Cost of Living

[Quillan]

We have a ED’s near us (don’t know who owns them) and they offer reasonable veg but the selection of other goods is somewhat limited.

 

One of my clients was one of the large supermarket chains in the UK. I was chatting to a guy and I commented on why they have different things in different locations. It would appear that the marketing people look at thing’s like house prices, type of houses, unemployment, how many people on the electoral role, ethnic origins, religious origins  etc, etc. From this they decide what ‘class’ of people live in the area (all this A, B, C2 and whatever) which then determines the produce sold in that store. I pointed out that this seems like the supermarkets telling people what to eat, he just smiled and said ‘no comment’.

 

We do store stuff mainly when we see 3 for 2 offers in LeClerc or Auchan where we do our monthly big shop. Now we are a registered CDH we can use cash and carries but to be honest you can get just a good a deal (and even better) shopping around supermarkets (never stop supermarket publicity coming through your door). So we do hoard a bit but then do the French but mainly with their home produced produce. They also, well round here anyway, do their own meat hanging, snails, frogs etc not to mention making jam from just about anything they can.

 

I also notice when in the queue that people use money off and extra points vouchers far more than in the UK, we are now doing the same and have found it can knock up to €10 of our bill.

[Logan]

The point I was making here was that in my experience French people will still buy quality food despite their lower disposable income. It's a greater priority than in the UK. They will do without other things. They appear to spend less on their houses, drive older cars, take cheaper holidays. I am of course generalising. Of course there are sections of the population that may not. But in general that is my experience and we can only write in these forums of that. In rural France, in small villages it is still possible to find the butcher, baker, candlestick maker et al. Why? Not everyone shops in supermarkets precisely because they seek quality and are demanding as a result..

Living in France offers a higher quality of life for many reasons than that in the UK in my opinion. I cannot and was not speaking for anyone else. Quality is always subjective. However I would just say that in general the standard of living for most French people is equal if not higher than that of the UK.

I have lived in France for many years and certainly don't have a blinkered view of French life. However I am surprised to read so many British people sounding very disillusioned about living in France. Perhaps it's a case of unrealistic expectations in the first place. You need to take a balanced view of life anywhere. There is good and bad in any country. For me in France the good is much greater than the bad.

[Stocky]

The general concensus of opinion is that there is little difference in the cost of living, apart from those affected by exchange rates.  So lets look at the better things in life.  I have seen large turkeys for sale in the St Hilaire d'Harcourt market, no problem for me as I am willing to pluck, dress and kill (not in that order).  That market puts the majority in the UK to shame and I am sure there are better ones I have yet to find.

I enjoy watching and listening to people and that market has many to watch.  On my first visit I wondered why there were so many piles of Crepes ready for sale, now I know.  4 Euros for 100 leeks is a good by particularly as there were 140 in the pack.  I just hope the snails haven't eaten them before my return at Christmas

[Miki]

The point I was making here was that in my experience French people will still buy quality food despite their lower disposable income.

Sorry but that is not what you said before, is it. You have changed the goalposts somewhat in this posting.

It's a greater priority than in the UK. They will do without other things. They appear to spend less on their houses, drive older cars, take cheaper holidays.

Far too general to my mind, as you say. You  say that you have been here a while, then surely you realise that the French are just like any other race, some have money, some get by and others barely have two pennies to rub together.  I am sorry I have to say this but we will have to agree to disagree about how the French shop and live in general.

However I am surprised to read so many British people sounding very disillusioned about living in France. Perhaps it's a case of unrealistic expectations in the first place.

Sorry but I have also been here a long time as well and prefer to think of it as being realistic from day one. Nothing to do with being disillusioned or not. It can simply come down to the "specs" thing for many.

 

 

 

[Quillan]

Miki, you beat me to it.

“The point I was making here was that in my experience French people will still buy quality food despite their lower disposable income.”

 

I think many of us here have said that the quality of food is better here than in the UK, it has more taste and probably has fewer chemicals. France also produces much of its own food. Somebody mentioned pre made meals being so dire in France, perhaps that’s because all fresh meat is French where as processed food tends to be ‘Fabricated in France’ and is usually made from British beef etc. Food is not cheap in France compared with other main EU countries like Germany etc. Many of our guests have complained about the cost of food in France so it’s not just a UK thing.

 

“It's a greater priority than in the UK. They will do without other things. They appear to spend less on their houses, drive older cars, take cheaper holidays. I am of course generalising. Of course there are sections of the population that may not. But in general that is my experience and we can only write in these forums of that.”

 

Actually I think you may be wrong. I say this because unlike other EU members the English are very materialistic by comparison. French can’t understand why people live in 4 bedroom houses when there are only two of you. French second hand car prices are high so people tend to hang on to their cars longer. The French don’t look at cars the way the English do, just look on a main dealers forecourt at the condition of second hand cars. They don’t bother to get them valleted to sell them, it’s a car, you know has a wheel on each corner and gets you from A to B (although a/c is nice to have down here).

 

“In rural France, in small villages it is still possible to find the butcher, baker, candlestick maker et al. Why? Not everyone shops in supermarkets precisely because they seek quality and are demanding as a result.”

 

Our village had three bars plus all the things you mentioned (well not the candlestick bit) but just like in the UK the supermarkets killed it all off, now we have only one restaurant with bar.

 

”Living in France offers a higher quality of life for many reasons than that in the UK in my opinion. I cannot and was not speaking for anyone else. Quality is always subjective. However I would just say that in general the standard of living for most French people is equal if not higher than that of the UK.
I have lived in France for many years and certainly don't have a blinkered view of French life. However I am surprised to read so many British people sounding very disillusioned about living in France. Perhaps it's a case of unrealistic expectations in the first place. You need to take a balanced view of life anywhere. There is good and bad in any country. For me in

[JohnM]

[quote]We have a ED’s near us (don’t know who owns them) and they offer reasonable veg but the selection of other goods is somewhat limited. One of my clients was one of the large supermarket chai...[/quote]

It's not just the supermarkets that grade locations. I worked in retail for a while (in a Head Office IT dept) and I was (initially) amazed at how much was dictated by Head Office. We (the company) graded the shops. We analysed the content of sales by transaction to see what people bought with what. We looked at what time of day certain things were bought and stock levels were adjusted accordingly (mind you, we can't have done it very well as the planners got a rollocking after every Christmas). When done right, this works very well, a supermarket in the US discovered that they sold lots of nappies in a particular 2 hour period on a Friday, so they watched to see who was buying and found it was the young Dads on their way home from work. So the shop put a stack of beer next to the nappies, only to help the Dads through the weekend. Good customer service if you ask me! Yes, beer sales shot up!

 

[SaligoBay]

ED's fruit and veg is surprisingly good, just as good as a market, with the advantage that you get a trolley, and you don't have to break your arms hauling kilos of tatties and tomatoes.

Leclerc's fruit and veg is going from bad to worse, it seems to be more expensive every time I go there.  Broccoli is sealed in printed plastic bags, it's getting more and more like a bad UK supermarket.

And there are cheap Leclercs and dear Leclercs, it just depends what kind of quartier you're willing to shop in.

Those of you who have only ever lived in rural France might be surprised to know that you're seeing a minority sport in action.  Almost 75% of the French population is urban, and people in inner-city flats and suburban lotissements who - shock horror - do boring things like commute to work in offices 5 days a week, tend not to hang their own meat or cure their own sossages.   I have no hope at all of laying down wine or storing fruit and veg, because I have no cave or vide sanitaire or anything, man.   It's a different way of life, but it's still 100% French.      

 

[Piprob]

Quillie, you and Miki between you are going to be responsible for prompting another wave of settlers from the UK! Even your 'down-side' observations about life in France are an encouragement to herself and me.

And maybe, for all the diversity of opinion to be found on this web site, we all have some really important things in common - that we think about our lives, that we are conscious of having values, that we are not just negotiating each day on 'auto-pilot'.

We don't expect to find things better or worse when at last we get out to France this coming Spring; just different.

[Miki]

Those of you who have only ever lived in rural France might be surprised to know that you're seeing a minority sport in action.  Almost 75% of the French population is urban, and people in inner-city flats and suburban lotissements who - shock horror - do boring things like commute to work in offices 5 days a week, tend not to hang their own meat or cure their own sossages.   I have no hope at all of laying down wine or storing fruit and veg, because I have no cave or vide sanitaire or anything, man.   It's a different way of life, but it's still 100% French

That's what I meant to say

That is a pretty studious observation and spot on SB. So simple as to be obvious, of course barely a soul from the UK moves to an "agglomeration" (sp) and that is , for the greater part, where most of our French friends over the years have lived. Here for instance, the kids friends live in  Saint Malo, Dinan or another town, just as many of ours do. Their existence resembles more like the one, we once had in the UK, not the ex pat life in the compagne.

I guess it easy to forget that over 3/4 of the population live the way you have described. The days where life in the compagne seemed forever sunny and carefree  before and after the last war is slowly disappearing as the young seek new futures away from their predecessors existence. A severe lack of work in the countryside makes the large towns the only choice that many will have. This leaves houses available in the countryside that many of the Brits think the French don't want, when in reality, again for the greater part, it is an economic migration to other places where work is available.

Cheap housing for the expats then but, a rather senseless move for many British if you still need to work yourself and to be honest these are also the areas that would not normally sustain that many businesses, like B&B and gîtes.

Like anything else there is always a reason for something being cheaper. Good news for many but not for others then.

Rob, different is a pretty good word to explain many things about moving here I guess. No better, no worse, not a bad way to describe it, is it..............................

 

[Maddie]

It depends on when you are moving from in the UK (we came from Kent, just south of London and very expensive) and where you are moving too (we are in the south of the Haute Garonne).  On the whole, so far, we are finding the cost of living generally cheaper here. Car insurance (for a Scenic) is about the same for a higher level of cover if you take into account no car tax to pay, house and buildings insurance are cheaper, vets bills are a lot cheaper (and pet insurance to cover medical expenses we have not managed to find to compare with UK).  Our local Leclerc is cheaper than others in the area much like our local Tesco in the UK was more expensive than others.  We've adjusted our diet to what is readily avaialbe and cheaper here.  It's all relative.

 

[Will]

Miki, your post above reminds me about the last census. As many forum users will know, the census counts a representative percentage rather than, as in Britain, trying to count for everybody. Well, last time, the powers that be in Normandy didn't think previous censuses were properly representative as it made it look as if the region had too high a rural population compared with many other parts of France (it does of course and that's part of the attraction for many immigrants). So they decided last time to count nearly everybody in the cities and a much smaller percentage in the countryside in order to give the "right" balance. French logic, or what?