Cost of living family of 4 (2 adults and 2 school age kids) in Malta

It really depends on lifestyle ,we are a family of 2 adults, 1 teenager, 1 child, basics are :
16 EUR (or thereabouts) for a gas bottle (cooking wise this last at least 6-8 weeks)
Electric and water usually around €50/60 per month but we don't have air con (live in an old house with thick walls so can get away without it)
Mobile contract for unlimited internet, free calls in eu etc €70 per month
food bill averages around €150 a week (and thats basics without anything fancy)
tv and home phone - €32 a month
car insurance about €600 per year, car tax €120 per year

My water/elec can be 250/month, and we're 3 people.  It's not a question that really can be answered, every situation is different.

volcane wrote:

My water/elec can be 250/month, and we're 3 people.  It's not a question that really can be answered, every situation is different.

Ours is half that every two months for two of us and we have air con, gas bottle for hob cooking lasts nearly a year and we do a lot of cooking.

Our water and electric for 2 people has averaged around €60 a month over the last 6 years. Even in our new penthouse with aircon in every room which is also used for heating, our winter bill was only €180 for 2 months.
Gas for cooking (hob only) is only about 1.5 bottles a year.

We have full house underfloor heating and air con in every room. And a baby so everything has to be kept annoyingly warm.

It really differs based on so many factors - water/gas you can take advise but other stuff is tough. Groceries almost certainly more than you are used to for ex

You could take a look at the following site for some idea of costs.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/c … ntry=Malta

Dear all,

thank you very much for all your help so far.

I decided to ask the question on this forum as I believe I can get more realistic answers from people who are actually living in Malta and know the everyday expenses.  I got very mixed up when looking at website like numbeo as when I added up the average cost for a family of 4 and added the average wage of 2 working adults, you end up falling short of a few hundreds.  So I started questioning myself, how are people actually surviving in Malta?

This is what i roughly concluded after several discussions with family members, information on website and information you have kindly provided on this forum.  Please correct me if I got something wrong.  When counting the basic needs for a family (monthly basis):

Rent: 3 bedroom flat (average price)    900
Internet and phone:                                   40
Car insurance + road tax + petrol            60
Electricity and water bill                          120
Food + household goods                         900
Kids' school + extra curricular                200
Medical and other expenses                  200

Total                                          Roughly   2400  (this excludes holidays and other leisure activities)

Average monthly rent per person is 1100 x 2 = 2200 (falling short 200euro/month)

chrimic5 wrote:

So I started questioning myself, how are people actually surviving in Malta?

Surviving is one thing, living is another. I cannot imagine, how people can live a happy life in Malta with a salary of 1000 Euro - but that's more or less an average income here. It's not even enough for a single person. Anyway, it depends on your personal lifestyle and your idea of a good living and as I've learned, there are lots of people who are pretty fine with this. 

Rent: 3 bedroom flat (average price)    900
Internet and phone:                                   40
Car insurance + road tax + petrol            60
Electricity and water bill                          120
Food + household goods                         900
Kids' school + extra curricular                200
Medical and other expenses                  200

Total                                          Roughly   2400  (this excludes holidays and other leisure activities)

Seems quite ok to me. Plus/minus of course depending on location and consumption, but with 2400 per month you should be quite close.
But - as you mentioned - this only covers "basic needs". There are no things included, which make life fun and with 2 incomes of 1100 or 1200 Euro each, there's also no potential for any savings 

900 for food 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

SimonSays1 wrote:

900 for food 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I thought the same how can anyone spend that much?

900 a month for food and household goods! Food nowhere near that so must be some expensive household goods every month!

I just checked our expenses (family with 2 kids) for last months and the average is 900. It includes food (fruits, vegs, meat, fish and ... ) and restaurants once a week/2 weeks.

chrimic5 wrote:

Please correct me if I got something wrong.  When counting the basic needs for a family (monthly basis):

Rent: 3 bedroom flat (average price)    900
Internet and phone:                                   40
Car insurance + road tax + petrol            60
Electricity and water bill                          120
Food + household goods                         900
Kids' school + extra curricular                200
Medical and other expenses                  200

Total                                          Roughly   2400  (this excludes holidays and other leisure activities)

Average monthly rent per person is 1100 x 2 = 2200 (falling short 200euro/month)

Christian, let me share my experience here..

Internet and phone.
Home internet+TV is around 50eur per month, mobile + 3gb internet - 30eur per person per month.

Car & public transport
My car expenses a bit higher, and here we should add expenses for buses for 1 adult (if you will have only one car). And just a hint: You cannot live in Malta comfortably without a car.

School
If will have a job here you don't need to pay for a school, but I guess you prefer education on English, I am not sure that it's possible in government schools (maybe depends on city). Private schools are quite pricey.

In general I would say that 3000 eur income is more realistic estimate for realy comfortable life, but of course it's possible to live for 2400 too.


Good luck!

Hi, once again thank you for all of those who are contributing to this post.  I have calculated 900euro for food and household goods as I have been told by family and friends who have visited us in Dublin, that the price of food is relatively close in Malta.  Secondly my daughter requires a specific diet and has to be on gluten free food, and I have been advised that gluten free products in Malta are on the expensive side.  Thirdly for those who are laughing at the 900euro/month allocated to food, I believe that nutrition is the main component which I would not be happy to bargain with - as you might have noticed on my list, food is a priority.  I am ready not to buy expensive cars with large engines, I am happy not to have the latest mobile phone, happy not to be buying designer clothes and going on holidays every year, but I want my kids to eat a healthy diet as I believe that is the least they deserve.  Once again thank you to all of those who are contributing to this post as with this information I can evaluate better the reality of living in Malta nowadays.

Hi all,

Just a note about using Numbeo for anything.

The data it publishes is gathered over the previous 18 months.  With regards to Malta in particular, it's based on 3560 contributions in the period from 397 different contributors and was last updated this month.  So, it will always be a bit behind the curve but is useful for expats to make some general considerations before deciding whether a specific country or place could be a viable option for them (and their families).

Best of luck to all expats planning their moves.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

900 for food+household consumables is not unrealistic at all.

We are 3 (2 adult 1 baby), a dog and cat.  Wife is gluton free.  We enjoy our life so we eat out regularly (though less with the baby of course) and we get our fruit/veg as far as possible away from the local Maltese "farmers".

So we spend around 900 on "household goods" ie. all the consumables the house need including cleaning products and such but not elec/water

Internet and phone @ 40 is a bit low if you want to include mobile phones and not deal with the absolute worst idiots ever.

volcane wrote:

900 for food+household consumables is not unrealistic at all.

I agree, it depends what food you buy to treat yourself - and where you buy it 
We prefer to spend less on living (rent 300 and utility bills 50/month) and do not have any expenses for children or medical care (maybe 50-100 Euro per year for the dentist and an GP). But food and household goods for sure sum up to 800 Euro (good quality food, only the organic vegs cost 300-400 each month). And when we go out, we choose a nice restaurant, not the usual pizza/pasta/grill-stuff.

In total we have 3 cars and 2 motorcycles, which cost us insurance+road tax around 800 per year, so together with fuel we have to spend 120-150 Euro per month.

But, as it was mentioned before, the everage monthly cost do not cover purchase of a vehicle, purchase of furniture, expensive repairs, shopping for clothes, travel expanses 2-3 times per year and so on. If I break these expenses down, there's for sura another position of 500 Euro every month for the past few years.

So based on all what I read above... I'm still asking how is possible survive, or live with the current salary in Malta? Specially if just one person in the family works?

Use the hook in this topic.. what your guys opinion about salaries .. a salary between 28k and 31k can be consider a good salary in Malta??

WNadalin wrote:

Use the hook in this topic.. what your guys opinion about salaries .. a salary between 28k and 31k can be consider a good salary in Malta??

It's very subjective to who you are which is why this kind of question doesn't get answers, posting every day won't help.

People I know who earn that tells me they have no problems.