fuzzbottle

We struck out with our thoughts on emigrating to Nova Scotia, and I am reassessing our options.
Brittany has always been a favourite holiday destination, but what is it like to live there? Is the cost of living reasonable? etc etc We would be looking to buy a property outright and live on 1500 euros a month, is that possible?
Ta
Mike

greenie51

hello...I do not live in brittany but in the centre. The cost of living has been mounting sharply in France and lots of things are more expensive including food. Diesel is cheaper than in england but if you live in a rural area that will be counter balanced by the fact that you will drive a lot more, it is a big country, and most of the motorways are toll roads. Car servicing is more expensive, I was quoted 500 euros to change a cambelt and had it done for 250 quid in england. Buy tyres, everything, in england. Wine is cheaper of course but unless you are an alcoholic that won't help much. That said we live on a budget of 1500 euros per month but we don't have a mortgage and we don't pay rent, otherwise it would be impossible. We also grow most of our fruit and veg. VAT just went up too on all building work.

dmu

Hi, there's an enormous difference between enjoyable holidays and actually living in France, wherever you choose to live.
It helps if you speak French, especially to cope with French bureaucracy and general communication with neighbours, artisans, ...
You don't mention children, so you should be able to live on an average of 1500€ per month if you don't have unexpected problems. This would cover food, heating, utilities, telephone/internet, petrol, property taxes, insurances... On the other hand, this budget should also include a Mutuelle (top-up insurance) which for a couple would be in the range of 150 € per month. This reimburses the 30% of medical expenses that the French Social Security doesn't. You haven't mentioned your age - if you aren't retired, the reciprocal agreement between the NHS and the French S.S. doesn't last long and you may have to take out private health insurance.
Hope this helps a little. If you give more details, it'd be easier to advise.

greenie51

hello....yes the point about private health insurance is important. We don't have it and just cross our fingers that nothing serious goes wrong. The Brits love to moan about the NHS but at least it is free. When you live in a country that does not have free health care there is one more expense to worry about. On the cost of living in France....I obtained two quotes for a new pair of specs, multifocal, in France 500/600 euros. I bought a pair at Boots the Chemists in the UK for 220 quid.

dmu

And both the S.S. and Mutuelle (unless you pay a much higher premium than 150 €) reimburse peanuts for glasses and any type of false teeth...
Get everything optical and dental sorted out before you come!

dennerlymum

aaargh !! Varifocal glasses!!!! Hubby was just told he needed a pair; total cost 681 euros... state reimbursed 14 euros; good mutuelle reimbursed around 350 and the rest was up to us!!! Luckily hubby has a poor peoples fund at work and they agreed to give us half of the rest or we would be stoney broke ...again!!

Dave Ozzie

free NHS = free loaders, sorry couldnt help myself.

Novocastrian

Nobody needs varifocal glasses. Some people choose to spend the money; most just have two pairs.

greenie51

nobody needs a car, people just choose to buy one rather than live where there is good public transport and use it, having only 2 feet nobody needs 10 pairs of shoes. Getting back to the original question......though the cost of living is high in France this is balanced by the french who are generally nicer than the british though of course you have to learn the language to appreciate this.

dennerlymum

2 pairs of glasses with different prescriptions = 1 pair of varifocals in cost

greenie51

......oh and I forgot to add that there is no such thing as free banking in france. Banking is free in the UK which leads me to say....free banking, free loading......everyone has the right to say something stupid once in a while.