[align=center:1ntbjg9q]Cost of Living 2009 now 2010[/align:1ntbjg9q]


From ChrisQBG

Updated for 2010


How much does it cost to live in ? Further to our most popular article, The Cost of Living 2010 , which has been read thousands and thousands of times since we published it in September of last year, we thought we would bring you an update on an basket of some items here in compared to those back in the UK, together with the real life monthly property and living costs of an ex-pat couple living in the country on a permanent basis.



What is happening in the UK makes horror reading. More than 20% of households in the UK are unable to keep up with bills. The average mortgage is over 100,000 British pounds and the average price for a property is about 180,000. From calculations by accountants Smith &
Williamson, income tax and national insurance in the UK now take up a huge 36% of family income. Added to this, Brits have the highest credit card debt throughout nearly all of Europe, with only half clearing their spending each month.

how much money to live on in Compare this with where the majority of the population own their property outright, thus having no mortgage and those foreigners who have purchased here have no, or minimal, mortgage. There is little violence, youngsters are polite, you have no fear of walking out at night and you have helpful and friendly neighbours. Credit cards are a rarity, taxation is a flat 10% and road tax about 30 pounds a year. An all round cheaper cost of living with a high quality of life.

"
We are a couple with a large dog, living in a small Bulgarian town, working at home, own our renovated three bed detached house of about 110 sq.m, with no mortgage. The house is all electric-based (oven, hob, extractor, washing machine, tumble drier, dishwasher, fridge, freezer, air conditioning, radiators) except for a wood burner for the winter months. We are both smokers and drinkers and eat out or have a drink out once a week. We run a 4x4 Pajero 3.5 diesel with a round trip to Billa supermarket and the local vineyard/winery every two weeks of 144 kms, plus a few small local trips in between. Our lifestyle is not one of "
grow your own"
as neither of us are keen, or even any good, at gardening. We enjoy a very good quality of life, with excellent food, go out quite often, happily use the car as we need and reckon that in the UK to live in our lifestyle, we would need three to four times the income that we need in . We were recently talking to a friend of ours in Ireland and showed him our bills. He said that on this basis, Bulgaria was overall five to six times cheaper than Ireland for total cost of living.

Prices in Euro:


Loaf of bread 0.50e
1ltr Carton milk 0.80e
1kg Yellow cheese 4.50e
1kg Apples 1.50e
1kg Potatoes 0.50e
Carton of 10 eggs 1.20e
1/2 ltr Olive oil 2.50e
1kg Onions 0.70e
1kg Tomatoes 0.50-1.00e
1kg Chicken breast 4.50e
0.250kg Butter 1.00e
1/2kg Flour 0.60
Chocolate 0.50-1.00e
2ltr Coco-cola 1.00e
1.5ltr Mineral water 0.80e
200g Coffee with brand name 200g 4.00
Coffee cup of 0.50e
Wine 750 ml 2.00-upwards
Beer 0.5l 0.50e
2ltr Beer 1.20e
Cigarettes 1.50-2.80e

As regards general property and household costs over the course of a full year, we have accurately been monitoring all our expenses on a month by month basis for a 12 month period, from 1 August 2008 to 31 July 2009, to include everything for all of our living costs in Bulgaria. The yearly costs have been averaged to provide a monthly expenditure.

we use supermarkets for the bulk of our shop It's all too easy to say xyz is cheaper in Britain or Bulgaria. The key is to compare real like with like and the overall cost of living the whole way through, from day to day foods to council tax to get an overall feel of the total real cost of living in each country.

Many foreigners just buy the cheapest in any given supermarket and do not shop for quality. For us, quality is just as important as price. Locally produced Fillet Mignon of pork for three times the price in Britain? No thank you. Of course it may cheaper to buy frozen broccoli at Asda all year round but with their buying power it should be a heck of a lot cheaper.

open local market for fresh fruit and veg We prefer with the fresh seasonal and natural produce in Bulgaria which is at least half the price. Frequently, food shopping is a matter of personal taste and cooking style. We ourselves avoid the 'ready meal' way of cooking, preferring fresh ingredients which we can cook for ourselves, rather than mass-produced stuffs where you have no idea where they came from or what products have been used on them. That is not to say we are crazy about 'grow-your-own' or bottling and storing - we are not. However we do try to strike a balance where we can shop 'western style', using the supermarkets for the bulk of our monthly shop, with good quality local fresh ingredients from the market in town to produce home-made meals at a reasonable price.

While its true that fruit and veg are cheap here (incredibly so on the markets), not all food is that cheap. Meat can be quite expensive and there is a not a great selection of cuts available - you tend to have to buy a large slab of meat and then chop it up yourself into steaks, pieces etc....

Somethings are cheaper, some aren't. For example bake beans more expensive, Dolmio pasta sauces and other similar items about the same if not more...

Electric is expensive here, petrol not particularly cheap and not much under UK costs.....second hand cars silly prices.......

Here are my rough monthly costs for me and 3 dogs, living in 3 bed house with wood central heating and all new double glazing, electric hot water boilers:

Electric - winter (100 to 120 levs/mth), summer (30 to 40 levs/mth)
Water - unless leaks and drips and broken meters (which seem to occur rather alot) about 15 levs/mth
Mobile on contract - 20 levs a month
Landline - 20 levs a month plus calls
Internet - 20 to 36 levs/mth
Satellite TV - 25 levs/mth (second to top package)
Wood - about 800 levs per winter but usually have some left over
Food - One big shop once a month - 120 levs maybe, then possibly another 30 levs a week for bits and bobs
Dog Food - 20 levs for large 10kg bag of biscuits

Council tax (depends on value of house and region but say....) 30 to 50 levs a year
Rubbish collection tax - similar at 30 to 50 levs a year
Vignette for car (road tax) - 67 levs a year for yearly sticker
3rd party car insurance (depends on car size and age etc but) - 70 to 150 levs/year
Local municipality car tax (possibly ecology tax??) - 70 to 150 levs a year

Accountancy fees for company tax return - maybe 100 to 150 levs a year (nil tax return)

Buildings & contents insurance - depends on house and contents obviously and if want earth quake cover but around 100 to 150 levs a year

Admin has given a very comprehensive list of overall costs. Whilst its true that food can vary in price and some can be a bit more expensive than UK, overall it is, as he says, much cheaper to live here even though costs have risen for many things. As a pensioner there is no way we (two of us on one pension) could live in UK without claiming benefits and we have a good life here. We have no mortgage and are careful with use of electric relying a lot on gas or wood in winter. We have no car but use the local bus and taxis for infrequent visits to town.
Naturally things go up here as everywhere but it will be a long time before we can't afford our lifestyle. Thats even taking into account the credit crunch and poor exchange rates. However, anyone thinking of living here permanently must remember that a lifestyle is not totally dependant on money. To be happy here a lot of allowances have to be made.

Any updates on this now its 2011

From Novinite

Bulgarian Labor Unions: Skyrocketing Prices Unexplainable

Lyuben Tomev, Director of the KNSB Research Institute, faults employers for not raising wages, despite the registered higher productivity of workers.

The cost of living increase registered in Bulgaria is unreasonably high even in times of crisis, according to the Confederation of Bulgarian Independent Syndicates, KNSB.

Lyuben Tomev, Director of the Research Institute with KNSB, spoke Monday for the Bulgarian National Radio, BNT, saying there are no valid grounds to have a 6.4% cost of living increase in December 2010, compared to December 2009, saying this increase is skyrocketing.

The experts explained that in a four-member family, BGN 511 a month are needed per person in order to lead a normal life. Meanwhile price of food went up by over 8%.

Tomev pointed out regardless of price hikes of everything in Bulgaria, there is a lasting freeze and even reduction of income and a shrinking demand.

Unemployment continues to go up while employers do not raise wages, despite the registered higher productivity of workers, the union representative says.