Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

chalky_75

Hi everyone I have been so busy on the knitting thread I have not been over here for ages to see how you all are but it is good to see everyone still posting. You took some finding though !!

Well we are just coming to the end of our second winter stint in Spain and have to go home earlier this year as DS1 gets married in May. We are trying to be very positive about it but absolutely love our time here. Of course like evryone the exchange rate has had an effect but life seems so much simpler and the impact of blue skies and sunshine is amzing.

Anyway there will be some adjusting to do as we move back into our house in the Uk as it has been renamed "The Heartbreak Hotel !!! " whilst we have been away DD1 & DD2 are at home licking their wounds after broken hearts and they were joined for a few months by a friend who had split up from her fella!! DOH sent an email to say they had to put a sign up saying there were NO more vacancies. Of course we miss the kids when we are here but the internet is a wonderful thing

We had to harvest the lemons today ( should have done it earlier but had not got the heart } So Lemon Meringue,marmalade and curd come to mind-- Of course perfect for G&T's but we are trying to keep off alcohol-- it's definitely not slimmimg and we have wedding clothes to think of !!



Is this a Chilli Lemon or a Lemon Chilli ?

sandy2_2

There's always preserved lemons, lemon cordial or lemoncello to use them up
Sandy

Primrose

Oooah Those lovely looking lemons. I can almost smell their aroma from here !

droopsnout

I read this morning (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7962631.stm) that the UK government is thinking of monitoring social network sites like Facebook, Bebo, etc., in order to keep on top of those naughty terrorists who obviously must be publishing their attack plans on such sites.

Watch out, UK! (And watch out, other peoples whose governments are likely to follow suit. I see that France intends to install loads more CCTV cameras in town centres). Your freedoms are quickly being eroded. Remember that this new move comes on top of proposals to log all emails, phone calls and visits to internet sites.

Big Brother? It's looking like he's bringing the rest of the family to enjoy the peep-show party, too.

sloan

Hi

This is the first time I have posted, so have not read through all of the threads. I just wondered if anyone was retiring or is already retred to North Cyprus?

I am retiring in July and planning to spend about 6 months a year out there. Does anyone have any tips?

seven-day-weekend

Welcome to the forum, sloan!

As far as I know we do not have anyone from Cyprus here, but please join us anyway. We're a friendly bunch!

droopsnout

Yes, welcome, sloan.

Do chip in with anything you feel like saying. We've been a bit quiet on here recently!

Much as I'd hate you to desert us, you may find more Cyprus-related info here. It seems quite busy, as there were 205 members online when I just looked! Seems a lot of people for one small island!

Good luck with your retirement!

sloan

Have had the apartment since 2005 and really love it. Big ex-pat community, about 5,000 but many have encountered problems as they have bought on ex-Greek Cypriot land or have encountered unscrupulous builders, although I am sure that the latter is the case in Spain as well. Fortunately, we bought pre-1974 Turkish title land to build on and are extremely pleased with what we have ended up with. North Cyprus is unrecognised by anyone else than Turkey, so was difficult to get to until the borders were opened. It is by far the most beautiful part of the island. The Turkish lira is still giving good rates against teh pound - I log it every day. Lots of people supplement their pensions by currency fluctuations - buying at about 2.60 and selling at 2.20. We have played at it, but not on a scale that would be detrimental if things went pear shaped.

If anyone would like to know more about our experiences so far, please contact me. Hopefully, I will be able to give more advice after July when I retire and spend more time out there.

sloan

Hi Droopsnout

There is a big difference between Cyprus and Northern Cyprus. One is Greek and in the EU and the other is Turkish and unrecognised.

seven-day-weekend

Glad you are here sloan, you can educate us about North Cyprus.

My last boss was a Greek Cypriot and I know someone who went on holiday to North Cyprus (and loved it) but other than that I know very little.

I'm up a mountain in the wilds of Andalucia, Spain, and droopsnout is in France.

We are suffering from the £-Euro exchange rate - you are not apparently!