There is considerable interest regarding the cost of living in Ukraine. Regardless where you are or where you may go, it is mainly your willingness to spend money that will determine your overall cost of living. That is what it costs to get what you need and what you want. The "wants" are usually what will get you in trouble or will leave you somewhat less than satisfied.

Most westerners coming to Ukraine come in on the tourist economy. It requires a significant effort to achieve a "normalized cost of living" - especially if one is coming in "solo". Normalized cost of living can be defined as a regular long-term apartment lease at typical monthly rates; shopping and eating at home at least 75% of the time; typical costs of transportation; home utilities and services. It also applies to usual and customary purchases of appliances, furniture and clothing. Further, it applies to services and access to services such as a translators, computer support, plumbers, etc.

A good two-room apartment in the center of Odessa is running around $1200 monthly; outside the center a comparable apartment runs about $700-900; and less the further one gets from the center. A pair of jeans at a fashionable clothing store on Deraboskaya might start at $60. Outside the center, it automatically drops to $50. A trip to the 7km market will get an identical pair of jeans for $30. The same thing can be said about life and costs of living anywhere else. The only variance perhaps applies to the level of awareness that we, as foreigners, have on how to step outside of the tourist market.

Generally, we are not very preoccupied with costs as we are concerned with comfort and convenience - getting what we want quickly and easily. Comfort and convenience are two commodities which come at a premium in Ukraine without some sort of insider guidance. While an apartment in the center of Odessa may be nice and provide greater accessibility to the city and other expatriates, the trade off aside from higher rent is a tendency for more frequent and lengthier power and water outages. For some this may be acceptable, for others it is not.

Normalized living in Ukraine is less about spending money as it is getting what you really want for a real price without excessive effort. Many westerners who come to Ukraine "solo" invariably end up paying a lot more than they need to and end up less than happy with what they get. For some, it may be matter of pride to pay $60 for a pair of jeans; for others it is a matter of principle to pay $60 for two pairs of jeans...because we can.

The objective of OdessaFX is to provide the kind of orientation and really what amounts to "training" to those who have an interest to achieve a normalized cost of living in Odessa. Most services are directed to providing you daily services in which you are reliant upon them to achieve your interests. Our service is directed to helping you reach a point where you are not reliant upon us or other services for the vast majority of your interests.