blackcat

Thanks, the limousin area, I have come across some lovely cheap properties on recent searches and am now very interested in visiting that area too. Thanks for your reply. When there are up to 8 of us all looking to relocate then pin pointing an area that we can all focus on is going to be very interesting! We have set a target for ourselves of 18 months but dont mind if things stretch out a bit in order to give us time to make the right decision.    

Hi citygirl I see that 2000 euros a month is a more realistic figure, thanks. My husband is a senior construction engineer, his average UK wage (for his senior skills) is £40k - £45k.  He is looking into acquiring inspector status which would pay more but would take him to other countries aside from the UK, which is his dream. Me, my mum and the kids just want a nice base where we can enjoy a quiet life, keep a few chickens, plant some veg, make some wine, the kids are really looking forward to it, maybe a B & B in years to come or a nice small family business. Ive been brought up in an italian family where this was the norm.    My mother in law has also decided to come out and buy herself an apartment. Our uncle is also looking into buying a holiday home nearby as he has just sold a property in Italy and has 2 UK homes. We have a uk property that we will make £1000 per month in rental profit, which will help towards our income. If we needed to return to the uk then we would live there, its quite big and has loads of potential to extend. We will definitely sell our current home as we want to use the equity to buy our french home, along with the investment my mum is making. She is able to support herself very well. Although we do plan to rent for as long as it takes to find suitable properties, we may want an outbuilding for mum to convert. To find an apartment nearby for my husbands mum too, all this could take a year easily, so hopefully we will have a good idea of french life by then.  

Agree renting is the best way to go, but only plan to do it for as long as it takes us to find a suitable property. We will still have a property in the UK to come back to if things dont work out (I would be inclined to give it 18 months to 2 years based on my friends experiences who have moved away). We are selling one property in the UK to finance our french home. We have another property that is being rented out in the UK. If we buy in France and decide to return then we will still have a nice holiday home in France and a home in the UK We are looking into the financial implications, which I guess we wont be fully up to date on until we are there and have established our residency. There are a couple of ladies that have kindly e-mailed me, their husbands work in the UK and they are offering advice for which I will be very grateful for!  

Yes, I am proud of being a stay at home mum and was astounded at the reaction of the lady on that forum and gave my reply as well as I could without being too rude! What she didnt know is that Id also been a working mum for 11 years prior to my present 4 years at home so had seen things from both view points. But I guess thats the trouble with forums, unless you post up your life story noone really knows the full picture. We are looking to move around that area because the children would like to be around some british families like us, at least for the first couple of years. I have had some lovely e-mails from mums living in the Bergerac/Eymet area who have been most encouraging and given me so much information. Some also have husbands that commute to the UK and have made it work for them so I found that very reassuring too.        

Amanda, thanks for your reply, I really appreciate what you've said and it must have been hard for you being alone. So glad it all worked out for you. People I know that have made the move abroad have said similar things to you so Ive taken it all on board. Thanks to all of you for your replies, and for Benjamin who said he was off to lay in a darkened room, thats where Im off to now. My, this thread is long ...:D

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="sara77"] Anyway, for the person who said this was like a soap ... tune in next week when Sara turns up on Rons doorstep and offers him 1500 euros to take her cats and give them a better life! (or was it 1500 pounds) [/quote] My five penneth to you, lighten up a bit, sift through the comments, laugh at the stuff that gets to you, give as good as you get and most of all enjoy this 'virtual' world that we all spend time in. Gary. [/quote]   I'll drink to that. cheers

No, it was the second post, not the first, but that doesnt matter now. TBH I've had a really crap week so burning the kids tea would probably turn me into an emotional wreck! :)) A few weeks back I was on a forum where people were posting about the cost of UK groceries and listing what they buy. I mentioned a brand of cat food that I use and a woman decided to lay right into me about what I'm feeding my cats. Another week I was on a parenthood forum and someone had a go at me because Im a Stay at Home mum and apparently its not right that my husband is out doing his bit and Im not! ... so my experience of forums havent been that great!! Anyway, for the person who said this was like a soap ... tune in next week when Sara turns up on Rons doorstep and offers him 1500 euros to take her cats and give them a better life! (or was it 1500 pounds)

Well, that put me in my place didnt it. Like I said, sorry and I will avoid forums. I am obviously far too sensitive as your last post upset me alot and if I cant handle peoples opinions then I should stay away.

You're absolutely right, perhaps I'll just become a 'lurker' from now on!

Thanks again to anyone who replied. I wasnt being knowingly agressive and apologise if I offended anyone. Maybe Im a little too sensitive when it comes to my personal life and family and perhaps I should stay away from forums. Regards.  

Thanks Will, that information is very useful. Much appreciated.

Hi. I totally understand that. But no-one else knows your own circumstances, how much money or assets you may have, your knowledge and experience, your families individual personalities, what they are capable of etc., Having given out only as much info as I wanted to, I didnt feel that the questions I posed warranted knowing the full picture. Maybe the area we intended to move to, yes, thats relevant. I appreciate people want to share their own experiences, but there is a way of wording things tactfully so as not to be patronising or condescending. Thanks for your time.         

Hi I dont think that the cost of living is much cheaper in France, I just wanted an realistic idea of how much families in France do manage on. We are a family of 5 and spend £2500 each month living in the UK, which includes a monthly mortgage payment of £1,050 each month. Now, if we lost the mortgage why on earth couldnt we manage on £1500 in France each month, regardless of where the income came from. We have been a family of 5 for some time, I manage the finances in our house very well and have a very realistic view of what it costs to keep a family as I actually do it every day. The question I posed was just a cost of living query. I have been used to my husband working away for many years, its nothing new to me and I didnt ask for anyones opinion on how our income will be generated, not did I ask how my children should be educated, which someone was keen to offer advice on. When I posed a question on another forum about residency for my elderly mum, people seemed to want to tell me I shouldnt contemplate living with my mum, which wasnt the subject up for discussion either. I am grateful for the advice being given but I just wanted a couple of simple questions answered. Thanks for your help anyway.  

Hi. thanks for your reply. My daughter is 10 now, she'll be almost 12 when we move, as I said in my original post. She is currently eagerly taking french lessons so Im hoping she'll be well on the way to being fluent by the time we go.

[quote user="Will"] I would also agree that if relying on sterling to live in France, then France is currently looking rather less attractive. [/quote] Thanks for your reply, but could you elaborate on the above for me? My head is spinning! We are hoping he would only have to work in the Uk for 6 months at first while he achieved enough to live on in France for 12 months, then he could have plenty of time to sort out work in France. If not then its back to the UK again the following year! Also, as someone who is maintaining households in both countries, would you know anything about converting our savings into euros in another account, maybe off-shore account? Would you know if this is possible, as I would like to avoid problems with the pound getting any weaker. If we are looking to buy 18 months down the line I would like to see if there is a possibility of converting our money now.  

Thanks Lizzy for your reply, straight to the point! 1500 euro was the figure I had in my head and was hoping someone would confrm that.! How have you all settled in? Would be very interested to hear other families experiences. Thanks, Sara

Hi there I said in my original post, kids will be 5, 12 and 17. Am currently looking into the education side of things too, but not planning on coming over for at least a year and have a tutor booked for my 12 yr old. 17 yr old is fluent but not looking at studying, she is coming for a year 'experience' and then maybe going back to the UK to stay with her dad and study for another year or so. Have taken into account the Euro/£ factor. The wages for my husbands trade are too poor in France and he can earn 3 times as much in the UK so he'd be better off commuting even with the weak £. We have 2 bachelor uncles who are always taking in lodgers, one of them is in London so would be perfect for him as most of his work centres around there. Thanks for the advice, lots of useful info on these forums, expect everyone will get sick of me soon!  

Hi Thanks for your reply. There is a lot of useful information on the other posting thanks. Here in the Uk I spend £130 per week on shopping and its rising rapidly at the moment. Is the local produce in France not cheaper? Here my only option is to shop in the local Tesco as theres no local butchers or grocery shops any more, in fact Tesco has even taken over most of the post offices and turned them into small versions of the stores! We are looking at moving to the Dordogne area, we are going to start visiting Eymet as it may be a good place for us to move first with the children so they can indulge in a bit of british culture still, and with Bergerac airport only 25 mins away would be good for my hubby as he will need to fly back for work. For the first year my husband will continue to work in the UK but is hoping to only have to do that for about 6 months of the year, in periods of 12 weeks at a time via his agency. In France his trade will only pay a fraction of what he can earn in the UK, so he's hoping that if he may only have to work half the time to achieve what we need to live on.  In the Uk we have large mortgage (over £1,000 a month). by selling up and moving to France we will mortgage free with our equity so wont need that extra £1k a month. God only knows if its going to work but we'll give it our best shot. We just need a realistic view of what its going to cost us to live. It can't be any more than here!            

Hi, any experiences of families in France would be appreciated. We would be a family of 5 (kids aged 5, 12 & 17). Im trying to gain a realisitic perspective of what sort of monthly income we would need to live on comfortably, mortgage aside, just bills, food, maintenance etc. Average sized property, one car, no debts.  I understand the wages/salary in France are much lower than the UK and am hoping this reflects in the cost of living. Any info appreciated. Sara        

Hi again Thanks for the mine of information! Im clearer on the residency and tax perspective, but still uncertain on the pension side of things. obviously we will have to take professional advice but Im just trying to gain a little basic knowledge here to help out. Basically, so, we all decide to apply/register for residency and open french bank accounts. Me and hubby find work (in an ideal world) and look forward to filling out our tax returns!? We inform the UK we are no longer resident, our child benefit stops and hopefully the inland revenue wont pester us again (although we will still  have part of the year to complete a UK tax return for).  We register for french child benefit presumably. Grey area - what happens to mums UK pensions? She has 2 private pensions and one state pension. Thank you and apologies for the barrage of questions. Youve been most helpful.        

Thanks, holiday let in the Winter is a great idea. Ive posed it to the others and they all agree. A plan at last! Much appreciated. Sara  

Yes, I realise that the income potential is not there, which is my point about asking how much it costs to rent. If we have cash in the bank to buy a house I now dont think renting is going to be a good idea for us as it maybe a long while before my husband and I find some work. Even though there will be four adults and we will all pitch in with our bit out of our savings, I would still rather preserve as much cash as possible. If my husband continues to work in the UK for a long as possible where he is able to earn his full potential in his trade then I think maybe me and the mums will be making as many trips to France as possible to check out properties. If may even be necessary for him to commute to the UK as a last resort. But I guess this is a subject for another forum! Someone asked where we are looking, We are currently aiming for the South West region (for now). Somewhere near Bergerac airport incase hubby needs to keep flying in and out. The properties seem reasonable round that area (only from what Ive seen on the net, if anyone knows different please enlighten me!) and theres a couple of schools with a reasonable amount of British children in which will be good for our kids and not let them feel too isolated.            

OH gosh no, no-one upset me, in fact I must admit to being slightly amused at some of the postings! Perhaps \I should have explained but I didnt want to waffle on too too much by trying to justify the move, would have been far too long a read! Anyway, having read all the postings, am I right in thinking that there is a 3 months 'holiday' period where we would then all need to register or apply for residency? What if my mum wanted another 3 months to make up her mind could she leave it til 6 months? Thanks for your help.    

I never thought about proof of income. We would be arriving with just our savings with the intention of looking for work whilst we were there. We will also have our mums with us, in total 7 people inc 3 children. Mums are retired but with savings, all we'd be able to show them were our bank statements, mums pension statements etc, but we'd only be looking for a short term let. It seems that the size of property we'd be looking to rent would be about 1500 euros a month. Im very reluctant to use our savings for this when we will collectively have the cash for a property to buy. But to try and fnd a property in France whilst we are still living in the UK seems like a lot of aggravation. We know where we want to live and have a few trips over there planned in the coming months. Really not sure whats best to do financially. If we could secure work for my husband before we went that would pay the rent without denting the money we've put aside for the purchase, but he's not fluent and not good on the phone so thought might be best to wait until we got there.        

AH, yes, thankyou, that clears it up for me, makes much more sense. I have been trying to collect as much information as possible, probably too much and confusing myself.