Is 500$/month sufficient to live in Olomouc (Czech Republic)?

Question

I will have a one year internship in Olomouc with 500$ / month. Is it possible to live alone there with such salary ( Paying Bills of : Rental/ Electricity/ Gas/ Internet/ Food and transport ) and try to economize some money till the end of internship?

@JonathanReez Right now, I don't know! I'm asking just if that can fulfill my economical needs? Which of the mentioned places are the cheapest there? — aymenb, May 20 '16 at 17:01
are you going to be a student of some university or not? Dorms are cheapest if you're officially a student. — JonathanReez, May 20 '16 at 17:08
I will be an intern at a local company, but I can bring an International Student Identity Card. — aymenb, May 20 '16 at 17:21

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:59

Question #1: Can you make it on $500? Short answer: It's going to be tight, but yes.

Question #2: Can you save a reasonable amount of money? Probably not.

Salary after tax

Before we start, we need to calculate the amount of tax you will pay. As of 2016, 500$ equals ~12100CZK, which after tax would be ~10400CZK. I'll be using the Czech currency from now onwards.

Accommodation

Renting your own flat can be done as cheap as 5000CZK, including utilities.
Living in a dorm as a non-student would be too expensive, so that's out.
Getting a room in a shared flat can be done for around 2500 CZK.

Public transport

A monthly ticket for public transport costs 230 CZK.

Food

From personal experience, you can easily cook at home for around 3000CZK per month, assuming you don't buy caviar or alcohol every day.

Phone

A basic phone plan is around 200CZK per month.

Other expenses

You'll probably need stuff like toothpaste, washing liquids, occasional pair of socks, etc, but that's really hard to calculate. Assume that the prices are whatever they are in your country + 20% tax.

Conclusion

To cover the basic expenses (and live in a personal flat) you will need: 5000+3000+230+200 = 8430CZK, which leaves ~2000CZK per month for other expenses. You could also save an extra 2500CZK by living with flatmates.

Saving money

Since non-essential expenses will inevitably crop up, I'd be surprised if you've managed to save more than a few hundred bucks over the whole year. A flight from Tunisia to Prague is around 300$, so perhaps you could cover that, but not much more.