“Now that I am making more money as an independent man in Moscow, shouldn’t I be happier?”
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Occupation: Educational Consultant & Tech Bro
Age: 31
Location: Moscow (around the Red Line, because vibe is everything)
Monthly Income: 200,000 RUB depending on how the market feels that month
When I first moved to Russia, I was living in a dorm in a city I can’t even pronounce properly, surviving on a 15,000-ruble stipend. Back then, I used to see people drinking 600-ruble lattes and think, “God, when?”
Fast forward 7 years, and I’ve made it. I’m the one in the 600-ruble latte queue. My Sberbank app pings every month with a cool 200,000 Rubles. On paper, I am the japa success story. My Instagram looks like a winter wonderland advertisement.
But one thing I am realizing these days is that more money doesn’t actually delete your problems. It just gives them a makeover and a more expensive price tag. Let me give you a breakdown of my typical expenses.
The “I deserve a soft life” Rent: 75,000 RUB
Could I live in a cheaper place for 30k? Yes. Would my mental health survive the long commute and the 5:00 AM alarm? No.
The Black Tax: 40,000 RUB
When you earn more, the requests from home don’t stay the same. Suddenly, I’m not just paying for monthly rice, I’m paying for school fees, land and investments.
Food and groceries: 50,000 RUB
Eating at Vkusno i tochka is fine, and on some days buying foodstuffs from teply stan is actually rewarding. But when you work 12-hour days, you end up ordering Yandex Food at midnight because you’re too tired to look at a stove.
Savings: 20,000 RUB
Because the rainy days will surely come.
Back when I was broke, my family knew I was a student. They’d say, “Don’t worry, just study.” Now? They hear I’m a “consultant” in Moscow and think I’ve found a secret oil well. If I say “I don’t have”, they think I’m just being stingy. Money has made me a provider, but it’s also made me a target for every cousin’s “business idea”.
What they don’t understand is that for me to earn this much as a foreigner, I have to work twice as hard as a local. I’m constantly on the go. I’m tutoring at 8:00 AM and I am still the tech guy until 9:00 PM. I have more money, but I actually have zero time to actually enjoy it. I’m rich in rubles but always bankrupt in sleep.
Last week, I sat in a fancy restaurant in Moscow City, looking at the skyscrapers. I had 100k left in my account, and I significantly felt more stressed than I did five years ago when I only had about 1500 rubles for a week.
Money may have solved my hunger problem, but it has also created a family pressure problem and a serious burnout problem.
My advice? If you’re chasing the 200k dream in Moscow, go for it. But don’t expect the problems to stop. Just expect to be stressed in a nicer outfit or a nicer apartment because problems no dey ever finish.
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