GDP Per Capita in European Union 2022*

5 July, 2022 | Macroeconomics | 94 seen

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total population of about 447 million. 

The other morning I was talking to a friend from South Africa, after a nice conversation about living in Georgia, railways, copper, and African Union I decided to look back on my old articles about African Union and GDP data from there.

After a few hours of research, I come up with a newly updated article and was quite surprised to see a decline in GDP per capita in many of the African economies.

Now I decided to take a fresh look at data about GDP per capita in European Union

Many years ago I did an article about GDP Per Capita in European Union 2013.

Without further ado, here is the raw data:

GDP per Capita in European Union 2022 vs 2013

Data source: World Bank

As we can see from the Table above, GDP per capita has increased in almost every EU member state, except - Sweden, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and Greece

Of the countries mentioned above, all but Sweden use EUR as their national currency, in the case of drop-in Swedish GDP per capita I could explain related to Sweden's Krona exchange rate to USD.

Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and Greece seems to be slowing down. Which might be good for the runner-up countries from the East. 

The rest of the EU member states have enjoyed growth, some slower, some greater, with the most of the growth coming from the East

The biggest surprise might be Ireland, which has experienced 76% growth in less than 10 years, growing its GDP per capita well above $80,000.

Here I find a good explanation about Ireland: Multinationals make Ireland’s GDP growth ‘clearly misleading’

Ireland’s GDP is principally distorted by the presence of more than 1,500 multinationals, among them most of the world’s top tech and pharma firms. Ireland is also the world’s top hub for aviation leasing.

Overall GDP per capita in the European Union has raised by an average of 8.57% during the last 9 years and totals $34,835 thousand per capita.

The GDP per capita is clearly growing in the European Union, not in all countries, but the overall growth rate seems healthy.

We might talk about multispeed Europe, with new growth coming from the East and a slowdown in the West. The question is, will the runner-ups will be able to catch up, say in 10-15 years.

What are your thoughts? Leave me a comment, readers and I would love to hear!

*The GDP prices are from 2020, which was not the best for the Worlds economy, but still as the latest data available when publishing this article in June 2022

African Union GDP Per Capita 2022*

30 June, 2022 | Macroeconomics | 29 seen

The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa.  The AU's future goals include a customs union, a single market, a central bank, and a common currency, thereby establishing an economic and monetary union.

This morning I was talking to Rob, a friend from South Africa, we were talking economics, Georgia, and railways and suddenly I remembered a few years ago I did an article about GDP per Capita in the African Union in 2013.

As many years had passed already, since I originally published that article, I decided to look again at the developments around African Union and compare the data from 2013 to 2022. 

Huge was my surprise seeing that most of the countries have actually shrank by their size of GPD, not growing. 

Without further ado, here is the raw data:

GDP per Capita in African Union 2022 vs 2013

Data source: World Bank

Here are some of my key findings:

• The average GDP per capita in African Union is $2,200 and is actually 20% lower than it was back in 2013. 
• The highest GDP per capita was observed in Seychelles, while the lowest in Burundi

As a person not actively following the development in the African continent I was surprised to see the drop, as I was convinced that the World GDP rates have only gone up.  Turns out, they are not. 

It seems it will take many more decades for African Union, to reach those levels of the European Union, also it will require developing countries not to rely on mineral resource mining, but develop new higher added value products. 

What are your thought? Leave me a comment, readers and I would love to hear!

*The GDP prices are from 2020, which was not the best for the Worlds economy, but still as the latest data available when publishing this article in June 2022

Is it possible to buy a 3 bd apartment in European Union Member state for just EUR 350?

29 June, 2022 | Real Estate | 10 seen

A few years ago I bought a property in rural Latvia (which is a member state of the European Union) for under EUR 4,000 - most of the time I thought this has been a bad investment. 

Since my original purchase I have additionally invested about EUR 14,000, making my total around EUR 18,000, and this Summer for the first time I feel I could actually realize this apartment for EUR 25,000 or at least EUR 20,000 without much hassle. See the latest developments here

A few weeks ago we bought a nice summer house near the sea paying less than EUR 5,000, and I already thought - wow, how is that even possible?

New Investment Project - Summer House with Garden in Latvia

Now, i decided to check the e-auction site, looking for some other interesting bargain deals, and I found one, which I decided to take a bid - a 3 bd apartment in Latvian countryside with a starting bid  of just EUR 350

This particular apartment is located in an old Soviet Built house (1960) in a village called Dzelda, some 165km from Riga, 18km from Skrunda, and 70km from Liepāja

Currently, we have properties in Vilgāle, Laidi and Ječi, by adding Dzelda on our investment map it would take 2 hours to travel between all our 4 properties and about 133km travel distance.

Most probably the property will go from the hammer at a higher price, and I'm ready to go to up to EUR 1,500 for bidding this apartment, but still, lets admit  - this is a bargain deal, and not happen every day.

In case I will take this property my plan is to list it for EUR 3,500 on local ss.com website, if there will be no buyers, I will hold it for a while, might do some little repair works, like installing new windows, painting ceiling, making a bathroom. Will see. The auction is planned to end on July 21, 2022

Friends Hub village Guest house review in Vazisubani

28 June, 2022 | Hotel reviews | 61 seen

Friends Hub village guesthouse is located in Vazisubani, near Gurjaani in the region of Kakheti, Georgia, some 2-hour drive from Tbilisi.

Oskars, the host, invited me to visit his new place at the start of May 2022. After a few stops at McDonald's, Sighanghi, and Bodbe monastery we finally reached Vazisubani, where we were greeted with traditional Georgian supra and a lot of chacha.

Here I made a short video from our trip: Sighnaghi & Vazisubani trip

Friends Hub village features a restaurant, bar, garden, and BBQ facilities in Gurjaani. Featuring family rooms, this property also provides guests with a terrace. The accommodation offers evening entertainment and a shared kitchen.

A nice looking palm and Caucasus mountains.

At the guest house, all rooms come with a desk, bed linen and a patio with a garden view. The units will provide guests with a wardrobe and a kettle.

Guests at Friends Hub village can enjoy a continental or a à la carte breakfast.

As Oskars is a friend of mine, he refused to take any payment from us, but seems the price is listed for about GEL 120 pe night on Booking.com

Decent guest house with talkative and business oriented hosts. They have a lovely marani and outdoor terrace with seating area. 

If you are up to for a casual Kakhetian house with European touch - You will enjoy Friends Hub Village in Vazisubani. 

Book on Booking,com

Top 10 Laptops with Backlit keyboard 2022

27 June, 2022 | Laptop Reviews | 35 seen

A neat feature a laptop can have is a backlit keyboard.

In 2022 the chance of finding a laptop with a backlit keyboard is more possible when looking at HP, Dell, or Lenovo laptops

Keep reading to learn more about top 10 best selling laptops with Backlit Keyboard on Amazon

A quick note: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on the Amazon site, I will earn an affiliate income at no cost to you. Prices for laptops listed on this page are retrieved using Amazon Product Advertising API and are updated daily. For actual prices please refer to the product page on Amazon.

Newest HP Notebook Laptop, 17.3’’ Full HD Display, 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1155G7 Quad-Core Processor, 16GB RAM, 1TB HDD, Backlit Keyboard, Webcam, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Windows 11 Home

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2022 HP Pavilion 17.3-inch IPS FHD Laptop, Intel Quad Core i5-1135G7 (Beats i7-1065G7,upto 4.2GHz), Iris Xe Graphics, 16GB RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD,Backlit Keyboard, WiFi 5,Webcam, Windows 11+HubxcelCables

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HP 15 Laptop, 15.6" HD Touchscreen,11th Intel i5-1135G7, 12GB RAM 128GB SSD+1TB HDD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 Home,w/ 9H HDMI Cable

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Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 inches Full HD IPS Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, Vega 3 Graphics, 4GB DDR4, 128GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 in S Mode, A515-43-R19L, Silver

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Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-33C0 Slim Laptop | 15.6" Full HD IPS Display | 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4 Processor | 4GB DDR4 |128GB NVMe SSD | WiFi 6 | Backlit Keyboard | Windows 11 Home in S Mode

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• 15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) Widescreen LED-backlit Display | Intel UHD Graphics
• 4GB DDR4 Onboard Memory and 128GB NVMe SSD
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• Wi-Fi 6 | Backlit Keyboard | Up to 8.5 Hours Battery Life | Windows 11 Home in S mode

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HP 14" Core i3 1005G1 Up to 3.4GHz 8GB 256GB SSD 1080P 14-dq1043cl Backlit Keyboard

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2022 Newest Lenovo IdeaPad 3i Laptop, 15.6" FHD Anti-Glare Display, Intel Core i3-1115G4 Processor, Intel UHD Graphics, 20GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 11 Home

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• 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4 Dual-Core Processor (6MB Intel Smart Cache, up to 4.10GHz)
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2022 Newest HP Notebook Laptop, 15.6" HD Touchscreen, Intel Core i5-1135G7 Processor, 32GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, Wi-Fi, Webcam, HDMI, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 11 Home, Silver

• 32GB high-bandwidth RAM to smoothly run multiple applications and browser tabs all at once; 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive allows to fast bootup and data transfer.
• 11th Generation Intel Core i5-1135G7 Quad-Core Processor (4 Cores, 8 Threads, 8MB Intel Smart Cache, Base Frequency at 2.40 GHz, Up to 4.20 Ghz at Maximum Turbo Speed)
• 15.6" Touchscreen Micro-Edge BrightView HD (1366 x 768) 250-Nits Display
• 1 x SuperSpeed USB Type-C, 2 x SuperSpeed USB Type-A, 1 x HDMI 1.4b, 1 x RJ-45, 1 x Headphone & Microphone Audio Jack, 1 x Power jack; Backlit Keyboard, webcam with microphone
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HP Newest Laptop, 15.6" Full HD Touchscreen, Intel Core i7-1165G7, 16GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint Reader, Webcam, WiFi 5, HDMI, Type-C, Bluetooth, Windows 11 Home, Silver

• The PC memory has been upgraded to 16GB DDR4 SDRAM for enhanced high bandwidth to easily switch back and forth between open applications; Hard drive has been upgraded to 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD for fast boot up and speedy data transfer
• Intel Core i7-1165G7 Processor (2.8 GHz to 4.7 GHz, 12 MB L3 cache, 4 cores)
• 15.6" diagonal Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS BrightView micro-edge WLED-backlit Touchscreen
• 1 SuperSpeed USB Type-C 5Gbps signaling rate; 2 SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate; 1 HDMI 1.4b; 1 Media Card Reader; 1 headphone/microphone combo
• Windows 11 Home

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How To Tile Kitchen / hallway floor

24 June, 2022 | Home Remodeling | 22 seen

The time had finally come and I was ready to tile the kitchen and hallway floors at our Vilgale apartment.

A year ago I would say  - no way I'm going to do it myself, but here you go, I did it all on my own, with some research on Youtube and a lot of encouragement from friends who have done it.

As it is in our Tbilisi apartment - I decided to go with large 60cmx60cm tiles, which I bought at the local DEPO store (in Liepaja) In total I purchased tiles to cover 21m2, which turned out too much, but I did put my margin of error as I didn't know how well it will go. Surprisingly it went very well, and I did break just one tile, which I still managed to reuse. Awesome. My biggest concern was the tile cutter, but again thank you YouTube it went very smoothly.

Here I bought tiles, tile cutter, a level, glue for tiles (dry mixture), distancers (3mm). As the tiles vere pretty heavy I decided to buy them in two attempts, or I purchased jus the half at my first visit to the store

Thansk to the YouTube tutorials I understood its better not to start from the corner but instead lay out tiles to find the optional placement

The other day we bought another apartment and I got a free drill there. Was very happy to use it for tiling glue.

After a few hours of thinking I figured it out to strat from this place, to save on tiles and have the best look at the end.

As you can see I have a laminate floor already installed, it will be somehow tough tash to connect them together at the end.

It is very important to use distancers to make tiles straight

Unbelievable. I'm actually tiling and the work is not hard at all. For today I decided to tile only full tiles, no cutting. Leaving the cutting for another day.

The end feels so close already. 

I stopped here today, and returned to tile the rest next day

On the second day I come for the tile cutting, I must admit it was both easy and hard. It was easier than I thought to cut the tiles, but it took much more time I expected and i ddin't finish all the tiling works today.

There are still some tilling job left, but before that I will need to buy special transition from tile to laminate, and it seems i will need to clip a bit our front door.

Once the tiling will be finished in the kitchen and halway I will move to the bathroom.

Cost so far:

• Water plumbing: EUR 60
• Sadales Tīkls: EUR 60
• Electrician: EUR 155
• Architect: EUR 800
• Removing walls and floor: EUR 775
• Chalk removing, / wiring: EUR 500
• Wall plastering/frame for drywall ceiling (bedroom): EUR 875
• New windows: EUR 1,252 
• Window replacement: EUR 200
• Estrich floor with an underfloor heating system and all plumbing: EUR 1,916
• Rock wool for the ceiling, drywall constructions, drywall, and some wiring: EUR 866
• Plastering bedroom and living room: EUR 1,200
• Chimneysweep: EUR 30
• More drywall, rock wool, electric cables, plumbing, and others: EUR 1094
• Doors for bedroom and bathroom: EUR 291.58
• More sauna, more drywall, more plumbing, more wiring EUR 1,992.56
• More sauna, more drywall, more electricity: EUR 370
• more plastering: EUR 340
• Paint and tools (paintbrush, rolls, gloves, scotch): EUR 74.86
• 27 Liter of ready-made plaster, dozen of electricity plugs, rolls, screwdrivers: EUR 45
• Paint for walls, additional electricity plugs and switches: EUR 50
• Laminate flooring and tools: EUR 378
• Tiles and tools for kithcen and hallway: EUR 400

TOTAL: EUR 13,725

Tbilisi Rent to Sublet on Airbnb - Part 1

23 June, 2022 | Living in Georgia | 45 seen

This is the topic I first encountered many many years ago, well actually back in these days it was more about buying a property in Tbilisi and renting it out with the option of selling the property in a few years with profit. 

Throughout the years I've been contacted by investors from all around the world (literally from Italy to Australia and Brazil) interested in Tbilisi rental market. My simple question always has been - what is the return on investment? ROI? 

As a person with a strong belief in the stock market, I have never really understood what the point of renting out is, as long as the apartment is not for free, left as an inheritance. Dealing with tenants, changing linens? Too much hassle for too little money!

In the stock market, there are plenty of REITs paying out divided up to 8-10% annually (the stock market doesn't mean it is safe of course) 

I've been investing with many good REIT's - my personal favorite - O (Realty Income) and Baltic Horizon Fund

It was in early Spring 2022, I met a Latvian girl, she said she was renting for subletting in Tbilisi on Airbnb, refurbishing a little bit, and then again renting out for the short-term on Airbnb only. My first question was - what is your ROI? 

And I got an astonishing answer - about double. About double? Wow, I thought. My next question was -so is it all about location, location, location?

Again, she said, no they don't actually have prime locations and returns are just amazing. I was thunderstruck.

At the end of April I visited Batumi for a short vacation, just out of the curiosity I contacted a few developers there and was mesmerized by the offer available in Batumi. In the end, I didn't buy anything, but if I would have that free cash I would buy.

Invest in Batumi Real Estate (Buying Black Frame Projects)

A few weeks later, another friend invited me to visit his guest house in Kakheti, we spent a nice evening drinking chacha, talking politics, life, and business and I learned that he is actually renting the place for $500/mo and turned into a small village hotel. For the money paid I would just be happy and live in such a villa without turning it into anything, but as we have business and school for the kiddo in Tbilisi, we cannot just relocate to some village in Kakheti, though from the work perspective, nothing much would actually change. 

Slowly I concluded  - I should give it a try and launch the Tbilisi Airbnb project. I don't have any property in Tbilisi, so I decided I will go the rent-to-let route, for my first project I've decided not to set the rental prices too high and I'm looking for something to rent for $250-$300/mo just to get my feet wet. if I will manage to take 100% yield (before expenses) I will be very happy already, If I will break even I will take notes and look at how to improve. In case I will be under the water after 6 months - I will pause this project and exit it with financial losses but hopefully with some valuable experience gained.

As much as I would like to start this project tomorrow (just before the start of the Summer season in Tbilisi) I will have to wait until September, as we are planning to leave Georgia for this Summer. 

I have this feeling it is going to be a hot Fall, with lot of dealing with real estate agents, dealing with the owners, and setting up actual marketing can promotion for Airbnb rentals.

New Investment Project - Summer House with Garden in Latvia

22 June, 2022 | Home Remodeling | 62 seen

Welcome to another interesting project in the home remodeling series. - summer house with a garden in SouthWest Latvia. It turns out this is already the third, ongoing home remodeling project featured on the blog. Exciting.

This is the project my fiancee actually bought, without first seeing it - the price seemed very good, not to take this property. I was a bit skeptical at the start, as we still have another ongoing renovation project with the apartment in Vilgale, but I found this offer a value deal. 

We learned about this project about a month ago, as we still were in Georgia, we decided to buy a cat in the sack and transferred a 10% deposit to the seller. At the end of June, we finally arrived and after a brief looking at the property paid the full amount in cash. The total buying price was EUR 5,000. Bought, Bought, Bought! Personally, I found it fun, having a property in the EU with drinking water, electricity and some nice garden for just EUR 5,000. And I believe the price will at least double in the next 5 years.

Here is what we got:

House comes with 600m2 of land, what is plenty for a small garden

Nothing fancy, nothing bad. I have sen worst houses. but I know for sure we are going to replace the floor, and I guess already this Summer.

By saying replacing floor I mean - removing the old floor and installing a new one. 

Not happy about this furniture as it will be a little pain, but I appreciate there is no junk inside (nor outside the house)

The idea is not yet finalized, but I have an idea of removing inner walls and making a studio-style summer house

Seems like another exciting home remodeling project to manage. this time I'm not focusing on huge financial investments, instead of making a beautiful garden, with colorful evergreen plants, a fireplace, some street lights

The village is located some 25 km from Liepāja, 75 km from Klaipēda, and about 240km from Riga. Drive to fantastic beaches near the Baltic sea is about 20 minutes from this place.

for this summer I see we should remove the floor and make a nice exterior paint. Now, look at red or blue, the so-called Scandinavian style. 

We plan to own this place for 3-5 years, make an awesome garden and a brilliant summer house with all extras included, and sell it for profit at the end. Looking at a 25-30K sell price in 3-5 years from now.

Pearl of Tbilisi - Gardenia Shevardnadze Flower Garden

21 June, 2022 | | 18 seen

Gardenia Shevardnadze is a lovely flower garden in Tbilisi, where you can buy seedlings for your yard, balcony, terrace, home, or office. 

The place is popular among photographers, tourists, gardeners, and enjoyers of life.

After visiting this place so many times, while living in Georgia, I wouldn't hesitate to call this place a Pearl of Tbilisi and include it among the top 10 must-visit places in the Georgian capital. 

It was an early Saturday morning, at the start of June 2022, we decided to visit Gardenia just to catch some inspiration and I decided to use my good, old DSLR camera, which I wasn't using since our Sri-Lanka trip (where the camera stopped working because of humidity)

The old camera was working again and I could experiment with different shooting styles.

It's hard to describe what photography style this is, Not sure, maybe pattern photography or simply bowl photography? 

Always good for photography

Looking for bright colors? Come to Gardenia Sherdnadze flower garden

You don't have to be a flower expert to enjoy bright colors and good vibes at this flower garden

Gardenia Shevardnadze is a popular place for banquets (yes, you can order a banquet here)

Might be our next project - building such construction for banquets

While there is Gardenia Shevardnadze flower garden in Tbilisi, the day will always turn good!

Top 7 Aluminum Chassis / Body laptops 2022

20 June, 2022 | Laptop Reviews | 320 seen

In today's article, I've listed the TOP 7 bestselling aluminum chassis laptops on Amazon in 2022

Most Aluminum chassis laptops come with the price attached and nowadays there are both traditional, touchscreen, and of course gaming laptops surrounded by metallic cases. Even some of the Chromebooks are available in aluminum chassis.

Top 20 Aluminum Chassis Notebook / Laptop Computers

A quick note: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on the Amazon site, I will earn an affiliate income at no cost to you. Prices for laptops listed on this page are retrieved using Amazon Product Advertising API and are updated daily. For actual prices please refer to the product page on Amazon.

Dell XPS 13 9310 Touchscreen Laptop 13.4 inch FHD+ Thin and Light. Intel Core i7-1195G7, 16GB LPDDR4x RAM, 512GB SSD, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, Windows 11 Pro, 2Yr OnSite, 6 months Dell Migrate – Silver

• GUARANTEED POWER: With 11th Gen InteI Core mobile processors, it’s now possible to enjoy incredibly immersive entertainment on a remarkably thin and light touchscreen laptop
• KILLER WIRELESS: With Wi-Fi 6 techology, the Killer AX1650 prioritizes streaming video, communication, and game traffic in your system for fast, smooth online experiences
• STUNNING IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT: Dolby Vision content can deliver highlights that are up to 40 times brighter, and blacks that are up to 10 times darker
• START IN AN INSTANT: A built in lid sensor with a new press fit hinge allows you to open the lid with one hand and power up in milliseconds, no matter what power-state you are in
• POWERFUL GRAPHICS: Intel Iris Plus graphics take a huge leap forward in gaming, streaming and creativity, pushing a smoother, more detailed and more vivid experience than ever before
• Including 2 Year On-Site and 6 months Dell Migrate easily move your files and settings from your old PC to your new Dell

List price: [amazon B09DFKQL8K listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

2022 HP Pavilion 15.6" FHD Touchscreen Laptop 11th Gen 4-Core Intel i7-1195G7 16GB DDR4 512GB NVMe SSD Iris Xe Graphics HDMI Webcam WiFi-6 Bluetooth Backlit Keyboard Windows 11 Pro w/ 32GB USB

• Latest 11th Generation Intel Core i7-1195G7 Processor, Up to 5.0 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 12 MB cache, 4 Core, 8 Threads
• [Customization] Upgraded to 16GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive, No DVD, Upgraded to Windows 11 Pro
• 15.6" diagonal Touchscreen, FHD (1920 x 1080), IPS, micro-edge, BrightView, 250 nits, 45% NTSC Display, Intel Iris Xe Graphics with shared graphics memory
• MediaTek Wi-Fi 6 MT7921 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.2 combo (Supporting Gigabit data rate), 1x SuperSpeed USB Type-C 10Gbps signaling rate (USB Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4, HP Sleep and Charge); 2x SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate; 1x HDMI 2.0; 1x AC smart pin; 1x headphone/microphone combo
• Audio by B&O with dual speakers, Fog Blue Aluminum Body, 3-cell 41 WHr, 14.18 x 9.21 x 0.70 in, 3.86 lbs, 45 Watt AC Adapter, Free Ontrend 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

List price: [amazon B09RJXN6TF listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Lenovo Yoga C740 14" FHD IPS Touchscreen Premium 2-in-1 Laptop, 10th Gen Intel Quad Core i5-10210U, 8GB RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10, Aluminum Chassis

• 10th Generation Intel Core i5-10210U Processor (Quad-Core, 1.6 GHz Upto 4.2 GHz, 6 MB Cache), 8GB DDR4 Memory, 256GB PCIe SSD
• 14" FHD (1920x1080) IPS 300nits Anti-glare Touchscreen Display, Dolby Vision, Intel UHD Graphics
• 802_11_AC, Bluetooth 5.0, HD Audio with Stereo Speakers, Webcam, Fingerprint Reader
• 2 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x Headphone/Speaker/Line-Out Jack
• Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 Home 64-bit, 4-cell lithium_ion, 3.09lb, Mica

List price: [amazon B08BNZ5NTG listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

2022 HP Pavilion 15.6" FHD Touchscreen Laptop 11th Gen 4-Core Intel i7-1165G7 32GB DDR4 1TB NVMe SSD Iris Xe Graphics HDMI Webcam WiFi-6 Bluetooth Backlit Keyboard Windows 11 Pro w/ 32GB USB

• 11th Generation Intel Core i7-1165G7 Processor, Up to 4.7 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 12 MB cache, 4 Core, 8 Threads
•  Upgraded to 32GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive, No DVD, Upgraded to Windows 11 Pro
• Brilliant 15.6" diagonal Touchscreen, FHD (1920 x 1080), IPS, micro-edge, BrightView, 250 nits, 45% NTSC Display, Intel Iris Xe Graphics with shared graphics memory
• Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5 combo (Supporting Gigabit data rate), 1x SuperSpeed USB Type-C 10Gbps signaling rate (USB Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4, HP Sleep and Charge); 2x SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate; 1x HDMI 2.0; 1x AC smart pin; 1x headphone/microphone combo
• Backlit full-size keyboard with Numpad, Audio by B&O with dual speakers, Lunar Gold Aluminum Body, 3-cell 41 WHr, 14.18 x 9.21 x 0.70 in, 3.86 lbs, 45 Watt AC Adapter, Free Ontrend 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

List price: [amazon B09T2VDGYX listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R14K Slim Laptop | 15.6" Full HD IPS | AMD Ryzen 3 3350U Quad-Core Mobile Processor | 4GB DDR4 | 128GB NVMe SSD | WiFi 6 | Backlit KB | Amazon Alexa | Windows 10 Home (S mode)

• Powerful Productivity: AMD Ryzen 3 3350U delivers desktop-class performance and amazing battery life in a slim notebook. With Precision Boost, get up to 3.5GHz for your high-demand applications
• Maximized Visuals: See even more on the stunning 15.6" Full HD display with 82.58% screen-to-body, 16:9 aspect ratio and narrow bezels
• Backlit Keyboard and Fingerprint Reader: Biometric fingerprint reader and Windows Hello sign-in options help keep your Acer PC secure
• Internal Specifications: 4GB DDR4 on-board memory (1 slot available); 128GB NVMe solid-state drive storage (1 hard drive bay available) to store your files and media
• Acer's Purified.Voice technology, features enhanced digital signal processing to cancel out background noise, improve speech accuracy and far-field pickup, which not only makes calls clearer, but makes talking to Alexa easier than before.
• Using Alexa on your PC is as easy as asking a question. Just ask and Alexa can check your calendar, create lists, play music, answer questions, read the news and more.
• Secure Operating System: Windows 10 Home (S mode) comes with advanced security features built right in, like protections against phishing and malicious software so you don't have to think twice when navigating to a new webpage or downloading an app

List price: [amazon B08VKNVDDR listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Lenovo Yoga C740 14" FHD IPS Touchscreen Premium 2-in-1 Laptop, 10th Gen Intel Quad Core i5-10210U, 8GB RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10, Aluminum Chassis

• 10th Generation Intel Core i5-10210U Processor (Quad-Core, 1.6 GHz Upto 4.2 GHz, 6 MB Cache), 8GB DDR4 Memory, 512GB PCIe SSD
• 14" FHD (1920x1080) IPS 300nits Anti-glare Touchscreen Display, Dolby Vision, Intel UHD Graphics
• 802_11_AC, Bluetooth 5.0, HD Audio with Stereo Speakers, Webcam, Fingerprint Reader
• 2 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x Headphone/Speaker/Line-Out Jack
• Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 Home 64-bit, 4-cell lithium_ion, 3.09lb, Mica

List price: [amazon B08BP1KKHB listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 inches Full HD IPS Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, Vega 3 Graphics, 4GB DDR4, 128GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 in S Mode, A515-43-R19L, Silver

• AMD Ryzen 3 3200U Dual Core Processor (Up to 3.5GHz); 4GB DDR4 Memory; 128GB PCIe NVMe SSD
• 15.6 inches full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED backlit IPS display; AMD Radeon Vega 3 Mobile Graphics
• 1 USB 3.1 Gen 1 port, 2 USB 2.0 ports & 1 HDMI port with HDCP support
• 802.11ac Wi-Fi; Backlit Keyboard; Up to 7.5 hours battery life
• Windows 10 in S mode. Maximum power supply wattage: 65 Watts

List price: [amazon B07RF1XD36 listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Hiking Likani, Sunday school Rustavi

17 June, 2022 | Living in Georgia | 20 seen

Another awesome weekend in Georgia 🇬🇪- with some elements of offroad riding, hiking, camping, horseback riding near Likani station, and a few skulls at Green monastery Saturday.

Back to Rustavi scout center for a lovely Sunday with fellow Latvians. 

Our last weekend trip with VW Touareg. 

Minimum Wages in European Union 2022

16 June, 2022 | Macroeconomics | 51 seen

In 2022 there were 21  out of 27 European Union member states with an official minimum wage set by the government.

Turns out this is already the eighth (#9) article about minimum wages in European Union featured on the blog. To keep it up, here is the raw data for minimum wages across European Union in 2022.

Please don't judge too hard, data are taken from this article on Wikipedia, and applied some basic calculations for yearly growth.

The minimum wage in European Union member countries 2022

Data source: List of European countries by minimum wage

It should be noted: The calculations are based on the assumption of a 40-hour working week and a 52-week year, with the exceptions of France (35 hours), Belgium (38 hours), Ireland (39 hours), and Germany (39.1 hours). Most the minimum wages are fixed at a monthly rate, but there are countries where the minimum wage is fixed at an hourly rate or weekly rate.

As it already happened in the previous years, there are no changes in the country with the highest and lowest minimum wage. Luxembourg as usual ranks #1 with more than EUR 2,000 gross minimum wage in 2022, while Bulgaria takes the last spot with a minimum wage set at EUR 363.  Making a gap between the highest and lowest salary in European Union 6.06 times. the good news is the gap between the highest and lowest is shrinking year over year.

The steepest increase has been observed in Germany, where the minimum hourly pay is set to increase to 12 EUR per hour starting October 2022

The average growth rate for minimum wages across the European Union has been about 9.67% and seems this is the trend that will continue. As usual, the biggest growth in terms of percentage increase has been observed in the new member states

When visualizing data on the map, its' clearly visible that higher minimum wages are set in the Western European countries, despite the higher growth rates are found in Eastern European countries.

Buying a property in Georgia (Dedoplistskaro)

15 June, 2022 | Living in Georgia | 27 seen

Dedoplistskaro is a small town in Kakheti, Georgia with a population of about 6,000. Distance to Tbilisi about 130 km, about 2 hour drive. 

I first had an idea of buying a house in Dedoplitskaro a few years ago, back then I was researching the whole of Georgia and Dedoplitskaro stayed the top of the list because the buying price seemed one of the lowest in the country. When speaking with locals (not from Dedoplitskaro) - I was told that the place is not good, with snakes, earthquakes, and a lack of drinking water. 

Cannot either confirm or deny. Snakes? Probably, the city and nearby area are located on Shiraki plain, which is kind of like a desert. Earthquakes? They do happen, quite frequently in Georgia. Lack of drinking water? This might be a problem, but maybe a borehole is an option? These are the questions we should clarify, before moving on, I guess. And the simple ones - electricity, gas. 

As we had other priorities in life, we didn't buy anything here.

About a year ago, a German friend took me on a trip to Vashlovani, Eagle canyon, and even some abandoned Soviet airfield in Big Shiraki. I had a chance to enjoy the Georgian desert, which is very awesome, a lot of foreigners come here for a trip, reaching Chachuna managed area and staying overnight at a former Soviet scientist camp, which is some 30 km from Dedoplitskaro town, is worth a million already. Met Germans, Frenchs and some Aussies. 

Here I made a short video from our trip there: Vashlovani Trip

We have made several other trips to Dedoplitskaro and area, lately enjoy the Eagle canyon a lot. Seeing that the area is quite popular among foreign tourists, we have this little idea, maybe, just maybe this is an option buying a house with some plot of land, having a little garden with a beautiful view overlooking some canyon. 

Here I made another video from the Eagle Canyon

And I decided to check what is there for offer, headed to ss.ge and here is what I found:

There were some 9 listing online when I checked (June 2022) the average sell price is closer to $15,000. there were listings starting $6,000 (not sure is if for real, maybe just to grab your attention) for some bad, a lot of investment asking properties up to $30,000 for a decent looking house in Dedoplitskaro

The deal for $30,000 looked like a guest house in a good shape - kind of a good deal already for persons interested in running a small family hotel, listing on Airbnb. Quite a good option, and if you could bargain down a few thousand - amazing opportunity,

Some houses are in pretty good shape, are available for $20,000. This one particular also looked like a mini-hotel.

As our main goal is buying a property for ourselves, not running Airbnb, I think we could look at properties even cheaper, say in the range of $10,000-$15,000 as we are ready to fix up, do some paint job, replace windows e.t.c.

It seems that there is some tourism potential for Dedoplitskaro and the area, the city itself might not be so attracivtive, there are not many restaurants or entertainment available but could be used as a base for further exploration. An Airbnb seems an option. 

Interested in buying property in Dedoplitskaro, Tbilisi, or any other part of Georgia? I ran a small company specializing in Property management in Tbilisi, buying, renting, and subletting. Fill out the form below to get in touch

Eagle canyon in Georgia

10 June, 2022 | Living in Georgia | 23 seen

The bear went over the mountain .. or last weekend we went hiking at the Eagle Canyon near Dedoplistskaro, Shopping at the Dezerteer market in Tbilisi, and exercising at Lisi Lake... another fabulous weekend has been put on our tapes and post-processed.

Enjoy the video and thumbs up!

Tbilisi Airbnb market overview - May 2022

8 June, 2022 | Living in Georgia | 80 seen

Recently I've been working on the Tbilisi Airbnb property management service and with the help of this article, I decided to take a quick look at the overall Tbilisi Airbnb market. The size, revenue, occupancy rate, and more.

According to AllTheRooms, the average daily rate for hosts earned in Tbilisi was $40, which is a +5.26% growth if compared to the previous month. while the occupancy rate was 27% (a -10% decrease compared to the previous month)

• There were 6,435 listings in Tbilisi during the month of May (-1.74%)
• The average earning per listing is $339 (+0.3% growth)

Taking all those data together, it seems that the Tbilisi Airbnb property market in the month of May was worth about $2,16M

As I'm looking to rent to sublet an apartment in Tbilisi, these numbers are good to know and might help get basic general.

To make it worth the effort I've decided to focus on popular and highly demanded areas in Tbilisi for letting entire apartments for short-term rent. Looking to rent a newly built apartment in Vake, Saburtalo for a budget of $500-600 per month. i couldn't find exact data for Vake or Saburtalo on the AllTheRooms website, but it looks like the occupancy rate for the entire apartment could go slightly above the average (looks between 36-75%), I guess it all depends on how good is the apartment and how you market it on Airbnb. 

Here is an example of something I'm looking at myself - a one-bedroom apartment with an average daily rate of $43 and an occupancy rate of 74%. This might be a good example. 

In a case of renting it out for $43 daily with a 74% occupancy rate, it would return about $900, which is actually quite a good return on investment, in case we are renting for $500/mo - Our profit would be about $400 but form this money we should also pay the utilities, maintenance, cleaning, etc. Still, the income should be good. Smarter of course might be buying property and keeping all of the profit.

The situation changes drastically if we have an occupancy rate of just 27% (the average in the month of May in Tbilisi) - that would yield us just $344 and leave us with some losses. 

Anyhow, there are too many variables and ifs to give a clear answer, use the data just for a rough estimate. In case you need help with managing your property in Tbilisi, I'm here to help