New Years 2025 blog
Looking towards the future.
Thoughts
I’m in a very shaky period of uncertainty in my life. Nearing the completion of my degree, but still got a fair amount to go, despite having 108 ECTS out of 180 required. I’ll beat these stupid grading standards, sooner or later, it’s just infuriating how they create arbitrary filters with minimal actual knowledge tested, you have to study to pass the exam, you can’t normally study the content of the module. They are not looking for knowledge, but for lack of knowledge in heavily arbitrary exam questions. I am unsure as to where I will live in a few years, but I believe Switzerland is the place to be, Slovenia is falling behind at a rapid pace. I have absolutely zero faith in Slovenian politicians or the slovenian people to elect capable leaders. As my parents like to say, you may not be able to influence your environment to improve, but you can damn sure move to a new environment. My health isn’t in the best of spots, but in recent weeks I have improved it drastically, so at least I am proud of that.
I’m very optimistic going into 2025, I likely won’t be able to graduate yet, but I am for sure aiming to graduate in 2026. Health-wise I am hoping to have the best year of my life yet with the most activity since my early teens. I would like to keep doing good deeds whenever I have excess time, but I must prioritize myself and not burn myself to keep others on fire, especially when they wouldn’t even cross a pond for me. Let’s see how it turns out, I believe 2025 will be a fantastic one, hopefully also more peaceful on the global scale.
Very importantly, I’d like to keep striving towards being a good person. I’d like to be as aware as possible in regards to how my actions affect other persons around me. I’d like to do as much as good in the world as I humanly can, importantly to an extent that I don’t hinder my personal progress and life. I may fail at times. What sets a good person apart from a bad one, in my opinion, is their ability to reflect on their actions, acknowledge their wrongdoings, shortcomings, mistakes, and seek to make amends where in self-reflection they deem their actions subpar to their values, morals and ethics. A good person strives to learn from their mistakes, improve upon harmful actions, and grow into someone who uplifts and supports others through selfless actions with joy and happiness.
Mistakes are inevitable, to make mistakes is to be human, but improvement and self-reflection is optional, and that is the main root that separates good and bad persons, at least in my opinion. Obviously there are some other factors, for example people that make choices with purely their benefit in mind, willingly ignoring the harm their actions would cause others, because they only care about themselves. There are plenty of selfish persons in the world that you will meet across your lifetime, people that only seek to use you to their advantage to get ahead in life. I don’t like this behaviour, I am of firm belief that you can still progress in life without unfairly abusing others.
Of course I have not always succeeded in following the guidelines that I deem optimal above, but I try my best to, and that’s as much as I can ask from myself. For this very reason, it’s very important to have people in your life that will call you out on your bullshit, because believe it or not, no matter how aware you think you are, there will always be moments in life where you will get carried away and need someone to bring you down to earth or acknowledge you with the reality of the situation.
With which people you surround yourself in life is entirely up to you, these decisions are the most important decisions you will make in your life, make sure you choose wisely. Do not be afraid to cut out people that you deem harmful to your life, people that have fucked you over, and similar instances. It is your life, it is up to you to control it and take charge, take responsiblity of your actions, and most importantly, to persevere through trials and tribulations.
There will always be things to complain about, injustices towards you and the people closest to you, but I prefer to look at life in 2025 as a glass half full, not half empty. Let’s see what this year brings us! Remember to stay kind, but beware - don’t let people take advantage of you or make a fool out of you due to foolish kindness; there is no such thing as being excessively kind, but there is a foolish kind of kindness.
Prices in Slovenia
The prices were captured from the website Numbeo as of 31/12/2024. I manually checked some of them and saw that they were spot on so I am deciding to archive these, so I can take a look in the future at how drastic or insignificant future price changes will become.
Explanation: The Avg. Price column indicates the average price for a product or service, the range indicates the pricing range of the product or service, the % income column indicates the percentage cost (for the product or service) of the average monthly net income in Slovenia, which as of 31/12/2024 is 1.514,49€ (one thousand five hundred and fourteen euros and forty-nine cents).
Average post-income tax monthly income in Slovenia captured from stat.si on 31/12/2024. The average net pay over a year uses data from a year prior, 2023, hence the lower amount.
Restaurant
| Item | Avg. Price [€] | Range [€] | % Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant | 12.00 € | 7.50-17.00 | 0.79% |
| Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course | 50.00 € | 40.00-80.00 | 3.30% |
| McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) | 7.90 € | 7.00-9.00 | 0.52% |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught) | 3.00 € | 2.30-4.00 | 0.20% |
| Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) | 3.55 € | 3.00-5.00 | 0.23% |
| Cappuccino (regular) | 2.04 € | 1.40-3.00 | 0.13% |
| Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle) | 2.68 € | 2.00-3.20 | 0.18% |
| Water (0.33 liter bottle) | 1.76 € | 1.40-2.50 | 0.12% |
Markets
| Item | Price (Average) | Range | % Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk (regular), (1 liter) | 1.27 € | 0.89-1.59 | 0.08% |
| Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) | 1.72 € | 1.00-3.00 | 0.11% |
| Rice (white), (1kg) | 2.45 € | 1.44-4.00 | 0.16% |
| Eggs (regular) (12) | 3.26 € | 2.27-4.20 | 0.22% |
| Local Cheese (1kg) | 12.68 € | 7.50-24.00 | 0.84% |
| Chicken Fillets (1kg) | 9.33 € | 5.00-12.20 | 0.62% |
| Beef Round (1kg) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) | 11.67 € | 8.00-15.00 | 0.77% |
| Apples (1kg) | 1.87 € | 1.00-2.50 | 0.12% |
| Banana (1kg) | 1.59 € | 1.20-2.50 | 0.10% |
| Oranges (1kg) | 1.93 € | 1.20-4.00 | 0.13% |
| Tomato (1kg) | 3.00 € | 1.50-4.00 | 0.20% |
| Potato (1kg) | 1.08 € | 0.55-1.50 | 0.07% |
| Onion (1kg) | 1.41 € | 0.80-2.00 | 0.09% |
| Lettuce (1 head) | 1.46 € | 0.90-2.00 | 0.10% |
| Water (1.5 liter bottle) | 0.79 € | 0.36-1.20 | 0.05% |
| Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) | 6.00 € | 4.00-10.29 | 0.40% |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) | 1.24 € | 1.00-2.00 | 0.08% |
| Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) | 1.87 € | 0.90-3.00 | 0.12% |
| Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) | 5.10 € | 4.90-5.50 | 0.34% |
Transportation
| Item | Price (Average) | Range | % of Average Net Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-way Ticket (Local Transport) | 1.30 € | 1.30-2.00 | 0.09% |
| Monthly Pass (Regular Price) | 37.00 € | 30.00-50.00 | 2.44% |
| Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) | 2.00 € | 1.50-3.50 | 0.13% |
| Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff) | 1.20 € | 1.00-2.00 | 0.08% |
| Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) | 18.50 € | 15.00-24.98 | 1.22% |
| Gasoline (1 liter) | 1.45 € | 1.38-1.59 | 0.10% |
| Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) | 25,200.00 € | 24,000.00-29,000.00 | 1,664.32% |
| Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) | 24,652.78 € | 20,500.00-30,000.00 | 1,627.98% |
Utilities (Monthly)
| Item | Price (Average) | Range | % of Average Net Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment | 244.03 € | 151.79-421.22 | 16.11% |
| Mobile Phone Monthly Plan with Calls and 10GB+ Data | 12.23 € | 7.99-25.00 | 0.81% |
| Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | 32.27 € | 20.00-50.00 | 2.13% |
Sports and Leisure
| Item | Price (Average) | Range | % of Average Net Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | 44.77 € | 25.00-65.00 | 2.96% |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) | 17.22 € | 10.00-25.00 | 1.14% |
| Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat | 8.00 € | 7.00-10.00 | 0.53% |
Childcare
| Item | Price (Average) | Range | % of Average Net Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child | 430.94 € | 350.00-576.00 | 28.45% |
| International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child | 11,071.43 € | 7,500.00-12,500.00 | 731.03% |
Clothing and Shoes
| Item | Price (Average) | Range | % of Average Net Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) | 90.81 € | 45.00-110.00 | 6.00% |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, …) | 36.73 € | 20.00-53.00 | 2.43% |
| 1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) | 96.88 € | 60.00-140.00 | 6.40% |
| 1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes | 118.30 € | 60.00-180.00 | 7.81% |
Rent Per Month
| Item | Price (Average) | Range | % of Average Net Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre | 706.88 € | 480.00-1,200.00 | 46.67% |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre | 591.63 € | 400.00-850.00 | 39.06% |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre | 1,346.46 € | 850.00-2,100.00 | 88.91% |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre | 1,078.16 € | 700.00-1,500.00 | 71.19% |
Buy Apartment Price
| Item | Price (Average) | Range | % of Average Net Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment in City Centre | 4,304.87 € | 2,800.00-6,000.00 | 284.25% |
| Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre | 3,442.24 € | 2,000.00-4,700.00 | 227.29% |
Salaries and Financing
| Item | Salary | Additional Info |
|---|---|---|
| Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) | 1.514,49 € | |
| Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate | Range: 2-5% |
New Years Music
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One classic that I love to return towards, time and time again, is Cher’s absolute magnificent masterpiece - If I Could Turn Back Time.
The entire idea and thought of turning back time is one of my favorite though-provoking feelings to go through. Althought there are very few things and decisions that I would do differently, there is the more difficult and powerful desire to go back and meet versions of people that no longer exist, whether time changed them, or time took them…
Regret, unspoken words, the desire to make amends, and the universal yearning to rewrite moments that shaped who we are today.
[Slovenian] Za konec pa še ena pesem, ki sta mi jo starša pela v otroštvu , ko je bilo težko najti luč v trenutku. :)