Moving to Morocco

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

Hi,

Relocating the end of next year to Morocco, probably Asilah.

I am in touch with an estate agent in Asilah who will find me a property within my budget.

We are on a tight budget at the moment of roughly £400 pounds per Month for just over 5 years until one of our State Pension kicks in....th other Pension comes 3 years after...when we can make up for it and live like kings!

Do you think this budget is possible/doable? We realise we will not be able to have luxuries for a good few years....but we just want to get out of the rat race in England...we are getting older and the retirement age keeps getting further and further away,.....life's too short.

I suppose I'm just looking for a little bit of reassurance.

We do not own our own home.....but we have lots of possessions...which I hope to sell...to bump up our finances slightly...so hopefully we will have a bit more cash to play with when we move.

Anyone out there who thinks we can do this?

Thanks.

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Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

Hi,
Yes....it includes renting a property....everything. We can rent a property in Asilah for 1500 to 1700 Mad....the rest would be for utilities...food etc. Not a lot I know....but hey ...I would rather live there frugally for a few years...than live in England with massive bills and terrible weather!

GuestPoster1254 Guest

0POSTS

9 years ago

I wasn't sure on the prices of rent but I think you will be fine on the figures you said. Electric and water is probably about £30 a month. Meat is a bit expensive but if you shop for the food at the local markets I'm sure you will be fine. Go for it, I hope to do so one day. Nice weather, happy people; a bit different from England!!

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

Ha ha..

Thank you, yes...life's a gamble...and I'm up for that!

Yeah next year can't come soon enough for me....lots to sort out before then though.

Keep in touch.

Where are you based ATM?

GuestPoster1254 Guest

0POSTS

9 years ago

I'm in Leicester, wifes family is in marrakech so go when ever I can. Yes keep in touch and let me know how you get on

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

Yes,

Will do,

Thanks. X

GuestPoster1254 Guest

0POSTS

9 years ago

I just remembered a friend of mine told me it cost him about £5000 a year for himself, wife and four children to rent/eat/live in fez

1 member reacted to this post

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

Wow....now that's interesting.....and also good to know in my position.

Thank you!

aytacd Member

1POSTS

9 years ago

#10

I am living in Morocco since 2012. As a foregnier I may be more helpfull.
It will be so much hard to live with 5000 mad, I think you need to reconsider your monthly budget. Of course there are people living with monthly 2400mad but they are local, they have some other hands and facilities.
If you can always cook at home or eat in the places as like locals (close eyes) food is not expensive, you sure will learn how and where to shop. But if you like to eat outside, in clean places, you will need money.
Electricity is expensive.
I can not give you a clear information about rental cost because depends where you live. Changes street to street.
Asillah is a great place, there are lots of foreigners there and also you may check agadir. Never had been there but heard to much. Never come to Casa

)
Everything will cost you more in first few years,to avoid that you will need an advisor friend. Prices changes depending you are local or new froreigner

)

Tell me what do you wanna know more?

HassanMehdia Member

17POSTS

9 years ago

#11

Morocco is a great place to live but trying to do it on £400 will be difficult. You should have an emergency fund amounting to six months of expenses saved.
What will you do for medical? Prescriptions are not cheap and access to a good doctor and nice clinic will cost. There is no national health insurance like the UK.
It gets cold here, under 4 deg C at times and the coast is damp. The masonary houses hold the cold and are not insulated. What will you do for heat? Most Moroccans tough it out with heavy clothes and blankets but it can be miserable. Electric heating is expensive. The catalytic butane heaters in the small cabinates put out moisture and are dangerous. Kerosene stoves are around but have to be vented. Most places cannot accommodate them. And kerosene here is not well refined and the heaters smell. You will need a place with south facing windows that catch the sun and the windows have to be opened on sunny days to carry out the damp, moist air.
Window screens are unusual but a necessary addition if you live in Asilah which has an estuary or you will driven crazy by the mosquitos.
As mentioned before electricity isn't cheap. £30 a month seems low. Double that or more. You will also have a water bill. Don't forget about gas bottles. You may go through 2-3 a month for hot water and cooking.
Older apartments may not have light fixtures, either a bare bulb or nothing. They may not have a water heater. Many do not have closets. What will you do for furniture? You will need carpets for the ceramic floors. You may have to install your own satellite tv. Many places do not have kitchen stoves or refrigerators or clothes washers. Clothes are hung out to dry. Dryers are too expensive to run. There are no coin laundries.
You will want Internet access which requires a landline and modem rental. You will need a mobile phone. WiFi calling has been turned back on so that lowers the expense of calling home.
Fuel is as expensive as the UK. Know the restrictions for importing a car or the cost of buying one here. There will be car insurance and mechanical upkeep.
Fresh local food is inexpensive and good but meat can be pricey. There are supermarkets but many items cost the same as Europe.
Best of luck.

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

#12

Hi,

Thanks for posting.

Your input is very informative! This is the stuff we need to know.

We may be coming in a van....maybe a friend will drive us...not sure about this yet. If we do then we will bring things from uk...that will make life a bit more comfortable at the beginning.

We will have a budget and we will have to stick to it. Hopefully if things work out then we will have slightly more than £400 a month.

We will only have to live like this for approx 5 ish years until our pensions kick in....then we will have more cash to play with.

Thanks for your help.

shahrukh khan Active member

74POSTS

9 years ago

#13

I understand your situation and positive attitude to come out of box. Morocco is good choice when it comes to weather. You can also choose a remote village near to the sea and you can cut down expenses with same weather and same food. So many people have already posted good replies, you can also find expats like you who are retired and living in Morocco for same reason as yours.

Have a great life.

shaanni New member

8POSTS

9 years ago

#14

Hi
I have been a member for ages but haven't sent a post in a long time. Just been enjoying reading! However reading your story dogcat I just had to reply!
Just wanted to encourage you with our story.... we left the uk nearly 2 years ago now to get out of the rat race. I have a very small budget too. People said to me that I would never be able to do it. You can do it trust me! Before brexit it was cheaper as we were getting nearly 15dh for a pound and then we could live on £300 a month. Now we only get 11 or 12 dh for a pound so that has hit us and we now spend £350 a month.
We are a family of 6 by the way! Living in Fes. Our apartment costs 2000dh a month and we spend about 250dh a month on water and electricity. We have no hot water... we boil a couple of kettles of water, mix it with cold and jug it over our heads while sat in the bath 😆. From about may to October it's very hot in Fes so cold showers then! My daily food budget for 6 is 50dh. We have bread and jam or a croissant for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, afternoon tea with biscuits or pancakes, a cooked hearty dinner usually a tajine style main dish with bread or rice or pasta and then sometimes a little treat after of nuts or crisps or on Fridays it's a cake from the patisserie! I usually have a Mille feuille full of custard and only 3dh! We eat chicken, turkey or beef usually only once a week, normally on a Friday with couscous. Vegetables are very cheap and very tasty. Dried beans and lentils are very popular here and we eat them once or twice a week. We also eat loads of fruit too....little oranges are now only 3dh a kilo.
Oh I'm so excited for you...it brings back memories of when we were planning and then eventually started out.
Oh and I forgot...heating, we have a little halogen heater when it's really cold...Fes is VERY cold in winter. We shut up every thing after dusk and then live out the evening in one room. Hot water bottles and fluffy pjs help too!
Oh best of luck to you. You will love that feeling of actually breaking free. Xxx

Mozartbailey Active member

54POSTS

9 years ago

#15

shaani I do admire you. But is it truly enjoyable with minimum facilities. Also holidaying is one thing but how do you integrate n communicate daily.

Mozartbailey Active member

54POSTS

9 years ago

#16

Dogcat I do admire you for your sense of adventure. Where is Asilah. I visit agadir and marrakech. And I know of fez tangier casa essaouira

shaanni New member

8POSTS

9 years ago

#17

Yes it is true happiness! I think living with less is good. I have never in my 45 years really had decent facilities anyway wherever I have lived so I'm not really accustomed to luxury (or what a lot would see as normality! )
As for how we fit in to the community... despite being the only English people in the area we totally blend in. My kids all look Moroccan and so do I 😁. Each trip in or out at Moroccan passport control I have to be questioned several times as to my " true" ethnic origin. They never believe I'm just British... they probably write deluded nutcase on the back of the form 😆
I can speak French so that was my starting point with communication. I'm now ok to have a simple chat with the neighbours and go and get my shopping ( speaking darija). My younger children because of playing out are pretty good with the language and if I have to go and do something a bit more technical I'll take one of them to translate 😆.
The little community around has totally taken us in. We know lots of people now. The children have gained so much from the experience too. Moroccan people are a special breed, quiet, gentle, accepting and incredibly generous.

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

#18

Hi Motzartbailey,

Well...what can I say...life is an adventure and a gamble.

In England...prices are escalating so quickly. I am renting in Devon and have lived here for thirteen years. It's lovely, but time for a change.

Morocco is so much cheaper...and I think, a better quality of life (better weather thrown in for free).

Asilah is not that far from Tangier, on the map it's to the right of Tangier.

We are hoping to move towards the end (maybe slightly earlier) of next year.

Personally I can't wait.

Mozartbailey Active member

54POSTS

9 years ago

#19

Dogcat, I salute you. Devon is lovely and you currently have welfare state backing- access to doctors surgeons free. You can see my anxieties in this regard. Why Tangier area as opposed to Agadir? I admire your confidence truly.

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

#20

Asilah is a lovely place...by the coast...it's just different.
It has an Art Festival held there every July.

It is a truly lovely place, it's quite.

joob76 Active member

44POSTS

9 years ago

#21

jeepers creepers, sounds like a horror movie script to me

HassanMehdia wrote:
Morocco is a great place to live but trying to do it on £400 will be difficult. You should have an emergency fund amounting to six months of expenses saved.
What will you do for medical? Prescriptions are not cheap and access to a good doctor and nice clinic will cost. There is no national health insurance like the UK.
It gets cold here, under 4 deg C at times and the coast is damp. The masonary houses hold the cold and are not insulated. What will you do for heat? Most Moroccans tough it out with heavy clothes and blankets but it can be miserable. Electric heating is expensive. The catalytic butane heaters in the small cabinates put out moisture and are dangerous. Kerosene stoves are around but have to be vented. Most places cannot accommodate them. And kerosene here is not well refined and the heaters smell. You will need a place with south facing windows that catch the sun and the windows have to be opened on sunny days to carry out the damp, moist air.
Window screens are unusual but a necessary addition if you live in Asilah which has an estuary or you will driven crazy by the mosquitos.
As mentioned before electricity isn't cheap. £30 a month seems low. Double that or more. You will also have a water bill. Don't forget about gas bottles. You may go through 2-3 a month for hot water and cooking.
Older apartments may not have light fixtures, either a bare bulb or nothing. They may not have a water heater. Many do not have closets. What will you do for furniture? You will need carpets for the ceramic floors. You may have to install your own satellite tv. Many places do not have kitchen stoves or refrigerators or clothes washers. Clothes are hung out to dry. Dryers are too expensive to run. There are no coin laundries.
You will want Internet access which requires a landline and modem rental. You will need a mobile phone. WiFi calling has been turned back on so that lowers the expense of calling home.
Fuel is as expensive as the UK. Know the restrictions for importing a car or the cost of buying one here. There will be car insurance and mechanical upkeep.
Fresh local food is inexpensive and good but meat can be pricey. There are supermarkets but many items cost the same as Europe.
Best of luck.

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

#22

joob76 wrote:
jeepers creepers, sounds like a horror movie script to me

HassanMehdia wrote:
Morocco is a great place to live but trying to do it on £400 will be difficult. You should have an emergency fund amounting to six months of expenses saved.
What will you do for medical? Prescriptions are not cheap and access to a good doctor and nice clinic will cost. There is no national health insurance like the UK.
It gets cold here, under 4 deg C at times and the coast is damp. The masonary houses hold the cold and are not insulated. What will you do for heat? Most Moroccans tough it out with heavy clothes and blankets but it can be miserable. Electric heating is expensive. The catalytic butane heaters in the small cabinates put out moisture and are dangerous. Kerosene stoves are around but have to be vented. Most places cannot accommodate them. And kerosene here is not well refined and the heaters smell. You will need a place with south facing windows that catch the sun and the windows have to be opened on sunny days to carry out the damp, moist air.
Window screens are unusual but a necessary addition if you live in Asilah which has an estuary or you will driven crazy by the mosquitos.
As mentioned before electricity isn't cheap. £30 a month seems low. Double that or more. You will also have a water bill. Don't forget about gas bottles. You may go through 2-3 a month for hot water and cooking.
Older apartments may not have light fixtures, either a bare bulb or nothing. They may not have a water heater. Many do not have closets. What will you do for furniture? You will need carpets for the ceramic floors. You may have to install your own satellite tv. Many places do not have kitchen stoves or refrigerators or clothes washers. Clothes are hung out to dry. Dryers are too expensive to run. There are no coin laundries.
You will want Internet access which requires a landline and modem rental. You will need a mobile phone. WiFi calling has been turned back on so that lowers the expense of calling home.
Fuel is as expensive as the UK. Know the restrictions for importing a car or the cost of buying one here. There will be car insurance and mechanical upkeep.
Fresh local food is inexpensive and good but meat can be pricey. There are supermarkets but many items cost the same as Europe.
Best of luck.

Ha ha....yes....but who cares......it is what you make it.

shaanni New member

8POSTS

9 years ago

#23

So true... life is an adventure!
Some people point out all the negatives and some the positives, somewhere in the middle is the truth. Where ever you live in the world , rich or poor you have to face the ups and downs of life.
Best of luck to anyone starting a new life in 2017 😘

Mozartbailey Active member

54POSTS

9 years ago

#24

my worry is the lack of welfare state provisions such as doctor n hospital treatments. Life is not easy in uk but at least these needs are met by the state. Moroccans say they eat cheeply yet I notice heavy food prices at the supermarkets. What is the real position. .I do admire you Dogcat.

Mozartbailey Active member

54POSTS

9 years ago

#25

shahrukh do you know ex pats in Morocco and.are they surviving in a frugal manner. Can we get Moroccan citizenship. And how?

Mozartbailey Active member

54POSTS

9 years ago

#26

joob 76 What is your plight. I note your pit fall exposition on moving to Maroc

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

#27

Motzartbailey, when I move to Morocco next year I will let you know exactly how I get on.

Where are you based at the moment....still in England?

When are you planning on making the big move?

Mozartbailey Active member

54POSTS

9 years ago

#28

dogcat. hi. I live in West mids 12 miles west of Birmingham city. I am 67 almost and people take me for 50.I visit morocco twice a year agadir marrakech are my known resorts. I love the Moroccan culture - the oriental music and the pop disco night clubs. I try to use my grammar school french and it gets me by. I love Morocco because it allows me to mix. ageism does not seem a big issue. I have two American cocker spaniels mozart n bailey.I love politics and music. I play giitar since 14
Would I love Morocco as much if I lived there? I admire your determination.

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

#29

I'm sure you would! I've got a few years to go until I retire....but I'm retiring early to Morocco.

I'm so fed up with England with its high prices....constant bills and snobbery.

I'm gonna try and make Morocco work...it's something I have a passion about.

Mozartbailey Active member

54POSTS

9 years ago

#30

dogcat. I too hate the class system here. I am not a society lover. I liked king edwards grammar only because I enjoyed latim ancient greek n french. The school was riddled with class
my dad worked at Longbridge bham making the cars
Morocco would be a release from class n ageism. My concern is the health costs

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

#31

Well...as regards to health costs....I'll deal with that as and when I need to.
Anything major...Englands only a few hours away.

joob76 Active member

44POSTS

9 years ago

#32

DogCat
I can't help but admire your bravery, defiance and adventurousness
wish you the best of luck.

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

#33

joob76. Thank you!

tarikkk Active member

86POSTS

9 years ago

#34

Hi Dogcat
I think that each person is different, some people can live with 1£ a day, some cannot with 100, you only have to come and try it out. If it doesn't work you can always come back. It depens also on the way you live now in England.
I personnaly think it's very difficult to live with your budget, but I can understand that some people can do it, I know a lot of Moroccan living with less than 2500 dh a month but is it the life you wanna have?
Asilah must be like Tangier where I live, it's quite cold and humid in winter you must think about the way of heating, I personnaly spend 400 dh/month only for electricity without using any heater for the moment.
But as I said in the begining you have to try it, Just to not regret in a few years and say I should ...

Wish you all the best

Mozartbailey Active member

54POSTS

9 years ago

#35

Dogcat. How does one obtain residency status. As holiday makers there is a limit to our stay. Happy new year

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

#36

Hi Motzartbailey. Happy New Year! Hope it's a good one.

Well...residency, as far as I know.....if you are retired and have a regular 'income' and you have somewhere permanent to live....with a Moroccan bank account...you shouldn't have a problem.

Mozartbailey Active member

54POSTS

9 years ago

#37

I have discovered one needs to attend the Justice Ministry at Rabat and show your passport. I think you need to meet an income threshold per month also..In other words they want to affirm your residency is viable.

Dogcat Active member

41POSTS

9 years ago

#38

Yes....I think if you have over a certain amount of savings that would also be enough to get a residency.

dean18 Member

1POSTS

6 years ago

#39

wow that's good

The Morocco expat guide

Comprehensive and free

Read it now

GuestPoster1254 Guest

0POSTS

6 years ago

#40

Do you or your husband have family in morocco?

My husband is Moroccan and I have lived in morocco for 5 years. Weve visited Asilah a few times and it's a cheap place to live so I'm sure you will be fine there on that amount of money.

However for the carte de sejour residency card you need to transfer at minimum £2000 to a Moroccan bank and show them proof of this so they see you have money to live on.