Is it cheaper to live abroad? Anyone done it?

Lived in Spain for a dozen years but moved back here after my first husband died. Healthcare was better but we had to pay through the nose for his insurance. Food - a bit cheaper. Housing a bit cheaper but generally poorly insulated and no central heating, had to pay forward con in summer and electric heating in winter (very expensive!) But loved the sunshine and had made some good friends (eventually, took some time). It was a wrench to return, but I had to get a job, and that wasn't going to happen outside the UK. Good and bad in both ways.

For pennyhapenny -- quite right re weather, and areas to live that are more 'affordable'! One other consideration is health, the NHS does valiant work for many people, but is better in some locations for certain problems.

My OH has a form of Leukemia, treatment going well, but would be most wary about moving somewhere which has a worse oncology dept?!

We had a lovely break in Shrewsbury/Ludlow area last year, thought "oooh, living here might be OK" - but heard that the hospitals there are hopeless!

If I were younger, I'd be off like a shot. But your situation/ pension is very similar to ours and I think the sensible choice is to find a part of the UK that is cheaper and suits your needs. eg Wales is lovely and parts are less expensive than the big city connurbations. You have natural beauty and/or beaches all around which cost nothing to visit. But there is more rain than most places. Lincolnshire and Norfolk are cheaper too, and have drier weather.

pascal30

Freya5

Rexdog12

Hi there. Completely agree. But the uk feels like a very unwelcoming place to live. The attitude of the police and the nhs and the public institutions all seem to be working against us it seems to me. Like as if they hold us, the public in contempt

I have never found that, maybe in big cities where everyone is fighting for space,,and crime is rife. I love visiting family in Europe, all well settled and integrated, speak the language fluently, but I would live no where else but the UK. Best of both worlds.

I have never found that the UK is unwelcoming either. I have lived abroad but the UK and particularly where I live on the South coast is very friendly and inclusive, and has masses of cultural and arts activies on offer (often free) which wasn't the case in France when I lived there.. I think we often underestimate just what a good life we have in the Uk

You are right. Even in my small neck of the woods an up and coming arts and music scene, plenty of reasonably priced community based activities. We are up North too. ☺

Freya5

Rexdog12

Hi there. Completely agree. But the uk feels like a very unwelcoming place to live. The attitude of the police and the nhs and the public institutions all seem to be working against us it seems to me. Like as if they hold us, the public in contempt

I have never found that, maybe in big cities where everyone is fighting for space,,and crime is rife. I love visiting family in Europe, all well settled and integrated, speak the language fluently, but I would live no where else but the UK. Best of both worlds.

I have never found that the UK is unwelcoming either. I have lived abroad but the UK and particularly where I live on the South coast is very friendly and inclusive, and has masses of cultural and arts activies on offer (often free) which wasn't the case in France when I lived there.. I think we often underestimate just what a good life we have in the Uk

Regarding climate, I do think it is relevant that the Gulf Stream (for the time being!) keeps the UK relatively temperate and free from weather extremes.

I am sorry to say that I feel, like Rexdog, that the UK is broken. Individuals are doing their best, and I salute them, but everything feels patchy and uncertain. However, I could never even consider anywhere else.

Rexdog12

Hi there. Completely agree. But the uk feels like a very unwelcoming place to live. The attitude of the police and the nhs and the public institutions all seem to be working against us it seems to me. Like as if they hold us, the public in contempt

I have never found that, maybe in big cities where everyone is fighting for space,,and crime is rife. I love visiting family in Europe, all well settled and integrated, speak the language fluently, but I would live no where else but the UK. Best of both worlds.

I live in Costa Del Sol. I am 62 and my husband is 67 and has a comfortable pension. We have lived here for 15 months. We went through a lawyer to get our non-lucrative visas. It cost around €7000 but we had unusual circumstances (my husband lived in Canada for about 45 years; I am British).
We rent right now until we find a place where we want to settle. The rent is quite high but we live in a place we couldn’t afford to buy.
On the whole, it’s cheaper to live in Spain.
Apart from that, the weather is fabulous and we have a very outdoor, healthy life. I speak a bit of Spanish (which is really appreciated) and we have signed up for (free) Spanish lessons with the local town hall. It’s not a must; I know lots of people here who don’t speak much Spanish, so it’s not a barrier to living here.
Spain has a fantastic landscape - real natural beauty.
We had to get private health insurance as a requirement of the NLV, but it works out at €20 a week each, and there is no waiting, beautiful hospitals and excellent care. My husband had an accident six months ago and only waited two days to have a hip replacement.
I love it here but I do miss my family in the U.K., but I go back for birthdays and holidays, and of course they come over here quite often. Budget airlines have all sorts of offers and sell offs, so it’s realistic to go back and forth. It’s very depressing in the U.K., in my opinion. I am always glad to come home.
Apart from my family, I don’t miss anything about the U.K.
Waking up to a blue sky most mornings lifts the soul. It might not be important to everyone, but it is to me. I have become so much fitter and healthier here, and I have taken up several interests and met plenty of people. I am hoping my family come out to live here one day, but until then we’ll make it work.

I know quite a few people who live in France and keep a UK property to use as a base when they visit, so the house is empty for the majority of the time. What a waste.

I think what I mean is that if I am going to properly live abroad I don't want a get-out option or I wouldn't be throwing myself 100% into the whole idea.

Yes, it's interesting how different people make different things work M0nica. Firstly I would never buy anywhere cheaper, but always try to move up, so if it came to selling I could recoup enough. We bought a rural hamlet in France,but realising property prices wouldn't increase there at the same rate as the UK, we also bought an appartement in a posh French seaside resort so our finances were safe. That latter property saved the day.

In my turn Joseann I disagree. I had a friend who did that within the UK. In retirement she moved from the South East to Yorkshire, a region not unknown to her, hence the move.

The move was a a complete disaster, but having burnt her boats, sold a house in the south and bought a much cheaper one in the north, plus funding the move, she could not afford to move back and this disastrous move was, I will always believe, a prime contributor to her premature death, only 3 years later.

Like all her friends we had advised her to rent out her house down south and rent for a year in her chosen area, so that if it did go wrong, she could regroup and rethink, but she was absoutely certain she was doing the right thing and wouldn't listen.

I disagree with the "rent your house, keep a bolthole back home in case" philosophy, because if you're committed enough to move abroad you need to go the whole hog and not have your heart in two places. But that's just me.

Rexdog12

Nandad, i agree it is a worry to move and burn your bridges. I too know of ppl who cant afford to come back to uk. That is scary. For this reason think would rent uk house and rent somwhere for a while. This way can get feel for different places

"rent uk house and rent somewhere for a while". I know a couple who opted for this, but now have problems trying to evict their tenants. In the end they now have a camper van, which really cannot be a permanent solution.

I think that must have been issues related to that particular house Mamma66. We have moved twice (the second time during Covid) and it all went through pretty smoothly. I especially like the "compromis" arrangement, so you don't get people backing out at the last minute without a financial penalty, also buying "au prix" so a full-price offer must be accepted with no gazumping. There is a lot of paperwork, but a good estate agent and notaire should help you through that.
I also don't agree about French taxes being higher. Our income taxes would be more in the UK and our council tax for a three bedroom, two bathroom house near a major town is 500€ a year.

My late parents worked very hard and consequently were in the fortunate position of being able to retire at 50. Having loved France they had holidayed there every year. They bought a house in rural France (very cheap) but retained their U.K. house. They lived in France for half the year for the next 25 years.

Dad absolutely loved it. Mum confessed to me after many years that although she loved France she missed being away from my brothers and I and her Grandchildren - even though we would all go to France too in summer. Our last time in France together was in 2011 and was wonderful.

Mum became ill and sadly died in 2012 (in the U.K.). Dad would occasionally go to France with my brothers, but never back to the house as it didn’t feel right without Mum. He made the decision to sell the house. What they don’t tell you is that the French legal system in relation to selling houses is murderously slow and complex (even with my elder brother being a partner in a U.K. law firm). It took us years (literally) to sell the house.

If you wanted to come back to the U.K. for any reason, please bear in mind that if you sell your U.K. home returning to the U.K. might not be that easy. Also, you still have to pay all the water rates etc. in France whilst the sale is going through.

Mum and Dad loved France and were happy there, but having experienced their lunatic process of selling property, I would never buy there myself. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

You could try Ireland. Not cheap but after 4 years you could get an EU passport.

I moved to New Zealand 6 years after my husband died to be near my son and grandchildren. I moved about an hour away from them to be independent and give them space. I was very lucky as the move went smoothly. The down side of course is once you are on your own it can feel very lonely. Certain things are more expensive ie cat food. I am lucky as I joined a church and we are like a family. Before hand I went on holiday with family to try the life and it’s wonderful I am so very lucky.

Go for a holiday. Ie self catering to get an idea of costs, especially health insurance,

Good luck with your decision

I took my three cats with me too which helped.

I lived in Menorca and then France, for over 25 years;;;;loved them both ...but living in France now is difficult for a non EU person, following BREXIT ...you need a minimum level of income (a basic state UK pension is not regarded as sufficient to live on in France)...you need medical insurance, registration with the French impots, an application for residency, and taxes are VERY high, especially for 'foreigners'. I left France after my husband died during the Brexit process, and some things I miss but chose to live near a city here, as rural France, although great for us, would have been difficult as you get older and have to stop driving (licence is for LIFE in France, not 70 and then re apply !) there is NO transport system for kms around ! Health Service was EXCELLENT ....were provided with everything (as I said, you have to have compulsory medical insurance)....taxis were provided free of charge to hospital appointments (our biggest city hospitals, in Bordeaux, were over 100km away ...so you can imagine the cost to the French health service !)....even an electric riser/recliner chair when my husband had Parkinsons, was free on prescription ! Would I move back ? yes but would have to be somewhere nearer to a town or city with transport systems .......once you have done extensive research, and definitely learned French, then why not ! We get one life !

Some very interesting points on here, re the various aspects of such a move. But then I found this really daft one, from 'Skate' which said :- "Only one thought - too blinking hot!! Bad enough in the UK on some summer days, but Spain?? No thanks!! The climate anywhere else but the UK would make it impossible to contemplate a move.".

WHAT??? "Climate anywhere else but the UK would make it impossible"? Total twaddle - ruling out the entire rest of the planet due to extremely ill-informed guff re weather patterns?!

Sure, lots of places are too hot, or too cold, but plenty have no more issues than here. Northern Portugal & Spain are on avg just slightly warmer than here, less chance of the cold winter spells we can get, and a higher rainfall that the touristy south, so greener and more pleasant scenery. Holland & Denmark are terrific countries, well organised and civilised, and generally quite grateful to us re WW2. They have very similar weather to here (I've no idea re EU entry issues, I doubt they get many Brits asking?). Further across Europe, northern Italy can get cold, but no worse than here unless you're up an alp. Croatia, Montenegro, etc, wouldn't get the same summer heat as the likes of Cyprus and Malta, winter avgs are fine.

Further afield, sure, Australia is often too hot (and/or humid) but Tasmania is fine, and so generally is New Zealand (the accent may get you though?!).

And across the Atlantic, much of USA and Canada gets too hot, or too cold, but lots of the west coast is perfectly temperate, from the likes of Vancouver and Victoria Island down to Southern California, where perhaps San Diego would be perfectly OK for us Brits.

Oh, and I forgot the Azores and Madeira, perfectly equable for us. And I expect some South Sea islands would be fine too?! Hope that helps.

greetings fro m Northern Provence. It obvs depends of where you are in a country, but here property is much much cheaper that the SE England - hard to compare as so dissimilar, but, f or example, a 4 bed/2 sitting room with land would be about E300k. Brexit was awful, but the French authorities now have it sorted. It cost around £3k for required papers, changing car plates etc. When you have residency you will have access to the health system, which, while not as good as it was, is very much better than the UK. Ins for this is around E40pm. Food is of a much much higher quality, somethings are cheaper (fruit and veg in season) and some are the same, and some more expensive. Overall, I would say expenditure is around the same, but the quality very much better. The only caveat I would suggest is it would be insane to move anywhere where you don't speak the language or were prepared to learn. You do not want to be in one of those dreadful English ghettos who meet for rosé and a whinge every evening at the apéro hour! The Internet has transformed out life here - we can speak easily to family and friends int he UK, and can access all UK tv channels and streaming services. Returns to the UK are fast and cheap with the excellent railways. If you decide to do it there are many orgs who can help you with the logistics for France and, I would guess, with other EU countries . Best of luck!

I lasted one year, two weeks, four days (I have forgotten the hours and minutes) when I emigrated. My late fiancé who lived all over the world during his working life said "If you ignore the politics there is no country in the world that has better geography, history, climate or people than the British Isles.

We became Spanish residents under the Withdrawal Agreement in 2021 but only actually went to live there in January this year. We have had a holiday home there since 2006 and are both now 73 & 76. The main reason we took up residency is because our son, daughter in law and young family live in the Netherlands and visiting them as often as we would like, coupled with using our home in Spain would have been too complicated with the 90 day rule following Brexit.
Our health care is excellent in Spain and because we draw a British state pension it is paid for on a reciprocal agreement with the NHS. I would say that supermarket shopping is roughly the same price and utilities not much cheaper. What’s far cheaper though is our Community charge which is about a quarter of what we pay in the U.K. We do still keep a property in the U.K. but rent it out to supplement our income as flights now within Europe are very expensive. Obviously the weather is an asset and we have far more of an outdoor life than we had in the U.K. We cycle, walk every day play Padel and play golf now and again. We go to Spanish classes once a week and do our homework. All in all we have a very fulfilling life and our neighbours are English Dutch Norwegian and Spanish and we all live in harmony and help each other out when required.
I’d say give it a try but definitely keep your home in the U.K. and rent wherever you decide to live. Carpe Diem.

What about the Philippines?
www.expatriatehealthcare.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-living-in-the-philippines/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20advantages%20of,lower%20than%20in%20the%20UK.

How some portion of the native population - clarification