First topic message reminder :

We moved to Radanovo a little over 6 months ago planning to limit ourselves to a budget of 400euros (775.00 lev) per month.
Since being here I have kept a record of everything we’ve spent and can happily say that we have over spent by only 113.00 lev!

We put 200.00 lev by every mth to cover the cost of Water, electric, wood and any other household bills and 575.00 lev every mth for food, drink and diesel.

Over the 6 mth period our average utility bills have been:
Water:16.00 lev
Electicity: 55.00 lev
Internet: 25.00 lev
Proxy server: 19.50 lev (We stream and download all our telly through the internet)

We paid 400 lev for 8 cubic of wood which will hopefully see us through the winter (already had around 2 cubic)

Every mth we manage to spend the other 575.00 lev! (incl diesel approx 60-80 lev).

I must stress that this budget is purely for our day to day living costs and doesn’t cover things like car insurance, medical costs etc.

We feel that we have a nice standard of living here and certainly don’t go hungry....lets see how the next 6 mths go!

I would be interested to hear how our budget compares to other peoples.

Many thanks again to the last 2 posters. It sounds as if Turkey is going the same way as Greece did. When Greece joined the Euro currency we just couldn't afford to live there when I retired and Turkey isn't even in the EU yet. I have read a lot of people are leaving Turkey for Bulgaria just like we did. I think you will settle well here because you will have had the corners knocked off which helps to adapt to the Bulgarian life. Good luck.

Found this in the Standart news and thought I'd add it to this discussion

Bulgaria – Paradise for EUR 500 a Month


If your monthly income doesn’t climb up to 500 euro there is no need to seek financial refuge at the end of the world. Just go Bulgaria where you can live conveniently with 1000 leva a month. The climate in this country is mild, the scenery, beautiful and most of Bulgarians pick up some Russian. So, if you have saved something in a bank or under your pillow maybe time has come to pack up and buy a ticket to Bulgaria.
Of course, it would be better to spend summer near the Black Sea beaches and move to the hinterland during the colder seasons. It is true that the realty in fashionable resorts like Slanchev Bryag (Sunny Beach) and Zlatny Piasatsi (Golden Sands) are pretty costly, but prices in Albena and Balchik are affordable. You can find a one-room apartment for about 60,000 euro. Bear in mind, however, that community bills (central heating, water and electricity) are quite high – about 800 euro/year on the average. The good news, though, is that you won’t have to pinch on food: two persons can wine and dine in a restaurant for 10 euro. Cooking at home is even cheaper.
We recommend you to stay in Bulgaria for at least three months. This is time enough to understand whether this is your country or not.

Wow, at last, a positive newspaper article about Bulgaria. I wish the British press would read it. I fully believe that its possible to live a pleasant and affordable life here in Bulgaria as I have often posted. Not everyone needs a big social life especially when you reach proper retirment age. I think so many people come here saying they are retiring but being only in their early 50s still need a busy working and/or social life. Where are the real 'golden oldies'? Maybe they have been put off by all the bad news which obviously sells more newspapers than good news. This has got to be the only 'nearly' civilised country that you can live on a British State Pension. I have found that village Bulgarians are far more accepting of us oldies than anywhere in UK. My family think I have a better social life in Bulgaria than I would have in England.

Good one "
olden."
You hinged on the subject of retired Brits not being able to afford to live in the UK, I believe this is a major factor for many Expats now living somewhere else in the world. We, in Turkey have plenty of retirees and after living here for a few years are struggling with the spiralling costs that the Turkish government throw at them on a regular basis. Maybe Britain in many ways have brought this fact on itself by not providing decent pensions in line with the cost of living in the UK. The British government proudly sticks it's chest out when it is portrayed as the 4th richest country in the world, but they slink into a corner when figures are published that have established that the UK pay the 4th worst pensions in all of Europe. Why should us pensioners have to subsidise the rest of the tax and benefit system?

Bulgaria will become a major power within the EU in the next few years with the extra income and property sales throughout the country from foreign buyers, not just from the UK, but from all quarters of the globe. Tourism will undoubtedly increase along with interest in promoting products in Bulgaria, exporting from Bulgaria will also grow on a regular basis and the country will emerge a strong partner :group: within the Common Market.

Itcheyfeet I love you! My sentiments entirely. Every time I think I will give up on forums because I seem out of line with everyone else, I read a post like yours that gives me hope and validity. My sponsoring of our Rockfest was just such a project to show how Brits and Bulgarians can get together and support Bulgarian villages which are struggling, love of music being international like football. I really believe in the longterm future for Bulgaria and especially the villages because there is so much potential for everyone who can afford, even in a small way, to invest in them. Not just in property but by personal involvement.
As for British pensions and the crime of not paying inflation proofed pensions in countries not 'recognised' by Britain, (as in Bulgaria prior to joining the EU), this is absurd. It has nothing to do with the cost to Britain if they allow inflation proofed UK pensions because pensioners abroad are largely saving Britain a lot of money by not claiming benefits to which they would be entitled if they still lived there. I would definitely be entitled to a lot of help if I still lived in Britain but I prefer to be independent and I now understand why so many 'oldies' don't claim anyway. Its pride in the fact that they continue to strive to support themselves. This matter of pride and independence now seems largely lost today, but I am definitely 'old school'.
I have lived abroad for many years now, I think Thatcher was still PM when I left, so I am out of date, but I do keep up with news through a weekly UK newspaper, TV and internet and I am appalled by what I read. I didn't come to live abroad by choice, but made the best of a difficult personal situation. I sometimes, look back in wonderment at how I have managed to survive and am very pleased to say that its all come right in the end and now live happily here in my new country, Bulgaria.

Well, "
oldun"
it is indeed nice to also see someone has the same outlook as ourselves. I am the better half of "
itchyfeet"
and have just celebrated my 69th birthday and am really enjoying life. However, we moved to Turkey over 3½ years ago and now could not possibly exist on 400 Euros a month. We own a 6 year old Fiat Doblo and the cost of running a car here is horrendous, the Road Tax alone is £350 a year, diesel is £1.30 a litre and the traffic insurance is cheap in comparison with those costs, the insurance cover is effectively Third Party.

Many of you living in Bulgaria have said that 400 Euros a month would give you a good sustainable living standard and I find that amazing compared with here in Turkey or anywhere else in the world. We struggle with 800 Euros a month here which also includes the cost of running our car and that is just driving locally, not going out into the country and seeing the rest of Turkey, we don't go out to restaurants every night and we don't drink ourselves silly either.

Most Brits go out once or twice a week to eat and have a drink or two with the meal. My cooking skills have excelled beyond belief since living here, when I make Pate I do 2 kilos of the stuff, tastes nice, have had good feedback!! Indian curries have also become my speciality, the culinary skills of some of the restaurants are questionable and queezy stomachs are sometimes the result, so eating at home or using a known restaurant is a good alternative. Anyone coming to Turkey and objects to eating chicken is in for big surprise, when I get out of bed the first thing I check is to see if I have grown feathers in the night or even worse laid an egg in the night!! The price of beef and lamb is the most expensive in Europe, beef is currently between 33 Lira and 48 Lira a kilo, the Lira equates to the same as the Lev in exchange for the British pound.

Some Brits have gone to great lengths to enjoy some British food that is either unavailable here or downright disgusting to eat, marmalade sold in the supermarkets is questionable and when we hold a jar up and turn it to see how thick it is the marmalade runs runs like water from one end of the jar to the other, absolutely awful!! Chutneys and pickles are also not available and the Spicy Pickle made by Pat is wonderful, Sheila makes the best marmalade I have ever tasted and she freely admits that she never made any when she lived in the UK. When I eat her marmalade on fresh bread with butter it makes my taste buds gone crazy.

Unfortunately, the Turkish government have driven costs upwards for foreigners living here, they believe that foreigners have pots of money and they are eager to have some of it!! Many Brits have already left and gone to Bulgaria from here in Altinkum and many like ourselves have their properties on the market to be sold. There are also many who are considering their future here and are making their minds up whether to stay or move. I believe the bubble has burst here, many foreigners who have come for their "
Place in the Sun"
have decided that Turkey is not for them. Of course Bulgaria will now benefit from the influx of Brits arriving by the coach load to enjoy your country and to see what Bulgaria has to offer, this is good for you and long may it continue.

What an interesting post Itchyfeet and I hope many of the Brits that are already complaining about rising prices in Bulgaria will take note. It will be quite a while before Bulgaria gets as expensive as you say it is in Turkey. Your lifestyle sounds much like ours. We stay in the village and don't run a car but use the local bus or taxi from town when I go to do a big shop. Only under 15levs for 25kms. and the drivers are helpful who know me.
I have never found our English marmalade anywhere abroad and I learnt to make my own too, having never made jam in UK although I like to cook. I now make all my jam from fruit in season because it is so easy. I think cookery books over-emphasise the difficulty of jam-making. I also make my own chutney because although the Bulgarians pickle almost everything in vinegar for the winter, they only seem to make Lutensia which is not a chutney as we know it, but more like a tomato sauce made with tomatoes and peppers. Quite nice though. We also live mostly on pork and chicken which is really tender and tasty. Better than in England I think. However, beef and lamb are in short supply and very expensive though not as expensive as Turkey. Your costs sound unbelievable. There are loads of different types of salami and sausage though I do sometimes wonder exactly what is in them. The sausages all seem very over-herbed, probably to mask the contents!! You learn which ones taste the best.
Thanks for your post because I really get so tired and angry at all the complaints from British people living here. I think their expectations of life in an eastern block country are too high. The big attraction of a cheap house soon wears off when they expect to buy English imports which are, of course, very expensive. At the risk of sounding grumpy, I really think its true that many leave their brains at the airport. After reading your post, which is almost identical to my experiences of living in Greece for years and coping with rising prices for everything post euro, I hope you sell your place soon and come here to enjoy a pleasant lifestyle in Bulgaria. I think we have a few more years yet before it gets too expensive.
Yes, you can live easily in a village on 400 euros if you don't want to be eating out all the time or driving all over the place. Our village provides as much social life as I need at my time of life though it has to be said, it might not have suited me at 50 when I was still wind-surfing and cleaning yachts on my Greek island. Nice to be away from the coast and tourism now, much as I like the sea. If I really wanted, a 3 hour coach journey (18 levs)would take me there and hotels are not expensive.

Nice to see you have joined the cooking set "
oldun"
- I really didn't go in for cooking much in the UK, but now we are in Turkey cooking at home is a must. Can you give me some idea of the cost of beef and lamb in Bulgaria, not overkeen on pork, not that I am Jewish or Muslim, only like the cracklin bit though.

You mention Brits complaining about things where you are in Bulgaria, but I believe that is a trait wherever we go to live. I don't miss anything about the UK, only the food, certainly don't miss the junk mail that arrived by the bucket full every day and don't miss people phoning me in the privacy of my own home while I am probably eating dinner and don't want to be disturbed. We enjoy the quite life more as well, living here in a tourist destination is fine all the time tourists aren't here!! Once they all start arriving for the season we wish we were somewhere in the country to get away from them all. Of course some of the restaurants begin to start charging summer prices for food and at that point they don't see us again, possibly ever, the town appears to be full of cars and no-one can park where normally do and the list goes on.

Once every 90 days we do the trek to Kos, this isn't because we want to, it's because the Turks only allow us to stay for that time with the stamp that we purchase for £10 each in our passport when we last came into the country, we have to travel to Bodrum first by a transfer vehicle and then on the ferry to Kos. This is, of course fine for some, especially for those that don't have dogs, I usually get out of bed at 5 in the morning and take the dogs for a walk before we are collected at 6.30 am!!! The journey to Bodrum takes about an hour and a half and then a wait for the ferry to fill up and we finally depart from Bodrum about 10 am and arrive in Kos about 11.20 am. We then have roughly 6 hours before the ferry leaves to return to Bodrum, this does give us a good chance to buy things we cannot get hold of in Turkey (regardless of the cost, Kos is expensive), so at the end of it all my day starts at 5 am and finishes at 9 pm, the dogs need babysitters and we also have to arrange someone to look after them and take them for a walk. All this effort is to save us money on what the Turkish government charge us for Residency Permits, currently £370 each for 12 months, this cost is more than double the cost when we first arrived in Turkey nearly 4 years ago. There is talk of the cost increasing in January by double the cost again, this will probably result in a lot more Brits selling up and going to Bulgaria.

Gosh your visit to Kos reminds me of our visit to Bucharest to get a D Visa which we knew nothing about when we left Greece. This was pre- EU and we had to apply for a Lichna Carta which was almost as costly as your resident's permit in Turkey and just as hard to get. What a rigmarole. This was our only nightmare when we came here to live and thankfully, we now have only a long stay resident's permit, which, whilst it is pretty useless as ID and we are back to using passports, at least it is cheaper and easier to get. Lichna Cartas had to be renewed each year too (at least for us, something to do with health insurance) but we won't start that discussion up again. The latest topic of unrest here is the re-registering of our 'inactive' companies which have to be set up to buy the land around the house. Supposed to be stopping in 2014 due to EU rules but Bulgaria, like Greece, are milking the cow as long as they can.
Beef prices are around 11-14levs a kilo depending on cut and could be higher if you can find fillet! Mostly I make stew with it and with long cooking is delicious. Lamb is about the same but fresh is only availabe in Spring around Easter time. If you see frozen buy it! This applies to lots of things. Bulgaria hasn't got the idea of shelf stacking yet and I think they buy by cost and not availability which would make sense in a poor country. I think this is the reason that carboots and tabletops are proliferating where enterprising Brits go to sell British goods, but at a cost. If you really miss English food this is your best bet and some deliver. There is a company on this forum I believe (Corialanus?)
Anyway, good luck with your house sale and with your house purchase in Bulgaria. Read up on where to buy because the area and village is just as important as the house with a view!

Thank you to all of you all this information is priceless no pun intended there, but its incredible how you can live on so little In Bulgaria with a little know how and you guys certainly seem to have leaned quite a lot and I'm assuming is was the Bulgarians that taught you

We certainly have learnt of the Bulgarians. Although there is a lot of info from Brits, I have to say that some of it is not always correct. The other thing is, that so much info depends on where you live and in which village, so be aware that even information given with the best of intentions from Brits,(including me!) local knowledge from the Bulgarians themselves and a lot of trial and error on your personal behalf, is the way to go. We have learnt everything for ourselves mostly because it was not available when we bought here. Even so, sometimes I learn a new thing so you never stop learning.
I have just returned from a family visit in Britain and I had a lot to learn there with all the new technology and construction everywhere.

Thank you oldun for the update and sharing your knowledge I hope you enjoyed your trip

This has been a very interesting thread for me, both the start-about living on 400 Euros a month - and the up to date Turkey info via ItchyFeet.I always enjoy Dusty's posts on village life, so thanks Oldun.

Tony and I KNOW it's possible to have a good life here on 400 Euro a month, but whenever I have mentioned this on the net or in person I get scoffed at, so thanks for posting about this as it proves we aren't the only ones managing comfortably on a small budget!I was beginning to think I was the lone voice in the wilderness, but then he and I are not ones for the latest this and that and never were, we just like a comfortable life with books to read, friends to share time with, good food and a generally chilled out lifestyle which includes the odd good party!

As regards Turkey, price hikes, and former Turkey expats moving here, the exodus has already started;
in our area of Bulgaria new arrivals started moving in around March this year from all across the Aegean - Didim, Altinkum, Davutlar, Kusadasi - and we also have some from further south;
Dalaman and Fethiye etc.

Having lived in Turkey and knowing only too well how hard life is becoming there financially, i am far from surprised to see Bulgaria moving up into pole position for those looking for an alternative. I love taking people to a big supermarket here for the first time - their eyes light up - as the choices on offer here are vast compared to Turkey and the prices minimal. Everyone inevitably overdoses on pork for the first few weeks (unavailable in Turkey) but then life settles down to a normal pace. Most of the people I know are true country lovers and have taken to village life, wellies, corner shop, donkey carts, intermittent electric and all.

I hope that those who continue to move here will - like us - appreciate the country and it's complicated history as well as it's (current) low costs. It's not enough for it to be cheap, you have to like the country too, and Bulgaria isn't for everyone.

In the meantime, i sincerely hope that the 400 Euro a month budget lasts a LONG time for all of us...

Karen
x

What a great post Abs. I too have sometimes felt a lone wolf in the wilderness and I am positive some Brits think I am eccentric. Maybe I am, but I enjoy my village life as you know and would recommend it but I have learnt to temper my enthusiasm of late because many folks coming now want, or need, so much more than I seem to. Its great that we are having an influx of new people from Turkey who appreciate what Bulgaria has to offer. Its very refreshing.
Having just returned from my family visit in UK, I can understand why it might be difficult for Brits to get into the swing of Bulgarian life, but with all the info on the forums it really shouldn't be such a shock. I was amazed at the quality of the roads, the driving, the supermarket choice, and our family meet up on the South Bank in London was amazing with all the free entertainment on offer. My first Hash run (actually us oldies did a 4 mile walk) was lovely in the Cambs countryside and the friendly ribaldry in the pub afterwards. In spite of this, I am happy to return to my village in Bulgaria and it has made me wish people wouldn't moan so much about Britain. Life is not easy anywhere and moving to a new country is really for those with the pioneering adventurous spirit (at any age!) and not those just searching for a problem free life in the sunshine.

Excellent posts here and I am enjoying the read from people who's heart is in it which can be seen from the comments above and if only more would say things like "
Life is not easy anywhere and moving to a new country is really for those with the pioneering adventurous spirit (at any age!) and not those just searching for a problem free life in the sunshine."
it would help all of us including those who are for one reason or another disillusioned I'm pleased to hear what is written here and I'm sure this will mean a lot to those who are searching and perhaps let them see that there is a positive side to Bulgaria and its not all doom and gloom as some would have us believe