Cost of living in France

Sent by Busk in March 2007

Paris France near the Bastille

Rent 1100 euros for 45 m sq.

Phone 40 euro per month

Food 200 euro per week for 2

Gas 10 euro month

Health care is free.

50% income and other taxes.

From Haute Savoie (near Chamonix)

Three bedroomed small house cost 257,000 euros (and that was apparently a bargain!)

Public Transport is good quality - daily commute to Geneva by train only 110 euros a month

> food costs around 700 euros per month for family of 4

> Healthcare costs are more because I work in Switzerland - approx 90 euros per month

> Good idea not to have electric heating - we do, and it costs a fortune - over 1000 euros per year. Ouch!

> SFR phone costs around 40 euros per month, Neuf Telecom internet and land lines (to UK also) for 34.95 per month. TV - we have Canal+ so we can flick through endless channels before finding something interesting - around 35 euros per month.

> traditional restaurant, three course meal for 2 with bottle of wine, around 60 euros.

> although my old college friends wouldn't believe me, I couldn't actually say how much a beer costs in a pub, as I spend my evenings changing nappies rather than swigging beer.

For newcomers to French, if you think that something is excessively expensive, you should shrug your shoulders in a Gallic fashion and mumble something like 'ouais mais c'est une arnaque, ça'.