Cost of living
 

Hello All,

My husband and I are thinking about taking a sabbatical from work and trying out Barbados for a year.

My husband already has citizenship by decent so we are hoping that if we really do like it and can mange to find work we will stay. We are still in the process of researching visa requirements fro myself and daughter. We have a bit of money saved and a modest income from other sources but we really need to know how realistic our plans/dreams are.

Can anyone here answer a few questions?..... all money related.

The approximate cost of:

1.) Healthcare insurance for a family (2adults and an 8 year old)?
2.) Running a small family car?
3.) Electricity and gas for a 2/3 bed home?
4.) Broadband/sky/phone?
5.) average weekly grocery shop for a small family?
6.) Kids activities/clubs - Karate, gymnastics etc?


Your feedback would be really helpful and I thank you for taking the time to answer.

Re: Cost of living
 

Hi Natty and welcome

All of these things have been covered extensively many times on the forum so I would recommend to maximise your knowledge you read through the barbados post forums..someone may come along and be able to answer all of those but as we have all input to individual posts many times on these questions it will be less likely you will get it all in one response

Re: Cost of living
 

Hello,
I have recently relocated in Barbados. My experience:
3) electricity consumption for a two-bdr house (one bedroom has an AC on at night, otherwise ACs are not used) - 220-350 KWh, which brings a bill between 120 and 250 BBD depending on oil prices.
5) one woman, one child - between 300 and 400 BBD per week.
6) chess and scouts - 50 BBD for each, plus occasional donations for activities at St. Gabriel's school. But these are the cheapest activities. Camps are quite expensive.

Re: Cost of living
 

Hello,
My husband, 2 children and I are part way through our first year in Barbados.
If you can send me a personal message I'm happy to fill you in!
,

Re: Cost of living
 

Thank you Bentham for taking the time to respond with the info. Very helpful indeed.

Re: Cost of living
 

To LGWBGI, seems I'm unable to message you yet as I have not been active enough on the forum.

Re: Cost of living
 

My advice is - don't do it!! We too followed our dream three years ago and have just returned to England, this time to stay for good. As well as the exorbitant cost of living in Barbados there is also poor attitude, poor service and poor government. Barbados needs to realise that the good days are over when sun sun sun was all that travellers wanted.

Re: Cost of living
 

Was it all different three years ago when you took the decision to relocate?

Re: Cost of living
 

Oh dear!! I'm really sorry you had such a bad experience. Please someone tell me about their good experiences. I know the cost of living is quite high, living in London we are used to that. Been travelling to Barbados for a few to understand it is far from a cheap/er lifestyle. Which is why I want to make sure we can realistically live on what we have. We're hoping for a slower pace of life "for want of a better term". Is there anything else in particular that I should consider or prepare for? Thanks for your input madgestie, I know it's important that we keep our feet on the ground because so far it's looking possible. But someone please tell me how wonderful it is. Anyone???

Re: Cost of living
 

The secret of a good experience (as in any immigration) is to have a good job or other income. I have one, so I enjoy many aspects of Barbadian life. One is that my son enjoys the life here much more than in the UK. In the British catchment area school he was bullied for his love to study and the school and the council did very little about this. Here he goes to a private school and he is respected for the very same thing. Overall, the depth and quality of teaching is better here (but I am comparing a private school to a catchment area one). Another thing that I disliked about British schools is that if children misbehaved it was never there fault. It was always hyperactivity, deficit of attention, family problems, faults in school administration - all types of excuses and never their deliberate choice. Here it is different. Kids are considered as reasonable enough to make deliberate behavioral choices. Another good thing is that my son sees on the daily basis, like in the backyard or at the nearest beach, mongooses, turtles, monkeys, flying fish, etc. This is a very enriching experience. Proximity of other islands and the Americas and a possibility to visit them is a good thing too. No need to buy warm cloths. His asthma stopped here. Many good things personally, but every family is different.

Re: Cost of living
 

Bentham that's pricisely what we want for our daughter. She is very average academically but I feel she is held back by the poor classroom/behaviour management. because she is one of the well behaved students and not particularly behind academically, she has at times almost been forgotten. I too want a robust education system.
I do know though, that we would defiantly need to find work within 6 months or so to be able to have even a moderate standard of living. It has proven to be impossible job hunting whilst here in the uk. At the moment my husband works in local government, are our chances of finding work improved at all if we were in the island? On that note, what are the chances of him finding work in Barbados government departments? Is it true that it's a case of who you know? If it is then we should rule that one out completely and concentrate our efforts in private sector?
As I said previously I'm a property manager, and a trade behind me and have a fairly decent standard of education/qualifications. Do you find much expats working in property?

Re: Cost of living
 

Looking forward to having loads of slippers by the front door instead if wellies, boots, scarves etc.

Re: Cost of living
 

My son was saying about his British school that only the girls and himself obeyed the teacher, all the boys ignored her. I also find that they teach English better than in the UK. They explain RULES of reading, grammar, spelling, etc., while in the UK they just memorized individual words and phrases.

The Government has the best salaries on the island so my guess would be "yes" - it is pretty much a question of nepotism. However, announcements for government jobs appear regularly in the local newspaper, your husband may apply and as he is a citizen he may insist on the explanation why he was not selected (given his experience, if they pick up someone who knows someone). You should not give up anyway, there are not many governmental jobs that pop up, so applications won't take much time.

I do not know anything about employment in property management. But remember that you are not a citizen, even though your husband is, and the application process may be very long. This means you will have to obtain a work permit which you get only if there are no qualified Barbados or Caricom citizens. If I am not mistaken your husband's status does not confer on you a right to work automatically.

My British partner is an IT professional with a very good CV. He has been struggling to find a job here since September with no success. Normally the employers do not even confirm the reception of the application package. Neither do they inform about the outcome. About couple of applications every month, no single interview as yet.

It is a small island, not may jobs in any field I guess.

Re: Cost of living
 

There are plenty of other islands in the region. Madgestie (was it?) went back to England to live because she didn't like Barbados. But that doesn't make sense. All the West Indian islands are different. I've only ever lived in two - New Providence a hundred years ago and Grand Cayman since 1978, and both have given us a comfortable life. It's a mistake to commit oneself to one island without sussing out at least a few others.

Re: Cost of living
 

As I said previously, stay where you are!! We recently had a small illness - that was not covered by our Gold Medical Insurance ........ over three months it cost£3,500 ....... and more to come! Stay in the UK, no sun, but plenty of great stuff! Sorry if this what you don't want to hear - we were sooooo in love with Barbados. No longer. Full stop. Don't do it. Bust visit- enjoy - and then hand it back!!!!