Cost of Living

State healthcare here is not free but low cost..under gesy its capped at €150 co payment each per year.... Your S1 will cover you both until both have got an S1 but you do have to ask for both.

As has been said many times what you can live on is entirely down to the lifestyle you chose but believe me with  the current immigration requirements it's pretty much easy.... We managed really well on well under that but we do own our property so no rent.

@Toon

Thank you again.

I'm not quite following what you meant when you said "..with  the current immigration requirements it's pretty much easy". I'm guessing that it has to do with the minimum income/financial resources: I've been trying to find out what the requirements for those are but I've not been too successful on that score. Of course, there's also the personal minimum that one requires to live on and that's also what I'm trying to get a handle on.

The income requirement for a couple is €28400

currently so if you have your only place and you live in village community charges are variable - uoto €600 for local council tax per year and €40 for water per month.

Electricity is a variable to each property for it’s a/c or heating etc but an average of 700kw bi monthly would be about €220.

Food costs for vegetables etc are relatively cheaper than U.K. but other items more expensive and less choice.

If you run a small car around about €275 -300 for insurance and car tax €55

Clothes/Shows  we tend to buy in U.K. on trips but I looked at a pair sketchers recently in a mall in larnaca they were double the U.K. price and they were on sale.  The though choice and availability are improving in the cities

I personally would say the income requirement is a minimum amount if you are renting but otherwise sufficient for a quite lifestyle

@telf

That seems a lot for a years council tax and monthly water... I guess it depends on municipality

I bought a pair of sketchers at sports direct in paphos at €59 so not too bad and slazengers at €30.

General groceries appear to be slowly but surely rising much the same as everywhere else, electricity is expensive e.g my bill for the July August two months is expected to be.€330 and that's with the current fuel subsidy. That's for a large two bed apt using AC in LR and one BR. Cooler months elec bill is approx €120-150 per two months.

Rents are still rising in certain areas but other areas in the Paphos district have dropped very slightly. Water for us is about €35 per qtr and council tax €145 per yr. Diesel about €60 per month, car tax €55. Motor insurance €375. House contents and buildings €236. A ipTV service €5-8 per month.  Internet varies depending need but ranges from €15 - €50.per month .

Mobile phones are expensive.. u can get unlimited data SMS and calls packs for €10-12 per month ..

I think I should clarify that both my wife and I are EU citizens, and I'm a dual citizen. My understanding is that we have to demonstrate that we have sufficient financial resources not to become a burden on the Cypriot state, but I've not been able to ascertain just how much money in income/existing funds is "sufficient". As I said previously, we're not looking to just scrape under the wire but to be sure that we can afford to live reasonably in a country with a cost of living rather higher than where we currently reside.

The requirements in that case are about €10k main applicant plus €5k spouse...  The €10k is roughly legal national minimum wage.. but you can work legally if you needed to. Amassed savings may also be considered ..not usually something that is accepted for non EU nationals..

Just out of curiosity what makes you want to leave Bulgaria

There are are a lot of Bulgarians Romanians Ukrainians and Russians here

@Toon

To a large extent, I'm just testing the water. Life is quite a bit cheaper here in BG in pretty much every respect, but as we get older we're all too aware that the health service is creaking badly; whether it's any better in Cyprus is another question, of course. I suspect that private doctors and hospitals there are likewise more expensive but perhaps of better quality.

My wife speaks good English, which would be useful for her independence in Cyprus. Once her elderly parents (80s and ailing) are no longer with us, we'll be free agents. It makes sense to plan ahead, and have a decision made and strategy already in place. Frankly, I'm not exactly a spring chicken and my wife, albeit considerably younger than I, isn't in the best of health, so we don't want to waste time reacting when we could be ready.

I don't know what it's like these days, but I'm well aware that Cyprus was just as corrupt as Bulgaria a few decades ago; we're used to that. The location of Cyprus so close to Turkey does rather concern my wife; what Erdogan does and how the political situation plays out in Ankara will certainly be a factor in our choice - but there's a whole host of others.

In my experiences of GESY healthcare it has been very good so far .. However there are recent reports that GESY in it's current form is not sustainable.and is creaking too.

@JimJ

Is it because of the weather, you're attracted to Cyprus?

    In my experiences of GESY healthcare it has been very good so far .. However there are recent reports that GESY in it's current form is not sustainable.and is creaking too.
   

    -@Toon

The trouble is, healthcare is suffering nearly everywhere due to a shortage of doctors and nurses.

The UK seems to be worse hit.

@SimCityAT

The weather? No, that isn't really a major factor: ideally we'd buy a property in the mountains, with the aim of keeping a bit cooler, and less humid, in the summer. At present we live on the side of a mountain, which suits us quite well; in the winter it gets down to 6C inside, which doesn't bother us - we keep one room heated with AC and we're fine. Not to mention that there are fewer mozzies higher up.

We both like Cyprus - and I've visited a fair bit over the years, for both holidays and business. Having created a list of possible countries, we're working through it, gradually discarding entries as we learn more about life there from people who know. And it's always possible that we don't leave BG, of course....

@JimJ

Well, I am biased, but in your search consider Austria. Every doctor I have seen speaks English and the pharmacists speak English as well.

https://www.britishinaustria.net

@SimCityAT

AT wouldn't be a problem - I speak German   I have to admit that Germany WAS on our list, but we decided that we didn't really like the political situation there; it's changed a LOT since I lived there in the late-60s.  I don't know if we were right, but both Germany and Austria seemed to be pretty expensive places to live - and highly-regulated compared to Southern Europe..

@JimJ

Some parts of Austria is expensive, but depends where you are there are countries around it that are cheap to do things. We go to Hungary if anything needs to be done to the car. When there we do a good food shop at Tesco's.

But the quality of life here is excellent. As an example, we have our wine taverns, I think we have about 7 in my town they all offer a menu, €10 for a 2 course meal including a glass of wine.

I had an operation last year and was on the waiting list for 3 months. Crime rate is low, so much you can leave your door unlocked. Walking down the road, kids will wish you a good day. It is a totally different world to the UK which I can't stand. Gawd, I've only been back about 5 times in all the time I've been here (15.8 years).

@Toon Yes the charges vary €275 seems to be standard for pensioners