Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

seven-day-weekend

droopsnout wrote: »

Yes, welcome, CB2!



Paul (which I think anyone can pronounce, lol!)

The people here in our village would pronounce it Powl.

droopsnout

Ah, yes, and here it's more like "Poll".

But who's to say whether one is more right than the others? Since it comes from the Latin "Paulus" (meaning "small" and pronounced "Powlus"), I suppose the Spanish version is nearest. But I'm happy with Pablo!!

droopsnout

Actually, I'm happy with anything if it isn't abusive!!

Happychappy

Hi,

Just wondering how people are coping with the state of the pound falling in line with the state of this country, all downhill fast.

Has the strong euro made a lot of difference, and are food and fuel prices rising the same as in englandistan ? looking really at Greece and Spain as this year I intend to find somewhere to retire abroad, somewhere on the coast near to a marina or fishing village.

sandy2_2

Happychappy wrote: »

Has the strong euro made a lot of difference, and are food and fuel prices rising the same as in englandistan ? looking really at Greece and Spain as this year I intend to find somewhere to retire abroad, somewhere on the coast near to a marina or fishing village.

Unleaded petrol has just gone up to 1.16euro a litre and deisel is dearer. which makes living in the Spanish countryside more expensive, but hey our car tax is negligible and we don't have to pay a tv licence fee.
Food prices are rising, lamb is 10euro a kilo, special offers down to 8.95 whereas in UK it's £4.95, at the moment flour and bread don't seem to be rising too quickly. But to compensate fuit and veg are very cheap (and fresh) compared to UK.
In our supermarkets there aren't any very cheap reduced food items like you get in ASDA or even cheap Value brands. But most expats seem to be managing OK and becoming MSE ers

droopsnout

Happychappy wrote: »

Hi,

Just wondering how people are coping with the state of the pound falling ... and are food and fuel prices rising

Can't comment about Spain or Greece, but yes, prices are rising.

About three months ago, supermarket price for 95 octane petrol was 1.27€ a litre. Exchange rate then was roughly 1.45€ to the pound. Price per litre: 87.6p

Now the price is 1.389€ a litre, and there's 1.27€ to the pound (inter-bank rates quoted here. The tourist rate is much worse). Price per litre: £1.09.

It was worse: the pound fell as low as 1.23€ a few days ago.

Here are prices for a few purchases I've made during the last week or so:

• 10 Bizzy Lizzy plants, 4,95€
• 3mm window glass, 19x21cm, inc cutting, 1,99€
• Nescaf! Alta Rica, 100g, 4,65€
• Semi-skimmed fresh milk, 1 litre, 0,95€
• Good quality margarine, 500g, 3,08€
• Dried semi-skimmed milk, 500g, 2,00€
• Schweppes Indian Tonic, 1 litre, 1,55€
• Herbes de Provence, 100g, 2,19€
• Panzani Bolgnese Sauce, 1,55€
• Loose potatoes 1,19€/kilo (variable depending on variety and packaging)
• Asparagus (green), 5,95€/kilo
• Carrots, loose, 0,99€/kilo
• Apples, Granny Smith, 2,29€/kilo
• Vine tomatoes, 1,99€/kilo
• Strawberries, 2,99€/500g (though our best local ones are dearer)
• Bananas, 1,09€/kilo
• 100 Tea bags, own brand but good, 2,91€
• Bread flour, 1.5kg, 2,83€
• Yeast sachets x5, 0,80€ (Own brand; brand name was 1,25€)
• Sugar, 1kg, 0,89€
• 6 bottles my favourite local white wine, 16,00€

All the above from regular supermarkets. The following from Lidl:

• Sunflower oil, 1 litre, 1,15€
• La Laitière Vanilla & Pecan ice cream, 1 litre, 3,01€
• Own-brand vanilla ice cream, 2 litres, 2,79€
• KitKat Chunky x4, 1,75€

Other, cheaper "hard discounters" exist where I could have purchased a little more cheaply.

Clothes and shoes are generally bought in the UK.

Paint is hellishly expensive.

There are virtually no "pound shops" or similar, and markets don't sell "ends of line" cheaply as they do in the UK. There are far fewer genuine promotions like BOGOFs, and it is currently against the law for shops to sell goods at less than cost price.

Fruit and veg are of excellent quality, especially on the markets, but they are not cheap, and, surprisingly, places like Lidl sell them more cheaply than the producers on local markets.

seven-day-weekend

We have had to draw in our horns a bit because of the exchange rate and also Gordon Brown's removal of the 10% tax band (my husband's Teachers' Pension is taxed in the UK) which means my husband has to pay more tax.

The main thing apart from diesel which has gone up is the gas bottles, virtually doubled in price in the time we've been here (nearly four years). Our grocery bill was creeping up too, so we've economised on that. We buy the cheaper meat such as chicken and pork. But as sandy2 says, the fruit an veg are cheap and our car tax is 74 euros a year. Our 'Council' Tax is 80 euros a year.

seven-day-weekend

droopsnout wrote: »

Ah, yes, and here it's more like "Poll".

But who's to say whether one is more right than the others? Since it comes from the Latin "Paulus" (meaning "small" and pronounced "Powlus"), I suppose the Spanish version is nearest. But I'm happy with Pablo!!

I love the different pronunciation of names and in fact love Spanish female names like Carmela, Amalia, Beatrix (pronounced Bay-a-TREETH), Encarna, Gracia.

There is a little boy here who until recently I thought was called Harvey, which I did think rather an unusual name for a Spaniard. I've just realised it's actually Javi, short for Javier!

My friend Sherry has loads of trouble with her name as the Spanish pronounce it the same as the town where the drink sherry comes from and to them it is not a Christian name it's a place name -it's like being called Birmingham!:rotfl: :rotfl:

droopsnout

One other piece of info.

Domestic fuel (oil for heating) was 0,5978€ per litre in March 2007 (ref: http://www.industrie.gouv.fr/energie/petrole/se_resul_fr.php). At an exchange rate of 1.486€ to the pound (ref: http://www.xe.com/ict/), that's 40.22p per litre.

It has recently reached 0,90€ per litre, at today's exchange rate of 1,278€, that's 76.4p per litre.

We use around 1500 litres a year, so on that basis our fuel bill has increased from £603 to £1146 per year.

Dreamers beware. Do your homework before emigrating.

Happychappy

Hi Dropsnout

I take it you are based in France ? what area are you in ? the only good thing I can see from your post is the price of wine ; )

HC