Cost of Living in Europe

[BMM389EC]

Hello All
Anyone have any idea which European countries/cities have the lowest cost of living. Taking tax into account and not?
Just wondering, as we're flexible in where we can live.
Cheers

[ICING AOA]

Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Switzerland, Andora, Monaco, Cyprus..., are good places for low tax rates :ok::O

[Dani]

... on the other hand, they have very high cost of living!

[BMM389EC]

They do, don't they? So where's a good compromise??

[neil armstrong]

for cheap cost of living look to the east and south!
Poland is cheap,so are most old east block countrys.
Spain is cheap if you stay away from the coast

Neil

[sickBocks]

Slovakia 19% Tax flat rate when I was there 3 years ago - I don't believe it's changed. Nice scenery - proper Summers due to the microclimate in the lee of the Maly Carpathia. Bratislava linked to the UK well by the low-cost airlines. Bratislava also 40mins from Vienna airport. Nice countryside for lakeside-living 30mins up the motorway to the NE of Bratislava near the wine and spa region.

Not much influx of scum imported by the LoCos to vomit over the heritage either - the Slovaks seemed to apply a zero-tolerance mentality. :D

Cost of Living good - 60p a pint for good beer. (The same beer that costs £3.00 in Tesco in the UK).

sB

[Dani]

I find it an interesting discussion here and worth to go into details. I believe you are coming from Oceania?

Well, I don't know how well you know Europe, but there is an amazing variaty of people, cultures and languages here. If I were you I wouldn't concentrate mainly on cost but on quality. It might be easy to change households in a unified continent like the US or Australia, but that's not the case in Europe.

Example: Do you speak other languages? It might be interesting to learn a new one (which I recommend strongly), but could be very difficult in the beginning if you don't, e.g. if it comes to deal with authorities, renting houses and buying cars. You should go where you get the best quality of living for the least cost and the lowest taxes.

Where that might be, that's hard to tell, and everyone will tell you his own country. Switzerland, where I come from, is a very modern country, with excellent infrastructure, (still) low criminality and high education standards (most people understand English and other foreign languages).

I would recommend to travel around a bit, mainly off the tourist routes and outside of luxurious hotels, and try to get into contact with the locals. If you see something you like, go to an immigration authority and ask about formalities. From the number of papers they hand you out you will find out where your future lies...

Good luck,
Dani

[IRISHPILOT]

Indeed, Slovakia still only the 19% flat rate, would recommend a place right outside the city though...
Apart from that, cheap European cities all over Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, as well as Istanbul which are all very cheap to live (not sure on the taxes, though remember Istanbul to be low a couple of years ago). Istanbul is probably the only one apart from BTL where you wouldn't get a cultural shock...

You'll probably need to travel around a bit, as former Eastern Europe is not for everyone and the language barrier can be quite significant. Also depends on whether you bring family (British and American schools can be found almost everywhere, though pricey).

[MartinCh]

Hi there.

I got my Slovak passport in the drawer here in Belfast. Expiring exactly today on the dot /after 10yrs validity/. So I s'pos' I can give an opinion on the subject.

Zero tolerance mentality? Shouldn't you say zero mentality?? Yeah. Slovaks do not 'throw up all over our sightseeing spots' but we're not those "Peace-loving Slavic doves" either. There's loads of drinking, spirits, schnapps abuse. Not just nice EUROPEAN, Czech etc beers for coupla dimes.

I could go on and on. I ain't gonna live there. Yes, got my family there but that's it. There's good and bad things everywhere so I don't have reason to thrash everything.

Yes. Nice countryside, lots of history, castles, forts, etc /not much appreciated by locals let me tell you/.

Let's get down to money. Yes. It's CHEAP, but only compared to Western /or Scandinavian/ levels of wages. Come to SVK with monthly income from UK, Ireland etc sent over and you'll be great.
But try to live on your own on crappy local wages and you'd be gobsmacked.

My Irish friend, Dubliner I met in Edinburgh when I lived there, could tell me what it's like. And he's the lucky one working in Vienna for EUR and commuting back home to his girl /Slovak art grad/ and almost 2 yr old son.

Working from home, for an IT guy getting paid UK salary and Hey-ho. Great. Or as a businessman for int'l company in Bratislava. Could be.
As an English teacher? Crappy salary. Not much else to think of.


Slovakia and many Central and Eastern European countries are nice to visit, travel around on a budget, but not that great for average people living there on local wages. IF THEY CAN GET A JOB AT ALL.

Since I'm Czech national as well, I'm fed up with people not just confusing countries and capitals /when bragging how big travellers they are - bah/ but only ever going to Prague to get pissed and fly back.
We're starting to see the trend in Bratislava too.
Finnish can be worse than Brits or Irish regarding binge drinking in SVK.

Yeah. That stupid flat rate tax is bollocks. Idiotic politicians were so amazed by the 'simplifying' idea. All it helps are filthy rich bastards.
Or removing inheritance tax completely. No brackets, no scaling. Just to get rid of it and that's it. One has to see below the surface.


IF I didn't spend my first 21-22 years in Slovakia I could have been much closer to real helo pilot career than I am now. So much to save up. Only thanks to living in the UK I realised I could eventually make it.
That's why 'being realistic' never allowed me to daydream about flying for living as it's so prohibitively expensive. All the more for a guy earning peanuts and paying over the odds for the basic living costs.

[rubik101]

Flat rate tax is not bollocks at all. Indeed it has been shown, should you care to take the time to research such a thing, to considerably increase overall revenue while simultaneously reducing poverty in all the countries that have such a system. The fact that the 'poorer' pay far less tax than in a tiered system is forgotten by those shouting about the fact that the 'rich' apparently pay less tax than they should. The increased revenue comes from the simple fact that there is an incentive for ALL to earn more, whereas in most tiered systems, increased earnings means increased taxes disproportionate to the extra work involved. (Google..flat rate tax)
Having said all that, property prices/rental in the former East Germany is lower than the EU average. Most of the previous 'Iron Curtain' countries are considerably cheaper than the more Western countries.
You pay your money and take your choice!

[Aussie]

Gday all,

Someone earlier posted in regards to cheap living in Poland...

I have to disagree... It is all relative, to where you make your $$

If you are making Euros or pounds and spending in Poland, then yeah, youll think its great and cheap... However, if your earning a local wage, you maybe suprised to realise just how low the quality of life really is!

Just a reality check :{

[BMM389EC]

I was thinking of shying away from eastern europe.... Salary would be GBP and would come with the family.....