Cost of Living in Portugal in 2021

suebowman wrote:

Well said! We are from USA and we work remotely (ok income). We find Lisbon is expensive for us (rent, utility, transportation, insurance, private medical (mandatory for us), etc... We dine out 2-3 times per month. We plan to move to a small town.

I agree with most. Private health insurance isn't expensive compared to other parts of Europe, though. But rent is very high everywhere in Lisbon and along the Marginal.

We live north of Lisbon near Torres Vedras. We are in 3 minutes on the A8 and in about 30 minutes at Campo Grande. There is even an express bus connection which is cheaper than driving when only one person travels. We are also only 30 minutes from the airport. When moving away from the big city one has to consider that one is also moving away from most of the expats and the diverse restaurants and the good museums and cultural events. For us it was "away", but "not too far away".

Yes, you may get much more for you money if you move to a small town. Santarem is much more affordable. It's not close to the ocean but you can get there in an hour when you want to go. Unless you really have to be in Lisbon, I don't really see the point to live there now. Maybe a few years back, yes but nowadays, you are better off living somewhere else.

You can probably save up to 50% in rent and spend more on other things. I eat at a restaurant at least twice a week and buy plenty of food at local supermarkets. Sometimes, it's even cheaper to eat out than cooking for yourself. The rest of the time, in a normal environment, I try to travel.

Spending most of your revenues in rental accommodation is probably not even worth it, well that's my opinion then people do whatever they want with their money.

July

juliajonesjy wrote:

Spending most of your revenues in rental accommodation is probably not even worth it, well that's my opinion then people do whatever they want with their money.

I guess/hope that everybody moving to Portugal has made this decision based upon criteria, with cost of living only being one of them. Portugal has been really hyped up in the media and it has difficulty delivering. People that were mainly following this hype might be disappointed.

For us Portugal has delivered on most of the criteria we had evaluated. Fortunately we could make a good buy of a property after renting for over a year and that made a big difference financially and otherwise. We also like to be close to the water, but not too close, which we achieved. Developing closer relationships with the local community is - in our opinion - harder than in other places we lived in.

Portugal is still the "florida" of Europe for those lived and work in the north of Europe.
Croatia is a gem, but cant compare clima and overall foreigner acceptation.

If your not happy living in Portugal then maybe you should find another country to live in, this topic is getting very boring & personally I am fed up with the negative vibes about Portugal, we are from the UK try living there on a small pension there is no way you can do it, here we live in luxury in comparison to the UK, we have savings which we def would not have if we had stayed in the UK.

I agree with Denise. This discussion is repetitive, boring and of no interest to anyone.

It doesn't interest those who are here, because if they're not well, they can go away. You are free like a bird. You can go whenever and wherever you want.

It doesn't interest those who are not here, because they will certainly be happy where they live and have absolutely no interest in Portugal.


“Never tell your problems to anyone...20% don't care and the other 80% are glad you have them.”

Lou Holtz (1937 - ), Former American football player, coach and analyst.

Thanks Johnny I’m with you can we put this topic to bed now

Jean, I am happy that you are retired. I am 31 year old and I have a long way to go to retire. I find this chat is helpful by learning from other's experience like your experience.

I feel bad for my Portugese neighbors who are  making €700 per month salary and they can barely afford rent.

Hi Suebowman
I had to medically retire otherwise I would probably still be working as I am not at state pension age and am living off a very small private pension my partner is only now coming up to state pension age but between us our private pensions let us here in Portugal live well we are not extravagant & do not eat out all the time maybe once or twice a week it would have been maybe every couple of months in the UK if at all, it doesn’t matter how much money you have it matter what your lifestyle is, if you like only the best of things then you need the money to support that if you are like us & only eat where the locals go then you can eat out well.
We have many Portuguese friends we are not ignorant about how much they earn & yes we know its a struggle for them but they never moan or complain about it they just get on with it & we take our hat off to them.

I agree entirely.
Any society that happily endorses or welcomes a "Collective" rather than an Individual led government will find that wages are low and taxes high.
Stellar economies (eg Singapore, Hong Kong) have accomplished this success based upon minimum taxation of their population.
The solution is within the hands of the Portuguese voters.

By the way, if you are a non-portuguese citizen / expat living in Portugal, you can vote in local elections.

To participate in this year's elections, you must be registered until 28 July 2021 (next wednesday).

Further details here:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=942808

JohnnyPT wrote:

I agree with Denise. This discussion is repetitive, boring and of no interest to anyone.

This is a bit harsh, I would say.

This discussion might help people to not just follow the hype and do their homework before they decide to come to Portugal as an expat. If cost of living is a major factor then there are a few other places in Europe to consider.

And many well educated Portuguese are taking the advice to leave the country and go for professionally greener pastures (of which we know that they are rarely greener or just a little).

Actually, saying something like "If you don't like it, leave", sounds very defensive and short-sighted to me. It is showing a lacking willingness to change things for the better. Can a tourism and expat country afford this? Can a country that is educating lots of young people afford this?

I agree with you, nz. I'm not a fan of the if-you-don't-like-it-leave idea. It could be turned the other way: if you don't like the opinions you read, leave the thread. Neither is helpful, in my opinion.

On the other hand, if someone rants off topic, they've got to expect some comeback. Some remarks about quality might be relevant to cost of living (the original theme of the thread). Moans about work ethics and recycling aren't. People should be careful and considerate about how and where they express negative opinions.

But nowhere in the world is perfect so there are bound to be some negative opinions about aspects of life for every place. A discussion forum should be a place where they can be aired and received. Who knows who they may be helpful too? And, done properly, they can also elicit positive counter views.

slugsurmamates wrote:

I agree entirely.
Any society that happily endorses or welcomes a "Collective" rather than an Individual led government will find that wages are low and taxes high.
Stellar economies (eg Singapore, Hong Kong) have accomplished this success based upon minimum taxation of their population.
The solution is within the hands of the Portuguese voters.

You are right in what you are saying. The issue of the collective (at this moment) having more weight in Portugal is due to several political factors and a historical context resulting from a 40 year dictatorship and a revolution almost 50 years ago which brought advantages in some aspects but failed in many other economic and social issues. I could be here giving my opinion but this is not a political forum, even I'm not interested in that.

When countries spend a long time in a dominant regime under a certain political trend, the next cycle, which can last a generation or two, goes in the opposite direction, as is happening now for example in some Eastern European countries...

Hi Cheap Steve,

Your input is valuable. Just two remarks:

1. Nobody here said "if-you-don't-like-it-leave". People can express their opinion and be consistent with what they say. There are expats who think that just because they can't afford a house in Lisbon in sea frontline, they start saying whatever they want here. And this is a recurring issue, especially among German expats... they may not be able to afford it, but neither can the vast majority of Portuguese people (and without having tax benefits).

I may not get everything I want, but I don't need to be bothered with life. There are always good solutions, some even better and much cheaper. Some areas of Portugal can be expensive for some expats, but not much different from the rest of Europe. There are much cheaper areas in Portugal, you just have to know how to search...

2. "if you don't like the opinions you read, leave the thread." OK, I'm seriously thinking about it. But I'll tell you that if I leave this forum, it's very likely that there will be people here who will probably miss me ... and it's not only with contributions like NZ's that bring great added value to the lives of other expats in Portugal ...

JohnnyPT
Please don’t leave this forum I for one value your input you have helped me out a lot

I hate to pull you away from the riveting topic of slamming Portugal.   


However, I really would like more on the cost of living.  Specifically, the areas of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia.

How would you put the cost of living in perspective, compared to what?

Here in West Central Florida:
Regular gas < $3.00 a gallon
Gallon of 2% Milk < $4.00
Box wine 3 liters ~ $21.00
4 hard rolls of bread $1.93
4 fresh ears of corn $2.00
Loaf of in store baked bread $2.39
Lean 7% ground beef 1.22 pounds (.45kg)  ~ $9.00
Whole chicken ~ 5 pounds (2.26kg) $9.44
4 16oz cans of Budweiser beer ~ $6.09
Lemons $.52 each
Beef is very expensive now.
The price of food and everything is increasing every week since January 2021!

Internet 400Mbs $89.99 / month  (no TV cable)

Rents are very expensive!  2 year old house 4BR, 2 Bath 1636 square feet (151.98 square meters) ~ $2,500.00 / month in new neighborhood with good schools
             Average electric bill / month ~ $140.00 for this house A/C Set to 79F (26C)

Anyone care to speak about the cost of living????

Thanks for your reply, Johnny.

Although I wasn't directing those comments at you in particular, I was careful to say "thread" and not "forum". I've had help from you in the past and I can see lots of other have too.

Really, I was just trying to encourage some generally healthier interaction. 1) Before ranting, think how people might take it. 2) Be prepared to hear some complaints in an open discussion forum.

It was the process of discussion that interested me, rather more than the topic. But, by way of trying to encourage healthier discussion, I'll give my views on cost of living in Portugal.
In all honesty, I can't give exact figures. I'm just not that well organised that I count every Euro. But I will give a general comparison of Portugal with the rest of western Europe.

Rent and accommodation are cheaper. Of course some places by the beach here are more expensive than the bad parts of elsewhere. But comparing like with like, it's cheaper here.
The quality of construction work isn't so good though, certainly not in the older houses. So when buying or renting, it's necessary to consider the VALUE as well as just the COST.

Bills seem higher too. I see plenty of schemes and promotions for making houses more energy efficient so that will help, even if the cost per unit doesn't change.

Tax seems generally higher here, as a % of earnings. Again, it's necessary to consider if people get more in return - e.g. quality of education, healthcare. I don't think so, to be honest.

Leisure activities seem way cheaper here. Restaurants and bars, sport, travel, arts.... all of them. And perfectly good value. Definitely better value here, in my opinion.

General shopping, I think the supermarkets are a bit cheaper here but there's not much in it. Some things are more expensive here, other things are cheaper.
What Portugal, or at least the Algarve, doesn't have is the same range of price   quality. More bunched in the middle here; other places have a wider span from very cheap to very expensive, with quality to match the price.
But comparing similar brands, it's just about cheaper in Portugal.

And, of course, cost of living is only one of many factors in how to judge a country. However, it's the only one this thread was meant to be about!

When it comes to Cost of Living I would - if taken with a grain of salt - recommend https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/. If used correctly it allows a comparision of your cost of living in your current location with that in another location.

JohnnyPT wrote "It doesn't interest those who are here, because if they're not well, they can go away. You are free like a bird. You can go whenever and wherever you want.", which sounds very much like "if-you-don't-like-it-leave".

And JohnnyPT, I don't really know what you want to say with your reference to "German expats". I have not heard of any complaining of not getting a cheap beachfront villa. Did you?

Yes, I've read that here several times, Including in your postings NZ (or should I say Thomas / Tomaroundworld, another profile you created here on the forum 4 months ago, meanwhile deleted?).

Answering your question sent to me by private message: 

The cause of yesterday's power failure had to do with a fire in southern France. Several countries were affected. It has to do with the connection of electrical networks between countries, and not about energy supplying.

KR

Well it seems as good a resource as any for comparing.

I should add that I mentioned "western Europe" in my earlier post. Really, I know from the UK downwards pretty well, but not the more northern parts which have a reputation (deserved or not, I don't know) for being expensive.

And of course, there's more to the world than western Europe. I just thought it would be useful to compare nearby places.

To johnny PT and everyone else just try, try to follow these tips,
1) be impeccable with your words...
2) try to not take anything personally,
3) try not to make any assumptions...
4) always do your best...

This is a forums to ask questions, about various things about life in Portugal, for those who have migrated, those who are native and those who are interested in moving there, no?

We can all learn if we choose and help each other with out assumptions and without being inside another's head we all have different experiences but we are all human.

Hi all,
It’s probably the low income British families and individuals that feel disgruntled about living costs in Portugal and feel the need to express frustration and defensiveness on this thread. The moderate to higher income British residents wouldn’t have a problem living in Portugal because it’s still cheaper than the U.K. or at least in some regions on par with the top end U.K. stores.

For the low income residents it wouldn’t be an option just to get up and leave if they don’t like it, since very few European countries offer such perks such as the beautiful climate and citizenship in six years Without needing to relinquish their British passport and without need for investment upfront. This is where the need to express “problems” arise otherwise they would have happily returned to London or expressed interest in another country with better conditions if the cost of living was too high here in Portugal.

The point of the matter is that Portugal offers a lot but costs are seemingly high in today’s COVID world where incomes are affected and prices inflate on demand.

I hope that helps everyone here understand the frustration. I also hope we can move on from the previous posts respectfully without getting too personal.

Thanks