Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

Savvy_Sue

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Just to say our son's flat purchase has completed today and he has moved in. We now have our house to ourselves. Bliss! My husband has already stripped down to his underpants. Halfway down our second bottle of wine.

:rotfl: DH has discussed with our boys whether they care how much he's wearing.

donny-gal wrote: »

Must have the the Central Heating turn up too high! DG;)

Alternatively his internal thermostat is kaput: in our house some of us are usually layered up from September to April, but DS3 and DH wear as little as possible all year round!

droopsnout wrote: »

Too much detail!!

Seriously, that's great. Sounds like you've just moved into your first house!

I know, it's been a bit like that here since the boys all went away, and our housemate started spending less time here.

seven-day-weekend

Thanks all for your comments!

gubbins

Im 70 and live alone in france. I wouldnt go back to UK for any reason, and havnt been back for about 14 years except for a couple of days visit. Enough.
I have a tiny house in the country, with good asdl connection phone and electricity but no village water supply or sewage system. Neither is a problem for me. I have a top quallie composting toilet and a local supply of water to pump to the house.Im in easy reach of many different towns and villages. I can live on my oa pension of around 85£ per week if I have to, including the brilliant health service top up payments. But I do earn a bit more when I can.
Getting ancient in france looks preferable to UK as everyone here is encouraged to stay at home, not sell up & get shipped off to a care centre.
I cant imagine 'not managing' as long as legs and arms and eyes work to some extent. My life is very, very simple, but with the wildlife and countryside, beautiful too.
My doc is terrific, my french never got to be perfect - so to make sure he understands, I write everything as a letter for him, before I go for a visit - symptoms, etc are easier if you copy them - in ready-made french, from the computer.

Edinburghlass wrote: »

Please use this thread for any hints, tips or just your experiences of re-locating abroad especially on a budget.

Not necessarily for the retired but this discussion started regarding how much it costs per month to live in the UK when retired and living on a limited budget which made people talk about their experiences of living in Spain. No need to restrict the discussion to Spain though

seven-day-weekend

Welcome Gubbins! I've returned to the UK now (from Spain), but there are plenty of other expats on here including Droopsnout from France.:)

droopsnout

Gubbins, welcome! It's good to have another MSE-er in France!

Well, I must say, I really don't know how you manage to survive on the sum you mention. Do you run a car, as well?

We pay around £120 a month in local taxes and another £120 on the health top-up for the two of us. Another £33-ish goes on car insurance, and £30 on property insurance. £22 goes on water and £27 on landline and internet. That already eats up your £340 a month, and we haven't eaten yet!

So I'm full of admiration! Please post your money-saving tips!!

I must say that we seem to have to spend quite a lot on presents for friends and family for birthdays and Christmas, and it is also true that trips to the UK seem to use up vast amounts of money. We do have family there, and don't really want to lose touch. They come to see us, too, and of course that means trips out sightseeing and going to restaurants.

But oh, I do so agree with your sentiments about life over here as we get older. And like you I just adore the countryside - and the country people we are lucky enough to share it with.

Please do visit the thread often, and keep us in touch with what you are up to.

Barbara3

Chinese Restaurants is a good choice when u need to save some money abroad!

seven-day-weekend

UPDATE ON HOUSE SALE:

The new paperwork has been completed and registration is now complete.

The sale contract has been signed

Now all that has to happen is for the bank to value the property (for the third time ) and make our buyer his formal mortgage offer. His informal offer is still in date. Let's hope they don't change their mind.

I feel sick with anxiety/excitement.

We have also had four house/pet sitting jobs offered by the agency.

lilac_lady

I hope the sale goes through without hassle SDW. Seems like things are falling into place for you.

droopsnout

All is looking very promising, s-d-w! Well done"

morganlefay

I'm sorry if this has been asked before but please could some wise person on here help ?
We have house in France we've had for 20 years. Are now both retired and very skint (bad investments). Will sell French house when/if market recovers (ha ha) and desperately trying to downsize here. All bad, nothing cheery on the horizon.

Recently an owl fell down our French chimney and couldn't get out of the house. He eventually died but not before flapping about, breaking a lot of things and pooing everywhere. A friend who cleans gites for changeovers has said she will go and clean it up for us but has asked if I can send cash rather than a cheque. In the past OH has paid bills in France by getting the Natwest to transfer funds to our french bank account and then he has either written cheques, or, when there (infrequent now) has got out cash. Without being there I can't pay the cleaner lady in cash and she doesn't want a cheque. Short of sending her a paperback with Euro notes interleaved in it I can't think of a way to get cash to her if we are not visiting soon.
Does anyone know of a way to get cash into someone else's bank account in France that would be better than my paperback plan ? Not happy with the latter but my friend is adamant that she doesn't want a cheque