!
Don't dream small, Steem has more value than most cryptos. It will not surprise me if if we see $150-300 price range in some years.
Romania must be really cheap, could you detail more about prices there? What about the health system?
that's quite a price prediction! But you never know:) Maybe in the far future you will be right? But then crypto currencies as a whole should succeed and steem become one of the giants. But one can dream!
Your life sounds exactly like what we'd want to have, just living somewhere nice, doing what we like. I'd consider Romania too, but I think it gets cold in thr winter there. We are close to that goal thou, just another year or so of work :)
The winter is super cold! Only "negative" although, we have ski slopes right around the corner from here!
Yes, what you said, I felt OK, but the job and Steemit platform is a different thing. Steamet is a platform that allows us to get lots of information. He can also earn from every corner of the world and also in the middle. But the job only gives us money only. Estimat is a very wonderful platform for me, because in it we get a lot to learn in life. Thanks for giving information.
Hey holm, you trippin'? Literally! Lol! I found your article very interesting, especially your knowledge about the Steemit monetary system. I read through the Steemit FAQ but still don't completely get it. I guess I'm just getting old so I can't retain information as well as I used to be able to. 40% taxes in Romania! Shite! I thought only rich countries extort the citizens to that extent.
I'd love to visit Romania (and Denmark, too) someday so I'm looking forward to more of your posts.
Do what you love and love what you do! Happy and safe travels, Danish brother.
There is also 38-40% taxes in Denmark. But its way more expensive than Romania.
Yes regarding taxes at least you can see in Denmark they are putted to good use. But when I found out Romania got almost similar tax rate I was like: Where exactly goes the money? Sadly România has a lot of corruption.
Also Denmark is still a bit higher but still...
@webbsensei The monetary system for steem is basically like any other currency. But of course steem got some technical features that should compete greatly against other currencies.
Why is a dollar worth something? Because people beleive in its value and invested in it. That's the same with steem. If enough recognize it's value and wants to buy/use it, it will sustain the price of steem. Also why SMT is gonna be huge for steem if it is done right. Since it could not only increase the value of steem but also sustain it.
That's how I see it at least:)
Meget interessant at du kan gøre det :D