Life in a large Polish city can require about 6000 zlotys per month for a couple even without expensive purchases and entertainment. Ukrainian woman Anna, who lived in Wrocław for several years, told on Instagram how much she and her boyfriend spent on an apartment, food, a car, and establishments.
The couple spent the most money on housing. They rented a two-room apartment of 45 square meters about 9 km from the center of Wrocław. The housing was not newly renovated, and the monthly rent was 3100 zlotys.
How much Ukrainians spent on food and a car
The second significant budget item was food. According to Anna, they did not buy expensive products every day and mainly shopped at Lidl and Biedronka. Feeding two people cost about 1800 zlotys per month.
"We had a fairly ordinary menu, we didn't eat red fish every day. We usually shopped at Lidl or Biedronka, and it came to about 1800 zlotys per month for two," the Ukrainian woman said.
A couple of times a month the couple allowed themselves to visit cafes and other establishments. They spent another about 350 zlotys on this.
A separate item of the family budget was a car. Despite the fact that the car, according to the Ukrainian woman, was quite economical, monthly fuel costs were about 650 zlotys.
As a result, only apartment rent, food, visiting establishments, and fuel cost the couple about 5900 zlotys per month. At the exchange rate given in the source, this is about UAH 71,000.
At the same time, we are talking only about basic regular expenses. The calculation does not include unplanned purchases and a number of other possible expenses, so the actual monthly budget could be larger.
How much you need to live in Poland in 2026
The expenses cited by the Ukrainian woman relate specifically to her experience of living in Wrocław. Average figures for Poland differ depending on the city, district, type of housing, and lifestyle.
According to Numbeo data cited by the publication, one person needs an average of 3068 zlotys per month to live in Poland without accounting for rent. For a family of four, estimated expenses are about 10,302 zlotys also without rent.
The average cost of renting a one-room apartment in the center of a Polish city is estimated at 2803 zlotys per month, and outside the center – at 2270 zlotys. Three-room housing costs on average 4477 zlotys in the center and 3530 zlotys on the outskirts.
Thus, if you add the rent of a separate one-room apartment to the average expenses of one person, the monthly budget can exceed 5300-5800 zlotys depending on its location. Joint rental of housing by two people allows sharing the largest expense item.
According to Numbeo data provided by the source, the overall cost of living in Poland is about 58.5% higher than in Ukraine. At the same time, the specific budget depends primarily on the cost of housing and the city of residence.