Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

donny-gal

Yes certainly be careful when going back to the UK if a resident in another country after two years.
Our neighbours in Spain fell foul of that and even as pensioners, who had paid in all their lives had an horrendous bill form the UK!
DG

wkt54

Thanks everyone.

I will always get travel insurance after reading this.

By the way Droops, what's a T7.1!

Where are you in France? I am in Antibes, near Nice.

droopsnout

Form T7.1 is the booklet ("Health Advice For Travellers") you can get at the UK post office (I think!) to read about and apply for your EHIC (if you don't want to do it online).

It's also available online at the address I gave earlier (http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=28393&Rendition=Web, PDF file 486Kb). I quoted from it in previous posts.

Forgot to answer your other question ... I am in SW France, about half an hour SE of Agen.

droopsnout

I was just browsing on another MSE thread and noticed that someone is using a poppy as their avatar. Very appropriate for this weekend, I thought, so I shamelessly cribbed the idea and have changed my avatar, too, for the weekend, to a picture of the "bleuet" - the cornflower - which is the French equivalent.

And thinking of us ex-pats, very comfy and even smug sometimes in our new-found homes around Europe, I couldn't help reflecting on the fact that we wouldn't have been able to do this if it hadn't been for those who sacrificed everything.

We'll be at our village ceremony tomorrow at 11:00.

Churchmouse

Droopsnout, it's good to know that despite our differences, France and the UK will be united in remembrance tomorrow.

You learn something every day, I had no idea about the cornflower. Very appropriate, they always grow with the poppies in the fields.

EdInvestor

Another update on the French healthcare problem.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/11/07/noindex/cmfrance05.xml

There seems to be a 3-year gap which needs to be bridged.

droopsnout

Nothing has changed, and that Telegraph article is a scaremongering piece playing on the legitimate fears of a couple who do seem to face genuine difficulty.

BUT ... as I have said before, nothing is certain until the French government writes to its local health authorities (the CPAMs) advising them how to interpret the new changes.

And the latest reports say this:

THE possibility of allowing expats who were in the CMU at the end of September to stay in it is being considered at the highest levels in the French Health service according to recent claims.

David Yeates of french-property.com says a trustworthy "French government source" told him "a Ministerial 'cabinet' of senior civil servants considering the whole issue has given their in principle approval to the proposal, which is now being considered by the French health insurance body."

If the source is correct, this will be welcome news for the many Britons who face being thrown out of the CMU from the start of April 2008, although others, such as those with E106 forms and who were hoping to move to the CMU would presumably not be able to.*

So the couple in the Telegraph article could still find themselves covered.

The three-year gap EdInvestor refers to will exist, however, and the health costs involved for anyone contemplating a permanent move to France should be budgeted for in their planning.

But, as I said at the outset, nothing has changed. Yet.

* From http://www.connexionfrance.com/expatriate-news-article.php?art=56

WishI'dReadSooner

International Phone calls - free!
Came across this site www.nonoh.net
They do FREE phone calls between countries just about all over the world via your normal telephone & your broadband connection.

I've just tried it for free - they give you up to an hour to try it BUT they do cut you off using it free of charge after a few minutes. However you can redial. I'm sure I've used in total well over an hour.

To use properly you have to deposit a sum (believed to be around £10) & this entitles you to 5hrs a week free conversation for 4 months (120 days). Your sum deposited never runs out & you can use that when your free calls run out to make low cost calls. You might also need to use if one of the countries you want to call isn't on the free list. (Most are!) You can add more credit & get another 120 days free calls etc. etc.

We phone the US weekly & reckon that even phoning everyone we know & staying on the phone for ages £20 should last us a year.

Countries for free (small selection) US, Australia, Austria, Hungary, France, Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, Peru, Netherlands, Romania, Argentina, Belgium, Romania, Turkey etc. etc.
Mainly to landlines BUT some mobiles eg. US Free also.

Take a look - it could save you all a fortune.
If anyone does sign up - can you put the price for the free 120days - all our friends are still using the free call time. LOL

UPDATE
Finally ran out of free call time - must have used for around 2 hrs NOT the 1 hr it states. It cost just 12.5 Euros - about £9 for 120 free days of calls (4 months up to 5hrs per week). 2.5 Euros was for VAT & charges so you're left with 10 Euros credit which will give you about 9.5hrs of calls at 0.009 Euros each way to most places - When your free time runs out you have to pay for both way connectiions.
NOTE - I used a credit card. Some ways of paying give you less free days (60? but also cost you less) couldn't be bothered looking up all the different costs. Use up your credit & top the payment up once more for another 120 days of free calls.

I reckon around £20 will last us all year for as much time as any normal person would use to all usual destinations abroad & also will cut our phone bill down for domestic calls. We've had VERY good clear conversations.

We phone daughters & friends in US, friends in Turkey & family in Australia VERY regularly & spend quite a fair time talking to them.

It's also a bonus not being charged when we phone daughters in US - on mobiles & far more than half the time they don't have them on or are in a very bad signal area. You'd not believe how much it's cost us on connection charges when we can't get through - usually around £2-£5 a month. The calls were cheap at 1p a minute but the missed/bad connections (at 5p a time) & reconnections seemed to add up really quickly.

Try it for free - it's great! When you pay then the call can last for hours if you want!

shelleyus

WishI'dReadSooner wrote: »

International Phone calls - free!
Came across this site www.nonoh.net
They do FREE phone calls between countries just about all over the world via your normal telephone & your broadband connection.

I've just tried it for free - they give you up to an hour to try it BUT they do cut you off using it free of charge after a few minutes. However you can redial. I'm sure I've used in total well over an hour.

To use properly you have to deposit a sum (believed to be around £10) & this entitles you to 5hrs a week free conversation for 4 months (120 days). Your sum deposited never runs out & you can use that when your free calls run out to make low cost calls. You might also need to use if one of the countries you want to call isn't on the free list. (Most are!) You can add more credit & get another 120 days free calls etc. etc.

We phone the US weekly & reckon that even phoning everyone we know & staying on the phone for ages £20 should last us a year.

Countries for free (small selection) US, Australia, Austria, Hungary, France, Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, Peru, Netherlands, Romania, Argentina, Belgium, Romania, Turkey etc. etc.
Mainly to landlines BUT some mobiles eg. US Free also.

Take a look - it could save you all a fortune.
If anyone does sign up - can you put the price for the free 120days - all our friends are still using the free call time. LOL

UPDATE
Finally ran out of free call time - must have used for around 2 hrs NOT the 1 hr it states. It cost just 12.5 Euros - about £9 for 120 free days of calls (4 months up to 5hrs per week). 2.5 Euros was for VAT & charges so you're left with 10 Euros credit which will give you about 9.5hrs of calls at 0.009 Euros each way to most places - When your free time runs out you have to pay for both way connectiions.
NOTE - I used a credit card. Some ways of paying give you less free days (60? but also cost you less) couldn't be bothered looking up all the different costs. Use up your credit & top the payment up once more for another 120 days of free calls.

I reckon around £20 will last us all year for as much time as any normal person would use to all usual destinations abroad & also will cut our phone bill down for domestic calls. We've had VERY good clear conversations.

We phone daughters & friends in US, friends in Turkey & family in Australia VERY regularly & spend quite a fair time talking to them.

It's also a bonus not being charged when we phone daughters in US - on mobiles & far more than half the time they don't have them on or are in a very bad signal area. You'd not believe how much it's cost us on connection charges when we can't get through - usually around £2-£5 a month. The calls were cheap at 1p a minute but the missed/bad connections (at 5p a time) & reconnections seemed to add up really quickly.

Try it for free - it's great! When you pay then the call can last for hours if you want!

Thanks for a great article. I'm new to this forum lark so please be patient. I can fully understand the avaiability of free calls once you've registered and paid a fee, but does anyone know if you can use it as a regular free UK to UK
landline/mobile alternative.

BallandChain

Not sure if I'm posting on the right thread as it seems a lot of people are relocating permanently abroad and have retired.

I'm not retired but wondered how do people spend 4 months of the year abroad and then come back to this country for the remainder of the year? I've seen a few posts where people have done that and I am thinking they are already retired? I can't see how it would work if you are still working, unless anyone knows otherwise.