Ouch ! this is starting to hurt.

[Bugsy]

My pension (paid in euros) is now a considerable amount less than just a few months ago.

Phoned to order some heating oil today and it's now 91cents a litre, ouch!!!

Five years ago we paid 34cents.

Diesel now 1.22 in the supermarche, 1.36 >on the peage.

Better start looking for food kitchens at this rate................................[Www]

 

[Framboise]

Either way matey, life here ain't as grim as back in England ![;-)]

 

 

[plod]

My pension has suffered greatly too, and I've decided to have it paid into the bank in England now. We will then have to consider carefully before we buy non-essentials over here. My wife and I have now started discussing whether and under what circumstances we might move back, either permanently or temporarily. My pension is now 250 euros less a month than last summer, but, as people point out, it may be that we are still better off here than in the UK. How would we manage at parity, viz I'd be receiving 650 euros a month less than last year (even 350 less than now)? You have to consider your overall quality of life, but life does start to get "grim" when you wonder whether or not to put the heating on. This wasn't part of our plan!      

[Clair]

[quote user="Bugbear"]Phoned to order some heating oil today and it's now 91cents a litre, ouch!!! Five years ago we paid 34cents.[/quote]

I have been ringing our heating oil supplier on a regular-ish basis for a few years and I have made a note of the prices every time (BP Super):

Date	litre	1000 l	1500 l
26/05/2003	0,37 €	€ 366,00	€ 549,00
14/01/2004	0,42 €	€ 417,00	€ 625,50
02/03/2004	0,41 €	€ 407,00	€ 610,50
26/08/2004	0,50 €	€ 500,00	€ 750,00
18/02/2005	0,51 €	€ 514,00	€ 771,00
05/03/2005	0,58 €	€ 583,00	€ 874,50
05/09/2005	0,71 €	€ 709,00	€ 1 063,50
02/02/2006	0,69 €	€ 690,00	€ 1 035,00
28/08/2006	0,66 €	€ 660,00	€ 990,00
03/04/2007	0,64 €	€ 636,00	€ 954,00
02/05/2007	0,63 €	€ 629,00	€ 943,50
16/01/2008	0,79 €	€ 790,00	€ 1 185,00

The thought of having to fill up a tank at 91c/l makes me queasy...Thankfully, we topped-up in January...

[Belle]

Hi Framboise I am curious to know what you mean , life here ain't as grim as back in england, I am not 100% happy here in France, maybe I'm not remembering the england that I left, if you can point out a few things about France that may make me think differentely, then I would be grateful.    

Belle

[tigerfeet]

I wonder why we Brits get called "whinging poms" in Australia ?

You only have too average the euro/pound over a 5 year period .....life ain't so bad ,you have to have swings and roundabouts to have fun [:D]

 

[Bugsy]

[quote user="tigerfeet"]

I wonder why we Brits get called "whinging poms" in Australia ?

You only have too average the euro/pound over a 5 year period .....life ain't so bad ,you have to have swings and roundabouts to have fun [:D]

 

[/quote]

Clearly said by someone to whom these price rises obviously mean little.

How lucky you are..............................[:@]

[cooperlola]

As I've said before, when I was working out the financial implications of living here, I figured on an exchange rate of 1.30 to the pound, thinking that I was being so sensible, because it was unlikely ever to fall that far.  Humph.  Thank goodness we don't have a mortgage to pay over here - I do not know how others manage who have to pay one in Euros on top of everything else.  Fine if you earn Euros, then you can be smug I guess, but not so fine if not. One problem is that because taxes and soc sec charges are paid in arrears, we're going to be paying tax at last year's exchange rates, whilst earnings are at this year's.  Still, next year's tax return figures will look a little different!

We just have to cut down a bit this year, and not go away anywhere, stop the "works" in the loft for another summer and hope things improve.

[NormanH]

I completed the purchase of my first house at a time when the franc was about 7.5 to the pound, so the present rate is really reminding me of those days!

I was getting 1200 euros a month for my pension a few months back; now it's only about 1000. 

200 isn't a lot, but it is proportionately higher when you haven't got much slack.

[Gluestick]

It will all come back, JE.

A temporary affair.

What has really cause the Euro's massive rise is simply distrust of the US $ as a reserve currency. The pound sterling was overpriced a tad for some time: as the dust settles and the Eurozone manufacturers start to crumble (which is already happening), either the ECB will lower core rates, or the markets will realise that all is not so stable in Euroland and this realisation will cause the Euro to sink against the US $ and sterling.

What is currently being ignored (the markets aint really so smart!) is that a number of Euro states are suffering increasing economic woes (Italy, Greece, France, Portugal, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Spain and even Germany now) and this will eventually impact the currency.

At present, the market is going through one of its typical knee jerk panic attacks and seeking hedges and value: which apart from gold is what?

Just hang in there, y'all!

 

[:D]

[just john]

The pound in your pocket is worth a lot less in the UK than you may remember, for all sorts of reasons,
I pay €150 a year taxe d'habitation en France, back here I have just had my rate demand (inc 4% increase)  for  this year and I'm paying £150 pounds per month . . .

[raindog]

[quote user="now just john "]

I pay €150 a year taxe d'habitation en France, [/quote]

Do you live in a shed in the middle of a field?

We pay more than 1000 euros.

[NormanH]

You must live in a palace Raindog!

I also live in the Hérault and the taxe d'habitation in town is 450 euros, and in the country place 120.

[just john]

Raindog, that's still half the price of UK, but mine is a small fermette with an attached barn in 10Ksqm, though I am in the middle of converting the barn into a salon sejour avec deux chambres et une salle de bains au-dessus, I have just paid €215 for my planning permission from two years ago so I expect they will soon catch up with me on the taxe d'habitation. !

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself [8-|]

 

[tigerfeet]

[quote user="Bugbear"]

Clearly said by someone to whom these price rises obviously mean little.

How lucky you are..............................[:@]

[/quote]

The drop on my pension does affect me , but no point whinging about it, just cut back and don't depress everybody else. [:P]

[Sprogster]

What is compounding matters are inflationary pressures in France and the Eurozone which is limiting the scope of the ECB to cut interest rates. As a result according to recent official statistics, France is now the second most expensive country to live in, within the Eurozone.

My advice would be not to panic and to sit it out for the next twelve to eighteen months if you can, in the hope that the Euro will weaken by then. In the meantime, for those considering retiring abroad on a tight budget, make a generous allowance for unforseen currency fluctuations.

[chessfou]

Yes, thank goodness for the difference between taxe d'habitation and council tax. Comparing our 4bed, 2 recep + garage etc. here and there and accepting the fact that there is a difference between small village (here) and medium size town (there), nonetheless we are paying €301 this year against £2,329 (near enough €3,000 even at today's lowly exchange rate).

[Christine Animal]

[quote user="Sprogster"]

My advice would be not to panic and to sit it out for the next twelve to eighteen months if you can, in the hope that the Euro will weaken by then. In the meantime, for those considering retiring abroad on a tight budget, make a generous allowance for unforseen currency fluctuations.

[/quote]

Why can't Britain have the euro like everyone else, then you wouldn't have all these problems?  That's the price to pay for being different.  If it was the other way around, noone would be complaining!

Having said that, inflation is high for the Fench as well.

 

[mint]

Have put my intended house move on hold, to see which way the wind blows.  Have stopped all work to our ruin.

Dog still on the best dry dog food going and going to the vet's for anal gland trouble (I know a real conversation stopper that).

OH now having to eat some pulses (on which he is not keen) and not just fish.  Teach him not to eat meat like an "average" person.

No longer eating out, as I paid for a mega expensive monster size Godin range last year and now making it earn its keep.

But, on the plus side, the intererest on the UK deposit accounts have been paid 31 March and that's offset some of the exchange rate blues.

As they say, you win some and you lose some.  Would like to win a little bit more though.

Have been listening to the news about food shortages in other parts of the world and I said to the OH today, I'd stop buying rice if I thought it would somehow go to feed the people in India that I saw on the telly queueing for their staple.

Life suddenly looked positively rosy after that conversation!

[Sprogster]

Can't understand these low property taxes, as my taxe fonciere and d'habitation came to well over Euros 2,000.00 last year for a small terraced house in the Var.

Just shows how much more expensive it is in the South of France!

[krusty]

Sorry to tell you this Sprogster 500e for tax h&f , 3 bed detached.

[mint]

Well, I'm sort of in the middle.  1300 euros for the two.

[Patf]

But those of you who are paying more, don't you get better services? eg mains drainage, rubbish collection, street lighting. Back on topic - yes we are tightening the belt, the main thing being putting house improvements on hold.  Eddie doesn't mind, gives him a rest [;-)]

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Patf"]

But those of you who are paying more, don't you get better services? eg mains drainage, rubbish collection, street lighting. [;-)]

[/quote]Does it work like that in France? - I honestly do not know.  In the UK, in spite of having no services (apart from the rubbish collection) - ie no mains drainage, no street lights, no pavements - our council taxes were exactly the same as for those living in the nearby town (£1200 a year).  Only the water rates were slightly less (which they had to be as the council charged £80 a go to empty the cess pit - something which had to be done 4 times a year.)

Here, happily, the total comes to less than €600 - tv license included, but I don't know if the people closer to our village pay any more?

[NormanH]

Towns are much more expensive than country places for both taxe d'habitation and taxe foncière....and yes we get all sorts of 'extras', but of course many of the services paid for are also available to people who live in the near-by villages and commute.

This was one reason behind the development of 'agglomerations', or "communauté de communes"   so that the cost of things like cultural or sporting facilities doesn't fall only on town dwellers.

I pay about 1000 in total in town and 300 in total in the country, but get street lighting and mains drainage in both.