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Post by another on Aug 31, 2023 7:18:50 GMT 1
......you're not wrong!
www.bbc.com/news/business-65833619The rising cost living in France was one of a number of reasons which prompted us to decamp further South 5 years ago although of course prices have risen in Spain too and arguably, as a relatively low wage economy where average salaries are some 25% lower than in France, have hit the average Spanish family harder than their French counterparts. Fortunately as UK state pensioners the near 13% odd rise we've had over the past 2 years has pretty much offset Spanish inflation and with it rapidly falling, plus the 7% odd projected for 2024/25, we're ahead of the game
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Nifty
Member
Posts: 5,026
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Post by Nifty on Aug 31, 2023 7:36:18 GMT 1
A good pizza = yum yum
Cheap frozen pizza = yech urgh!
Nappies have never counted for much in my life, hopefully they never will. They taste horrible.
On our last big shop on the 28 the bill was €72•39. After discount it was €37•02.
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Post by Nutty on Aug 31, 2023 7:42:39 GMT 1
It's not all wine and roses.
When we moved here in 2007, £1 bought about 1.40 euros. In the months that followed, the pound went into free fall as it nose-dived to almost parity with the euro (think its lowest point was when it was worth 1.04 euros). The 25% drop in its value caused me to look hard at our finances as all but one of our pensions are paid in sterling.
The £ is now trading at around 1.15 give or take.
These UK pension increases are welcome of course - but are we, in France, still 'ahead of the game'? No, far from it.
Nutty
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Post by tim17 on Aug 31, 2023 8:09:56 GMT 1
We've found many things are cheaper since we returned - food, insurance, diesel etc. Diesel is an odd one, when we first moved to France it was 30% cheaper than the UK but now it's 10% more expensive.
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Post by rabbit on Aug 31, 2023 9:13:21 GMT 1
A good pizza = yum yum Cheap frozen pizza = yech urgh! Nappies have never counted for much in my life, hopefully they never will. They taste horrible. On our last big shop on the 28 the bill was €72•39. After discount it was €37•02. You need a decent tomato sauce
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Nifty
Member
Posts: 5,026
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Post by Nifty on Aug 31, 2023 9:16:27 GMT 1
And a crispy bottom.
This illuminates the fact that I missed out ‘ since I was a baby’ in a pp.
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Post by sw31girl on Aug 31, 2023 9:39:06 GMT 1
Since we’ve been here, from 2014, I think our shopping bill is now approx 30% to 40% higher.
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Post by traveller on Aug 31, 2023 9:58:01 GMT 1
For years now every time I’ve first arrived in France, I think wow, that’s expensive, then after a few weeks I get used to it, apart from drinks in a bar which can occasionally be really dear, but I console myself with at least they’re getting a decent wage, the other thing is that food in France is generally better quality even in supermarkets, I’ve just spent £40 in our local butchers here ,my label Anglais chicken was £15, I know I’m lucky to be able to spend on quality food, but generally you do get what you pay for both here and on mainland Europe. Going out for a meal is still cheaper lunchtime in France and Spain, our local pub is now charging £20-25 for a main course, and we’re not in a posh southern area.
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Post by gigi on Aug 31, 2023 10:16:36 GMT 1
It's not all wine and roses. When we moved here in 2007, £1 bought about 1.40 euros. In the months that followed, the pound went into free fall as it nose-dived to almost parity with the euro (think its lowest point was when it was worth 1.04 euros). The 25% drop in its value caused me to look hard at our finances as all but one of our pensions are paid in sterling. The £ is now trading at around 1.15 give or take. These UK pension increases are welcome of course - but are we, in France, still 'ahead of the game'? No, far from it. Nutty Nutty, during 2007, when sterling was diving, we were paying regular amounts as stages were reached in building what was to be our home in France, and, goodness, did we notice the amounts we were paying out!
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Post by Nutty on Aug 31, 2023 10:46:33 GMT 1
We were so lucky to have transferred our house funds to France just before sterling collapsed.
There was no way we were ever going back though. After waiting years for this move, we'd've lived on gruel* here if need be.
Nutty
* whatever that is!
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Post by Debra on Aug 31, 2023 12:05:49 GMT 1
We've found many things are cheaper since we returned - food, insurance, diesel etc. Diesel is an odd one, when we first moved to France it was 30% cheaper than the UK but now it's 10% more expensive. Isn't that down to exchange rate differences though? It was 1.48-1.50 when I moved here so everything seemed cheaper than the UK back then. My son moved back to the UK and tells me prices are increasing and he wouldn't want me to go back there as I get older, with it being impossible to see a doctor and private fees being ridiculously expensive.
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Aardvark
Non-gamer
Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Aug 31, 2023 14:01:29 GMT 1
When buying my first place here I got lucky. It hasn't happened since. Between agreeing a price with the seller and actually forking over the cash, the exchange rate dropped the sterling price from £13k to £10k. That was back when it became 1.60 to the pound for a short time.
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exile
Member
Massif Central
Posts: 2,686
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Post by exile on Aug 31, 2023 14:46:28 GMT 1
We've found many things are cheaper since we returned - food, insurance, diesel etc. Diesel is an odd one, when we first moved to France it was 30% cheaper than the UK but now it's 10% more expensive. Isn't that down to exchange rate differences though? It was 1.48-1.50 when I moved here so everything seemed cheaper than the UK back then. My son moved back to the UK and tells me prices are increasing and he wouldn't want me to go back there as I get older, with it being impossible to see a doctor and private fees being ridiculously expensive. Exchange rates will of course impact on prices when making comparisons between countries. However for those whose income is largely or totally based on payments from the UK, the exchange rate is everything. It becomes even more complex when talking of petrol or diesel prices because of course the raw material price is based on the US Dollar. In theory then the Euro/GBP exchange rate has a minor impact, but the impacts of government taxes and duties does mean that differences are created.
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Post by Polarengineer on Aug 31, 2023 15:27:46 GMT 1
Since we’ve been here, from 2014, I think our shopping bill is now approx 30% to 40% higher. I see you developed a taste for the wine.
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Post by gigi on Aug 31, 2023 16:02:53 GMT 1
We've found many things are cheaper since we returned - food, insurance, diesel etc. Diesel is an odd one, when we first moved to France it was 30% cheaper than the UK but now it's 10% more expensive. My son moved back to the UK and tells me prices are increasing and he wouldn't want me to go back there as I get older, with it being impossible to see a doctor and private fees being ridiculously expensive. Being able to see a GP presumably depends on where you would want to live. We don’t have the access to medical care that we used to have a few years ago; we’ve had to fill in an e-contact form for quite some time now, but it works pretty well. Seeing a private consultant is expensive, but we’ve gone ahead with that sometimes - particularly when my husband was diagnosed in France with epilepsy a few years ago, and was put on anti-epilepsy medication. As he was then ‘stable’, he couldn’t see a specialist on the NHS, so paid to see one privately, who also worked at our local NHS hospital in England, who did various scans etc. He was declared not have have epilepsy and told to come off the medication immediately. He’s had no problems with any signs of epilepsy since then.
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