"I earn 10 thousand a month, but I still dream of an apartment"

"I hadn't seen big money at all until I was 26"

Yagor is 29 years old, lives in Minsk, and combines two jobs. His main job is in the procurement department, where he earns 3,300 rubles a month, and in parallel, he works in social media and messenger advertising, which brings him an additional approximately 6,700 rubles monthly. As a result, the young man has about 10,000 rubles.

— I reached this income level relatively recently, about a year ago. In general, I started my career at a bank, getting a job there right after graduation. The salary then was around 800 rubles. From about 20 to 24 years old, I worked in sales at various enterprises, where I already earned 1000-1200 rubles. Later, I moved into procurement and have been in this profession ever since. Until I was 26, I didn't see any significant money at all, but everything changed when my brother started doing advertising in messengers. His business took off, and he told me that you could earn money from it and suggested we try it together. That's how we started working as a pair.

— First, we created Telegram channels dedicated to psychology and self-development. We attracted subscribers there through Instagram, and then sold advertising to other channels with similar themes. Essentially, you have an audience, and other channel owners pay for the opportunity to tell that audience about themselves. Our main advertisers are from Russia, so we have to adapt to the services people use there.

Initially, there wasn't much money. After about a year, the total income reached 3,000 rubles, then 4,000, 5,000. Gradually, advertising orders increased, and at some point, I realized that I was earning more from my additional job than from my main one. However, I wouldn't say that anyone can now create a channel and earn thousands of rubles in a month. When we started, it was possible to attract subscribers almost for free, but now, to promote a new channel to at least 10,000 subscribers, according to my calculations, you'd have to invest approximately the equivalent of $2,000 in advertising.

I'm not going to quit my main job: official employment also has its advantages. For example, if you plan to take out loans or installments, they won't give them to you without a salary certificate. And, of course, it's additional income.

"Even with such an income, buying an apartment is not easy"

Yagor is married and has two young children: the younger one is not yet a year old, and the older one will soon turn three. His wife is on maternity leave, and the family lives in a rented apartment. They have to pay the equivalent of $350 for it every month, plus about 200 rubles for utilities. But, as it turned out, these are far from the family's largest expenses.

— Our biggest "expense" item is money for our own housing. About a year ago, we started saving, and every month we put aside 3,600 rubles. Plus, there are installments and other mandatory payments, including internet, — all of this amounts to about 500 rubles. If you add up rent, utilities, installments, and the apartment down payment, it comes to approximately 5,500 rubles a month. This means we immediately dedicate more than half of my income to mandatory payments.

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At the same time, we try to buy foreign currency and additionally save another $500–700. So, when people hear that I earn 10,000 rubles, they probably imagine that I spend all that money every month on entertainment and purchases. Although that's not the case at all, I have about 3,000–3,500 rubles left for living expenses each month.

In general, when you have two small children and no housing of your own, even 10,000 rubles doesn't seem like an incredible sum. Yes, we can easily pay daily expenses, buy things, and save money. But the main goal now is our own apartment, and for its sake, we are willing to "put aside" a rather large portion of our earnings every month. We want to save at least the equivalent of $40,000–50,000 so that we can make an initial down payment and consider options with installment plans from the developer. It's clear that we want to buy an apartment as soon as possible, but for now, we have to wait.

— Why didn't you buy housing on credit?

— A problem arose with guarantors: for the amount we need, people with sufficiently high official incomes are required, and there are none among our relatives and acquaintances. So, for now, we continue to save for the down payment.

"Before, I put off going to doctors until something hurt"

We've dealt with the mandatory payments, but Yagor doesn't work two jobs just to pay bills. What changes in daily life when money becomes noticeably more plentiful? And what can you spend on now without long deliberations?

— If we need to buy diapers, food, clothes, or anything else, we don't particularly think about the cost. I wouldn't say we don't look at prices at all, but we don't have a situation where we deny ourselves necessities due to money. If a child wants something, like a toy, we can just buy it for them, without waiting for a birthday or New Year. And then a holiday comes, and my wife and I sit and think about what to give him, because we've already bought everything he wanted. Perhaps this isn't entirely right, but that's how it is for us for now.

We can definitely afford to go somewhere for a vacation, but here's where conflicts with my wife begin. She wants to go to the sea, but I'm against it for now, because we have small children and I'm scared to fly with them on a plane. I constantly think: what if something happens on the way or already during the vacation? We have no one to leave the children with. Our parents work, and I don't want to hire a nanny and entrust the children to a stranger. So for now, we vacation in Belarus, for example, by renting a house by the lake for a week.

Speaking of what has changed with the increase in income, one of the most important things for me is health. Once a year, I undergo a full examination at private clinics, get the necessary tests, and don't even think about how much it will cost. Whereas before, when I earned about 2,500 rubles, I constantly postponed doctor's visits until something hurt.

Our diet hasn't changed much with the increase in earnings; we eat roughly the same things as before. But now we more often buy meat, fruits, and vegetables at farmers' markets. Yes, it's more expensive there, but in my opinion, there's a noticeable difference in taste and product quality.

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As for clothes, we now increasingly choose items from well-known brands. Not because we want to prove something to someone, but simply because we have the opportunity to buy what we like without particularly limiting ourselves on price. Although I can't say that we used to shop with a calculator before either. Even when I earned significantly less, if I wanted to buy certain products or an item, I usually bought them.

It's just that now there are far fewer reasons to wonder if we can afford something.

"Relatives don't believe you can earn that much money"

It would seem that with such an income, you could change iPhones every year and not even know what an installment plan is. But Yagor has his own spending logic: sometimes he's willing to pay several thousand at once, and sometimes he prefers to stretch payments over six months.

— For example, a year ago I bought my wife an iPhone 16 Pro. I paid for it immediately, without an installment plan, although I still use an iPhone 13 myself and don't plan to change it. I need a phone to make calls, use the internet, and work. I don't particularly take photos or videos, so I don't see the point in buying a new model. We recently bought a bed for 3,500 rubles. We took it on a six-month installment plan, with payments of about 700 rubles a month — we fully paid it off a few months ago. If the installment plan is truly interest-free and the final price doesn't change, why not use it? It's not necessary to pay the whole amount at once, but if you have to overpay almost twice for a phone or any other gadget "on installments," then it's simpler to buy it outright.

I also play tennis — it costs about 300–400 rubles a month.

— How do your friends and acquaintances react to your earnings?

— In general, I have a few acquaintances who earn about as much as I do, so there's no surprise from them. But relatives sometimes react curiously. For example, my mother works as a salesperson and earns about 1,000 rubles. She occasionally says that she works a whole month for that thousand, while my brother and I can earn that much in three days.

Other relatives also don't always believe that it's realistic to earn 10,000 rubles in Belarus. It's especially difficult for those who have worked in the same place and position their entire lives, and whose maximum salary was, say, 3,000 rubles. No matter how you explain it to such people, they still won't believe you and will say you're exaggerating. And I understand them perfectly, because even three or four years ago, I didn't believe I could earn that much. I thought such money only existed in IT, but it turned out there were other options.

From the outside, it might seem that Yagor's two jobs must take up all his time. But he structured his schedule so that one doesn't overly interfere with the other. During the day — office and procurement; during breaks — advertising matters from his phone. After four hours, he can go home — although work doesn't end there.

— I don't feel any burnout from my work. I find it interesting to do all this, communicate with advertisers, and develop channels. If I want to work, I work; if I need a break, I put down my phone and do my own things. But burnout can definitely happen at a regular job, especially if you've already completed all tasks but are still obligated to sit in the office until the end of the workday.

"You quickly get used to a good income"

Perhaps the most interesting question remains: is he himself satisfied with how much he earns?

— I believe that 10,000 rubles a month for Belarus is a very comfortable income, but on the condition that you already own an apartment and a car. Let's say, the housing was inherited from parents or you managed to buy it a few years ago when prices were lower — then it's generally excellent. My situation is different. There hasn't been a time in the last year and a half when I received 10,000 and could calmly spend it on myself.

If we already had our own apartment, I probably wouldn't even think about needing to earn more. But specifically for me, in my situation, I believe a truly comfortable income would be somewhere around 20,000 rubles a month. Although, you know, you quickly get used to money. Two or three years ago, I thought 5,000 rubles was a huge salary, and now I earn 10,000, and I still want more.

— How do you feel about the phrase "Money can't buy happiness"?

— I can't say that money doesn't affect happiness at all. Of course, you can't buy health or human relationships with it, but you can make your family's life more comfortable. When you earn little, entertainment is often limited to what you can afford for free: for example, going to a playground with the children near home. But now we can go out almost every weekend. I love watching the children rejoice at toys and joint trips. For the past couple of years, I've noticed more and more that when they are happy, I am happy too. And money also plays a role here, because thanks to my earnings, I can give them more opportunities.

— What advice can you give to people who earn 2,000–3,000 rubles and want to reach 10,000?

— I don't have any universal answer. I don't really like all these "take courses, believe in yourself — and you'll start earning" kinds of advice. My brother and I simply found a direction that became profitable. Perhaps we were lucky in some way, but we also invested money and time into it.

To start something of your own, investments are often needed, and these are not 500 or 1,000 rubles, but much more. And I perfectly understand why many are afraid to take risks: no one guarantees that the money will come back. But I also wouldn't advise buying any courses for 3,000–10,000 rubles. I believe that first, you can just try to do something independently, look at free materials, like YouTube videos, and only then decide whether it's worth investing money in training. If you have a real interest in the business, you'll succeed even without expensive courses, and if there's no interest, a costly course by itself is unlikely to change anything.

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