Household bills

Electricity and water tend to be very cheap if you are not using electric heating... I've never had an electric bill over 100bgn for a 100 square meter apartment- and that tends to be in the autumn or fall when w use the electric heaters part of the day before central heating turns on- most months it is closer to 50bgn, and water tends to be around 20-30bgn. (I think, I'm not 100% sure on the water). When I was living on my own, with electric heating, my bill never came to more than 80bgn a month, but I spent most of my time at work and only heated one room.

However, heating can get expensive whatever method you use, even wood burning. I can't remember our exact costs but in Varna I think we were running around 150bgn a month for woodburning heating, but a much larger home.

A good site for the Exchange Rate I use http://xe.com/ucc

Thank you for your input guys. I guess I'll be cold in the Winter.

Hi,
I don't think you need to worry about being cold in the winter.
I'm assuming your modest house is in a village?
You have over estimated the cost of your council tax bill and ( in my opinion ) your monthly bills.
For example: our council tax bill is 26 Lev for the year, which is similar to what my expat friends pay, and this incorporates your rubbish removal and other services you may have.
If you are in a village then you can expect your water bill to be low, as you are not paying for mains sewerage either, ours is typically between 5 & 10 Lev per month. In the summer we use the well water to water the veg garden.
Our electricity is around 65 Lev per month, it used to be a little less until we had a pond with pump installed, and we have a fairly large house, with two of us living here. We dont run a/c units, but we do have log burners and a central heating system. Last year we closed off the upstairs and the radiators and just used two log burners.
Typically wood is now between 67  & 70 Lev per kletka / pallet, and it is worth shopping around and measuring the size of these as they vary quite a lot. I would always ask that they be delivered in their containers and not loose ( some will ask to deliver loose ) in order to check that you have received the right amount.
So, given today's poor exchange rate at about 2:14 -£1
This will give you an overall budget of around 1,754 Lev for the year.
Electric at most 70 Lev per month X 12 = 840
Water 10 Lev per month X 12 =120
Council tax 30 Lev per year 
Total = 990 Lev still leaving you 764 Lev to get 10 pallets of wood which should be ample to see you through the winter. Depending of course on how often you light your fire and the type of winter we have.
What I'm saying is, " all is not lost " 😉

Ps I really would expect your electric bill to fall under the 60 Lev mark, I've just over estimated to ensure your remaining amount covers your wood.
You can also work out how much your electric bill will be by keeping  a track of the units you consume.
You'll be fine !

I live in a 3 bed village house in a village close to Stara Zagora.
I can tell you that since March this year my electric bills have not exceeded 55 lev.
Water is around 10 lev.
Logs in this area are at 85 lev a cubic I checked 3 different log sellers before settling on price.
Council tax here is 110 lev I paid it in April.
I personally use well water via a pump to water the veg garden which being 1400 watts uses a lot of electric.Also I have water bath canned a lot of produce which again uses a lot of electricity so my bills are probably on the high side.
My house is of typical Bulgarian construction with very thick walls on the ground floor which means it is considerably cooler than outside temperature so I don't think Im going to need AC  which again can use large amounts of electricity.
I was worried about household costs but as you can see they are relatively cheap compared to UK.
I also went to the doctors for a prescription for 4 separate drugs and the bill for 3 months worth came to 43 lev which is far cheaper than the UK so although I have to pay for prescription here the worry about costs appears in my case to be unfounded.

Hope this helps

Nigel

Other costs you may be concerned about
Car insurance for a Ford mondeo is 220 lev per year third party fire and theft.
Road tax 90 lev per year.
I was charged 36 lev for an mot.
Import tax for bringing a UK car into Bulgaria and changing to Bulgarian number plates was about 500 lev this is different for each type of car mine is a 2000cc engine so it may of been a little high.
Nigel.

Thank you so much Jules and Nigel for such extensive answers. I really appreciate your time in passing on your experiences. It is a difficult one because I imagine that all costs vary with the quality of the house build as well as different standards of living. I'll get a better idea of my own living costs once I've been electrified and watered for a few months but from what you have provided, I think I will be able to live such a wonderful life in Bulgaria! I do have a tight budget but I don't think my allocation is totally unreasonable. Phew. Good things are ahead.

Again, thank you so much for all who replied.

Happy to help others who wish to live "the good life " here in Bulgaria. Our budget is tight too, but better to be poor here than richer in the UK.
Any other questions, ask away. 😉

Thanks Jules. I do have another question that I have just thought of. I took it all for granted that I would simply bring all my belongings and possessions with me when I move but I have been reading that the volts in the electricity differ from country to country, and that not all electric devices are compatible from country to country. I am thinking mainly of my desktop computer and electric oven. I have not budgeted to buy these in Bulgaria because I was just going to bring my English ones along - I don't suppose you are able to tell me if your electric devices, brought over from England work perfectly well in Bulgaria? Thank you Jules. How long have you been living in Bulgaria?

EnglishinBulgaria wrote:

Thanks Jules. I do have another question that I have just thought of. I took it all for granted that I would simply bring all my belongings and possessions with me when I move but I have been reading that the volts in the electricity differ from country to country, and that not all electric devices are compatible from country to country. I am thinking mainly of my desktop computer and electric oven. I have not budgeted to buy these in Bulgaria because I was just going to bring my English ones along - I don't suppose you are able to tell me if your electric devices, brought over from England work perfectly well in Bulgaria? Thank you Jules. How long have you been living in Bulgaria?

No need to worry, your appliances will work the same as the UK

Hi there,

Voltage in Bulgaria mains is 220 V. The same like everywhere in Europe. So it is not likely to expect any problems. Just make sure to use surge protected electrical plugs.

Re: bills - actually if you have planned 160 GBP for municipal tax, water and electricity, and will use log burner, then this should be more than enough. Actually municipal tax should be about 50 GBP, including garbage tax. Electricity and water depend entirely on your consumption, but you can plan about 20 GBP for water /single person/. Running a fridge, an oven, a washing mashine, a TV, couple of lamps and a PC will cost you about 30-40 GBP.

Plan additional amount for the logs. And when you buy logs - pay per tonn, not per cubic meter.

And in addition, there some types of log burners, that will heat water and in this way heat the entire house - it is nice to install one of these systems.

Pleven area is characterized by cold winters and hot summers, so probably an AC for the summer is a good idea.

If you pay per ton, be sure that the wood is dry as you will get significantly less if it is wet. There is still room for ambiguity when buying it loose, this has been my experience.

And yes, as mentioned on other posts, your appliances will work fine over here. We brought a smart TV / washing machine etc etc over, and have had no problems at all. Incidentally, we have been here six years today! So we are still newbies to some degree, and still learning.

That is brilliant news for me and my electrical's. Thank you everyone. I hope I last 6 years. It is a wonderful achievement to change the course of your life and to embrace something (i.e. a culture) totally different from what you have known before. Bravery comes in all shapes and sizes.