Salaries for grads outside of Moscow are probably half that - I think PHP coders in Kharkov, Ukraine for example would be pretty happy with 12-15K. QA positions could be as low as 8-10K.
And $1300 for a 1-bedroom in Moscow center...what can I say you got off light. All my friends had to go through realtors for $2K places (2-3 rooms through) near Kitai-Gorod.
How about $5K for 2 years experience PHP developer in Dnepr, Ukraine. I work for this now and my motivation is lost completely. May be I will try to relocate. Now i see even in Dnepropetrovsk salary for html coder for $10K and php dev $14K, but they require strong knowledge of all what can imagine, even speaking english. My bad, need better education.
Sounds to me like prime motivation for a startup. If you're not getting paid much, you have more motivation to try something a little risky to improve your lot in life.
Hey, my lot in life isn't too bad! :-) I launched a non-profit project that's fairly important to me (http://openphotovr.org) this winter. Now thinking about starting something else, for money, not sure what exactly.
