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An interesting comparison, i can vouch for the Burgas costs, tho not the Edinburgh. The claim "
You would need around 2,714.82лв (1,183.69£) in Burgas to maintain
the same standard of life that you can have with 2,900.00£ in Edinburgh
(assuming you rent in both cities).
This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index."
2714 Leva for Burgas ????? surely that's not for a month! a/ i know of no-one (friends) that earn that sort of money, and b/ i've tried and cannot spend that sort of money in Burgas in one Month. I appreciate that a new car and rented accommodation is included in those figures, but they still appear on the high side. Any thoughts anyone?

I guess it depends on how people live but we live very well run our home plenty of food clothes heating not skimpt on pay for gardening then there is decorating maintainance of the house holidays camping fees and fuel electric water phones internet dogs and vet fees entertainment our hobbies the list goes on so i can only think it must be rent and credit bills that put the price up on this comparison Bernie mind you it is still cheaper to live here in BG as the 2000 odd lev is half of 2000 odd pounds

If you scroll through this list some things are deceiving or not correct or misleading. Not particularly relevant because wherever you live you have to pay what the local economy dictates and budget accordingly. Notably MacDonalds is the only one that is more expensive in Bulgaria than Edinburgh - why????

very misleading !!!

Can I ask which particular aspects are thought to be misleading?

Re McD being more expensive, then it all depends on perceived market. Out here, big US brands whose food is not in any way close to the native diet try to flood the market by making their products very very cheap - which they can afford to sustain because the potential market, once hooked, is massive. I doubt it is a similar situation over there.

Macky D's is expensive (according to my Son) in Burgas, 99 Stonks per piece for the smallest Burger, Fries and a Coke which he adds taste nothing like! Fast food seems to attract more of the pensioners than anyone else, 2 kepab or 2 slices of Pizza 1.50 Lev and a free Ariyan!!!
I find Fresh Chicken (not free range as expected), Kashkaval Cheese and "
out of season"
(imported) fruit and veg's expensive, tho in season they are for nothing, village grown tomatoes for instance, the sweetest you will find anywhere, going for 1.5-2 leva kilo.
In general Pork and Beef is relatively cheap in comparison, Lamb about the same as UK. Tho you can wash your meal down with very cheap local alcohols for next to nothing.
One thing i love in particular about Burgas, no matter where you go in the world there is a general rule, the closer you get to the Sea, the more expensive it gets, well not in Burgas it ain't!!!! You can sip all sorts of cocktails, beers and spirits eat Shopska, Tsatsa, Kartofi, Kepapche, Koofte, Svinski Rebra, Soupi and all manor of Fishes for less than in Town. More to do with the high rents in the town mefinx.
Go 5 Kms inland and indulge for even less.

Edna Bira wrote:

Macky D's is expensive (according to my Son) in Burgas, 99 Stonks per piece for the smallest Burger, Fries and a Coke which he adds taste nothing like! Fast food seems to attract more of the pensioners than anyone else, 2 kepab or 2 slices of Pizza 1.50 Lev and a free Ariyan!!!
I find Fresh Chicken (not free range as expected), Kashkaval Cheese and "
out of season"
(imported) fruit and veg's expensive, tho in season they are for nothing, village grown tomatoes for instance, the sweetest you will find anywhere, going for 1.5-2 leva kilo.
In general Pork and Beef is relatively cheap in comparison, Lamb about the same as UK. Tho you can wash your meal down with very cheap local alcohols for next to nothing.
One thing i love in particular about Burgas, no matter where you go in the world there is a general rule, the closer you get to the Sea, the more expensive it gets, well not in Burgas it ain't!!!! You can sip all sorts of cocktails, beers and spirits eat Shopska, Tsatsa, Kartofi, Kepapche, Koofte, Svinski Rebra, Soupi and all manor of Fishes for less than in Town. More to do with the high rents in the town mefinx.
Go 5 Kms inland and indulge for even less.

I can remember going into the first MacDonalds in the UK in the 1970's, it was in Princes Street in Edinburgh. We ate off of plastic plates and drank from polystyrene cups and we didn't like it one bit. At the time Wimpy's were still doing meals on real china plates and what we considered proper cups and saucers, so the experience in Macs was not overwhelming. As we left the one in Princes street I can remember uttering those immortal words "
that place will never catch on."
How wrong can you be?

You don't even get the poly plates these days..eat in or take away and it's in a cardboard box or paper wrapper!! Having said that, I quite enjoy their salads...and doughnuts!! My local Maccas has a rather wicked 'Big Tasty Picant', which is mostly salad, with a lovely spicy sauce. Mmmmmmm!

My motto...everything in excess. LOL

hi bgbaz have you tried the heinze extremely hot tomatoe ketchup it is fantastic if you like the spicy tast this is definately one for you or any one that likes it. It is great with most things and adds a great taste to speggetti bog sauces and meat ball sauces Hope you like it it's for sale in karthland by the way

now back on topic cost of living in Bulgaria is very low in comparison with any where it seems. Most things even english chedder is on the shelves bacon heinz beans all these things and at low not over inflated prices. I think the only thing unavailable with out going to an english run shop is curry sauces. It's no big deal curry is easy to make and all the pastes and spices are available here.

chrissybg wrote:

now back on topic cost of living in Bulgaria is very low in comparison with any where it seems. Most things even english chedder is on the shelves bacon heinz beans all these things and at low not over inflated prices. I think the only thing unavailable with out going to an english run shop is curry sauces. It's no big deal curry is easy to make and all the pastes and spices are available here.

Quite agree and it is also noticeable that Kauflands are getting more Brekfast cereal in on the shelves. All we need now is a decent tea and it might cut down on our amounts of food stuff we bring back from the UK

Metro for tea yorkshire tea the strong stuff or earl grey breakfast tea darjealing teas fruit tea it is all there. try their beef bacon pork frozen veg and fruit and pastries are all excellent good instore fish mongers and butcher the deli section is to dye for complete with chedder cheese and any other cheese you can think of to be honest
Boumax have fruit of the loom t shirts for sale at the moment reduced to 3.99 lev less then 2 euros each all sizes up to giant size lots of different colours just plain with out writing and pictures on so that's good for us
Try Brocki.com for furnishings really good service
all we need is a realy good arts and crafts shop and we will be made but ebay shops have got their act together and post is resonable now. Hurts when you read things for sale in pounds and euros though. No the best prices we have found world wide and we have really been world wide is the prices in Bulgaria

Thanks Chrissy, yes I am and have to agree with you..it's great. I make the spag bol in my house and everyone comes back for more, because I make the sauce with this..and a touch of my homemade cab sav. I also make a wicked maccaroni cheese (which includes a small amount of minced pork). Get it all ready, everything cooked, spread out in the oven bowl or pan, smooth it all out and add a goodly amount of the spicy sauce and spread evenly..top it off with a good covering of grated kashkaval and slow bake for about an hour at medium temp. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I must be doing something right..I've had requests from Bulgarian friends for the recipe!

Over the years I have spent a lot of time working and living in 29 different countries (according to my passports), although I have visited many more and I have to say that Bulgaria is very affordable..at the moment. One of the few things that peeves me here is the fact that you can't buy stuff like Aspirin, Nurofen, eyedrops or throat lozenges off a supermarket shelf like you can in most other places. I think they need a 'Boots' type of outlet here.