Surviving on €150 a MONTH in RURAL Bulgaria | Real Living Costs | Shoestring Budget | 2022-2023
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.พ. 2023
- We choose to live this way, you can't put a price on the freedoms that we have. We're 26 and 27 years old and haven't worked for almost 2 years now. Not because we're lazy, but because we wanted more from life.
We recognise that there are many more outgoings that we don't have, that others many have, but the list could be endless.
We didn't go into detail on how we save money whilst renovating, because this will be for a different video 🙂
If you struggled to understand Marks maths here is a breakdown on what we currently have going out the bank every month:
Water - 20 Levs at its peak in summer but 5-10 through winter
Electric - Averaging 40 levs
Phone Contracts - 70 Lev total
Float money - 150 levs
BG health service - 30 Lev
Overall, approximately 310 levs or €150 euros
We hope people find this information useful if you're on a similar journey as us, let us know if there are any questions 🙂
Revision 01/09/2023: This was our budget for approximately 18 months through the most recent cryptocurrency bear market. relying purely on digital asset investments proved to be difficult, especially with the impending life changing event of our little man Archie. We had to think drastically before we ran out of money. See the latest videos for updates.
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The only warning I can give to anyone is prepare for medical bills even if your on the BG health system or S9 if you have even an emergency ,the cost can be eye watering .example Hip replacement is more or less free ,the replacement item as of March 2023 is £6000 ,if you need blood up to a certain limit (not sure how many litres ) is free after that you pay unless you can get people to donate .There are hidden costs to be aware of even bandages ,so caution .
Really value comments like this! Thanks for sharing! 🤯
Hardship and humility has always brought people together...
Hi guys, you are great.
Man, you should marry this woman immediately.
You can find a beautiful woman wiling to live on a 150 euro a month.
She is a keeper.
I'm also coming back home after 25 years abroad.
Can't wait.
Good luck to you both.
Thank you so much for your honest and down to earth videos. I travel over to Bulgaria next month to start my search for my dream (project) property. I would be lying if I said it wasn't a daunting experience, especially as I'll be doing it all solo. Your videos are giving me hope and inspiration to make the move and change my life for the better, and even though, for the first few years it will be very hard work, I know it will be worth it in the end to escape the rat race of the UK ❤
How awesome that you're pursuing a similar adventure! Thank you so much for the kind words, and please don't hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any more curiosities 😊 it will definitely be 100% worth it, the hard work is the best bit 😅
I recommend the provinces of Plovdiv. There is an airport near Plovdiv. There are direct flights to London.
I personally prefer closer to the sea where I have bought kavarna for example
Thank you for sharing. I’m moving over in May to live full time, sort of early retirement. I have a house in Yambol province and have just spent a couple of weeks there. I managed to get residency through my Irish Passport so consider myself fortunate. It was interesting to hear how you manage with your budget and explain the different types of outgoings, really helpful! Good luck and take care
We wish you all the best in your journey, what an exciting adventure, yes that is lucky to be honest! It's a lot harder nowadays to get residency, but still possible 👍 If you would like more information on other bills, hit is up on one of our channels, we'd love to hear from you and maybe help you if you wish 🙂
I have a house in Plovdiv province. Next week I will move to Bulgaria from UK.
Good luck with everything on your journey!
Just arrived in BG and looking forward to the adventure... you're inspirational - hope to bump into you sometime...
Welcome to the family David, we'd love to meet you and listen to your story also, which region are you in? 🙂
@@MarkandAnisha we're near to Svilengrad close to the Greek and Turkish borders ... We're taking small steps as there is so much to do ... thoroughly enjoying the adventure... Yes... let's plan to get together sometime...
Haha yes the list is endless 😅 Great stuff, when we go travelling more we'll drop you a message and arrange something 🙂
Hi guys u r awesome. Just wanna say that i've been living and working in uk for about 10 years... I always tell my british friends to visit bulgaria and it will be so cheap for them comparing to uk. I'm happy about u and the fact that u r sharing things about bulgaria... God bless you.
Hey! thanks you so much! We enjoy sharing our lifestyle with everyone, god bless you too 🤗
Well done.keep building ...Get yourself a decent petrol chain saw then you can cut trees for free in village on the arrangement that you keep the wood...this way you have free fuel for wood central heating / cooking. have you looked at doing online english teaching, income usually small but with your budget it should cover your bills easy without having to come back to uk for work...enjoy your life there... Internet good to meet friends and a lot Europeans are really friendly which is great. your making progress and that all that counts, something that is near on impossible in uk for many today...so forge ahead where you are and you come out smelling of roses...
We have access to chainsaws but never considered the trees around the village as a resource, we will definitely bring this up with the mayor if we need in the future thanks for the pointer! 🙂
Thanks for another great video, these sorts of videos are great for people considering a similar move👍
Our pleasure, it doesn't cover everything, and it is purely our personal costings but glad your liked it 🙂
Just come across to your channel as a Bulgarian who's living in the UK I'm surprised that you can actually settle and live there for €150! admirations to you huge respect and nice work on your house refurbishment good job 👏 👍🏻
It didn't come easy or without challenges! One of the reasons why we left to the UK was to support ourselves again. Finances were stretched as far as they could go unfortunately 😕
I have been enjoying your journey from the uk to Bulgaria. You are both resourceful and great to see how you work things out together. I travel to Bulgaria and work amongst Bulgarian Roma gypsies. I have met some lovely people and made many friends there in South West Bulgaria. Will watch your videos with interest. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your interest! We would love to hear more in the future, about you travelling for work reasons 🤔
Hello good day my name is Filip Kostov I am from Bulgaria congratulations for the good purchase of the property with great interest I watch your video well done bless you both of you
Thank you for your kindness Filip, welcome to the family 🥰
I am a new subscriber. Thanks for the honest look at your budget. I am looking forward to your next video. Thanks from Canada.
Thanks for tuning in ☺️
I have never owned a dish washer and do not consider them a necessity, also, using a dryer is expensive. In the winter I put my washing on a clothes horse, and it eventually dries inside. I use a hot water bottle to keep warm during the day and at bedtime. Best wishes.
You're totally right, it's a luxury not a necessity. We opted for the dryer to kind of give us that option to keep on top of the washing whilst still living in a "renovation" phase. We are considering building a permanent airer/ creel too.
In the winter of July 21, our first winter, we had the clothes hung up around the fire also.
The dishwasher is a future proof investment for when we have a family and pots start to add up haha definitely another area where we could've saved money though for sure 😊
Thanks for sharing guys, another cracking video. Good for you on keeping to budget - cracking effort. Look forward to following your journey 👍
Cheers, it's all about finding happiness in the small things ☺️
Thanks for this nice video. I wish you all the best.
Thank you! You too!
Thanks for sharing the costs of living a fulfilling but simple life in Bulgaria. Nice to have an idea of costs.
Hope you get to grow and preserve lots of fruit and veg this year. Stretch that budget even further!!
Fingers crossed 🍀 We're definitely ready this year to get as much as possible preserved and stored 🙂 Thanks for your support 😊
good positive attitude, great information, thanks for sharing. all the best.look forward to you videos
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it 😊
Hi we live near Tryavna. Your 150 month budget has provoked a lot of discussion in our house we live off grid and grow our own food through summer and the lowest we have managed to live off is 700 lev we dont drink or smoke and we do minimal driving . We have all wood heating and cooking . Keep up the hard work we enjoy your videos .
It's been tough, tbh but interesting to hear your perspective too! Thanks for your support 😊 ❤️
@@MarkandAnisha we have been here 2 years now and we keep a diary of absolutely everything we spend money on in the first year we spent £16500 here on living costs and jobs in the house we do 1 job into house or garden each month so costs vary depending on job . We are in the forest so nobody will deliver to us so that makes getting sand ,stone and building products very challenging. We have a very big larder and we do a lot of canning . We go shopping in Vt once every 6 weeks .there are no other English near us and in winter we can go 2 months with out leaving our property
Tbh from what you've said, we spent close to that also so far! It does quickly add up. It sounds like you're really on the ball with prep then, and it's one of those things isn't it where the isolation is a blessing and a curse at the same time 🤔
As a native speaker you can teach English privately, for example, conversations in English. They will surely be willing. All the best from Poland.
We have been informed of that before and seems to be an opportunity for sure if we feel we need it, thanks for your support and advice 😊
Thanks for sharing 😀
Great video I always wondered this but hasn't really been covered . Thank you
Thank you, and glad it was helpful!
Thanks!
Ed, that's really generous, thank you so much 🥰
You guys are so lovely and brave to have your independent life in beautifull Bulgaria. We'll be happy to meet you this summer in Kiten and to share our life experience from the UK too. Oli & Gillian, Romford, Essex, UK
Your bold honesty is awesome. The descriptions of how you plan and prepare for events are refreshing , thanks for sharing! We have lived in Sofia for 15 yrs. During that period, we completed apartment renovations which as you know is a nightmare in this country. We are not rich, and I am embarrassed and not happy to say that the cost of living in Sofia for us is on par with living in the San Francisco (real estate, food, transportation, utilities, home decoration, normal family indulgences...).
One piece of unsolicited advice is that even though you are young, it might be important for you and your father to have a trusted and respected medical person you can go to for advice who can get you in touch with the right specialists when needed. This is key because your medical network can save your life here. Our network has saved mine twice.
Really interesting to read that, the cities are definitely a lot more expensive to live you like mentioned, so thanks for sharing your thoughts, we'll definitely bare that in mind!
Being so rural, our nearest doctors is in Gorna, 30minute drive, then the hospital is VT so 45minute drive there! Got to be so careful when doing work in the sticks!
We'll be on the hunt for a respectable contact for sure!
Absolutely beautiful best way to live , well done
Thank you 🥰
Amazing video again well done 👍
Thanks David, glad you enjoyed it ☺️
The cost of groceries is a funny one I think esp in relation to inflation.
Inflation in a way is personal it doesn't effect each person equally.
Most people in BG and the UK are overweight, fasting and eating far less are much better for you than western gluttony I often do 3 - 5 day fasts for health. Andsave a great deal of cash in the process.
The assumed 2 - 3000 calories needed daily is wrong the human body is much happier and healthier closer to hunger ...
You can save a great deal of money by simply eating only what your body needs....
Then cost of living and inflation does not effect you at all..
Very true! Listening to our bodies is the best way to balance everything, the whole food pyramid is designed to siphon money into the wrong pockets. We as a population unfortunately suffer. Thanks for sharing your perspective! 😊
we are moving next month. because we are a 1 wage family my money has to renovate the house and pay for ponies and general life. it wont stretch as far as id like :) plan is we have 500lev per month to live off of. we have water and will bbe growing as much of our food as possible. we have to factor the costs for dairy goats and chickens as well. they will all come in may/june. i cant wait to get started as i live the simpler frugal life style
Costs me more than that for local council tax in UK., which I get sod all for. Makes me laugh when I read on forum and groups , or in youtube comments, whether 2000 or 3000 Euro a month will be enough to live on in Bulgaria, Portugal or Spain. You are doing it the right way, as you say even if you have to come back to the UK for a while to top up your funds, hopefully though you will secure streams of income by working your investments and remote working, to allow you to live the life you choose.
Love your videos, we've only just discovered your channel. We are planning on moving to bulgaria asap. Just curious how you managed to buy a house and garden without having to have a company. We are not yet retirement age (but have retired quite early) we currently live in France (9 years) and are hoping our pre-brexit french residency cards will help make the process easier. Our only quandry is what area to buy in as we wish to be rural but not 'too' isolated (we are thinkkng VT or montana/north west areas maybe). We are planning on creating a simpler, quieter life but integrating as much as we can.
Hello :) I totally agree with all you have said.
We also bought house in BG after 17 years in Ireland.
I wonder what part are you in guys?
we are near Burgas
Wishing you all the best !
Kinga.
How awesome! Thanks for watching :) We are in the Strahitza District of VT so pretty rural to be honest haha! Have a great day!
💜
Where are you guys at?
Just for a frame of reference.
Love the channel.
You´ve got a new subs.
Hey, thanks for the sub 😁 we're based in the veliko tarnaovo region, and the strahitza district 👌
Look at Rocket Stove Mass Heater for heating. A 10th of wood needed to heat a house.
We definitely will try and utilise something of that nature next time we are out there 🙂
150 a month is still good you're even able to live on that with two people.
It wasn't easy.. actually very challenging at times to be honest 👀
@@MarkandAnisha I want to leave the US and move there, I feel like I'll do what it takes if I have to.
Channels like yours are a great resource for people like us who want to get away from the world. Thanks for the videos guys
I’m looking at visiting Bulgaria in September for two weeks and wanting to learn about starting a business to buy a car and purchase a piece of property in the next year. I am 55, retired. Just me and two cats. Any good advise would be helpful.
Have you tried to get a remote job from the UK?. Use parents/friends address etc. Even of its just part time for a couple of days it would increase your budget alot (plus the income tax in Bulgaria is very low....around 10%).
We considered lots of times but it's not something that is suitable for us. We have however been given opportunities from followers of our channel, whom are now great friends where we can earn a bit of money. There are also opportunities coming along in the near future too. The budget hasn't necessarily increased, but the extra bits here and there is definitely helping.
Surprising how you can both survive on such little outgoings. If you plan to possibly return to the UK in the event that you need to supplement your income, then I suspect that you do not have full BG residency?
Worst case scenario yes we might have to return but the likelyness of that happening is slim as we will find work here either online or in the village.
We are actually full residents, we're able to fly back and forth as many times as we like and stay for as long as we want 🙂 but obviously this costs Money haha and we would rather not do that
I have been in BG for 20 years and am super frugal but what you are saying is your cost are 5 lev per person per day and maybe possible for say 10 days but I find over a year is more like 20 lev per person per day if you do your sums properly, and that is being fairly well stocked and prepped to begin with. I live on 6000 euro per year here and want for nothing. I really dont think you live on 1800 euro per year.
Thanks for your comment, now at the time of of publishing this, our maths was laid out correctly. 70 lev a week, in our lifestyle was going quite far, like we said, our most expensive bill is 70 lev. If we would be living on more, don't you think we would've done a lot more on the house by now 😅 500 euros a month is a lifestyle that would give us a lot more freedom for sure, but I guess we were just living more frugally than you.
There isn't any other way to do do the Sums, the bills are what they are and we've not got a much more going out, unlike most. This will change if Mark drove or we start a family etc.
So, although for the best part of 2 years this was what we were on, and it's soon subject to change and we will be doing another video soon on our new circumstances 🙂 thanks
@@MarkandAnisha thanks for your reply, I suppose I could get down to 10 lev per day but as you describe that is survival mode, but with free wood and no car I could do it. Typically my water is about 3 lev per month and electric 40 lev and I cook on bottle gas and wood.The gas is normally 60 lev per year. So yes you convinced me, interesting you mention crypto I have over 95% of my wealth in crypto, I just opened an acc with Tap Global based out of Gibraltar. Good luck going forward.
So, is there a way to get the night rates for me, since I am buying with a business ?
Could be very likely 😊
I want u guys to do a video for people that r on gluten free diet and for people that have diabetes. What r the food options there? But, keep in mind that one can not eat only salads please. R there gluten free oats with no sugar? Ceylon cinnamon? Price of cod fish, salmon and tuna steaks? Price of Shrimps and Olive oil? Do u own a car? Gas ⛽️ prices? Internet price? Gluten free flour? Gluten free pasta and prices? Low fat yogurt, walnut prices...Solar panel prices? Cost to build a green house? A pool.. R u going to have some livestock in the future? I read in the newspapers that one person needs to have around 1647 leva to live a normal life, and around 2200 probably for 2. Is it true? And what r u thoughts on cbdcs?
That's a lot to ask haha we'll see what we can do 🙂
Every house have night rate wich is little bit cheap than day rate
Thanks for clarifying this, as you can see we were abit unsure 👍
@@MarkandAnisha If you have any questions of any nature I will be happy to help you
Thank you we will ☺️
That is an insanely low budget, although last summer I laughed so much at my water bills of 1.80 pence and 4 quid a month....
My small gas bottle and camping stove last me all summer, I'm at expert at one pot meals...
I still do a number two in a bucket and cover with ash and wash from a bowl in the garden heated from a small fire in an old pig sty.
With the weather so hot in the summer life can be incredibly cheap it's only when the cold comes things get ore interesting.
I am planning on getting UV heating sheets in key areas like over your bed attached to the roof as well as the standard heating alternatives have a look at those.
I love driving around so for me the biggest cost is fuel ...
Hope Bitcoin does what you need it to do....
That's the thing, there are always areas where pennies can be pinched, and like you said with the gas bottles, our LPG cooker lasts for several months, and that's with daily use.
Summer definitely allows us to save a lot more, and the spare cash can be put towards renovating and projects for the house.
Thanks haha, we're actually not invested in Bitcoin (but have been previously) but as you may know, it dominates the market and influences the rest. So our cryptocurrencies will follow suit. Fingers crossed 🤞
I would only invest in the top 3 or 4 coins they are going to crush and ban the rest. All the money in those will move towards the top ten coins initially.
The BIS the largest bank on the planet has insisted all central banks hold 2 to 5 percent in Bitcoin. I'd follow them if honest good luck...
Ohh and buy silver coins
We are invested in one of the top ten 😉
That's not possible
I’m 54 and planning to buy and renovate next year. Release some of my private pension £45,000. I would like rural , 2000m square land and a house with daily sound roof. Obviously when I’m 67 I’d retire and would get full state pension and have some private. I’m after simple lifestyle and would grow keep animals and poultry. Could this be done. Thanks. Great videos by the way
Absolutely with ease at that budget, you could easily find a house with that much land or more for 90k levs. It will most likely be ready to move in. Poultry is easily accessible to source, but not personally aware of other animals. Whether or not you need a permit or to be licensed is maybe someone else's expertise.
Thank you so much, and if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask, we have Facebook also if you prefer direct messaging 🙂
@@MarkandAnisha thanks for the reply. My plan would be to buy very cheap and try and make the money last . Apply for long stay and renovate, could release more pension money in a few years . Thanks
Well we hope all goes well and wish you the best of luck 🤞😊