# salary for family



## star77 (Feb 8, 2011)

Hi everybody, hope you can help.
My husband is considering a job in Cyprus paying €35,000 gross. Would this be enough for family of 2 adults and 2 young children (baby and 3 yo). Not extravagant spenders at all but would like comfortable fairly spacious accommodation (minimum 3 beds, outdoor space, proximity to Limassol), two cars, eat out occasionally, occasional treat, trip home maybe 2-3 times a year etc. School fees don't have to be taken in to account (employer pays majority of cost) 
Also:
- Any idea of approximate cost to ship personal belongings (no furniture) from northern mainland Europe
- Recommendation for websites for accommodation
- Recommendation for websites for 2nd hand car purchase

Many thanks in advance for help


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

star77 said:


> Hi everybody, hope you can help.
> My husband is considering a job in Cyprus paying €35,000 gross. Would this be enough for family of 2 adults and 2 young children (baby and 3 yo). Not extravagant spenders at all but would like comfortable fairly spacious accommodation (minimum 3 beds, outdoor space, proximity to Limassol), two cars, eat out occasionally, occasional treat, trip home maybe 2-3 times a year etc. School fees don't have to be taken in to account (employer pays majority of cost)
> Also:
> - Any idea of approximate cost to ship personal belongings (no furniture) from northern mainland Europe
> ...


Hello,

Judging income as adequate or not is always difficult. The cost of living here for a young family is high. Most families probably need two incomes (then again the average salary is probably nearer the 25k mark, so 35k is well above average). Having said that, the average Cypriot family benefits from a huge support network and normally does not have to carry massive mortgage or rental payments, or carry the increasing cost of basics such as food and childcare costs as grandparents normally deal with (or help with) those.

My advice would be to double check the fees issue at school, there are normally hidden extras that amount to about 50% of the fee again (will employer be paying for afternoon club, examination fees, swimming lesson fees, school trips, uniform, art equipment, computer equipment, sports fees etc). Another main concern for families would be healthcare cover. As a high earner, your household would not benefit much (if at all) from free state healthcare as there is a sliding scale of contributions based on income. Medicationn and health care is expensive.

I'd guess that you could live reasonably comfortably on the salary you mentioned, but would not have that much of a cushion to fall back on, and as the kids grow would probably need the income to grow too.

Research as always is the key, and I hope other forum members with experience of bringing up a young family here will pitch in with some advice and help.

Good luck!


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## steveg63 (Sep 5, 2010)

Hi, we are moving over in 3 weeks, have 3 children, 2 of which will go to St George School that we have to may for, the younger, 3yr old, is going to local nursery until he is of school age, our budget for rent - 4 bed house with pool, school fees for 2, insurance, electricity, food, spends and all the bits needed to run a 'family' and 'family house' is 3000 Euros per month. If you are not paying for school fees you could reduce this by 850euros per month. Now we are not over there yet so dont know how exact our budget is but reading the comments on the forum I dont think we will be a ling way out. Hope this helps.

Steve


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## star77 (Feb 8, 2011)

steveg63 said:


> Hi, we are moving over in 3 weeks, have 3 children, 2 of which will go to St George School that we have to may for, the younger, 3yr old, is going to local nursery until he is of school age, our budget for rent - 4 bed house with pool, school fees for 2, insurance, electricity, food, spends and all the bits needed to run a 'family' and 'family house' is 3000 Euros per month. If you are not paying for school fees you could reduce this by 850euros per month. Now we are not over there yet so dont know how exact our budget is but reading the comments on the forum I dont think we will be a ling way out. Hope this helps.
> 
> Steve


Hi Steve, that is SO SO helpful. I'm reckoning a €35k salary should give us about €2,500 per month net - would that be about right? So if we're not paying for school fees (I'm sure as the other poster says there will still be extras like uniforms, books etc. though) that should just about do us. We're not looking for anything flash at all, just want to make sure we wouldn't be worrying about every last penny and really want to live somewhere with enough room for kids to play. 
Incidentally - do you know how much nursery costs per month (part time 5 x half days). Also, are you bringing a lot of your family belongings with you and if so do you mind me asking approximately how much it cost you to ship them over.

Best of luck with the move. You must be very excited! I'd love to hear how you get on when you arrive Anna


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## steveg63 (Sep 5, 2010)

star77 said:


> Hi Steve, that is SO SO helpful. I'm reckoning a €35k salary should give us about €2,500 per month net - would that be about right? So if we're not paying for school fees (I'm sure as the other poster says there will still be extras like uniforms, books etc. though) that should just about do us. We're not looking for anything flash at all, just want to make sure we wouldn't be worrying about every last penny and really want to live somewhere with enough room for kids to play.
> Incidentally - do you know how much nursery costs per month (part time 5 x half days). Also, are you bringing a lot of your family belongings with you and if so do you mind me asking approximately how much it cost you to ship them over.
> 
> Best of luck with the move. You must be very excited! I'd love to hear how you get on when you arrive Anna


Hi Anna, yes very excited.......we are moving:
We are managing to move over most of our furniture except the setee's, buying new over in Cyprus, all the beds, no wardrobes and most of our electrical equipment (and replacements), all of this is fitting into a 20ft container and this is costing £2200 inc vat. The Villa we have agreed a lease on is in Peyia, has 4 large beds, pool and nice large 'garden', 900 euros a month, the nursery fees where we are sending our 3yr old are 275euros a month if mornings only, 185euros afternoon only or 340euros all day.
When we were last over we did a 'family' shop for a week, if we combined the cost of fuel and food there was very little price difference between Cyprus and the UK. I think at 2500Euros per month you should be ok, I knwo the poeople living there already know more than we do but my son moved over 2 weeks ago, he, like ourselves, runs his own small internet buisness, however he has been offered 2 different jobs, one by the expat community and 1 by a local Cypriat business lady, would appear that there are jobs to be had, if they are well paid remains to be seen, but if you needed a part time job if you covered the nursery fees only it would help.
Good luck and we will let you know how we get on, our container arrives on Tueday next week so the children are very excited ensuring they have bubble wrapped all the belongings.

Steve


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## star77 (Feb 8, 2011)

steveg63 said:


> We are managing to move over most of our furniture except the setee's, buying new over in Cyprus, all the beds, no wardrobes and most of our electrical equipment (and replacements), all of this is fitting into a 20ft container and this is costing £2200 inc vat.


Gosh, £2,200 sounds hefty enough but I suppose when you consider how much it would cost to buy all new stuff... 
Did you decide to bring extra electrical equipment because it's cheaper in the UK?
What about cars? What's the 2nd hand market like?
Thanks for all the info. What made you decide to move? We've never even _been_ to Cyprus!! Are we nuts???!!!


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

star77 said:


> Gosh, £2,200 sounds hefty enough but I suppose when you consider how much it would cost to buy all new stuff...
> Did you decide to bring extra electrical equipment because it's cheaper in the UK?
> What about cars? What's the 2nd hand market like?
> Thanks for all the info. What made you decide to move? We've never even _been_ to Cyprus!! Are we nuts???!!!


Which area are you going to be living in? This can make a difference as to how well you will live on your salary


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## star77 (Feb 8, 2011)

Veronica said:


> Which area are you going to be living in? This can make a difference as to how well you will live on your salary


Hi Veronica. Job is based in Limassol centre.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

star77 said:


> Hi Veronica. Job is based in Limassol centre.


In that case I would recommend that you find somewhere in one of the outlying villages to rent as Limassol town is ridiculously expensive.
Preferably somewhere near the scool your children are going to attend.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Incidentally where is the School? I cant find a St George school in Limassol.


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## steveg63 (Sep 5, 2010)

Veronica said:


> Incidentally where is the School? I cant find a St George school in Limassol.


Hi Veronica, St George School is in Sea Caves, Coral bay, we are moving to Peyia not Limassol.

Steve


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

steveg63 said:


> Hi Veronica, St George School is in Sea Caves, Coral bay, we are moving to Peyia not Limassol.
> 
> Steve


Ah that makes sense now
However I do think that Peyia is a long way from Limassol for daily commuting.
You would have been better to live on the Eastern side of Paphos.
But you have obviously taken it all into account


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## steveg63 (Sep 5, 2010)

star77 said:


> Gosh, £2,200 sounds hefty enough but I suppose when you consider how much it would cost to buy all new stuff...
> Did you decide to bring extra electrical equipment because it's cheaper in the UK?
> What about cars? What's the 2nd hand market like?
> Thanks for all the info. What made you decide to move? We've never even _been_ to Cyprus!! Are we nuts???!!!



£2200 is by far the cheapest we had, one company wanted over £5k, but that did include them packing the container and unloading in Peyia.
We checked the cost of electrical items when we were last there and they were very expensive, however you can now buy from Amazon and deliver to Cyprus, but make sure its not an American distrubition as you can get charged the import tax.
Costing us 2000euros to bring our cars, we have a Golf and Zafira, so 1000 each. Its far cheaper to bring in yoru own car and pay the transport cost than buy in Cyprus, however I think we might to try and change that a little by importing to order, we are in the motor industry over here.
We had quite a nice little business in Wales, employed a dozen staff until the recession hit, as you can imagine selling vans/cars over the internet on long term lease and finance were not 2 of the best industries to be in - so when it all went [email protected]@t we made the decision to try passtures new, love Cyprus - fell in love with the place on honeymoon, been back to both North and South, with what we do - internet sales of cars and vans, we can do this anywhere, its a nice little business we beleive we can earn enough to live a nice life and enjoy the sun. I dont think you are mad, got to try everything, dont want to 'wonder what if'!
Anyway thats enough of the whinning, cant wait for a new life and mixing where possible with the locals. 

If you need anything or if we can help please do not hesitate to ask.

Steve&Rebeccalane:


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Doh!!!!!
I am a prat.
I am getting Star77 and Steve mixed up:confused2:

Steve I knew you were moving to Peyia but I was thinking that Star77 was also moving to Peyia but working a Limassol.

I am off to put some ice on my aching head.


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## steveg63 (Sep 5, 2010)

Hey Veronica, dont worry about it, it must be the heat or lack of G+T's.

Steve


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

steveg63 said:


> Hey Veronica, dont worry about it, it must be the heat or lack of G+T's.
> 
> Steve


It cant be the heat cos its flippin cold. Must be the lack of G&Ts


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## steveg63 (Sep 5, 2010)

Veronica said:


> It cant be the heat cos its flippin cold. Must be the lack of G&Ts


Wont be as cold as here!!! Gale force winds for the last 4 days with heavy rain.....cant wait until we are on that lane: my son is there now and loving every minute of it.

Steve


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