Transcription
Hi everyone, and greetings from sanctioned Russia. My last video was a grocery shopping tour. It got thousands of views, many comments, questions, and much hate, as usual. Today, I decided to share other interesting information about my real life in Russia, my taxes, bills, and insurances here. But first, let's go to a small supermarket near my home to buy some veggies for borscht.
By the way, guys, uh, some asked me in the comments under my previous video why there are so few people in the grocery store in that episode. Russians don't have enough money to go to the store. All except of me moved abroad. Actually, the answer is very simple. I intentionally film my videos in the middle of the day when the majority of people work or study. To be honest, it's very uncomfortable to make videos when all stare at you. I feel very uncomfortable. Maybe some people consider me as a blogger. Uh, they are just curious why this girl is speaking English. What's happening, you know?
The other thing that I should explain is connected with comments like, "Food isn't sanctioned. Not Russ. How prices on groceries are connected with sanctions?" Well, the answer is very simple too. Sanctions cut Russia from SWIFT. All imported products, sanctioned and not sanctioned, all, including medicines, became more expensive because companies, sellers have to pay to mediators to get goods. As a result, the prices increased. 95% of our groceries are produced here, by the way. But the current economical situation influences prices on food anyway because we're still a part of the international market. Oh, I know I will receive a lot of hate after these sentences, but it is. We still sell gas, oil, fertilizers, and other stuff.
Okay, guys, I'm finally at home and I'm ready to show you my utility pay bill. So, this paper, I received this paper every beginning of every month on my mailbox, and also I receive an electronic version on my email. It has this QR code, and I just pay for utilities using this. I have to pay for the last month, for October 2024, only, uh, 3,500 rbl. It's about $35 at the current rate. It's including all electricity, heating, water. Also, I need an extra pay for the internet. It's plus about $7 per month. So, and that is all. I don't have gas in my home. Uh, actually, most modern buildings in Russia don't have gas. Uh, and, uh, the buildings are heated by electricity. Uh, only old Soviet apartments are heated by gas now. In 2024, of course, in, uh, central Russia or in Siberia, pay bills, um, have, um, more expensive costs because of the heating, because, uh, they should heat their apartments, uh, more months a year than me. I live in the south of Russia. I live in Krasnodar, if you don't know this. I don't know why, but some of the new viewers suppose I live in Moscow. But no, guys, no. I don't live in Moscow. I live in Krasnodar. This is a real big city for Russia. Um, it's one of the biggest cities in the south of Russia. I think even, yeah, yeah, I think it's the second one after Rostov-on-Don. And the population of Krasnodar is more than 1 million people, actually. And I live in the city center, and this is pay bill for my one-bedroom apartment. So I think this is a nice price, actually. So, and I would like to show you it in details next.
Let's talk on taxes and insurances in Russia. The first one is real estate tax. I pay about $95 for my one-bedroom apartment for one year. The second one is car tax. I pay about $34 for one year for my budget car. My car isn't luxury, isn't expensive. If you have a luxury car, you will pay more. Uh, the third one is more complicated, income tax. I'm a self-employed, and I deal with companies. I get my income from companies, and I pay, uh, 6% of my income. If you are also a self-employed, but if you get money from customers, you will pay only 4%. For example, if you bake cakes in your home and sell them, so you will pay only 4%. If you are an entrepreneur, an employer, you will pay about 7%. If you are working for the company, you will pay about 13%. But usually employees don't, uh, see this, uh, taxes because, uh, the company pays them. And also some other taxes, not only, uh, 13%. Also here, we don't have such a practice to tell our salary including taxes. We, uh, always share our salary after the taxes, you know. And, uh, insurance is here. The first one, health insurance. It's for free here. We don't, uh, need an extra pay. The second one is our car insurance. I pay, um, you may see this, um, price, um, not very expensive also because, so I have a budget, I have a not very expensive car. And, uh, real estate insurance. It's not compulsory, by the way, but I paid because I did, uh, the renovation in my apartment.
In one of my last videos, I shocked my Tali and viewers by mixing ketchup and mayonnaise in my pizza sauce. Guys, firstly, ciao. Secondly, sorry. Sorry, really. I didn't expect so many talent with me. This is a nice thing, but yes, sometimes I mix ketchup and mayonnaise for pizza. But today, I'm cooking borscht for my dinner. For [Music] guys, thank you for watching this video. Have a nice day and God bless you.