gazjan

Hi all,this is only my second time of posting on here,please bear with me.Me and mrs came for a holiday last June and stayed in a small villa which included a car near Carvoeiro and loved it.Area,people,food and climate fantastic and it did get us to thinking that may be we could suffer this way of living on a permanant basis.
My wife is working but drawing her state pension but i am 58 not really enjoying my work and becoming increasingly frustrated with my own country.Now it has become possible to draw on private pensions in lump sums we have been doing our homework.My wife has a private pension that if i gave up work would fund me each month the value of a state pension up untill my retirement age.I also have pensions worth around 80k added to the fact that selling our property in the uk,even after paying off the rest of the mortgage would net another 40k after buying a nice villa in portugal.
So my first question is this.For the value of two state pensions in the uk(£1100 ish) can i pay all utility bills,eat, stay warm or cool depending on season and have something left over for a bottle of wine.Anything out of the ordinary that is thrown our way would come out of said top up funds.

nogard

Yes!

Munsterfan

By GOD yes for sure..... a couple of points to help living on a modest budget in this wonderful country

1) Food is cheap: IF, IF, IF you eat local and seasonal. If you eat British or foreign food (like powdered custard, Korean BBQ or meat pies etc.) then your budget will feel tight and make you unhappy. IF you eat fresh fish, buy fresh vegetables and fruit that are in season, you can live VERY well for 75E-100E per week for 2-persons. Yes, this DOES mean that some meals are casseroles, hearty soups or stews that last 2-days but what's wrong with that? In the warm weather we eat grilled food outside nearly every day.
Fresh fish (NOT expensive cuts mind you) but the 2E-4E per kilo fish) or pork or chicken...yummy & easy, yes we have forfeit most beef as it's expensive here compared to other animals. Eat what's growing & in season NOT what you 'feel' like eating.

2) Eating out: We have a long list of family run restaurants we enjoy that serve excellent regional dishes we cap our spend at 10E PP, but usually stay at 7E. This is a typical 7E YUMMY fixed plate menu; olives & bread, main entree (Black Pork stew,or grilled Tuna Belly or Pork 'n Clams), 1/2 litre wine per person, dessert and black coffee. MANY times when I eat out with my girlfriend the owner explains that the meal is too much for one person and we should split the one order...I mean really this is common in The East Algarve anyway...don't know much about other places in Portugal. But if you want foreign foods or fancy coffee you pay more. And sometimes we REALLY want some Thai or a Cappuccino

3) Services: Electricity is cheap enough, water can break you unless you are in the countryside and are lucky to have a Borehole/Well. But we actually made sure we had a borehole for our country home as we like to garden.

4) Car registration/WOF/ Insurance is really cheap here, We pay 160E every 6-months for full coverage Auto insurance

5) Tradesmen/women: Local labour is between 5.00E and 10.00E per hour

6) Culture: We often attend very GOOD classical and Jazz concerts here tickets 10E-15E

7) The warm, dry climate is FREE

Just a suggestion from me and me only..............
Remember that you are living in a completely new country and there are always challenges and disappointments like the draconian government administration here (this alone can almost break your spirit) or poor Internet and such BUT the good stuff far outways the bad stuff!
Just roll with it and keep your humour by your side at all time.

Budget an Immersion Language course once you've settled and learn to speak Portuguese. Living here changes for the better if your speak the language ( says me who still struggles).

Good luck with your decision. If you decide to buy here; listen for the dog-barking at night before you buy and imagine what it will be like to live in your home when you're 80+ years of age and perhaps (sadly) living alone. We know lots of Expat (lots) who bought/built their dream 'retirement' home in rural beauty with lovely vistas and sweet quiet. But who are now isolated with bedrooms they can't get to on the 2nd floor and 'grounds' they can't maintain anymore and have spent YEARS trying to sell their home. Yes, rural property is cheaper but for a reason. Just my thoughts...

Munsterfan

a GOOD bottle of wine 2.50E

teejaydee

Very wise advice, and thank you for offering it. This advice applies not just to the OP of course, but to anyone contemplating purchasing a property in Portugal (or Spain/France, etc.).

mfesharne

Good local vinho tinto in & from my area can be bought for €5 per 5 litres but it doesn't have any preservatives in it so it has to be drunk within a week or so.

As Munsterfan rightly says. fish is cheap but I'll add you need to be careful what you buy because a lot of it is farmed & therefore rather tasteless.

Car prices are high so expect that to be a major purchase & long term summer rentals near the coast can be expensive but of course you can always move inland for the summers and back to the coast outside the main summer season.

gazjan

Thanks so much for the reply,very informative and we will take note of all points covered.
Although i mentioned that we had been to the algarve this is not where we had intended to settle if indeed we do make the move.For one the property can be on the high price and we definately dont want to live on any kind of golfing complex.Central or south of the country and not on the coast.A bit of high ground with views and vistas would be nice.I know property prices would be cheaper but am also aware that this comes with the fact that winters will be colder and after learning that many portuguese homes come with no or very little insulation.It does seem to me that i probably should be looking at renovated property that has been fitted with insulation and a decent heating system possibly done by an english couple who understand the needs of insulation.
Then of course comes deciding on a region and area within that region to settle in.We are not in the position to be able to come over for months at a time and rent to get a feel for it,we can only do a few weeks at a time when i have holiday.Any suggestions on this would be great.
Thanks again for all your help.

mfesharne

Gazjan

There are plenty of properties (in every condition imaginable) on the market here so you'll have plenty of choice but having been through it twice, you definitely need good insulation, heating & cooling.

We're in the central zone near Figueiro Dos Vinhos and the area has lots of rolling mountains rivers & lakes & if you click on the link immediately below this post and then on 'About Central Portugal' you'll find a series of videos that'll show you what the area is like.

Hope that helps.

gazjan

It looks beautifull.What kind of temps do you get there in summer and winter.

mfesharne

Summer days are pretty much always crystal clear blue skies & usually in the low to mid 30s (C) & we might get an occasional couple of days of high 30s to maybe 40 once every 2 or 3 years. Summer nights usually drop to about the mid teens.

The river beaches here are numerous and phenomenally good & range from quite private to busy & very commercialised......... if you want completely private swimming you can take a 4x4 and drive the logging roads around (the massive) Lake Cabril where there are easily driveable tracks every few hundred yards that take you to the water's edge. - And anyone that passes by looking for a similar thing will do just that and pass by until they find an unoccupied bay for themselves.

Winters can be either cold or wet but rarely both........ some morning frosts but they've usually gone by about 10 am...... We do sometimes get quite heavy winter rains but not anywhere near as heavy as I've seen in my years in Africa.

All based on 5 years of living in Portugal.

gazjan

Its not the summers that worry me its the winters and finding that elusive property that has the all important insulation needed for cold evenings.Of course there is also the need for some kind of central heating although the locals seem to do ok with a large central fireplace.
In June i am coming over for a week to have a look around various regions.Can you give me the heads up on any other regions to check up on.We will be staying at a rental in Tomar

mfesharne

Insulation & heating can be installed quite easily.

Even if you can't add insulation inside it can be added to the outside and rendered over..... it's a very common and reasonably priced solution here.

There are various types of central heating but from my experience, wood pellet fired boiler linked to radiators is the cheapest to run & easiest to maintain...... and if you can find time to drive about 40 minutes from Tomar, I'll be happy to show you how easy it is etc.

If you haven't been there before, Tomar is a fabulous town....... Their Templar festas are simply superb but they do mean a massive influx of tourists a few times a year which can't be easy for the residents. lol

ouriquejan

We were lucky in that we bought a a house that is only 14 years old and built to a very very high standard..

Only been here 4 months, but already we can feel the difference in the outside and inside temps - and we have two woodburners too.

Look at different areas - we bought in the Algarve 12 years ago, thinking the family would prefer it and so would see more of them.

Not a hope.

So now, this is for us. We're having a pool put in, we have 3 acres of land - most of it being looked after by a lovely young farmer and we're more than happy.

Look outside of what your thinking about - it sometimes works.

Red Eric

If you're on a limited budget, central heating may not be the best answer for you. Air conditioning units, which serve the dual purpose of cooling or heating might be worth considering instead and are cheap to run once installed, although admittedly you probably won't get the entire house toasty warm throughout with them.

A log burner in the lounge is always a nice feature, too but I like the option of having both.

gazjan

Thanks for that we would be delighted to take you up on your offer just send me your details.Im persuming you have a wood pellet fired boiler linked to radiators but not sure if you have had the external insulation done,its probably me having a senior moment.
So by what you say Tomar and surrounding area may be a place to consider setting up sticks.We will be there in June so we can get our own idea.