cost of living

this is quite a difficult one to answer as much depends on your lifestyle, how big an apartment or house you want, utility bills vary depending on season and usage, groceries (local brands or branded) etc too....whether you run a car or use public transport, how often you expect to eat out, and/or socialise, whether you smoke and drink...its biggy and would need to know more about these things to advise better.

Hi toon , yeah you're right , it is a very tough one to answer so i'll give some details. Basically we're not an extravagant family by any means so eating out would be more of a treat than a regular thing , the apartments we've looked at are coming in at about 400-450 euros a month , we won't have a car initially so public transport will be our way of getting around and we'll certainly be looking at buying local produce at hopefully local ( or somewhere near ) prices - branded goods/food etc don't mean much to us really!!! - we both drink but very modestly and we don't smoke !! - wow don't we sound BORING !!! we're not actually ( i don't think !!!) ha ha! - just a really normal family who just like being outside in the fresh air hence the move to Malta !! what else , oh yeah we have a dog ( black labrador )who needs SERIOUS walking !!!
hope this helps

Hi fergie,

that equates to about 400 € /week or about 1600 € /month. Deduct 500 € for appartment plus 100 € for utilities/phone/internet.

That leaves about 1000 € for all the rest. That would be ok for a family of 4 to live but what about taxes/health insurance and is the flight back home once a month paid for ?

Are you going to send your daughter to a private school? There is some extra cost there if so.

There is a lot of info on the 'cost of living' thread that will answer most of your questions.

Cheers
Ricky

Cheers Ricky , I will check out the cost of living thread - undecided about the private school bit and I have to pay for the flights back to the UK so have to factor all this in but my work is very flexible ( I'm a RN ) so I can always stay and work for an extra couple of days when required ! - my taxes should be paid in the UK and so I should be ok under the double taxation treaty but the health insurance I wasn't aware of , is it expensive ?

Hi fergie,

health insurance costs depends ! To live in Malta and send your kids to school here you will need residency. And for that you need to show health care coverage.

Maybe you qualify for health care entitlement from the UK for a limited period? You should check that. But as you are still working in the UK that might not be possible.

With RN I presume you mean registered nurse.

Private health insurance costs depend on age and won't cover pre-existing conditions and does not cover regular doctor visits and/or dental treatment. So if that is for a family of four it can add up.

You only qualify for free treatment in Malta if you work in Malta and pay contributions or transfer existing entitlement from the UK to Malta.

You will have to check out the taxation issue. If your monetary budget is after tax deduction that will obviously be better but you will still have to consider tax issues.

Cheers
Ricky