Bulgarian Myth- Food Prices

@janemulberry

Have you thought about getting the land doused, a bore hole might be a possibility if there is water beneath.

@janemulberry

Have you considered getting the land doused to check if there is water beneath? As a bore hole could be a possibility.

Hi Jane

Have you considered getting the land doused to check whether there is water beneath the land, as a bore hole could be possible if there is.

If structurally sound, reforming an old house (provided that it's the right size for you) should be cheaper, and in some part of the country the downstairs walls are built of stone, not brick. The house that we bought (close to Plovdiv) has such stone walls, and I call the downstairs a bunker. With its thick walls and low ceilings it is relatively easy to heat in winter, and we don't even use an air conditioner in the summer.

Unfortunately, building materials and skilled labour are much more expensive now than they were a couple years ago, and builders are hard to find. On top of that, if a village is close to a city with good jobs (such as Plovdiv), houses there will be in great demand. In our village only 3 houses went on sale since we bought ours a bit over 2 years ago, and each was more expensive than the previous one. There are some apparently abandoned houses, but no one wants to sell them.

In England expect a builder or tradesman to now charge you £25 per hour. What's the going rate in Bulgaria?

@Earthling1, I'm not sure of the hourly rate for tradespeople in Bg, it depends on the skill level and the trade. I've only tried to get quotes for one job so far, and they quoted for the completed job, not an hourly rate, which I prefer anyway, they have no incentive to drag the job out to pad the hourly rate. Someone else may know the answer to the question. But whereabouts in the UK are you finding tradespeople who only charge £25 an hour? Where I currently live in the UK I suspect the hourly rate for any skilled trade is way more than that.

@Jules99, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of underground water in the area around my house. What springs and wells there were have dried up due to climate changes on top of big agricultural businesses taking too much water for irrigation and draining the aquifer. The communal village well is dry, and what used to be a good spring in the next village is dry, too. There's a wild stony area at the top of my land I need to explore for damp patches that might suggest a possible spring. Dowsing could be worth investigating, too. My feeling is there's not water there, or what water there is is so deep that drilling would be very expensive, but I would love to be proved wrong!

@sogy, yes, it's the same in my village, too. The houses that are for sale with estate agents seem quite overpriced, considering they all appear to need work doing. There are quite a number of abandoned houses where the old owners have died, children have moved away, and so the houses sit and decay. It's sad. many are so far gone that they wouldn't be repairable.

Anyway guys thanks for the insights perhaps we'll make it to Bulgaria perhaps we won't time will tell.

I will be able to go anywhere in the EU.

Fwiw like I said I have seen many Bulgarian houses for sale and don't generally see much difference in standard based on a price of 5 to 20k.

Sure it's only 20k difference and in England how would you know if a house was worth 320k or 340k.

But in Bulgaria if I see one at 7k and one at 30k and they both seem similar quality I'd go for the 7k option.

Like gwngj I too have lived in cold hard UK conditions for years, and I got used to it. But want more warmth in winter, but even modern houses soon get cold in winter when the heating is turned off. So you have to grit it out.

One can live clean and healthy in challenging temperatures look at that ice man fella.

But cold does kill. And I imagine a good range to heat a house will be necessary in Bulgaria without gas central heating. Solar panels I don't like the look of.

I once lived a caravan for 2 months in autumn in the UK and got used to that too.

My Rule number 1 of buying a product or service - shop around for the best deal for me.

Be creative do things my way. Stop to think and Find my way.

I Only pay someone to do something for me that i can't do or learn to do for myself.

Money is soon parted from lazy and foolish people.

I'd rather spend as little money as possible, that way I'm less dependent on the money system. That's just my philosophy the more I spend the more I have to work / the closer I am to having to work again.

"But whereabouts in the UK are you finding tradespeople who only charge £25 an hour? Where I currently live in the UK I suspect the hourly rate for any skilled trade is way more than that."

Yes I know what you mean.

Eg if you get a man to fit you a new gas boiler and it takes him 6 hours, I think you will find he will charge way more than 150.

I was thinking more specifically about builders, bricklayers £15-20, and groundworkers eg £200 per day.

I suppose we're going slightly off-topic from food costs to renovation costs... but hopefully the moderators will forgive us. :-)

As @janemulberry says, most folks won't work on an hourly basis. Typically, they want to quote for the entire job (sometimes for everything, but often labour-only with you buying the materials)... and be free to work on 2 or 3 (or more) jobs at the same time! :-) A few might be willing to help you with your project on a daily rate, but this rate could vary widely. If you can get an old boy (not too old, you need him to work) from your village, that might be a recommended option. Or, you might have some nearby "gypsy" builders (they're the cheapest, but you gotta be very careful with your selection/payment process).

If the Bulgarian national minimum wage were 40 percent that of Britain, I'd hope someone renovating on my property would charge 40 percent of what a Brit would in Britain for labour.

That being said they would probably charge you more than a local as they may presume you're richer than the locals.

I'd expect to be able to do most things for myself except electrics plumbing heating and roofing.

I can't compare as the only work I had quoted so far is roofing, and I don't know what a similar roof fix would cost in the UK. One thing I will say - if you buy an older house, look for one with a good roof if you can find it!

The difference between the 5 k house and the 20k house may well be that - especially as the estate agents rarely include pics that show roof problems, only ones showing the sound parts of the roof. Though I have seen pics on a well-known Bulgarian estate agent's website of a house for sale for 15k in my village that appears in all the photos to have a good roof, yet a close look at one of the interior photos shows a big patch of fallen plaster which is almost certainly due to a significant amount of water getting in!

If you can't find a house with a sound roof in your price range, next best is to look for one with a simple roof. Builders in the region my house is in obviously liked showing off their skills by building roofs with multiple hips.  Hip roofs  are useful because being all triangles they carry snow and resist high winds better, and the region is known for being windy, so it makes sense. But when every room has its own hipped roofline it's far more complicated to  repair or replace.

@gwynj Mayonnaise is easy, tastier and cheaper to make from scratch than buying processed. Doh!

Prices in Billa have definitely gone up a lot in the last few years!

And house prices in the main cities are rocketing. Hopefully the quality and wages keep up ...

@johnsimpson511 Hello John,

Sorry to hear of your cost issues...

Food prices have significantly increased here in the last 6 months.  This is also the case Europe wide, including the UK.

All imported foods and products will be higher than the UK, as transport to Bulgaria is expensive and those manufacturers are suffering higher production costs.  The inflation rate was 15.3% last December.

I have lived in Bulgaria now for two and a half years.  I married a Bulgarian lady in May 2021 (married in Bulgaria) and have two steps kids.

I have thrown myself into Bulgarian culture (even though I find the language difficult).  Hence, I mostly eat and drink Bulgarian products, which are, indeed, much cheaper.  I've had to experiment and I still am experimenting with what I like and dislike, but I've found a lot food and drink I like.  Yes I still buy some imports, but recently,I learnt of The British Corner Shop. Co. uk, which is handy for things we can't get here, like M&S products, marmite, marmalades, hot cross buns and more.  It's not cheap, but considering they deliver DHL, it's good value.

I've found excellent Bulgarian wines, beers and I love Rakia too.  Bulgarian yogurt is the best in the world for bio cultures. 

Unlike the UK, Bulgaria thrives on small businesses and it pays to shop around, I buy my fruit and veg from one of six very local stores.  I buy my meat from an excellent butcher 50 metres away. It pays to shop local, as you'll save on car expenses and fuel, going to a big supermarket.  We find local suppliers have better quality.  We also use bakeries and a whole host of small stores.  I'm not sure whether you're in a village, town or city, but I live in Varna, so I'm lucky enough to have over 50 local shops and businesses within 100 metres of my home.

One thing I've learnt about food here, you can eat good food or junk food - they certainly take pride in all there processed  meats, which take up a chunk of the supermarkets - I won't touch any of them, for their preservatives content.  Instead we buy fresh cooked chicken, or go to the fish market, we buy lots of pork / pig  products, liver and heart.  Fruit and veg is seasonal, so buying seasonal products saves a lot of money.  In Dobrich, I've seen tomatoes in August, costing 1 Leva per kilo.  Local beers are cheap too - I've just seen Ariana cans for 1.19 Leva in Billa.    Billa is the only largish supermarket I'll use, as it's ten mins walk for us.  We also have a My Market 75 metres away.  We haven't used Lidl, Kaufland or Bulmag for over a year and a half now. Did you know Lidl and Kaufland are owned by the same organisation? -  Schwarz Gruppe. Hence, Lidl has become expensive on many items. 

On the subject of speeding...

Many Bulgarian cops are corrupt.  It pays to offer a bribe!  I never thought I'd hear myself saying that, but it bore true, when my wife got stopped - we bunged the guy 50 Leva and all was good - no official fine or endorsement.

In Bulgaria drivers usually flash their lights when there's a speed trap ahead.

@janemulberry we're in a large maisonette (3 bedrooms) in Varna. Our council tax is 19 Leva per month (around £9) that's £108 per year.  Back in blighty my late father, was paying £2,986 per year on a two bed house in Camden, London.  My friend, who lives in a two bed maisonette, in Wandsworth (the cheapest council tax in London) is paying £839 per year.   I laugh at our council tax now - a mere £9 per month.  We pay a building maintenance charge, which is £10 per month.  A flat in London would command a maintenance charge of +£2,000 per year. 

According to Numbeo's website, the cost of living is around 60% less between Bulgaria and the UK, depending on where you live in each country.

@janemulberry we're in a large maisonette (3 bedrooms) in Varna. Our council tax is 19 Leva per month (around £9) that's £108 per year. Back in blighty my late father, was paying £2,986 per year on a two bed house in Camden, London...
According to Numbeo's website, the cost of living is around 60% less between Bulgaria and the UK, depending on where you live in each country.
-@cyberescue1

Agreed! I have zero issues with the cost of living in Bulgaria, though we can't move there till I reach pension age thanks to Brexit. Our UK house is a small, simple, one bedroom townhouse in a small market town on a tiny piece of land. Council tax is 1600 GBP. Council tax on the Bulgarian village house is 32 lev. I find most things are a lower price there as long as I buy local products in smaller shops rather than look for brands.

@cyberescue1 3 grants for council tax seems a lot. I have been moving around London coucils quite a bit, I was in Hackney, Wimbledon (Merton), Wandsworth, Islington, Kingston etc...Merton was thee most expensive one (135GBP per month)

Alsa, as single occupant, was he getting the 30% discount?

For maintenance costs, never spent 2 grants, but I would have preferred that than delaying with a bunch of !"£!£!"%$£^%$ (read Landlords).

I miss London, but the cost of living and renting has become ridicolous...Tories have completely destroyed any hope for young people to hop on the property ladder in this last 15 years, unless they have daddy to pay for it and rent has gone through the roof and beyond.

@janemulberry

and you don’t know the quality of the rebuilt either…

@Yuri1976 my father's property was in Band H, the highest band, hence the high cost.   As for maintenance charges, I was quoting a typical mansion block, in say, Maida Vale.

However, I remember my ex wife, used to live in a one bed flat over a shop in Belize Park, in the 90's, the landlord ripped the tenants off for £800 a year, asking for extra money every time some work was due, then the work was never completed.  She moved out eventually and went back to Scotland.

Agreed, the cost of living in London and come to that, other large cities is exorbitant.