Cost of Living in Bulgaria in 2021

Greetings Cheryl...

> What is the price of a property rental in Bulgaria? What about buying a property?
This is enormously variable depending on size/location/type of property. In Plovdiv, apartments to buy are now approximately 1,000 euros/m2, and more expensive (I guess 1200-1300 euros/m2) in the capital Sofia. This is still great compared with many EU countries, but Bulgaria is not "cheap as chips" as it was a few years ago. :-)

> How much does petrol cost or how much does it cost to use the various public transport services?
Just under 2 lev/liter. Public transport is cheap, my local village bus (Kazanlak-Dolno, 15 minutes) is 0.50 leva, and minibus Kazanlak-Plovdiv (couple of hours) is 10 leva, I think.

> How much do you spend on average on your weekly groceries in Bulgaria?
I spent 240 leva this week for a big weekly shop. But that had wine and several meats.

> What is the price of your health insurance? How much does seeing a general practitioner or specialist cost?
I have a Health Insurance for Foreigners policy which is about 80 euros. This is not a proper health insurance policy, which would be maybe 300 euros. (But that's quite cheap, an equivalent policy in Spain cost me 1,000 euros.)

I didn't get the medical policy as I have registered as an unemployed person for social security payments, that's 25 leva/month. This means I'm in the system for free healthcare, and I got a Bulgarian EHIC card recently which I can use in other EU countries.

I've made an appointment to see a (consulting) Doctor at the local private hospital in Plovdiv, and that's 25 leva/visit.

A couple of months ago, I had a bit of a worry about some medication I was taking, so I decided to go see a Doc at the same private hospital (Pulmed in Plovdiv, it's new and very nice). I decided to be lazy, and I just went to the Emergency Room! I got an Emergency Room Doctor Consult... plus blood pressure... plus EKG... plus ultrasound examination... plus blood panel. This would be, conservatively, thousands of dollars in the USA! They charged me 110 leva! :-)

> How much do you spend on your regular bills (water, electricity, mobile phone package, internet subscription etc.) on a monthly basis?
Utility bills are still very cheap. Water for the house was 150 leva for 2 years. I have fiber internet at the house with 50mbps and it's 20 leva/month. Electricity bill for the apartment in Plovdiv (was there few days only) for December was 10 leva! House electricity for December was 200 leva... which sounds a lot, but that was using 3 x AC units (it was -12 for a few days) to heat the house, and I ran them 24/7 all winter!

> What budget do you set aside for your leisure activities in Bulgaria? What is the price of a cinema or concert ticket? How much does a subscription to a gym cost?
With Covid, we just stayed in the countryside. We have been spending more on groceries... and I purchased a nice espresso machine (300 leva)... and I now have Netflix + Amazon + IPTV + VPN (geographic cloaking) so we haven't been out to eat, or see a movie, or gone to a cafe since last spring!

I absolutely agree with everything in the response.   The costs for us are the same for the same reasons.  Groceries, fuel, utilities etc.  The overbuilt beach cities real estate prices are down dramatically and Sofia is soaring like a Rocket.  Sofia is in another world.   Reminds me of Southern california prior to the reality of the pre financial crisis in 2007.   

What is scary is that waiters are telling me they are buying cryptocurrencies and pooling their money to buy a property to rent is Sofia.   Looks like the market is getting close to a top in Sofia.  When people (low income)  say "You can't go wrong!"   I think that it can go wrong. 

We went to ski in Pamporovo--The hotel was very expensive holding to last years costs while hotels in other areas have reduced their rates.   Ski areas (just as Soria)  are in their own market and perhaps benefiting from the desire of people to get out of the house and have an adventure and a real restaurant meal.  Now is a good time to relocate and if interested in purchasing to take advantage of the outlying cities low prices.

"This too, shall pass!"

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for replying. 

The information you provided will help us.

Cheers,

Cheryl

wonderful information

Hi Cheryl

Thanks.. Blagodaria.. Hope you are fine.. Thanks for the email.. How are job possibilities / work permit, consultancy you should provide..

Best Regards

Rishhi
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Hi,
link of a french site translated by google, with costs for greatest cities in Bulgaria
https://translate.google.com/translate? … /bulgarie/

Thank you for detailed response. I have just one question about EHIC. How did you get? Where should I apply for it?

Do you no prices for water an electric per month on a average thanks paul

Olenaya, you need to be resident in a European country to apply for an EHIC. It allows you to access healthcare within the EU at the same cost as a resident of that country would be charged, but can't be used in the EU country you're normally resident in. It's aimed at reducing health costs for EU citizens while in a different EU country. I could have that wrong, but that's how I understand it.