Idea on monthly bills

Hello and welcome Andrew,

Please note that I have created this new thread from your post on the Cyprus forum so that members can share some up to date infos with you.

All the best

Bhavna

@Andrew0680

electricity (approx) €250/month is our budget figure ?    If you've got panels it's likely to be a lot less than that but I would suggest err in the high side as generation free elec is capped at 90 % of generated

water (given we w be watering the plants etc) €40/ month is our budget figure ? I'd suggest a little higher

council tax ? Not sure as council tax doesn't really exist here. However local  Immovable Property Tax might .some municipalities still have it (IE Peyia definitely does but it's minimal) but for many it was abolished back in 2017.... check with the municipality... refuse tax is chargeable too so check that as well

tv channel costs as wed like to have sky installed (we hear you can get some dodgy boxes for approx €200/year) Pukka sky cannot be had here ... however hooky TV is widely available plenty of suppliers .. use a smart tv or Firestick or android box to get everything and more including full IPTV sourced sky

car tax for our audi A1 we are bringing over.. go to the Cyprus DoT dept website  as there is a calculator there

food costs in supermarkets (people's general view) ? Everything now is expensive ...Lidl used to be cheapest but not anymore .. use local brands rather than known ones. They're just as good if not better

car insurance for our Audi per month  ; €40/month is our budget figure ? Depends on drivers experience no claims etc bring evidence with you .. plenty of brokers here

pet insurance per month approx  (we are bringing our little dog!) €40/month is our budget figure ?  There are very few insurers for pet medical here  the vets are very good though

Good luck with your move and  best wishes in your new home

@Toon we have pet insurance for our little dog which we arranged with Abbeygate. it costs €24.95 per month. i suspect it will depend on the age of the dog. The policy requires you to pay yhe vet bills and claim it back. The vets here are very good and a lot less expensive than the UK.

@Bhavna thank you so much!

@Toon

thanks toon - super kind of you.

i need to understand that electricity arrangement better with the cap at 90% 🤔

i forgot to ask about Wifi (incredibly important (!) these days)

given our daughter would think her life is iver with poor wifi

Our budget is €40/month for a good wifi package in the paralimni area (Sotira) i guess we assumed wifi coverage is good 🙏🏻🤷‍♂️

Mobile phone packages for the 3 of us which has free mins, texts and some free data per month (like we have in the uk)

ive budgted €20/month each so €60/month for something decent -  how does that sound approx ?

cheers,

Andrew.

@MacGeorge8035thanks MacG

thats good to know! 

The dog is an important member of the family! 👍

@Andrew0680

It's a good idea to shop.around for the best deals..

Try Cyta and primetel for fibre

Other dish based systems ecotech Nd wifibre

@Toon

Thanks Toon - is it best to do that once we rae out there rather than now you mean ?  (we'll be renting whilst our house is built therefore as thought that would be the time to shop around in readiness for moving into our new build) ?

@Andrew0680

Just something on permanent residency ; we need to hold €75,000 each year (for 3 years at least)  in a Cyprus bank account whilst we prove we have income to provide for ourselves.

I'm conscious that Hellenic bank and Bank of Cyprus interest rates are pants (0.7%/year (!)

My question is ; do you know if the Cypriot authorities accept monies held in say, Revolut on-line bank ? 

(who are recognised as a bank in Cyprus and have EU insurance status upto €100k)

Revolut interest rates are much better.....

Yes Andrew it is recognised.

@SimCityAT

thanks for confirming that(!)  really good to know because of their interest rates 👍

Residency funds requirements must be deposited to to Cyprus bank and must come from a bank abroad ... unless it has changed recently ... I don't believe it has.

Revolut is accepted here for mostly everything else

@Andrew0680

Where did you get the €75k figure from.. it's ok I found it in my notes

If the house that you are having built is valued at €300k or more plus vat at prevailing rate then PR and GESY entitlement are available to you .

In all cases of immigration I would recommend you speak to a professional regarding banks accepted and amounts as things change all the time and if you have engaged a professional they will probably be up to date. I did my immigration Dec 2022 and it was 20k in a Cypriot bank and Revolut was not accepted. Be prepared to get differing stories also. I get the impression each professional has a way to bend rules at the immigration office as well :-/

@Toon

my wife has been researching this and we also had our developer confirm that for permanent residency applications it is €50,000 for the main applicant, €15,000 for your spouse and €10,000 for our dependent. €75,000 in total for us 3 which needs to be in the bank annually available.

@phildraper

ok phil, thanks and fascinating comments on rule bending 😮🤔

Yep I found it now I understand so ignore my question

I concur with Phil... takes a lot of frustration and anxiety out of the whole process

@phildraper

Absoluely Phil. We have a good lawyer (put onto us by some cypriot friends) and she is assisting with immigration matters also

Just like to hear other peoples experiences and tips….you never stop learning in life!

One more thing to add is the rules regarding the bank deposit. In my case I was told I only needed to keep 20k in the bank to get a statement signed by the branch to prove it was there. Then I withdrew it and put it back into interest account in the UK. I was told the funds do not have to stay in the account just be viable at the time of immigration. Just another point to mention. I really try to keep all transactions to a min in the Hellenic Bank. They charge for EVERYTHING! Use the cash machine at the branch to draw my money out they charge 1.50, pay a bill via a transfer they charge 3.00. Then at the end of the month they raise another charge that looks like they just make it up lol I put money in to pay my rent, Primetel, water and electricity and about 100.00 more to pay for the months groceries at supermarkets. I use my Revolut to top up the groceries and general expenses in taverns etc. I had to upgrade the Revolut account as I exchange over 1000.00 per month but this is just a fixed fee. I never checked on other Cypriot banks as there wee bigger fish to fry when dealing with immigration, cars etc. Transferred from Revolut to Hellenic only work during bank opening hours and can take up to 3 days to appear in the account. So much for fastcash transfers.

Welcome to Cyprus where everything is negotiable ..and some cases taxes  lol