色花堂

@lewisdeb181

It sounds like a nice dream of the Bulgarian "Good Life"! My village neighbours have lives very much as you describe, with every m2 of their gardens devoted to fruits, veggies, nuts and various livestock. And they're probably scraping by on Bulgarian pensions (and maybe a bit of help from their adult children). There are many expats who have found a nice house in a nice village and similarly enjoy a simple Bulgarian lifestyle.

I'm just not sure how feasible it is on 100k of savings. It depends on how cheaply you can live and how much income you have on top (or how soon your pension kicks in). Or whether you can sneakily do some remote work to sweeten the pot.

However, the immediate issue is how to get legal residency. It's very easy for pensioners, but for youngsters with a bit of cash (but no pension) it's a lot less straightforward. Whereas, popular Mediterranean options Spain (NLV) and Portugal (D7) have residence visas that work for both categories.

The Bulgarian minimum wage is now around 500 euros pm, so this gives you some benchmark for both incomes and costs. It's still the poorest (and cheapest) country in the EU, However, I suspect it's a mighty struggle unless you make substantially more than this. We probably spend 800 euros just on our supermarket shopping (admittedly, we eat very well, and we have no free stuff from the garden).

Hi Debs! What Gywn said! I commented on the other post where you asked about visas before seeing this.

Your dream sounds wonderful! It's not impossible to live on a very low income in the country, plenty of Bulgarian pensioners do it. But it's unlikely to be an easy life without money! If you are willing to work hard on your land to grow food and live very very simply, it can be done, but it's pretty much a full time job doing that. In our village many of the elderly people have no choice but to keep working hard growing food well into their seventies and eighties, because their pension is so low. What one gets back can also be very dependent on outside factors like weather no matter how hard someone works. One of the things I loved about my village house when I first saw it was the peach tree at the front gate, dripping with delicious peaches. But last year, the tree had very little fruit, and this year the hard winter seems to have killed it completely. No plums this year either, the winter killed the fruit buds, and very few cherries. It's been a spring with no blossom. If I was relying on the garden to eat, that means no fruit until autumn, when hopefully there will be some grapes, and the quince, inedible unless cooked but always reliable, is ripe enough to use.

For the question about food prices, have a look at some of the supermarket sites like or . Some things are cheaper, some things are not a lot different to the UK. To live on a budget, shopping at the market and buying what is cheap and in season rather than the supermarket, and eating as little processed food as possible lowers costs.聽 Buying up on store cupboard things when the supermarkets do loss leader sales also helps -- my neighbour gets all the brochures so she can plan what to buy in bulk that week.

Other costs -- council tax is likely to be dramatically less in a village house, probably less than the equivalent of 50GBP a year depending on the village. Water may well be cheaper, and there won't be a sewage cost because most village houses aren't connected, they have a septic tank or cess pit. You will need water to grow those veggies, and that can add to the cost if the house doesn't have a water well. Electricity is a bit cheaper but maybe not a lot less, depending on the region. Gas is not available in most villages, except for Calor gas. I'm told the price of firewood for heating has risen steeply, but that varies by region. too.

Unfortunately 100,000 GBP may not last you as long as you would like. The village house is very likely to need repairs, and furniture and appliances shown in agents' listings may well be broken or not work. You'll need tools to make that veggie garden. So when the costs of making the house liveable and moving there are factored in, you probably will have quite a bit less than 100,000 GBP left to live on. It make the money last longer, you're probably going to need some other form of income. It's unlikely you'll be able to get a permit to work there and if you do, wages there are low. Some sort of remote work might be an option.

We intend to move permanently to Bulgaria to do a very similar "simple village living" thing once I reach retirement age, but we'll have my UK pension and also some other regular income coming in, as well as what we have left over from selling our little UK house. Even though by the time we move our village house should be renovated and fully furnished, I wouldn't want to try moving there with just what we'll have from our house sale and no income. OTOH, I'm older now, when I was 48, I probably would have jumped in and given ot a go! But it's wise to consider some long term planning -- what you'll do when the money runs out, how you'll ensure you have some retirement income, etc. It does change the planning rather a lot if you do just want to do this till the money runs out and then return to the UK vs living in Bulgaria for the rest of your life.

Rather than money, the biggest immediate issue if you want to move full-time rather than just have a summer home will be qualifying for residency. Not to be completely discouraging, but it's not as easy as it used to be to move, no matter what the estate agents ads say. First step is to apply for a D visa, then with that, one can apply for residency, initially annually for five years and then one can get permanent residency. But getting that D visa to begin with is a challenge. This is the same link I shared on the other post, where an immigration lawyer clearly sets out the grounds to get a D visa, and the steps in the process: Before making more plans, look carefully at this and think about how you will qualify for that visa. If you can't see your route to getting the visa, the other option is to buy a village house and just spend summers there; or half time there, half time in the UK working. Brits can stay 90 days per 180 without needing a visa.

I hope that helps!

@lewisdeb181

Growing veg and fruit is very easy. What is hard work unless it's an established plot of land you have a lot of ground work to do just to prepare the garden.

Even if it's just to over turn the soil with a folk, remember you will be without veggies for the first season because you will be growing from scratch. So the first year you will be buying from the shop.

Another thing to consider is what actual grows. i.e the type of soil, so it can be hit or miss In what grows so could be longer......

If you have to plant fruit trees, remember it will be a good few years until they do produce fruits for you.

As for having goats, or any animals for that matter you have the added costs of buying feed, bedding for them, and vet fees.

I would certainly recommend you do your homework and read up on caring, raising goats possibly buy some growing vegetables books.

Oh and don't forget you will also need health insurance, mobile phone. Little things like this all add up, so as much as 拢100,000 sounds a lot now, the first couple of years can really eat away at it.

I would also read the forums past topics because a lot of useful information can be found.

Living cost in Bulgaria is not as cheap as it used to be and starting from next year the country will soon become a Eurozone. Freedom of movements and goods and single currency will jet up the price levels of every product to be aligned with other member states gradually and eventually.

Assuming you have 拢100,000 in hand, the saving interest rate say 4% per year, the interest income is 拢4,000 that is 拢333 per month to spend without eating up the principal.

Assuming you budget 拢1,000 to spend monthly, 拢100,000 (without taking into the interest income) is just an equivalent of 100 months (i.e. 8.33 years) of expenses. You are 48 years old; and it may not be sufficient until you reach your pension age if you have.

If the property in the UK can yield a higher income to rent it out, let's say 拢500 a month, then I would say this may be a better option to keep the UK property because you do not want to burn your bridges behind before you become a permanent resident or a Bulgarian citizen. We all know that the immigration rules always change in every country.

@lewisdeb181

You will find it difficult because of the Visa situation if you hold the UK passport. You won鈥檛 qualify for a retirement one.聽 I doubt that money would last too long, it鈥檚 cheaper here but not that cheap. Food is not dissimilar to GB in price, fuel slightly cheaper but all this could increase once they change to the Euro. Yes, you don鈥檛 have massive utility bills and they vary a lot. We are lucky as we are in process of getting retirement one. What would you do when your savings were gone as you would still have many years before getting your pension?

It's also worth noting that there's no Personal Allowance on income tax here, so you'll be paying a flat 10% on every stotinka of your taxable income; at the moment (unlike almost every other EU country) state and most other pensions aren't taxable, but the government is always looking out for additional sources of revenue, so don't discount the possibility of forking out 10% of that as and when. ..

Numbeo will give you an idea of what things cost in various countries - you may find it enlightening (or depressing 馃榿).

I bought two large sliced loaves one wholemeal and one while and a large bottle ( 3 litres of) cola for 5.40 lev聽 exchange rate in the nearest city Mall was 2.27 pounds to the lev on Monday afternoon . We were very lucky to get residency cards before Brexit came into effect and will soon be eligible for ten year cards. We paid about 28k for our village house in 2017 but we've found it really hard to get builders, gardeners and so on.

@Kath948381

"Sliced loaves"?聽 You do know that even Lidl sells "real" bread here? 馃槑

Debs, I hope we didn't scare you off! There's a lot to consider, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Just that you going to need to do a lot more planning to find a way to make it work.

The visa is the biggest challenge, far more so than the finances. So first, focus on that. Or plan for part time in Bg, part time in the Bg.

@lewisdeb181

Yes, you can live on your 100 000 pounds for quite a long time. The amount is approximately equivalent to 230 000 BGN. Your monthly cost s will be approximately 1500 to 2000 BGN, which gives you between 10 and 13 years, if no other sources of income appear and prices remain unchanged.

A loaf of bread approximately 2 BGN

1 kilo of pork is approximately 12 |BGN

1 kilogram tomatoes costs about 8 BGN

A bottle of wine is between 8 and 40 BGN

In smaller places prices will be a bit lower.

Those prices are about to change with the adoption of the euro. We expect about 15 % increase next year.

@kristiann

A kilo of tomatoes is 8 leva and wine also starts at 8?聽 I certainly don't pay that much for tomatoes and a 1 litre bottle of reasonable Hungarian wine is about 5 leva chez Lidl... 馃槑

@kristiann

A loaf of bread in the UK is 拢0.75, which is 1.73 leva.

A kilo of pork in the UK is 拢3.79, which is 8.76 leva.

A kilo of tomatoes in the UK is 拢4.44, which is 10.27 leva.

A bottle of wine in the UK is 拢7, which is 16.18 leva.

Not everything in Bulgaria is cheaper than UK. This depends on a number of factors, such as location, economy of scale and the cost of logistics...etc.

@OrientalPlovdiv

A loaf of bread in the UK is 拢0.75

Thats for cheap rubbish. If you want quality its double the price.

@OrientalPlovdiv

A kilo of tomatoes in the UK is 拢4.44

Plumb tomatoes 拢0.74 300g (拢2.47/办驳)

Prices are going to vary depending what is in season and whether one shops in a supermarket or the local market. For a number of things, supermarkets in the UK are cheaper. Often lower quality, but cheaper.

The problem I see with @kristiann's calculation how long Debs money will last is that it's not allowing for prices going up, though he mentions the transition to the EUR as likely to be inflationary. Prices have risen massively in the past ten years without the EUR effect. I think anyone calculating what income they need or how long a sum of money will last would be wise to factor in fairly significant ongoing inflation. Currently for Bulgaria that's predicted to be 4%, which will obviously have a compounding effect over ten years, too.

OTOH, in five years time her garden and fruit trees should be in full production and the necessary expenses of the early years in her house on tools, repairs, furniture will be behind her, so her spend could still be much the same despite inflation. If she has social media skills, she may be able to monetise her Bulgarian project, too, and have a small extra income from YouTube, a Substack, or other social media.

The key question is what happens when the money runs out. She's not yet pension age, and he won't get a full state pension, anyway, as that requires 35 years paying in. But she could certainly have an interesting adventure in the meantime.

@janemulberry

There's a small portion of one of my sentences, saying

"if no other sources of income appear and prices remain unchanged."

I believe that gives room both for factoring inflation and income change. If s.o. wants to play with this ... 馃懣 However I personally find this quite pointless.

The way the suggestions came in here , from our esteemed聽 members聽 , it really reminds of the the great singer John Lenon siging " Imagine ----

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people

Livin' for today

Great going folks !!!!

Bye

Param

The way the suggestions came in here , from our esteemed members , it really reminds of the the great singer John Lenon siging " Imagine ----
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Great going folks !!!!
Bye
Param - @PSSA

???

Enjoy the trip wherever, and whyever, you're off to...馃槑

Every time I come back to this thread I smile wryly - one thing that "country living" in any country, and especially in Bulgaria, ISN'T is "easy"!

Growing food on any serious scale is bl@@dy hard work, and keeping animals only adds to that: every time we're in the village helping my wife's parents with the garden, picking crops etc I'm reminded of that reality - and we don't see the vast majority of the really tough bits. I'm certainly well acquainted with just HOW tough it can be - having lived alone off-grid high on a mountain with no mains water or electricity, and single-handedly felling large oak and beech trees for fuel soon teaches you a few lessons about all varieties of energy conservation - as does persuading the local wild boar that my vegetable garden isn't their food bank (although to be fair, some of them were mine - and very tasty too! 馃槑)

I guess that Felicity Kendall still has a lot to answer for.....馃榿

It's a very sweet dream. So sad that an easy life in the country is only possible with money to back it up. A good life in the country is still possible, but not without a lot of work.

I see how hard my neighbour works in her garden and chicken yard. It's dawn to dusk from now until the end of autumn, with just a few short breaks.