The cost of Living in Bulgaria in 2023

We own our homes..in bg..its an residential apartment.

Service charges...100 lv per year

Council tax...80 lv per person

Electric..10 lv per month

Water...10 lv per month

Internet/tv 30 lv per month..plus i bought netflix from uk..and other gadgets that are free.

Eat out most nights...60 lv for 2 on average...sometimes more.

Food....whatever it costs..we have a car dont worry about the cost..but around 2 lv per litre for fuel.

We dont worry about cost..each individual is different..spends less or more...but prices are increasing year on year..what ever country..its inflation.

Bonjour moi je souhaite trouver des ateliers de confection de tissu ou de toile technique pour fabriquer des stores banne et Auvent de camping-cars sur la Bulgarie et par la suite créer ma propre usine avec une dizaine de couturière je suis qui peut me renseigner où il y a des ateliers de confection en textile est issu technique étoiles sur la Bulgarie on m'a dit pas mal dans le sud sur Burgas ou varna et également je vais ouvrir une entreprise SARL ou url En Bulgarie cette année

@tahianastany This is the English speaking forum and a different topic. If you go to the French-language Bulgaria forum and ask the question as a new post, you'll be more likely to get a reply.

We own our homes..in bg..its an residential apartment.
Service charges...100 lv per year
Council tax...80 lv per person
Electric..10 lv per month
Water...10 lv per month
Internet/tv 30 lv per month..plus i bought netflix from uk..and other gadgets that are free.
Eat out most nights...60 lv for 2 on average...sometimes more.
Food....whatever it costs..we have a car dont worry about the cost..but around 2 lv per litre for fuel.
We dont worry about cost..each individual is different..spends less or more...but prices are increasing year on year..what ever country..its inflation.
-@wtruckyboy

Hi, thanks for details. 60 lv is for how many days? Isn't it too low?

I find it's much cheaper than UK, but prices are definitely going up noticeably.

We have a small, older flat in Plovdiv, the 2nd city, in a very nice location which we bought as our "temporary" base. I'm currently renovating a new apartment (from "Bulgarian Standard") nearby, and I'm quietly confident that we will move in before 6 years are up. :-) We also have a holiday studio in Bansko, which is a charming town we like a lot.

Service charges... 160 lv per year. New place is 240 lv. Our holiday studio in Bansko has maintenance of 260 lv per year, and this is a cheaper place (4 euros/m2, I've seen some charge 10 or 12 euros)

Property tax... 128 lv current place, 220 new place. And my Vauxhall Astra is a whopping 260 lv! (Plus annual e-vignette 100 lv.)

Electric... last bill 90 lv... before cold snap in February. I've had the AC on 24/7 this month, so I am expecting a much higher bill, maybe 150 lv.

Water... big jump in price, most recent bill 60 lv

Internet... Vivacom 75 lv for one fibre home internet, and 2 mobile phone contracts. Also have Amazon Prime + Netflix Premium + IPTV subscription (45 euros ish)

Social security... 2 registered as unemployed to be in BG health system 54 lv, per month

Rent/mortgage... very lucky that this is 0 lv, as we purchased for cash

Bus... in Plovdiv, still 1 lev per journey, but I mostly walk, or if lazy I drive (2 lv / hour downtown parking by SMS)

Exercise... I walk nearly every day either Youth Hill or Regatta Lake, so that's free. My swim card is 50 lv for 8 entries, Our local cheapo gym near the flat has a pay-per-entry of 5 lv.

We hit Lidl/Kauland pretty hard on groceries. I'm guesstimating around 600 euros a month. But we eat well, and eat mostly at home. So maybe eat out 1 or 2 a month (let's say 120 lv), and tea/coffee out a few times per week (another 100 lv).

So, approximating... 10 euros service + 10 euros tax + 10 euros car tax + 5 euros vignette + 60 euros electric + 30 euros water + 40 euros internet/mobile + 45 euros entertainment + 30 euros medical + 40 euros exercise = 270 euros monthly for all bills. Plus 600 euros groceries. Plus eating/drinking out another 150 euros.

For comparison, the mandated minimum wage here is now 390 euros a month. Even without rent/mortage, I would find that impossible. However, a full UK state pension would be around 1,000 euros a month, which would be much more comfortable.

@Kykers hi..60 lev is for 1 night on average..depending on the restaurant.

We sometimes spend 30 lev.

I usually order 2 lge rakia..

2 salads..1 more lge rakia..1 glass of wine..then 1 lge zagorka..and 2 x main dishes... and 1 perlinka. (Garlic bread.)

good value i think..

Hello everyone,

I live in the city of Varna, with my wife and two step kids. At present we own a three bed maisonette (difficult to find, as there's so few). Previously we rented a large, old, two bed apartment.

Here is our cost of living per item...  I have included things we no longer pay for, that I know the prices for.

Rent (previous 2 bed apartment). 550 Leva per month. But this will have risen significantly to around 900 Leva per month, mostly due to an influx of Ukrainian migrants into Bulgaria.

Rent - studio apartment. We also own a studio apartment which commands a longterm rent of 600 leva per month. If we rent it as Airbnb, we can get around 55 Leva per night.

Rent - lockable garages. We have two. We rent them for 200 Leva per month. We also have a parking space that we rent for 150 Leva per month.

Property purchase...

This is a tricky subject, as there's often no consistency in prices. In March last year, we were looking at three to four bed maisonettes, which ranged from 85,000 Euro to 210,000 Euros. We saw a brand new maisonette, with only two bedrooms, to which they were asking 180,000 Euros! After looking at eight properties, we found an excellent buy, of a 3 bedroom maisonette, built 2008, with an excellent build standard, with significant storage and utility room, two bathrooms and additional basement storage, for 148,000 Euros in a small block (just 6 apartments) North of the city centre.

We also bought a studio apartment, built 2018, nearby, two months later for 55,000 Euro. We looked at around 6 ranging from 50,000 to 70,000 Euros.

We bought two lockable garages for 23,000 Euros each.

We bought a private parking space for 12,000 Leva.

Whilst you can make offers, the offers need to be near or on the asking price. There are plenty of buyers and there's a shortage of decent properties.

Bills...

Water averages 72 Leva per month for 4 people.

Electricity averages 160 Leva per month, which powers 2 large hot water tanks, 1 small kitchen sink tank, four air conditioning units that also heat in winter, washing machine, dryer, cooking hob/oven, fridge freezer, two TVs, three laptops. and lighting.

Municipal tax - yet to be seen, as the previous owners paid the whole year for us, but we expect it to be around 33 Leva per month.

Building maintenance charge - 18 Leva per month.

Food...

Food prices have risen significantly. When we first went to the store in January 2021 we would ne paying 75 Leva for a big shop. Now we're paying 100 Leva. I could itemise many items, but everyone is individual in what they buy, so here's a few items...

Loaf of bread 400gms 2.50 Leva

Water 11 litre bottle.  6.89 Leva

Milk.  1½ litres      5.25 Leva

Yoghurt 400gm pot.   1.40 Leva

Cheese 250gms.      6.50 Levs

Fresh cooked whole chicken 12 Levs

10 large eggs.        3.75 Leva

Bottle of good wine.  Between 8 and 14 Leva

Beer 500/600ml bottle between 1.90 Leva and 5 Leva, depending on manufacturer

Chocolate bar Snickers 2.50 Leva

Toilet rolls pack of 20 23 Leva

Vegetables are seasonal and when bought in season are much cheaper...

Tomatoes 1kg

winter - 3.50 Leva summer 1 Leva

Bananas 3.50 Leva per large bunch

Apples 1kg summer 2 Leva winter 3 Leva

Clementines 1kg only winter 3.50 Leva

Apricots 1kg only summer 4.00 Leva

Cabbage large whole 2 Leva

Pumpkin medium.   2.50 Leva

Pharmacy...

Medications can be expensive and, if you're not registered on the public health service, you'll have to pay full cost for the medication. Price depends on each item. Ranges from a few Leva for pain killers up to 80 Leva for specialist medications. If you're registered with the public health service, you can get a discount, buy seeing your GP, for regular, necessary medicines - often as much as 50%. Each medicine is different!

General pharmacy costs have risen significantly...

Paracetamol pack of 20.  6 Leva

Ibuprofen liquid caps 10. 7 Leva

Antihistamine tablets 10. 10 Leva

Transport...

We do not have a car - we used to, but parking is too much of a problem and besides, the transport in Varna, is generally good.

Bus fare 1 hour of travel cash fare 2 Leva

If you buy a card and top it up, the fares are 50% cheaper.

Taxi starting fare 2.15 Leva. Average fare for ten minute journey 8 Leva including tip

Rail fares - check BDZ website, but very cheap. You can travel 1st class across the entire country, for around 33 Leva, including reservation fee.

Eating out...

Depends where you eat and what you choose...

An up market restaurant, meal for two, three courses, wine and water, will cost around 120 Leva.

Medium restaurant, meal for 2, 3 courses, wine and water 85 Leva

Cheap restaurant, meal for 2,3 courses, wine and water 70 Leva.

Remember, these are Varna prices! It's cheaper in small towns and villages.

Coffee... Espresso 2.10 Leva, Cappuccino 3.75 Leva

Tea 1.75 Leva

Croissant 1.30 Leva

Beer in a bar from 3.50 Leva to 7.50 Leva, depending on beer and bar.

Education...

We send both our kids to a private school. The fees are around 3,500 Leva each child, per year over 3 terms. Books are entirely supplied by the school. A small amount of uniform is required, which cost us 200 Leva for both total.

There are extra costs for trips away, special days etc.,

Public school is free, but you have to pay for all books, equipment and trips. That said, public school education has very poor standards and very odd hours (07.30 to 12.30).

We think private education is well worth paying for.

We've also taken football and swimming lessons, which are between 75 Leva and 90 Leva per month each child.

Shopping...

Clothes...

Depends what you want to spend. You can spend as little as 40 Leva for a pair of trousers up to 500 Leva.

We purchased new, very decent, Lenovo Laptops for 1500 Leva each at a computer shop.

We've purchased furniture, but price depends where you shop and what quality you want. We bought a Sofa for 1750 Leva, hand built in Turkey.

We purchased quality wood frame, upholstered, dining chairs for 145 Leva each.

We bought a quality Italian, queen sized matress for 2300 Leva.

Medical Insurance...

Public around 260 Leva per year, which you can pay annually.

Private around 250 Leva per year, depending on amount of cover.

Hope all this helps!

It's not all doom and gloom, Kaufland has sourced some cheap kiwis recently. And not just regular kiwis, these are the fabled Kiwi Golds! And they are selling a 500g punnet (9 or 10 kiwis) for 1.59 leva.

That's a mere 8p each. For comparison, ASDA is currently offering 4 Kiwi Golds for 2 quid, 50 pence each, 6x as much.

The first day I saw the offer, I bought an extra 4 packs and froze them. Unfortunately... I soon discovered that kiwis don't freeze. Well, they freeze just fine... but when you thaw them they turn to mush. :-)

@gwynj As for your frozen Kiwi fruit, I find that if you eat them from frozen during the hot summer months they make a refreshing, healthy and nutritious 'ice lolly'.

@Kykers 60 lv is around £25..the rate last year qas 2.20 = £1.. so a meal out with drinks is as quoted..can get cheaper depending where you go.