How many months of freedom?
Savings set aside, a destination in mind.
Find out how long you could live at your own pace, and compare what your budget allows elsewhere. It also works if you stay at home or keep an income.
Your estimate
≈ 5 months
of freedom in Lima
- Monthly budget
- USD 1,750
- Monthly income
- USD 0
- Monthly draw on capital
- USD 1,750
- Upfront costs
- USD 0
- Reserve kept
- USD 0
- Deposit tied up
- USD 0
- Actually usable capital
- USD 10,000
Range of scenarios
What if I spent less?
This estimate is about your budget. It does not determine how long you can legally stay in the country.
Exchange rates
Your capital, month after month
The usable capital left at the end of each month, without the reserve or the deposit.
See the month-by-month figures
What about elsewhere?
Same capital, same profile, same lifestyle and same assumptions: compare up to three documented destinations.
Departure costs, deposit and reserve: your entry, applied as is to every destination. It is a shared assumption, not a cost checked for each country: a flight to Tokyo doesn't cost the same as a flight to Lisbon.
Putting the amounts in context
Wage benchmarks, kept apart from the calculation: they are not used to estimate your budget. A minimum wage doesn't tell you what life costs for a newcomer.
Method, assumptions and sources
The calculation
Usable capital = capital - departure costs - safety reserve - deposit. Monthly need = monthly expenses, buffer included, - monthly income. When the need is positive, duration = usable capital ÷ monthly need. With 12,000 of usable capital and 1,000 of expenses, that makes 12 months; with 400 of income on top, 20 months.
The tool shows the full months covered, never days: the inputs are estimates. If your income covers your expenses, it doesn't announce endless freedom, but a budget covered under these assumptions.
With inflation or a return
The calculation then runs month by month. At the start of each month, you receive your income and pay your expenses: the tool withdraws the difference, first from the non-invested part of the capital. At the end of the month, the invested part left earns the month's return, i.e. (1 + effective annual rate)1/12 - 1. Then next month's expenses rise by (1 + inflation)1/12 - 1. Income stays fixed. With no inflation and no return, this simulation gives exactly the simple calculation.
The return only applies to the amount invested that you choose, included in the usable capital. Never to the reserve, the deposit or your income, and never automatically to Bitcoin. The simulation stops at 50 years: beyond that, the tool says "more than 50 years under these assumptions".
The reverse calculation uses the same engine. It looks for the smallest usable capital that covers every month of the stay, taking into account the months when the capital is lowest, not just the final balance. It then adds the departure costs, the deposit and the reserve.
Where the budgets come from
Housing is observed city by city: statistics institutes, central banks, rent observatories or large listing portals, with their period and link below. When the source publishes quartiles, frugal uses the first quartile, comfortable the median, very comfortable the third quartile. When it only publishes an average or a median, the tool applies 0.85 and 1.20: the average gaps observed in the data that do publish quartiles (Lima, Sydney). When it only publishes a rent per m², the tool assumes 50 m² for one person and 75 m² for two adults.
The other items are national extrapolations. We start from one consumption basket described at average United States prices, then convert it item by item with the World Bank's purchasing power parities (International Comparison Program 2021), updated with each country's inflation from 2022 to 2026 relative to the United States. The same lifestyle then costs what it costs in each country. These are national price levels: a capital city is often a bit more expensive.
The basket: groceries based on the official USDA food plans (July 2026: Low-Cost for frugal, Moderate for comfortable, Liberal for very comfortable), 4, 10 or 20 restaurant meals a month ($15, $20 or $30 a meal), health cover set on 2026 US individual premiums for age 40 (bronze $456, gold $615, and +30% for very comfortable). Transport, phone, utilities and leisure are editorial assumptions. In Geneva, health uses the official 2026 average adult premium; in the United States, the reference rent already includes utilities.
Two adults
Housing moves to two bedrooms, without doubling. Utilities are multiplied by 1.3, groceries follow the USDA rules for a two-person household, phone and internet by 1.5. Individual items (restaurants, transport, health, leisure) count per adult. The capital and income you enter are for the whole household.
Currencies
Each budget is stored in its local currency, then converted with the European Central Bank's reference rates, and the Central Reserve Bank of Peru's for the sol. They are refreshed at most every 6 hours. If the source doesn't respond, the tool keeps the last known rate and shows its date, or lets you enter your own rate. Changing the display currency converts your entries without changing their value.
What the tool doesn't know
Taxes, visas and residence fees, insurance tied to your age or health, the price of a furnished or short-term let, exchange rate changes during the stay and spending specific to your life are not estimated. Add them in the fields provided. And for countries without a documented budget, the tool lets you enter yours rather than making up numbers.
Sources by destination
| Destination | Area covered | Rents: period | Source | Nature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geneva, Switzerland | Canton of Geneva | May 2025 | OCSTAT, tableau T 05.04.2.02 (mise à jour du 10.09.2025) | Rents of new leases |
| Paris, France | Paris city proper | Rents as of 1 January 2025 | OLAP, Observatoire des loyers de l'agglomération parisienne, rapport 2025 | Rents of new leases |
| Brussels, Belgium | Brussels-Capital Region | First half of 2025 | Federia, baromètre des locations, 1er semestre 2025 | Rents of new leases |
| Madrid, Spain | Madrid (city) | August 2026 | idealista, rapport des prix de location, août 2026 | Asking rents in listings |
| Barcelona, Spain | Barcelona (city) | August 2026 | idealista, rapport des prix de location, août 2026 | Asking rents in listings |
| Valencia, Spain | Valencia (city) | August 2026 | idealista, rapport des prix de location, août 2026 | Asking rents in listings |
| Málaga, Spain | Málaga (city) | August 2026 | idealista, rapport des prix de location, août 2026 | Asking rents in listings |
| Lisbon, Portugal | Lisbon municipality | April 2025 to March 2026 | INE Portugal, Estatísticas de rendas da habitação ao nível local, 1.º trimestre de 2026 | Median rent of new contracts |
| Porto, Portugal | Porto municipality | April 2025 to March 2026 | INE Portugal, Estatísticas de rendas da habitação ao nível local, 1.º trimestre de 2026 | Median rent of new contracts |
| Milan, Italy | Milan municipality | August 2026 | Immobiliare.it, marché immobilier par commune, août 2026 | Asking rents in listings |
| Rome, Italy | Rome municipality | August 2026 | Immobiliare.it, marché immobilier par commune, août 2026 | Asking rents in listings |
| Berlin, Germany | Berlin (whole city) | Year 2025 | IBB Wohnungsmarktbericht 2025 (loyer médian demandé, hors charges) | Asking rents in listings |
| London, United Kingdom | Greater London | August 2026 | ONS, Price Index of Private Rents (loyers moyens, août 2026) | Average rents of all current tenancies |
| Montreal, Canada | Montreal metropolitan area | Q2 2026 | Statistique Canada, tableau 46-10-0092-01 (loyers demandés moyens) | Asking rents in listings |
| Toronto, Canada | Toronto metropolitan area | Q2 2026 | Statistique Canada, tableau 46-10-0092-01 (loyers demandés moyens) | Asking rents in listings |
| Vancouver, Canada | Vancouver metropolitan area | Q2 2026 | Statistique Canada, tableau 46-10-0092-01 (loyers demandés moyens) | Asking rents in listings |
| New York, United States | New York HUD area (five boroughs and nearby counties) | Fiscal year 2026 (from 1 October 2025) | HUD, Fair Market Rents de l'exercice 2026 (40e centile, charges comprises) | Gross rents, utilities included |
| Miami, United States | Miami, Miami Beach and Kendall HUD area | Fiscal year 2026 (from 1 October 2025) | HUD, Fair Market Rents de l'exercice 2026 (40e centile, charges comprises) | Gross rents, utilities included |
| Lima, Peru | Miraflores, San Isidro and Barranco | Q2 2025 to Q1 2026 | BCRP, base de données désagrégée des loyers 2026-1 (annonces Urbania) | Asking rents in listings |
| São Paulo, Brazil | São Paulo (city) | August 2026 | FipeZAP, indice des loyers résidentiels, août 2026 | Asking rents in listings |
| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Rio de Janeiro (city) | August 2026 | FipeZAP, indice des loyers résidentiels, août 2026 | Asking rents in listings |
| Florianópolis, Brazil | Florianópolis (city) | August 2026 | FipeZAP, indice des loyers résidentiels, août 2026 | Asking rents in listings |
| Tokyo, Japan | Tokyo's 23 wards | July 2026 | At Home, loyers demandés des appartements, juillet 2026 | Asking rents in listings |
| Sydney, Australia | Greater Sydney | April to June 2026 | NSW Communities and Justice, Rent and Sales Report (tableaux des loyers, trimestre de juin 2026) | Rents of new leases |
Destinations with a custom budget. For these destinations, no recent public source of rents by home size was found during the check of 23 September 2026: the simulator lets you enter your budget. Malta (Valletta and Sliema) · Greece (Athens) · Mexico (Mexico City, Mérida, Playa del Carmen) · Colombia (Medellín, Bogotá) · Argentina (Buenos Aires) · Chile (Santiago) · Costa Rica (San José) · Panama (Panama City) · Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai) · Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang) · Indonesia (Bali) · Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang) · Philippines (Manila, Cebu) · United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi) · Morocco (Marrakesh, Rabat) · New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington).
Shared sources
- World Bank, International Comparison Program 2021: purchasing power parities by spending item (CC BY 4.0 licence).
- World Bank, consumer price inflation, 2022 to 2025.
- IMF, World Economic Outlook, April 2026: 2026 inflation (projection).
- USDA, Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home, July 2026.
- KFF, average 2026 individual premiums.
- European Central Bank, euro reference rates and BCRP, interbank sol rate.
Frequently asked questions
How is the number of months calculated?
We take the departure costs, the reserve and the deposit out of your capital, then divide that usable capital by what has to be drawn each month: your expenses, buffer included, minus your income. With inflation or a return, the calculation runs month by month, and the tool shows the full months covered.
Why not just use the minimum wage?
Because a minimum wage measures what a local worker earns, not what a newcomer spends. It says nothing about the rent of a furnished flat in a central area, private health insurance or expat life. So the number of months is worked out from a spending budget. Wages are still shown separately, to put the amounts in context.
Is housing included?
Yes. It is the first item, and the only one observed city by city: a long-term let, without utilities, except in the United States where the reference rent includes them. The area covered and the period of the data are shown for each destination. You can replace the amount with your real rent.
How does the budget work for a couple?
Nothing is simply doubled. Housing moves to two bedrooms, utilities and internet are shared, groceries follow the official USDA rules for a two-person household. Restaurants, transport, health and leisure count per adult, and you can adjust them separately. The capital and income you enter are for the whole household.
Are taxes, insurance and residence fees included?
Health cover is included, to be adjusted to your situation. Taxes, visas, residence fees and other insurance are not, because they depend on your nationality, your status and your income. Add them to the departure costs or to the other monthly expenses.
When were the estimates checked?
All sources were checked on 23 September 2026. Each destination also shows the period of its rent data, from 2025 to August 2026 depending on the city. Exchange rates are refreshed automatically, with their date shown.
How long can you live on 10,000 euros?
According to our estimates for one person with a comfortable lifestyle, about 5 months in Lisbon (budget of EUR 2,000), 4 months in Berlin (EUR 2,160) and 6 months in Lima (PEN 5,880, about EUR 1,530 at the rate of 23 September 2026). With no income, no departure costs and no reserve: add yours in the simulator.
What budget do you need to go for a year?
Choose "How much do I need to go?" and 12 months. For one person with a comfortable lifestyle, count about EUR 24,000 in Lisbon and USD 21,000 in Lima to live there, before the departure costs, deposit and reserve that you add yourself.
Want to see a real project, with real numbers? Follow my Lima project and my public portfolio. None of the simulations on this page are my real accounts.
An information tool. This simulator is not financial, tax or legal advice and promises no financial independence. The budgets are estimates. Read the disclaimer.