So… I’ve been on land for some time and I’m bored out of my skull. Obviously I don’t have much to write about since all I’ve done is recovering from my sinus infection. Anyways; I’ve had some time on my hands and a few thoughts has passed through my head even though I’ve been trying to avoid brain activity all together. One of those thoughts was of mathematic nature. Now, when I resort to philosophy in mathematical terms it’s normally a supreme sign that I need to get something to do, not to turn into something like John Nash in “A Beautiful Mind”.

Anyways; what was going through my mind was how much my income actually was compared to what I could earn elsewhere, or rather; what I would have to earn elsewhere to be able to get for my funds there, what I get for my funds here. And this is how I calculate. I divide the compared price with my salary and then I take the price for the same thing in Sweden and multiply that with the sum from the when I divided my Egyptian wages and badabim badaboom; I’ve got the salary I’d need in Sweden to get the same value for money as I do here. Now imagine doing the same calculations compared to London, Los Angeles, Paris or some place that is really expensive…

The dive industry is not making you rich. It won’t get you a fat number account on the Caymans… (Well it did get me the Cayman number account but it’s slimmer than the book listing successful peace-negotiations in the Middle East. And I don’t even remember the PIN-code to my Cayman bank-card so I can’t use the money anyway.) You don’t earn that much on diving. It puts bread and butter on the table, but there are no extra benefits like dental or retirement funds. However my life is richer than if I would earn twice or even five times the money sitting in an office or working the floor in any plant. I don’t work to be able to afford to do what I like during a few weeks holiday. I get paid to do what I love and for me that is more rewarding than all the money I’d potentially earn from a 9-5 job.

My basic salary is 900€ plus what I get in tip and commission; around 100€/week. This adds up to around 1.300€/month. For this money I can live like a prince in Egypt and I seldom have to say: “No I can’t afford that”. On top of this I eat for free on the boat 6 days a week. If I would have the same salary living in Sweden as I do here in Egypt I would probably consider myself fairly well-off. Though, how much that would be depends on how you count. Lets just for fun make a few calculations.

To get the same amount in my bank account after tax as I get in my hand here my salary before tax in Sweden would be around 2.000€. That’s not a lot of money so here comes a few additional calculations. All of these numbers are calculated salary after tax!

If I would spend the same percentage of my funds on food in Sweden my salary would have to be better. I can go out and get myself a whole BBQ chicken with rice, salad, a coke and a smile for 7 Egyptian pounds. That’s less than 1€. If I go to Mac Donald’s I get a large size menu for 25 Egyptian pounds. That’s less than 3:50€. I can go out and have a luxury dinner at a nice restaurant and the bill will not exceed 120 Egyptian pounds. That’s less than 17€. I made a quick calculation of the top of my head that I would have to earn about 4.000€ after tax in Sweden to use the same volume of my monthly wages compared with the food prices we have here.

To have the same sized part of my pay check go to accommodation/rent my salary would have to be even better. I have an 80m2 penthouse with 100m2 balcony/roof terrace, sea view, two bedrooms and living room in an absolute prime location. I’m not sure how much one of those would cost in Sweden and of course that would depend on location, but with an educated stab in the dark I’ll put a 1.000 € price tag on a equivalent accommodation along the coast in Sweden. And then I think I’m careful. This means that I would have to earn around 6.000€ after tax for that to be the same percentage of my income.

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