Ask HN: Cheap places to live with a good intellectual atmosphere?
Depending on your ability to work remotely, I would make the "case" that you should consider <i>Portugal</i>.<p>Lisbon and Porto are super popular with ["digital nomad"] remote workers who work for international companies so earn in USD but spend [much less] in Euros for a superb lifestyle.<p>There's a <i>reason</i> @paddycosgrave moved Web Summit to Lisbon. 
It's one of the cheapest cities in Europe and [unlike Barcelona] <i>everyone</i> speaks English. There is a good "tech scene" and a <i>fantastic</i> work-life-balance; surf, great food & warm/welcoming people.<p>A few things to consider that <i>many</i> people over-look:
+ Socio-Economic and Political stability.
+ General safety/security and crime levels.
+ Sanitation and healthcare availability/cost.
+ Availability/cost of healthy [organic/unprocessed] food.
+ Lifestyle to actually <i>live</i> in the place: is it "cheap" but a nightmare to live there?
+ Contract-law for short-term apartment/room rentals.<p>Portugal will <i>exceed</i> your expectations on all of these.<p>Portugal is <i>very</i> welcoming to US citizens, you won't have any "visa issues" the way you will in many of the [superficially] "cheaper" Asian countries.<p>If you want your budget to stretch <i>much</i> further, consider Braga. The cost of living is less than a third of SF, internet is fast and you get <i>most</i> of the benefits of Porto & Lisbon (or can reach those cities with a short train journey).<p><i>Note</i>: I am [slightly] "biased", my Wife and I have recently "escaped" from London [after working there in tech for 10 years] and we are busy setting up a Co-living/Co-working House in Braga: <a href="https://github.com/dwyl/home" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/dwyl/home</a>
We will be opening at the end of this month and our target cost per month [1Gbps Internet, all bills, cleaning & gym included] is $300 (USD).<p>We <i>chose</i> Braga because it has <i>all</i> the "ingredients" for an <i>awesome</i> place for tech/creative people to escape the <i>bigger</i> cities and focus on their work while still having access to <i>all</i> the amenities great healthcare, superb organic/vegan food and good libraries/meetups/etc.