Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Hi everyone, not sure if you remember me, I poke my head in occasionally!

We have decided to move back to France late this year once I've finished my nursing degree at uni here (I know I know it will be entirely useless in France other than to let me work as a AS (aide soignante) without doing the 6 month stage but ' c'est la vie'!).

My question is how has the cost of living changed since we left France in mid 2008? I know houses are a damn sight cheaper, we were so so lucky to sell when we did!. We are a family of 4 (and hopefully 5 not too long after arrival) and would be in a fairly big home (maybe 5 - 6 bedrooms).

What would be an average monthly cost of living for a family of 4, food, bills etc? We are not extravagant people and I would generally do a big shop at Lidl and then top up at Inter-Marche. And from memory it would cost me around €90 then about €60 at IM and that would do most of a fortnight (around 10/11 days) with perhaps another €40 milk and bread top up the week in between.

Is there a cost of living difference between the Aude where we were for 10 years and Brittany where we are heading?

Any advice appreciated!

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Hi, I made the silly mistake about ping-pong clubs in Brittany!
Anyway, I can't give the exact rate of inflation since 2008, but food and commodity prices have certainly gone up since then.
I usually go by the SMIC (minimum wage) when advising about living costs. A couple can live frugally on one SMIC (about 1200€ gross), i.e. an average of 30€ (take-home salary) per day for two, to cover food, electricity, heating, insurance, petrol,... but not rent/mortgage or the unexpected. With two children, add an extra SMIC for their food, new clothes, school-related expenses, childcare, ...
With two children, you should get Family Allowances (125,78€ per month at present) which will more than double if you have a 3rd child.
AFAIK, apart from Paris and the PACA, there's not much difference in the actual cost of living in the different regions of France, but property prices vary.
Hope this helps!:)

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Thanks dmu - yes I remember - that was funny :rofl::rofl:Yikes sounds like it has seriously gone up then :blink::blink:we lived on around 1200 back then and that was for everything (OK dipping into savings for extras like trips to the uk etc) but that did all our food, wine, fuel and bills, cantine etc (we are fortunate not to have a mortgage).

As an example how much is:
a flute/pain?
a litre of milk - fresh and UHT?
a lettuce?
a kilo of onions?
a kilo of carrots?

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Hopefully someone will come along to answer that before I next go shopping, as I don't usually pay much attention to the price of necessities, just the total at the cashdesk! I remember the last lettuce I bought was around 1 €, but they are obviously cheaper in the summer...
I get my daily bread from the van that comes to the village - 1 € for a 250 g "baguette de campagne", 1,50€ for a 400g "pain" (includes delivery cost).

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

So what does a 'normal' shop cost you? For how many people? And how regular (ie weekly etc)
The last lettuce I saw here this afternoon was $4 (€3) :blink:(OK we have just had all our crops decimated but tbh even normally I pay at least $2 (€1.50)

:thumbsup::thumbsup:Wow a 400g fake 'pain' here is about $3.75 (€2.80) so sounds like I can breathe a bit easier about the cost of living as it has gone up enormously everywhere so I dont' think it is going to matter much living costs wise except houses are a fraction of the price in France! Australia is listed by the IMF as being in the 'extremely unaffordable' range - all we could buy here is a nasty brick venereal out in the 'burbscompared toa decent house in most areas of France (excluding the big cities of course)!

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Without sounding rude or anything are you buying outright or dependant on a mortgage as the 1200 quoted would certainly exclude Rent or Mortgage. Cost of living is always going to have a big relationship on what you can earn in the area and your chance of employment. If your not arriving with guaranteed employment then a least a years buffer is my recomendation at the mo, If not a little more.

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

We will be buying outright so no need to worry about rent or mortgage. TBH money is not a huge issue as such as we are quite happy that we'll be able to support ourselves with our various ventures (we managed fine for 10 years in the Aude with many less prospects than we do now!!) and we also have enough to tide us over for a year or longer until we get organised. My questions were more about how much things are now in comparison to when we left in 2008, I know it is not a long time but he world has changed a lot since then so I would rather have a good idea of what to expect rather than getting a shock!

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Hubby and I were discussing cost of food/living last night - we are farmers and grain prices are particularily relevant, when world prices rise, our bought-in animal feed goes up, but then so does the price we get for the grain we grow, but bread and flour prices go up too. As in the UK, lots of things have crept up in price. I think milk has recently gone up in my local Super U, but then I normally stock up at Lidl /Aldi ...but I also sympathise with milk producers as some of my family are milk producers, and I hope they are getting more money...;)
Anyway, I hope you won't have many nasty surprises! I have noticed there are a few 3 for 2 and discount offers appearing in the supermarkets, so if read the publicity leaflets and you have time to shop around there are good deals to be had, assuming that, like us, you have a selection of supermarkets within striking distance!

I've just noticed the cloth nappy tag, I used these or my four children and when I started 14 + years ago most people in the UK thought I was crazy! They probably still would, however I had no shortage of takers when I happily no longer needed them and passed them on! I even handknitted the pants from raw sheepswool, as my aunt did, although that was a little too earth-mother for me, as it turned out! :)

Sue

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Hi Sue, as a farmers step-daughter and grand-daughter I sympathise with the issues!

My 'baby' is now 4 and alas no longer uses cloth. I was initially sceptical of using wool but ended up only using that at night (shorties in summer and longies in winter), as well lanolised it was the most reliable thing to put on him! I may have no cloth bums in my house but I'm still very much involved through my cloth nappy information website www.clothnappytree.com

So what did you and your hubby talk about - have you seen a real increase in food in the last 2.5 years or would you say it is similar to then?

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Hi, noticed in our nearest Ecomarché yesterday:
carrots: 0,79€ per kg
onions: 1,29€ per kg
Half-skimmed fresh milk: 1 € litre
Full-cream milk (fresh): 1,29€ litre
(forgot to look at UHT milk)
Lettuce: between 0,79€ and 1,29€ depending on what type of lettuce.
By reading the advertizing leaflets that fill the letter-boxes, you can save money buying special offers, e.g. giant cauliflowers on offer yesterday: 1,29€ each.
Everything usually cheaper in Lidl, Netto, etc..., but our nearest ones don't do fresh milk and "favourite" brands.
But you've always got a choice of food and can survive on what you can afford - it's electricity, fuel in general, services, etc.. that you can't do without which put a strain on the purse-strings....
Hope this gives you an idea.:)

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Thank you so much dmu for taking the time to do that for me. I just called hubby in to have a look and we are just so shocked, we have just got so used to paying what we pay here :sneaky: and those prices are just amazing (even compared to the pre QLD flooding and the exchange rate going crazy!). It has certainly helped confirm our decision is the right one.

As far as the other stuff we have always known that everything in Australia was more expensive, it used to be the hugely cheap food and fuel that made up for it - not any more!!! Some examples:

Electric: $350 a quarter (€260) - and we don't have aircon, heating, pool or anything other than fans, lcd monitors etc. I'm sure we paid nothing like that to EDF even running summer aircon and winter bits of heating.

Internet / phone - $60 internet plus $20 line rental PLUS calls (so €60 PLUS calls compared to our €30 freebox with free calls including to Australia) oh and this is for REALLY bad ADSL - slower than we had when adsl first appeared in France and nearly as bad as dial up!

Arrrgghhh just want to get uni done and dusted and get over there!

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

I live in PACA for my sins, where living costs are horrendous. However, there are many costs that will be similar, such a heating bills. The cost of electricity and heating oil has shot up, as has car fuel which, if you live in a rural area, is not a luxury.

Also, am I alone in finding the cost of each year's school rentrée more and more terrifying? And my son goes through scientific calculators (€26) like there is no tomorrow.

But buying fruit and veg in a supermarket is daft. There are millions of cheaper and better places, such as farmers' co-ops, markets and roadside stalls. I get all mine from a wholesale/retail stall - you can buy by the case or the kilo. All year round lettuce costs €1.20 for THREE. A case of tomatoes just before Xmas was €4 - I bottled/froze loads of them.

I too have noticed a significant hike in the price or grain for my hens, but then, their eggs are still nicer and cheaper than bought ones - and there is the added bonus of fewer bugs/scorpions/snakes around.

I bought a very cheap breadmaker which produces a good loaf from cheapo Lidl flour - less than 50 centimes for a brown loaf that lasts a lot longer than a baguette (although my OH loves fluffy French bread so can't resist buying one from time to time.)

I think what I'm trying to say is that even if the cost of living is high (certainly down here), there is always a way to tailor your lifestyle to fit as long as you really want it!

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Where /what is PACA?


I totally agree, and one of the benefits of coming back to France is the ability to have a bit more land and hopefully be a bit self-sufficient as well as making the most of all the markets etc :D

I'm seriously considering a bread maker again, I did have one but now that bread is sooo dear I think it would be worth it!

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

PACA is Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Obviously the Riviera is the most expensive place to live but where I am in the Vaucluse is still ruinous in terms of house prices. It makes me grimace when people talk about a drop in already cheap house prices in France. Down here there was a small dip ... and then things have shot up again. Even a plain house with a bit of land costs a fortune.

Re the breadmaker - I have some friends who are terribly sniffy about it but it is a lifesaver for me. I live 2km out of the village and it is a chore to buy bread every day. And besides, I like my wholemeal loaves! But I haven't the time or patience to do them by hand! I love getting up in the morning to the small of fresh bread.

Re: Living costs (again sorry!)
 

Not in my neck of the woods! We've got a cooperative 8 km away - most of the fruit and veg comes from elsewhere and the prices are the same as everywhere else. Very little of the veg. sold at the nearest weekly market (5 km) is really local, and there are no roadside stalls. Strangely enough for a rural area there isn't much choice and since my attempts at growing my own were hopeless, I go to a self-service greengrocers which is cheap and has a quick turnover, and you can pick and choose, like in a market.
You're lucky in the Vaucluse!:)