"I Saved About 157 Euros": A Belarusian Talks About Discounts In Poland
2- 31.08.2026, 9:13
He spent a month collecting receipts to find out how much he could save with sales.
Nikolai (name changed) has been living in Poland for several years. Recently, he decided to conduct a small experiment: to collect receipts from the local Biedronka chain over the course of a month to find out how much his family (of four) saves on discounts. He shared the results with “Solidarnast”.
“At first, everything in Poland seemed expensive compared to Belarus. But my friends reassured me: ‘Download the apps for the local supermarket chains and start saving money.’ “Bedronka” was the closest, so that’s where I started,” Nikolai said.
When the border opened, there were noticeably more fellow Belarusians in the stores—people coming to visit relatives and to stock up on supplies. That’s when the idea of collecting receipts came about.
“Once I ran into a couple with a cart full of groceries. From their conversation, I could tell they were from Minsk. They were looking around and commenting on the discounts and sales.” At one point, the man couldn’t hold back and blurted out: “And how do those poor Poles even survive? My eyes are already spinning from all these discount price tags.” And when he saw the surprised look on his wife’s face, he explained that it was sarcasm,” our interviewee recalled one telling story.
He added on his own that he finds BT’s absurd fantasies about “poor” Poles—who are supposedly on the verge of eating the last rat out of the trash can—laughable.
The amounts of the discounts vary. Sometimes it’s a few zlotys, and sometimes it’s up to 100 zlotys on a 200-zloty purchase.
“It’s convenient that you can check the current discounts in the app before leaving home. For example, there are sales on oil, cheese, red fish, and juices for kids. And for other items, you can go to a different chain where they have their own discounts,” Nikolai explained.
According to him, prices in Poland are really high. But the system of discounts, rewards, and endless promotions not only helps you save money but also lets you treat yourself to things that used to be reserved only for holidays: “Good coffee, for instance, is expensive, but once a month there’s bound to be a ‘buy one, get one free’ promotion—that is, two packs for the price of one. And it’s the same with other products. In Belarus, I never bought olive oil on a regular basis, let alone salmon fillets. But here, all of that has become the norm.”
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