OC123

If the criteria are cheap and near beach then you don't have much wiggle room. Nothing near beach is now cheap. But yes, maybe the greek islands could fit... the life there is mostly what you describe, but 1 year... there is nothing in greek islands in winter, not even people or services. In winter you may have problem to find an open restaurant or open anything. Also if you need something on greek islands to be done, well, bad luck, they don't understand word "now" but they really understand word "later". Still, I love the islands, just be prepared to pay twice as much if you need anything to be done.
Then there is very little elsewhere - italy, spain and france - all extremely expensive near coast. Financial crisis or not, still tons of tourists there driving the prices up and up. Ibiza is a nice place with less tourists and one of the best beaches (outside of the disco-tourist areas).
East europe - maybe bulgaria, but nothing is cheap anymore. Food is good though.
If you don't need beach then you have much more wiggle room. You can hide yourself in some Slovakian village and stay there for a year without much money or without anybody knowing you are there. The beer will still cost like 1EU and a good meal in restaurant 5EU and everybody will keep off. But what would you do there? Maybe look at sheep.

Ray51

I agree ( mostly ) ;
there are 2 other relatively inexpensive options I know of i.e. nothernmost Slovenia , crime-free and almost functional - you must like lots of snow in the winter/s but the food and beer are good and you can trip into Austria and Hungary , for many an item , if you are mobile ( which you need to be there ) ;
a number of Brits and Irish live there ( I think it's called Prekomurje , to do with the Mura river ) , check it out , no problems with stay as an EU citizen .
The other one is the Zagorje to Slavonia region of northern Croatia ; less snow , hot summers ; reasonable to cheap rentals , crime is not a problem , many locals like a Brit ; just what you do with yourself , in both the above possibilities ? Maybe you play an instrument or do art , read , walk , have a pet , learn stuff , befriend the natives or other Brits in exile , drink too much , sit by the computer too many hours per day , who knows ?
Certainly , if you don't speak the lingoes ( I do ) then it could be a major hassle , similar with medical assistance , if/when you need any

Domino

is that with a good wine and should he be oven or spit roasted ..?

Ray51

No , they prefer him/her to come , blow maxi-Quid and go again !
( Albeit , there is a small colony of Brits in each of the 2 countries , who have stayed for years now , enjoying some benefits whilst wrestling the buraucracy . )

Domino

I have a good friend (Brit) living in Transylvania who is open to receiving a few squids for a week or two in his rental house

pm me for the link if you fancy a holiday in the region of Vlad the Impaler and Dracula - prices from £430\week with discounts

Ray51

Naaah , thanks , but still : no , thanks !
I can do so much better better in a many a western EU place , incl. Belgium , France , Deutschland ;
and how does a clean , neat , comfy B&B in the heart of Surrey grab you , ten miles out of central London on A3 : at 30-odd quids/night incl. a great english breakfast the next morning ( cereals , OJ , coffee/tea / eggs/bacon/ tomato/real beanz/toast , Waitrose orange jam with rind , and much more ) ?
Many east-European places are just grossly overpriced nowadays , for what one gets , IMHO !

Domino

sounds just like home Ray
what a pity I never had to go to Surrey when I was doing 40,000mls\yr as a rep
just don't let all those landlady's in Blackpool here you are undercutting them and with Waitrose marmalade instead of Tesco's

£430\wek for 6 peeps to my mind sounds quite good, although there is food and travel on top of that. But then it isn't in the leafy Surrey suburbs either which for many is the reason for going

hotels in Granada run out at abt €45\rm\nite in a 4* but then there is abt €8\head for breakfast - without the Waitrose marmalade

quite sure there are many here who can undercut all of these prices

rgds
Dom

Ray51

If there is anyone to suggest a "cheap" country , I too would be grateful , as I'm looking forward to a bit of a break .
- but : not forgetting the actual value for your money , whan so many items are now priced at less in U.K. , Benelux or Germany , than in supposedly cheaper eastern EUrope , except that the quality and the assortment may not be comparable ( e.g . Prague is now well more expensive on total Cost of Living for expats , than Amsterdam , Bruxelles or any German city whatsoever );
accommodation probably is the main bug-bear , as could the car-situation be , don't know about the health costs .

Ray51

2nd thought , on that B&B b'fast I mentioned :
there's always a choice of another 2 Waitrose jams or marmelades on offer , too ( I don't know the difference , which is which , jam or marmelade ? ) , usually strawberries , apricots , suchlike ; sometimes : honey ;
I don't go for a kipper , nor a sausage at that hour , but eggs and bacon you can have : anywhich way , also choice of cereals and white/brown toast and plenty of milk .
And there's ample free parking , in a very safe area .
What's left to want a.m. , when in U.K. ?
I don't promote the place , as I have no shares in it - I was just a satisfied customer on many a night and a morning , from somewhere 2003 to last year , here we're talking Hinchley Wood , adjacent to A3 , Claygate , Esher , Cobham , Weybridge , a few miles off M25 , just south of Kingston and just north of Guildford ;
and they still accept cheques ( last time I stayed there ) . The TV worked , too , for what it's worth .

Rural Bulgaria

Depends what your idea of cheap is I guess but rent aside, you will likely need around 200 to 300 Euros a month to live well in Bulgaria. Food is good and cheap. Fruit and veg next to nothing and the villagers will likely give it to you for free anyway. Mainly eat chicken and pork here but can get lamb, beef etc but more expensive. Beer and wine very cheap - under a Euro for 3 litres for beer.

Roughly speaking you are looking at around 20 Euros/mth on electric
Water around 5 to 10 Euros
Internet around 5 Euros for a dongle.

Petrol is currently around 1.25 E/litre so can get expensive if you do a lot of driving.

We live in France for the winters but come to Bulgaria for the summer as so much cheaper. Grow a lot of our own veg, buy eggs and honey off neighbour, fresh bread from shop over the road for 50 cents a loaf......

Europe

I see you have already mentioned Greece and Portugal.

So I would suggest two places. One is Lisbon in Portugal, I was at a friends house for vacations; food, drinks and entertainment are so cheap -honestly-
the metro and the buses are a bit expensive but the weather in Lisbon is great.The city is AMAZING you ll love the architecture and the cafes close to the see or at the top of the old buildings were you can admire the whole city.
Even better the city is a destination for expats and Erasmus students. I think you gonna love it.

The second suggestion would be Valencia. Cheap, third biggest country in Spain, see, foul of bars and students, also Erasmus minority, food is good, easy to rent a house and you can always take the train to Madrid or Barcelona !!

nora james

And what about south of Italy, Neapol? Should be cheap as well....

Domino

try Lampedusa, seems a nice place according to the TV programmes, not much there but seems to be fairly low cost living from the sea

population about 4,000 locals but....
5,000 economic migrants from Libya living a poor existance until shipped to the Italian mainland.

housesitter

Hi, we lived for three months in south Morocco and we found it cheap there.

uk_vette

.
Hi,

As the OP, thanks for your suggestions.
Not sure about Portugal.
I would like some where between Barcelona and Valencia to take a 12 month rental apartment.
I feel the Spanish in that area are very friendly, and have the right attitude to lunch time siesta's and breaks.

Vette