Advice/opinions please!

[faye]

Hello!  I am new to the forum and have been following it for some while now, I have found it to be full of  useful information but I wanted some honest opionions before we go to far with anything. From what I have seen I know I will get it here!  Before I begin please excuse my naievity on all of this!

We are considering relocating to France, I love Mayenne, so it would be in that vicinity.   However, unlike some of the postings neither of us earn lots of money here, so I thought maybe we may have less to lose than some others - financially I mean.  My partner is a dry liner (he puts up walls!) and I work as a teachers assistant and with children with special needs, I also nanny.

We had considered running a small Chambre d'hote (even though I now realise that it seems the market is saturated), which would mean we would have somewhere to live and a small income.  My partner would do whatever he could find...which now does not seem very realistic.  We would still have a mortgage to pay.  I already have 3 jobs in this country - both of us are used to hard work, so I don't think that's a problem, it would just be whether we could find the work.  I have spoken to people that claim to get extra cash doing odd jobs, cutting grass, painting - that kind of thing.

Sorry of this sounds muddled - it's my stream of thought!!

[Nick Trollope]

Hello & welcome.

Couple of observations from my point of view;

You won't earn a living running a "small" B&B. Especially with a mortgage. I'd be suprised if you could actually break even.

Your husband will be able (if he is capable!) to find plenty of work as a dryliner - probably for an agency, or self-employed, but there is, I gather pots of work - new builds & the like.

Extra cash jobs are basically illegal, so I wouldn't rely on them! There are cash alternative (cheque d'emploi for instance) butt hese are very restrictive (as opposed to mostly restrictive, which applies to every other job opportunity in France).

Small point, if you need a mortgage, I'd suggest you apply for it before you stop earning in the UK.  A French mortgage will depend on yourability to pay, so; no confirmable income, no mortgage.

 

[cooperlola]

I sound like a broken record on here, I know, but try renting first.  Renting is cheap and the choice of properties much bigger than in the UK.  Then you will truly be able to test your ability to earn and prove an income to a French bank should you need a mortgage here.  You'll also find out if you really like it and can cope with the language problem (assuming you have one.)  Many don't find it the utopia they thought it would be (not me - I love it, btw).

[Charlotte3]

Welcome Faye,

"I have spoken to people that claim to get extra cash doing odd jobs, cutting grass, painting - that kind of thing."

Sorry, but painting and decorating is a metier in France. Anyone found doing this without the appropriate qualifications can be prosecuted.

As for cutting grass etc, surely the market must be saturated by now? How many brits are actually doing this in sufficient amounts to earn an ( honest) living? I know several Brits whoclaim to do this, but actually they supplement their very meagre earnings by working on the black, which is really a dodgy (never mind immoral) thing to do.

What you need to do is learn the language adn take it from there. Can your hubby plaster? There is an accute shortage of metiered people capable of actual plastering here, because new builds are always dry lined. I work in the construction industry and when they have to actually plaster an old property the quality of workmanship is absolutely terrible. The poor guys know this and panic terribly in case we aren't able to decorate the walls!  He may well be able to get work here in Mayenne, but he really must have at least some French.

Good luck with everything, and don't give up... we didn't!

Aly

[Cerise]

Hi Faye

We run B & B and OH (who had no French on arrival) has a full time job, CDI but rubbish pay.  We get by, but I would not want to be doing this with a mortgage.  B & B is up and down and often last minute so you don't have a predictable income from that and the kind of house you would need to do B & B i.e. large, takes up a lot of money in bills etc.  If you need to have a mortgage I wouldn't recommend doing it as I think it would be a fast track to huge anxiety.  You are supposed to be moving for a better life not a worse one.  In my view you would be better off renting to start with and both looking for jobs.  if you don't have the worry of regular loan repayments life is great deal easier and you can always change track once you are installed and your OH has some language skills.

Good luck

Maggi

[Iceni]

Rent first. From info garnered here it seems unlikely that you would get a mortgage without proven ability to repay so you would  need "white" jobs.

For budgeting purposes assume that the cost of living here is the same as UK (albeit some ups, some downs) so make really, really sure before you leave the frying pan.

John

not

[timc17]

'Working on the black' has been mentioned once again with the usual comments regarding legality and morality.

Is there a difference between 'working on the black' and local artisans being paid partly in cash and the rest by cheque? I ask this as all the artisans i know have to do this to survive or pay for things like holidays.

[Nick Trollope]

[quote user="timc17"]

Is there a difference between 'working on the black' and local artisans being paid partly in cash and the rest by cheque? I ask this as all the artisans i know have to do this to survive or pay for things like holidays.

[/quote]

Is this a troll, perchance?

OK, I'll bite. Of course it's the same!

[Charlotte3]

Well spotted Nick!   (as opposed to spotted Dick)

Sorry too much of the old red stuff.

Aly

[Charlotte3]

Well spotted Nick!   (as opposed to spotted Dick)

Sorry,  too much of the old red stuff.

Aly

[Nick Trollope]

I thought that Spotted Dick had buggered off to a better place. So I can say whatever I like about him, now.

[Val_2]

[quote user="timc17"]

'Working on the black' has been mentioned once again with the usual comments regarding legality and morality.

Is there a difference between 'working on the black' and local artisans being paid partly in cash and the rest by cheque? I ask this as all the artisans i know have to do this to survive or pay for things like holidays.

[/quote]

 

Holidays??? Not many artisans round our way take holidays and when they do, its perhaps once every five years, too many charges to pay and cost of living soaring weekly now. We havn't had a holiday (apart from a week each summer spent at home doing our jobs) for 12 years. Ask a farmer if he takes a holiday!

[timc17]

Val,

That was really my point!

The guys i know HAVE to receive some payment in cash in order to offset the high charges. Yet obviously some 'holer than thou' posters on here see this as the same as working on the black.

[zeb]

OMG - we must be doing something wrong as we have holidays every year, otherwise my OH would just collapse from overwork.

They are not exotic or costly - a week or two in gites in other parts of France (usually with some friends who live in far flung places), and a few days every four months or so in the UK - just to relax and enjoy each other's company and see our nearest and dearest!

But, yes, when you add up the time lost and the charges which have to be paid whether you are away or not, these breaks work out very costly.

Unfortunately cash hasn't been offered for a long time!

PS I heard that the cotisations are so high as it's assumed that artisans do do cash work. Dunno if there's any truth in that.

Good luck faye, but don't rely on B&B to keep you. Go for the dry lining instead!

[sharkhunter]

I'm with you zeb on this one, i too think that i'm doing wrong somewhere. I go to UK every 2/3 months to visit family, shoot and do some fishing with mates, just back from 10 days shark fishing in Namibia ! I feel that too much work and no play makes someone a dull boy...............We come here for a better way of life, not to be slaves to the work regime we left behind, salut.

[Charlotte3]

Nick,

He's probably somewhere in limbo with me, feeling lonely!!!!

Sorry, old joke......like, really old. ( like Syd Barratt, been over the edge for years)

Red stuff again,

Aly

[Charlotte3]

Sharkhunter,

"I feel that too much work and no play makes someone a dull boy...............We come here for a better way of life, not to be slaves to the work regime we left behind, salut."

We came here to enjoy the challenge of entering the workforce in a foreign country, mastering the language, learning about the culture etc. etc., not to skim the surface like tourists who say they know a foreign country when they have no conception of what it is like for the local people to live there.

We have a better way of life. We do an honest day's work for a days pay, no family credit, housing benefit etc to shore up poor wages, we have the same life as our French colleagues, not visiting Brits. We love it!!!!

In another 5 years or so, we hope to go to India to live in a village where we will help the local community and in return we will receive our food (what the villagers eat) and lodging (with a village family). We will have nothing by western standards, but we will be SO happy!

Some of us don't need money.....had lots of it once - happy? No way!

Aly

PS. Don't quote the six month rule, know all about it!

 

 

 

 

Holidays? You must be kidding, no time!

Aly

[zeb]

So does that mean that by having the odd holiday here and there, we're skimming "the surface like tourists" etc and are not integrated enough into our community? Er, most of our French neighbours have an annual holiday - I feed their cats and hens, water their plants etc.

Oh dear, I feel guilty now for seeking out other bits of France!!

[Cerise]

We have the same wages as our French colleagues and neighbours - we hate that part of living in France!  Sorry but for me 'better life' does not mean being poor.  Love my home, wide open spaces, lots of other things but scrimping and saving no fun.  Oh and guess what - most of my French friends think it is pretty rubbish too.  Guess that is why most of the youngsters here are thinking of heading of to other countries to earn a living.  All our French neighbours who can afford it have holidays - we've even been on holiday with some of them ourselves.  Don't feel guilty Zeb - if you are managing to have holidays while you live here - enjoy it.

[RumziGal]

[quote user="Charlotte3"]

no family credit, housing benefit etc to shore up poor wages, we have the same life as our French colleagues,

[/quote]

No you don't.   There are millions of French people on the equivalent of these things (RMI, CAF handouts, etc etc etc).    And I can't imagine that all your French colleagues have the comfort of years of British earnings behind them.    

 

[YCCMB]

[quote user="Val_2"] Ask a farmer if he takes a holiday![/quote]

My neighbours do!! Usually at least 3 a year, in fact. I suppose they are fortunate as their farm is a family business so their son and daughter-in-law work on the farm too. They (the son and d-i-l) also have holidays. Oh, and they go with other farmng friends sometimes, too, so they clearly aren't the only ones.

[Charlotte3]

Rumzigal, actually, yes I do. RMI etc....been there.  Comfort of years of British earnings behind me? Er, no.

What I was really getting at was that in the UK if you earn a low wage it is virtually impossible to survive without government handouts. It is possible in France (certainly here in Mayenne).

Zeb, my point exactly.... an "annual holiday" of course is a good thing if you can possibly afford it. Hardly the same thing as popping over to a foreign country every few months AND having at least one exotic holiday every year! I know some very wealthy French people and none of them has more than 2 short breaks per year. (Maybe they're too busy making money!). Of course it could be just a Mayenne thing, we're hardly the most affluent part of France.

I was wealthy once, never brought me health or happiness. Now I just enjoy being borderline poor ( and unhealthy and unhappy...nah only joking!)

Aly