cost of living 2013

[Brian c]

Cost of living 2013
Ok here we go again.. Goodness knows what the cost of living is anywhere these days as prices and taxes etc seem to change from one week to the next.
The following are the figures finalised for the middle of 2012 and contributed to by many, many people living mainly on Crete.
From my own recollecting of the many people that have contacted me over the 4 or 5 years of compiling this list, it would appear that most couples do well on a figure of somewhere between 11,000 and 18,000euros , but if you want all the toys, a car and a pool and a pet and insurance etc etc these things cost an additional amount so you select from the list of the items you will use and make up your own costs. I would also point out that a lot of the folks living on Crete have found the better and more economical ways to use their money .. i.e the right shops, local tradesmen, grow their own food etc, hence they make their money go further and have a nice lifestyle on less than the newcomer to the island would need to get by.
Also over the last 2 years a few people have contacted me and said they do very nicely on 8000 a year and others say the 30,000 is a bit light …it all depends on your own lifestyle where you live,and whether you already own your home, hence no mortgage/rental.
And contributions from the folks living on Crete would as usual be most appreciated and I will update the list as your advice comes in.
Thanks in advance for any practical comments.

Cost of living 2012
1. RENT/MORTGAGE ……………...…… € 3,600 to € 7,000 VARIES FROM 2 BED FLAT TO 3 BED HOUSE
2. GROCERIES FOR A YEAR…………. € 4,500 to € 7,500 depends on your diet, do you grow food etc INC'S TOILETRIES
3. RATES & WATER………….………... € 230 .. MAY BE GOING UP SOON
4. PERSONAL CARE ……………………… € 1,400 .. DENTIST/PRESCRIPTIONS/HAIRCUTS ETC
5. ELECTRICITY…………….…………...… € 800 .. PLUS, DEPENDENT ON USE
6. OIL/WOOD/HEATING/……………... € 800 .. 2/3 BED HOUSE WOULD BE NEARER 1000 EURO
7. TV LICENCE ……………………………. € 51 .. ……… WHETHER YOU HAVE A TV OR NOT
8. INTERNET&PHONE…….……………... € 400 PHONE AND INTERNET OFTEN COME AS A PACKAGE DEAL
9. CLOTHING…………………………………. € 560 .. ……… I WISH MY WIFE WOULD READ THIS
10. EMERGENCY /MAINTENANCE … € 700 REPLACEMENT WASHING MACHINE/LEAKING ROOF ETC ETC?
€ 13,041 TOTAL OF ITEMS 1 TO 10 THAT ARE PRIORITIES
EXTRAS
ENTERTAINMENT(i.e.eating out) .... € 4,200 .. EATING OUT TWICE A WEEK AT 20 EURO A HEAD
CAR COST/REPAYMENTS YEARLY . € 1,600 .. ………. DEPENDS ON CAR OF COURSE
One CAR FUEL FOR A YEAR……….…. € 1,600 .. ………. DEPENDS ON MILAGE
CAR INSURANCE & road tax…….….. € 650 to € 1,150 DEPENDANT ON CAR SIZE
INSURANCE LIFE………………………..… € 700
INSURANCE BUILDING……………….… € 300
INSURANCE CONTENTS…………….…. € 170
INSURANCE HEALTH……………………. € 2,500 … FOR 2 PEOPLE, ..or do you qualify for nat health/ika
SKY TELEVISION…………………….……. € 700 .. from British address(remember setup costs for dish on Crete)
HOLIDAYS/FLIGHTS TO BRITAIN.... € 2,000
PET /FOOD & HEALTH CARE ........ € 1,000
POOL MAINTENANCE?.................. € 1,000 .. €100 for the chemicals if you do it yourself
ACCOUNTANT ............................€ 100 ... if you live here permanently you need an accountant
NEW PROPERTY/POOL DUTY.............. € 400 ... if you own a home (property tax)

GRAND TOTAL FOR EVERYTHING € 29,961 PLUS ONE OF SET UP COSTS OF AT LEAST 3000

[filippos]

Property tax?

[Kilkis]

Property tax?

Last item on the list?

Warwick

[filippos]

Ah, long day. Must have dozed off.

[Kilkis]

Tell me about it.

Warwick

[bobscott]

Tell me about it.

Warwick

It was that kind of day. Dozed off during episode of 'Outnumbered'. Some would say they use it as a sleep enhancer, but it has its funny moments. Went to bed early and missed the white smoke!

[ScotinCrete]

Absolute amounts vary greatly but worth noting:

1. Guests during the summer mean the 'eating out' costs will rise sharply

2. Sky TV is becoming a problem for most of Southern Europe so you can make some savings here but at the cost of internet tv costs - assuming you want UK/english speaking tv

We can now look forward to the polarised views of the "we used to DREAM of living in a box" v "only one car? and where is the cost for the yacht maintenance?" sides.

[Retired in Crete]

ScotinCrete,

Perhaps you would like to add the costs of running and maintaining a motorbike and your annual budget for computer games?

John

[annabanana]

what about garden plants??/ add them to expences

[filippos]

1. Guests during the summer mean the 'eating out' costs will rise sharply

2. Sky TV is becoming a problem for most of Southern Europe so you can make some savings

1. Most of our guests* reckon that if they're getting free accommodation it's only fair they pay for most of the meals. A notable exception is my son and even he gets out his wallet a few times.

2. We've avoided the irritation of not being able to receive Sky TV (or any other), fiddling around with tuning and adjusting dishes by not having TV for the last 11 years to say nothing of not spending several grand for the privilege.

* Not that we have hordes, anyway.

[filippos]

what about garden plants??/ add them to expences

Mostly free by way of cuttings and seedlings from generous neighbours.

[Retired in Crete]

Cost of living 2013

8. INTERNET&PHONE…….……………... € 600 PHONE AND INTERNET OFTEN COME AS A PACKAGE DEAL

This is one of the few things which has come down. There are good deals to be had by shopping around. Cyta, for example, offer high speed internet and free calls to anywhere in the world (except China and North Korea) for around 32 Euros per month. i.e. 384 Euros per year. Saving over 200 Euros per year.

John

[filippos]

There's not much to choose between quite a few of the offers currently available. I pay just just over €4 more per month than the Cyta deal, using Forthnet via an OTE line.

I've used Forthnet for about eight years with remarkably few problems (and none in the last five years); on the rare occasions I've had a problem their service has been excellent. I've heard mixed reviews from people using Cyta and OTE.

Free calls is of little consequence: we use the our line for, maybe, 6 international calls annually and about the same number of local calls on a mobile. Everything else is on Skype and I can put up with free PC to PC calls and €0.02/min to landlines.

I'm not inclined to take a leap in the dark by changing to save about €1 per week. Same goes about offers I've had from OTE.

[altohb]

There's not much to choose between quite a few of the offers currently available. I pay just just over €4 more per month than the Cyta deal, using Forthnet via an OTE line.

I've used Forthnet for about eight years with remarkably few problems (and none in the last five years); on the rare occasions I've had a problem their service has been excellent. I've heard mixed reviews from people using Cyta and OTE.

Free calls is of little consequence: we use the our line for, maybe, 6 international calls annually and about the same number of local calls on a mobile. Everything else is on Skype and I can put up with free PC to PC calls and €0.02/min to landlines.

I'm not inclined to take a leap in the dark by changing to save about €1 per week. Same goes about offers I've had from OTE.

Our experience with Forthnet has been similar. We have had problems (largely due to our location) but the service has been excellent, overall.

[filippos]

We have had problems (largely due to our location) but the service has been excellent, overall.

We're lucky: only 220m from the OTE exchange.