macliam

Portuguese is a possibility! Sephardic Jews came from the Iberian peninsula and many moved to Portugal when they were expelled from Spain in 1492. If you go to Portagem, near Marvao, there is a tower with a plaque commemorating the event and given that Portagem means "Toll", you can guess that they had to pay to cross the border!

Unfortunately, they were then expelled from Portugal four years later.....

AliceCaroline

If you can prove that you are a peninsular jew descendant you can get Portuguese Citizenship.
A long shot maybe.

Information about the Portuguese Sephardic jews law

bethsmyls

How very interesting. Thanks Macliam

bethsmyls

Wow! I don't know if I could prove that link. My family are all from Wales and I was born in England. But my ma is into the genealogy thing, and traced my dad's side of the family back to Somerset.

She went back a bit further and found lots of Aarons and other Jewish names who had their own businesses as watchmakers and Jewellers etc. I'll have to ask her how far she's gotten with it now.

The Jewish link definitely explains my nose (inherited from dad) and slightly darker than average skin!

Ukkram

To get back on the subject. We live up in the north in the coastal city of Viana do Castelo and can withdraw as much money as we need from our investments but we had been living on €800 pm on average and we do not flip a penny over twice at all. My wife had kept books on our spending.

Our rent is €375 pm for an almost new 2 bed flat fully furnished. Our utility bill is around €30 pm and our fiber internet router with a TV box plus phone is €36 pm.

We don't need a car as the public transport is superb.

As to tax....If you apply for Non Habitual Residency you will pay a fixed rate of 23% if I remember correctly. This will be fixed for 10 years but you will have to look up if you are below this threshold.

As to health service... You can register for a SNS health Card and receive almost free medical assistance no matter of the country you come from.

My wife is from South Africa and is getting cancer treatment for free plus accommodation with 5 meals all for free. No charge at all.

This is due to the fact that Portuguese people get free medical in foreign countries and Portugal must reciprocate.

bethsmyls

Wow, thank you Ukkram - this is really helpful info.

My very best wishes for your wife to get well.

AllanB

Instead of looking at costs, look at the savings.

Council tax, saving 1500-2000 euro pa and about the same for gas and leccy...So that is 3-4k pa.

Less pressure to spend money you don't have on shit you don't need. Eg. Paying for you own funeral and short term loans at loan shark rate, ads that festoon UK TV.

So about half the UK then...ha ha!!

bethsmyls

Thank you Allan. It is helpful to look at it from the other side as well.

I don't actually spend money on unnecessary things - I don't even have a TV - but it would be nice to get away from the materialism that pervades the UK.

I value experiences rather than goods

AliceCaroline

You are in a minority not owning a tele. In the past I've had years without one. I bought one when my husband moved in with me but it's never on unless he's home.

One thing you won't miss is the constant stream of letters threatening you because you haven't got a TV licence. No matter how many times I told them that I didn't have a licence because I didn't have a tele they still kept on writing

The TV licence in Portugal is part of your electricity bill.

macliam

.... whether you have one or not.

Plus, of course, all channels are advert supported and constantly run phone-in "competitions". Portuguese TV is pretty dire....

mfesharne

Oh so true!

bethsmyls

Ah well, I wouldn't be missing much then...

I'll consider the savings on electricity to make up for the licence fee, since my non-existant "TV" won't be using any electricity!

macliam

Yes, I'm not quite sure where the cheaper electricity idea comes from - the per unit cost is higher. So it depends on your usage...

bethsmyls

I meant I won't be wasting electricity on running a TV And apart from office and home essentials, I don't have any fancy-schmancy gadgets that would be running up a large bill.

carvoeiro

Then I was looking at the cost of rent etc. on Numbeo (I looked at Setabul and Santarem. Can you really rent a 1-bed flat for £100-£200pm in these places??)

Hi check this link
Apartamentos para alugar em Setúbal

there is a 1 bed appartment to rent in Setubal for 150 per month - average around 300-350
Setubal is a really nice small city - lots going on - great location and in the warm part of Portugal - easy to get to the beach - easy to get to lisbon
By the warm part i mean realistically draw a line from Setubal all the way down the coast to the Algarve - Spanish border and come inland no more than 40km
The rest of portugal tends to have great summers and of course much more sunshine than the UK - but is much more extreme in overall climatic conditions - inland Portugal in the North - Centre and towards the Spansh Borders can be very cold in the winters and very hot in summer - ive experienced from -11 to +50 in those regions - Lisbon North to North spain coast can have awful violent windy rainy weather in Autumn and winter and Porto has a higher annual rainfall than manchester - when it rains here it rains

I was wondering what the cost of living was where you are for a single person or a couple (I don't know if Numbeo is reliable).

Could anyone respond with the area they live and what they could get by on for a comfortable, but not luxurious standard of living?
Internet - mobile phone and electricity more expensive - pretty much everything else 10-30% cheaper
the other big exception is car prices - very expensive here

Personally i think you could live very well here for 400- 500euros per month plus your rent

About my living/business expenses:
- I need reliable internet, fairly fast, but not ridiculous.
no problem in any main town or city -
- I don't drink alcohol, but I do smoke a lot (currently, I go on big fag runs to Europe every quarter - ciggies are completely unaffordable here)
- I don't have hobbies like cinema or gym, but I like to eat out sometimes and visit museums -
eating out easy - Portuguese food is mostly good simple and fresh - the area by the estuary in Setubal has some of the best fresh fish ive ever eaten and its possible to eat well for 5 - 10 euros a head - especially at the fixed price lunchtime offers - on a good day you can also watch the Dolphins swim past for free
museums - er well - not really - Portugal is a small country - and outside the few main cities there are not many and they are very small - very possible to visit - pay 5 euros and see an perhaps a local exhibition of 10 pairs of old shoes or some rusty farm stuff
Lisbon does have a few interesting museums and galleries - but last time we visited we pretty much did them all including a few nice gardens in 3 days
Rather than museums the portuguese like to make a big fuss about holidays - annual fairs and local events - they are more doers than lookers
Portugal is more about quality of life - chilling out- enjoying the weather - people watching
- I eat fresh food mainly - meat, veg, dairy, salad.
even from the supermarkets food is much better quality than the UK - we spend 400 a month on food and wine and eat like kings - shop wisely - buy offers and chicken is two euros per kg pork 3 beef 5-7 real fish sea bass bream- 5- 7 - sardines and mackeral can be as low as 2 per kg
most fruit and veg is fresh - Portuguese or spanish - very little uk style prepacked nigerian - 6 months on a boat irradiated rubbish
- I don't have a car, and would likely need to use public transport for weekly shopping. -
live in a town or city public transport is good and cheap but infrequent - taxis are good value
- I'm not a "shopper" and rarely buy clothes, although as a lady, I need my make-up and the usual hygiene products and toiletries.
expensive here - better to buy bulk online Amaon etc
- I'm not on prescription meds, but do need to buy medical supplements, which I usually do online in bulk to save money.
some offers here are exeptional - look online at wells pharmacy etc - but mostly you will buy online