Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

oldandhappy

When we owned a large apartment in San Juan(Alicante)although we never lived there we spent many long holidays in it..The Winters where good but as you say once that sun goes down it can feel really chilly and we had the calor gas portable heaters also that where fine except if you had a real cold snap we would leave one or two on a low setting all night and our throats suffered for that so we gave up on them for longer periods and added extra layers on the bed...We had the choice of 3 different sides so could choose the sunny bedroom in Winter and opt for the cooler side in Summer. The floors where trad. tiling throughout and we would add rugs to help warm up the floors and of course it looked cosy too.
We sold it a couple of years ago after owning it for over 18 years so we did not have to pay any cap gains taxes for that reason alone. Miss it sometimes but we did buy it as an investment for our early retirement that we are enjoying.

seven-day-weekend

Yes, we have traditional tiling and although beautiful in summer it is cold in the winter. Rugs here get too full of dust as it is so dry (even in the winter), so we don't really use them.

Calor Gas heaters are not supposed to be used in rooms where you sleep. We actually had to have our house inspected before they would let us buy a gas bottle, to make sure there was enough ventilation. (we have a drainpipe-sized hole next to the front door and another one on the first floor - these are only covered with grilles so you can see why it's so cold in the winter!) Our friends had the same inspection and had a load of holes drilled in their back door by the gas engineer.

carrots

I'm currently in the process of setting up in a village in central France, although I won't be fully resident here until next mid-April. I think France probably isn't as cheap as Spain, even here in la France profonde, but it's still cheaper than the UK and my quality of life is better. The Nationwide Flex Account debit card is a real boon - I can regularly draw on the pension that gets paid into the account without paying fees each time I go to the cash machine: I just get the euros at the correct rate and it's all recorded on my statements.

Just a few thoughts on the off-topic topic of language ..... Although I did learn some French at school it was fifty years ago and on the other side of the world which made school exchanges and holidays in France impossible. However, generally speaking there are two things that have helped me a lot.

The first, anyone can have, and that's French television and newspapers. If you turn on the TV sub-titles (not all programmes have them) and read really fast you can pick up a lot more and you get very good at quickly looking up words in the dictionary so you can follow the story. (Morse, Frost, CSI, Midsomer Murders, Sherlock Holmes, Fawlty Towers and other familiar programs are on regularly, all dubbed into French, of course.) Most mornings I go for a delicious coffee to one of the bars and read what interests me in the regional newspaper (all bars have them kicking around); I not only find out what's going on (antique fairs, car boot sales, new roads, duty pharmacies, etc., etc.) but learn lots of words with the aid of my trusty dictionary, and there's always someone willing to help me with pronunciation. I not only save on the cost of a daily paper but have a pleasant morning. Some regions of France lay on classes in French for ex-patriot Brits; it's a nice gesture, but no substitute for listening, speaking and reading on a daily basis.

Secondly, I am unbelievably lucky in having a French neighbour who is an anglophile and speaks French very slowly and clearly to me and explains things. I'm getting more fluent and confident with her help.

I'd like to do a detailed description of my village and the little town it's joined to but it would probably be too off-topic. Suffice it to say I'm contented here and can live mortgage-free (could have bought three or four good houses here with what I got from selling my house in England).

seven-day-weekend

Hi Carrots, I agree with you about learning the language;we don't havea lot of choice in our little village as virtually no-onespeaks English.

We can also live mortgage-free and, more importantly, on an income which consists solely of my husband's teachers pension of £7k a year.

Hope you have a good life in France,

carrots

Hi seven-day weekend,

Thank you for your kind words. Our approach seems to be similar. One has to commit to living abroad. The challenges involved keep me more active mentally and physically than when I am in the UK. I can't wait till I'm living here permanently. My estimate is that I'll be saving £700+ per month so I'll definitely know where my next meal is coming from! (The excellent auberge in the town, probably!) I think you do fantastically well on 7k. I have a Teachers Pension and a state pension and there's only one of me, but from what you say I get the impression France is more expensive. When you're old enough for your state pension to kick in you'll probably feel you're on Easy Street!

seven-day-weekend

Hi Carrots!

France is more expensive than Spain, but our part of Spain is cheap even by Spanish standards.

Our 'council tax' is 80 euros a year, our water rates are 10 euros a year.

My husband's Teachers Pension is actuarilly reduced as he took it five years early at 55. Neither of our State Pensions kick in yet, neither does my Local Authority pension

The first thing to happen is my State Pension in 2010. As I have no income whatsoever at the moment, this will be a HUGE bonus! Then my husband's State Pension in 2014 (January) and my LA Pension in 2014 (September).

I could take Actuarilly Reduced on my LA pension any time from 2010, but I only paid into it for ten years, so it is not all that good to start with, so I would rather not!

seven-day-weekend

carrots wrote:

I'd like to do a detailed description of my village and the little town it's joined to but it would probably be too off-topic. Suffice it to say I'm contented here and can live mortgage-free (could have bought three or four good houses here with what I got from selling my house in England).

I for one would love to hear about it.

Mrs_pbradley936

I have lived in Florida and everything apart from healthcare is cheaper there be it food, eating out, petrol, property. As an example I bought a three bedroom house with a double garage and a swimming pool for less than 100k Stirling. Had I wanted an apartment I could have bought one for around 30k Stirling. I particularly like the way they do the property tax (our council tax) it is 1.5% of the value of the property. In addition if it is your only home you can “homestead” meaning you get a discount. If it is a holiday home you pay the full amount. What I like about is that if you live in a modest home you pay accordingly, but if you want a huge place on the beach which costs a lot of money you pay for that accordingly too. I think our top rate band covers ordinary family homes as well as mansions occupied by pop stars and football players and I think that is grossly unfair.

The healthcare is fantastic but expensive because no NHS. The food is priced differently too because no common market. That means a cauliflower costs the same as a steak. Bread is also expensive.

seven-day-weekend

pbradley936 wrote:

I have lived in Florida and everything apart from healthcare is cheaper there be it food, eating out, petrol, property. As an example I bought a three bedroom house with a double garage and a swimming pool for less than 100k Stirling. Had I wanted an apartment I could have bought one for around 30k Stirling. I particularly like the way they do the property tax (our council tax) it is 1.5% of the value of the property. In addition if it is your only home you can “homestead” meaning you get a discount. If it is a holiday home you pay the full amount. What I like about is that if you live in a modest home you pay accordingly, but if you want a huge place on the beach which costs a lot of money you pay for that accordingly too. I think our top rate band covers ordinary family homes as well as mansions occupied by pop stars and football players and I think that is grossly unfair.

The healthcare is fantastic but expensive because no NHS. The food is priced differently too because no common market. That means a cauliflower costs the same as a steak. Bread is also expensive.

Thanks for that interesting insight into a non-EU country, PB.

I would have thought more people would join this discussion, there must be LOADS of expat MS's out there!

Mrs_pbradley936

seven-day-weekend wrote:

Thanks for that interesting insight into a non-EU country, PB.

I would have thought more people would join this discussion, there must be LOADS of expat MS's out there!

They tend to be very insular not unfriendly - in fact quite the opposite but you never have international news unless you search for it. In the same way if you are watching a tennis tournament i.e Australian Open they only show matches if an American is playing (apart from semis and finals of course). They are patriotic in the extreme and everyone stands up with hand on heart when the National Anthem plays which it does frequently. On the plus side because they speak English you can watch or listen to any TV or radio station, ask directions from strangers, read the papers and street signs etc none of which I could do in Europe. I did go to Spanish classes but can hardly make myself understood - anyway as soon as they hear you struggling the Spanish reply in perfect English. The main draw for me was the climate in winter. If I can I still like to be there during our most spiteful weeks.