val50

although it's not the only country affected, worrying to see the rise in inflation in France, which is now at 3.2%
http://www.france24.com/en/20080415-...gy&navi=FRANCE
with the euro still strong against the pound, something to think about if you are anticipating a move to France on a fixed UK income?

treskillard

yes but at least the cheese counters are better stocked...

On that note there was that report recently where a consumer magazine pointed out that there were up to 50% increases in certain food products in supermarkets. Made a big stir in France with the government denying it and the supermarkets too but the magazine sticking to their guns. Certainly I find my shopping bills are pretty impressive but then I do buy "good" (read expensive) ingredients. Somehow I find it easier to spend money on food in France. Being the home of good food it somehow feels natural. Anyone else experience that?

onlyonebrenda

Yeah, not exactly keeping within my budget, especially with my pension being affected by the exchange rate. I passed on two cooked chicken breast for 12€ yesterday though. Good job a friend of mine is a good traditional French cook.He got in quite a lather recently about someone killing a pig and not keeping the blood or the trotters.

Tweedpipe

Agree with both Val & Treskillard.
I would seriously advise anyone planning to purchase property in France, who will be living on a fixed UK income, and who may have budgeted using 2007 sterling/euro exchange rates, to re-plan carefully using current rates. The plunging pound (and dollar) against the euro is alarming! See useful link follows:
http://fr.advfn.com/monnaies-convert...ntre-euro.html

Thank goodness we made the move when we did, and not planning it now with the current situation.

G-J-B

I've had to leave my savings behind in the UK. I always saw a financial crisis coming to the UK (especially in the form of house prices), but never took action on converting my sterling to euros at the right time. I'm hoping things stablise or pick up in 2 or 3 years time. The pound is getting a hammering and it will get worse still.

Ka Ora!

Gazoil has doubled in 2 years and pertol has seen a pretty big hike, We have noticed about a 35/40 Euro increase on our shop per week. Out here in the sticks the consumer suffers the extra transit cost's. So when we buy anything big we make the trip to Toulouse as things are noticeably cheaper.

Le Chant

If you want to know the cheapest fuel prices in France, have a look at www.zagaz.com. I contribute to it when I remember. There was an interesting mailshot just recently from them where they showed that Gazole's increased by a shade over 25% in a year, while SP95's gone up by just over 16%.

G-J-B

I was shocked by the price of gazoil when I thought I'd fill up at a service station in France on my way back to England just over a week ago; it was just as dear as the UK. In relative terms it must be more expensive for the French than the Brits.

rtsmith0810

only fill up at supermarkets i filled up at e.leclerc in vire it was 1 21e ,as it 1 18 pence here in england it makes it cheaper in france plus you get more miles to the lt as there are far fewer hold ups

Grand Fromage

wish it was still 1.21, 1.28 is the cheapest around Cahors, where we are

Andrea50

Gazooks, as if it isn't bad enough already, now my French Dream is looking more like a nightmare!

Just kidding, it's still the best option I reckon. Lots of trade-offs - just paying wretched car tax of £135. So that would be one yearly saving to take into account. And I presume there are still Lidl and netto in France - really banking on being near one or both of those. And I don't remember ever paying a TV licence over there either - so more savings. They all add up.

Have noticed distinct hike in prices of French houses and suppose this is a result of the exchange rate - some of my "watched" properties have gone up over the last month or so by £5,000 and more. However, I would hope that making a lower offer might compensate?

Next bit of investigation for me is the best way to deal with savings that one is going to use the income to live off of. Is is best to leave them in UK and have the interest wired over on a regular basis, or just draw it out twice a year on the trips back to England and take it over in euros or in pounds and get it changed over in France?

Anyone doing this have any advice? And as I am on long-term incapacity benefit, I think I can still qualify for that even if I live in France. Again, any advice would be useful guys.

Grand Framage, envy you being near Cahors my friend - love it there, have friends near Gourdon and lived just south of there myself in Montpezat de Quercy. Hope your weather is better than here - it's dreadful - worse April for years I reckon. We even had a slightly white Easter here in Devon - unheard of.

Andy

onlyonebrenda

Hmm I must be in the wrong area. I stopped in Excideuil yesterday for petrol out of hours at a little place where you still get served and was charged 1.53€ per litre. When I commented (and only filled up with the absolute minimum) he said the business was closing in ten days (with him and his wife obviously out of work) as the petrol companies would not sell him the small quantities of petrol he used at a competitive rate. This morning I went back to my usual unmanned petrol station where SP (sans plomb or lead)95 was 1.394€ per litre.
Yes not having annual MOTs or tax is great, however changing to European headlights is now compulsory for the Contrôle Technique (French MOT), which comes in when the car is four years old and then needs doing every two years. I'm still reeling from the shock of a 400€ bill for my little Daewoo's lights, particularly as the car now only has a street value of about £500 as a French registered RHD. It would cost even more in England apparently.
Re long term incapacity benefit you would be eligible for the English payments for up to two years after you became resident here but then you would have to change to the French system I think. I would check this out VERY carefully if I were you. There are various official government department websites in French and English. One thing to take into account is that different illnesses may be considered 'permanent'. In England hypothyroidism allows you to have free prescriptions. In France that doesn't count but diabetes and heart trouble do count as permanent entitling you to 100% reimbursement (although in practice it is 100% reimbursement of what they think you ought to be charged). You might find at the dentist that there is a big difference between the figures. In any case you would have to go through all the tests, a percentage of which have to be paid for, to establish your state of health here.
TV licence fees are included in one of the domestic taxes - can't remember offhand whether it's taxe foncières or taxe d'habitation. Both of them come to much less than in England.
Property prices are high at present although they seem cheaper in Limoges and Périgueux, the two major towns near here than out in the styx at present. I wouldn' imagine many people from England are buying at present so you should be able to bargain hard, remembering that the estate agent's fees etc are usually included in the asking price.
Re transferring money the cheapest way is probably to find someone in France who wants some money paid into their English bank account in pounds and for them to pay you in euros from their French account although I'm sure there must be a law against that. The DSS has a special arrangement whereby they will transfer your payments over for about a £1 a month, much cheaper than you can get from any bank but bear in mind the the amount will fluctuate with the exchange rate. Use one of the special firms like Travelex if you want to transfer over four figure sums. They will give you a much better rate than your bank whatever your banks says. You may find some companies e.g Alliance and Leicester will not let you keep your English account if you no longer have an English address. Otherwise heads you win, tails you lose. I have some money left in England which I could do with here but the exchange rate is abysmal at present so I'm hanging on.
Hope this helps.

G-J-B

Arrrg, don't mention A&L to me! I've had an account since I was 14 years old with them, and contacted various people at the bank on three occasions to make sure there were no issues with me moving to France. None they said! Well I got a letter two days ago saying they couldn't do the change of address due to new legislation in law (great telling me that now I'm over in France)! HSBC didn't give me this grief, nor did my A&L credit cards. I rang them up, and asked what was going on, and after being put on hold for ages, said it shouldn't be a problem because I've had the account since before 2001. They said they'd call me back yesterday to confirm it wouldn't be a problem, but I never heard from them.

dmu

They have cunningly included the TV licence in the Taxe d'Habitation now.... Lidls are sprouting everywhere, you'll be pleased to know, even in my neck of the woods, but there's no Netto in my area...