Ways to Subsidize Stay in Brazil

About giving english classes: your only option is to freelance. Due to our laws you won't get any work in places that teach english. Our laws basically do not allow part-time work and there are taxes while you work and taxes when you stop working plus a minimum wage. No one gonna hire you if they know you won't stay for a while. Freelance = putting a sign saying you give english classes and waiting for people to come. Lots of people in the market already, limited market as most of the population do not want to learn or need english, hard to get money unless you are willing to give lots of classes for cheap.

About sleeping: you won't just go and find a place that is willing to let you sleep on their floor. Your best option is to go to people are used to it, like Connection Rio, or to get contacts using the internet before you go. I do not live in Rio but I live in a town that isn't so much cheaper than it in terms of living costs (Belo Horizonte), and I live in a shared room paying around R$350 for expenses (rent, water, electricity, internet, gas) per month. This is $160 dollars/month. With food (I cook everything I eat at home) and gym plus BJJ I spend around $300 dollars/month. Someone making $8/hour would need to work less than 40 hours total per month to pay my fixed bills. 1 year = $3600 dollars of fixed bills. Money to travel, party, buy clothes etc is extra and in Rio all expenses will be a bit higher specially as you do not have enough time to search for the cheaper places to sleep in. If you plan into living here probably you are also spending more than it to experience more things. Plus, places with BJJ classes everyday (which I suppose you will want to train every day as you are here) are a bit more expensive.

I would recommend to you get enough dosh before coming. If you can get some money before you can come and be sure to live for a good while without worrying about shit. You will be learning portuguese (which is an useless language to learn) in the meanwhile and getting used to the place so you might find a way to make more money.

Damn that's detailed. Thanks a lot, really puts things into perspective. Of course, I'll have money coming in-- just looking for some ways to save for certain costs. I'm pretty sure now that teaching English won't work.

Curious to know why you think learning Portuguese is useless?
 
I think his point is that Portuguese is a massively spoken language only in Brazil and Portugal. It's not really used outside of those countries. Speaking German, Spanish or French is probably more useful long-term.
 
Back
Top