Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

ttoli

Mint1955 wrote: »

I truly understand the above suggestions. I will keep number crunching with this in mind.

Yes North Cyprus is very hot in the main season and it can get quite damp over the winter but we have been in all seasons and are prepared for that.

X

Bring a decent Electric blanket , you might only need it for 6 weeks of the year (Jan - Mid Feb), but they are a god send.

gfplux

Hello Mint, your plans sound exciting.
I am retired and have lived in Luxembourg for many years.
I don't have a bolt hole in the UK. The reason being that the infrastructure of this country means if I or my wife become ill or alone there is no other country but Luxembourg we would like to be.
However I must say that once you leave the UK it will be almost impossible to open a new bank account in the UK.
So if you have pension, other income or savings in UK pounds if you have one bank account you will be stuck with it. There will be no hopping around for the best interest rate etc.
So my advise is open a number of accounts, use them, put money in, take it out blah blah.
Then when you are moving send them a change of address. You should then be fine. They will send you statements to your new address and you can operate the accounts online.

Good luck in your new life.

Mint1955

Well week one ensuite and our bedroom went ok
Ensuite had a good clean and cleared out the cabinet of all old stuff not a lot else to do in there really.

Our room we removed seven large bags of clothing which went to local charity collection point
There is a box of bits started for the dump and a charity shop box also lined up for filling as I go

My wardrobe is so sparse it's scary lol but it has only what I wear now not loads of outdated stuff. A couple of drawers still to do of the junk variety I am sure if I just tipped it all into a black sack I wouldn't miss anything lol

This week is outside clearing and painting.
Painters are booked to do front and back door and garage door so I just need to get jet washing the drive and clearing some weeds etc.

We have looked into taking stuff with us but to be honest it's just not worth it as we have so much out there already. So back to thinning everything out and really working out what we can take over the next few visits and what we can ask others to slowly bring out when they come. We may have a couple of boxes we will do as extra luggage and pay for it.

Other news is we have started to talk to an independant financial advisor so we can be sure we are in the best place money wise.

And we have a mechanic looking out for a decent car for us out there as car hire is getting silly when we are there for longer visits.

Mint1955

As always got side tracked. The outside of the house is now looking much better and we had a surprise that an identical house in style and size is up for sale around the corner for 75 thousand more than we were looking at. I think it is way overpriced even though it's very clean and tidy etc but it might mean we can ask a little more as someone might think they are getting a bargain.

Every week a little more rubbish is being removed but not really keeping to a plan lol

The pile of things we would like to take with us is growing so maybe we will have to succumb to a share in a container at which time we will buy anything here that would be hard to get or very expensive out their to justify the costs.

Thanks Ttoli re the electric blanket idea we have slept there in the winter and in three years have never been cold but I am going to get one just in case. The best thing we ever did when in winter was just to ensure our feet were warm by putting an extra throw over the end of the bed this was the only thing that kept us awake.

I have 4 weeks until we go for an initial 10 week stay and I think I am stalling so there may be a lot of manic activity towards the end.

Son is going to be in the house so I need to plan for him but I would much rather be cleaning and planning to lock up and leave. I then know that when I get back it will all be the same, maybe just a little dust!

Princess_Jane

Hello,

my partner and I are moving to Dubai in three weeks. Well, we'll be married when we get there, but anyway, any advice for living over there welcome.

Mint1955

Well where did the time go.... My weekly plan to sort the uk stuff didn't get of the ground but I did do lots of bits. We have now been here in Cyprus for 7 weeks with 4 left to go. We will return to uk and the house will definitely go on the market by Xmas ready for spring sale so that we can return ASAP for good.

It's late October and the clocks have gone back so it's dark at 5.30 and whilst we get the odd downpour they are over quickly and it's still warm to be outside most of the time. We do get thunder and loads of lightening out at sea which is very dramatic but we don't always get rain.

We now have a car of our own so no more car hire fees and we have builders in doing work on the outside in readiness for winter. Logs are on order for the wood burner and the roof will be sorted for the log store shortly.

Life has smoothly transitioned from holiday mode I.e eating out lots and sight seeing to living mode I.e cooking at home making new friend groups and joining in activities that will help us integrate locally.

Our projected budgets are not to far out and in some cases we have been pleasantly surprised so the spreadsheet stands with only slightly changed detail.

Step son has actually moved out of uk house while we have been here so the plan is even more concrete than ever.

I did think of doing a blog or diary but my patchy entries here show I couldn't keep it up lol

duchy

Do you speak or are you planning to learn the language ?

Mint1955

Over the years we have been visiting we have collected a smattering of words that help get by but we need to up our learning to feel more comfortable. In North cyprus though many locals want to speak English so it's harder to get help.

annsoloway

Hi all, I'm sorry if this isn't quite the right place but I hope someone can help me.

I emailed a recommended Notaire from the Gov.uk website to do with some matters in relation to my father's death in France.

Low and behold today I have received a 'bill' for the Notaires services. At no point was I informed I would be charged neither did I enter into a contract with the Notaire for services rendered.

Where do I stand here? It's quite a hefty bill for three, brief, emails!

Thanks in advance!

droopsnout

Hello, Ann.

First of all, please accept my condolences on the loss of your father.

My immediate reaction to your question is that on your initial contact with the notaire it would have been wise to ask about fees; and that in any case I suspect that you would not expect a UK solicitor to advise you without charge (though I am aware that some offer a free first consultation), and so it seems reasonable to assume that a French notaire would charge for his/her time and expertise.

However, without knowing the length or detail of the emails exchanged, it is difficult to know whether a large bill is justified.

I believe that notaires' fees are regulated by the French government, so are probably not negotiable.

That's not very encouraging news for you, I realise. Sorry!