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 Portugal.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.There's a reason @paddycosgrave moved Web Summit to Lisbon. 
It's one of the cheapest cities in Europe and [unlike Barcelona] everyone speaks English. There is a good "tech scene" and a fantastic work-life-balance; surf, great food & warm/welcoming people.A few things to consider that many 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 live in the place: is it "cheap" but a nightmare to live there?
+ Contract-law for short-term apartment/room rentals.Portugal will exceed your expectations on all of these.Portugal is very welcoming to US citizens, you won't have any "visa issues" the way you will in many of the [superficially] "cheaper" Asian countries.If you want your budget to stretch much further, consider Braga. The cost of living is less than a third of SF, internet is fast and you get most of the benefits of Porto & Lisbon (or can reach those cities with a short train journey).Note: 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: https://github.com/dwyl/home
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).We chose Braga because it has all the "ingredients" for an awesome place for tech/creative people to escape the bigger cities and focus on their work while still having access to all the amenities great healthcare, superb organic/vegan food and good libraries/meetups/etc.