But isn’t it true that cost of living is much higher there? My friend who lived there for many years used to refer to the US as the richest third-world country, mainly because even though he made about much more on the same position than home (and here it is quite lucrative position), he constantly struggled to make ends meet. Back here, he lives very comfortable life on about a third of his US salary.

It is obvious on subscription prices, you can pile multiple $6/month in the US without problems, but here it gets prohibitive very fast.