Polish are generally down to Earth people and not as introverted as most of them might initially seem. My overall experience with them is definitely positive. Be kind, give time and reasons to trust you and you might experience true friendships.
Also, learn how to complain about the weather, they truly appreciate this:

Beznadziejna pogoda (it’s a bad weather)
Ale leje (How rainy)
Kurde, ale zimno! (Shit, it’s so cold!)

LIFESTYLE

There are so many places to discover and things to do around here. Check the events, ask around and go have fun!
Warsaw has really a unique vibe, a love or hate kinda thing, so I won’t spoil your first impression with mine.

Popular places are Plan B, Miłość, 1500m2 (as long as it’s open), Kafe Kulturalna, DZiK. 
If you have some taste in electronic music and like clubbing, well… honestly it’s a bit disappointing. I think they’re simply not into this kind of music. Go with the flow. Soon or later you’ll end up in Nowy Świat 22/28 completely twisted on wodka.
Another nice bar is Beirut (which for some reason is right in front of Tel Aviv Café) and its surroundings.

If you want to be fancy, you could check into Weles. It’s a speakeasy bar. Crowd is not interesting and quite aged, but atmosphere and cocktails worth a visit.

Chocolate? Pijalnia Czekolady E.Wedel, or at their Willy Wonka factory here. I heard you can visit.

My picks:

Zamieszanie, best cocktails in town, it always worth checking what’s new! They’re friendly and let you test the drinks before making your choice. If you ‘re hungry get a chorizo pizza.
Pardon, To Tu, friendly friendly cafe with jazz and world music gigs
Neon Muzeum …a museum?! yep. You’ll have a neonlight eye-hangover after visiting this place.
Burgery Wegańskie. Beetroot burger with Horseradish, even better than meat burgers.
Aioli, I simply had too many breakfasts in this place. During the week if you get a coffee (zł 8), you can order the breakfast for just zł 0.1 more.

I left Warsaw before summer, so I couldn’t experience these two places, they seem popular though: Cud nad Wisłą and Powiśle.

ACCOMMODATION

The price of a room starts from zł 1.000. There are some exceptions, but don’t count that much on it. For zł 1.600—2.000 (+ utilities) you can get a studio apt. For an extra room the price goes up to zł 2.500.
My feeling is that most of the owners are not aware of how much to ask, which might give you the chance to negotiate the price. A very good offer (place/location/price) comes up about once a week. Anyone visiting earlier than you would probably take it, so press to visit asap.

Give a good look on Gumtree, the biggest, the wildest. Sometimes you see very good offers on Otodom, mostly through agencies thought. It also shows the offers  on an interactive map, pretty good. I never tried these ones personally, but you never know.

Now the Facebook groups: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

The majority of the offers appears simultaneously on most of them, yet sometimes a good offer might be posted just on one or two groups. I strongly recommend to create a facebook Interest List, so to see in chronological order all the groups together. It’s a real time-saver trick.

AREAS

The left side of the river was completely destroyed by the nazis as a revenge on the Warsaw uprising. Due to the rebuilt it’s now quite modern. This side is where most of the things happensin town and people want to live. (north) Mokotów is widely considered a good area, it has bars, services, public transportations and it is not too far to the city center. Plac Zbawiciela is the heart of the ‘young’ Warsaw and central (Plan B is there). Powiśle is generally not expensive and close to the university. Old Town is good for postcards but you don’t want to live there.

The right side of the river instead, once upon a time occupied by the soviets, is still pretty much ruined down and generally poor. There are exceptions of course, as Saska Kępa. I felt in love with ul. Francuska (ul. stands for ‘Ulica’, street), which feels so cozy and proportioned in comparison to most of any other street in town, with some nice cafes and low buildings. This neighborhood has its unique atmosphere, but no nightlife though. Let me point out that it’s beautiful compared to the rest of the town, so don’t expect brazilian carnival dancers all over the place once there.

The area around the metro station Dworzec wileński is also better than the general surroundings and pretty close to SOHO Factory, personally a symbol of the gentrification of the east side of Warsaw.

EXPENSES

Generally speaking the town is very affordable. Some bars might

Buy a SIM card for zł 5 at almost everywhere in town (kiosks, bookstores, etc.). I went for Play, just because google translator couldn’t work on Orange website. Other carriers are T-Mobile and Plus (operated by Vodafone). There aren’t a lot of them anyway.

Monthly transportation card is very affordable, so it doesn’t worth the risk being caught.

SALARIES

“I advise you to not make the move for less than 6—7k month or more.”

This quote alone could summarise it all, I found it on numbeo.com. Let’s break it up a bit…

If you’re an expat who has a quality education and has also gained valuable experience in a specialised field, then you can expect to earn a salary above the average; otherwise, earning potential in Poland is quite limited. zł 4k is generally consider a fairly good salary among locals; common salary earned is often zł 1.500—2k.

zł 3k net is the minimum for a single living on standard level: apartment within city limits in a decent district, normal groceries, have the occasional drinks at a bar – no savings.

zł 5k net is a fairly good amount for an expat who’s looking for good accommodation in the city centre and a bit extra to enjoy themselves with or to save.

zł 5.500 net in Warsaw is like € 1.800 in some Western-European city, excluding top-cities (London, Paris, Munich).

I lived in Munich and, no, the equivalence is definitely valid at least also for Munich.

zł 8k net would  be enough for a small family with more modest spending,
zł 10k net goes for a larger apartment, 2-3 children (3-5 times the local average)
zł 10—12k is a relative luxury: out to a restaurant every other day.

TAXES

Poland has a progressive tax system, 19—32%.

Apparently you can work even without a tax number (NIP – ‘Numer Identifikacji Podatkowej’), but you definitely need a PESEL. It is a personal identification number, widely used for all sort of things, from bank account to home internet service.

To obtain the number you need first to register at the Department of Foreigners. It takes a month until they return the papers, so once there don’t forget to ask a document that states that you applied. With this document you can now go to your Urząd Dzielnicy (District Office) and get your PESEL straight away. It’s basically your date of birth plus 5 more digits.

If you’re regularly employed, each February your employee sends a document a document called PIT-11 to the tax office, stating information about your income and tax deduction. They should give you a copy as well. You’ll just need to paste those numbers into another document called PIT-37 (here’s an amazing guide, including an english translation of the form) and submit it via internet to the fax office within April. I personally used e-deklaracje (it works also with OsX)

HEALTHCARE

If you are employed under a regular employment contract or a civil law contract ‘Umowa zlecenia’, the employer is obliged to notify the National Insurance Service (ZUS) that they have you in their company.
Then, your employer’s responsibility is to pay a monthly contribution to the Polish National Health Fund (NFZ). From now on, you can visit all the health care providers contracted to the NFZ.

The Employer should give you the document to register at the CePeLek.

For some reason, when I needed a doctor myself I just checked into a LuxMed and got checked for zł 100-150.

SO WHAT?


zł 2000 apartment
zł  100 utilities
zł 60 Wi-fi internet at home
(UPC offers an agreement with a 1-month termination notice)
zł  110 transportation
zł  30 internet on the smartphone
zł 1000 food
——
zł 3240


 
This would be the minimum amount for survival. In other words, earning this amount net would most likely leave no money left on your account at the end of the month.
So on top of this amount it should be added things like savings expectations and personal consideration on the job, in terms of professional requirements, responsibilities and so forth.

SONG OF THE DAY (Polish funky music): Grupa ABC – Przeminelo z wiatrem tyle dnE