# retiring to paphos



## de.zero51 (Jul 10, 2012)

Hi there
my husband and me are retiring to paphos in about a years time. We have naturally done a lot of research, and visited several times. Lots of questions crop up. Could anyone give a rough estimate of monthly outgoings for 2 people in a 3 bed villa. We will have no mortgage and own our car. Also could anyone tell us are there any decent english hairdressers. We are looking at properties in Tala, Pissouri and Peyia, if anyone lives in any of those areas, how are you finding it. We are visiting again in June and can't wait. Hope to hear from some of you soon

Clive and Dawn


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

My wife and I are living in a 3 bedroom villa, just the two of us, here is a breakdown of our average costs over the last 7 months:

Rent: €475 / month (this includes pool fees and other complex fees but its for a fully furnished property in a fairly nice area)
Water: €20 / quarter
Electric: €200 / every two months (this is with quite high useage)
Internet: €45 / month (10 megabit service, no contract)
TV: €20 / month (this is for NTV UK Premium Package, plus OnTapp for TV Listings)
Food: €250 / month
Petrol: €40 / month (driving about 300km/month)
Mobile: €18/month (with 300 minutes, 100 texts and 500mb mobile internet)

Total: €968 / month.

You'll probably cut on some areas compared to us though. For example, my electric useage is quite high and I have the fastest internet possible in my area due to the fact that I work from home. In terms of food, we buy a lot of boxed frozen food instead of lots of fresh stuff. 

During the winter months, you might also add Gas (for Gas Heaters) which is an average of €12/canister. We had 2 gas heaters, and got through about 1 canister every 6 days for our downstairs one, and a canister every 3-4 weeks upstairs in our bedroom.

Anyway, hope this helps.


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## Talagirl (Feb 24, 2013)

There are several good hairdressers in all the areas you mention - not necessarily English though - when I see a lady with a good hairstyle I ask her where she had it cut! Likewise with barbers for the menfolk, but it is a case of going along and finding one that suits you.


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

zach21uk said:


> My wife and I are living in a 3 bedroom villa, just the two of us, here is a breakdown of our average costs over the last 7 months:
> 
> Rent: €475 / month (this includes pool fees and other complex fees but its for a fully furnished property in a fairly nice area)
> Water: €20 / quarter
> ...


I think they wanted to buy house so rent cost will be different. If house owners there is also council tax and refuse tax. Refuse tax is about 110 € p.a.

And car insurance must be added


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

Oh yeah, different fees involved when a home owner, thats for sure.

I did think about the car insurance, but it depends on so many different factors of course, so thats one cost it'd be pointless for me to post.

One thing I did forget to include under "Optional" was Home Contents Insurance. I have a basic home insurance policy to cover my electronics and other valuable possesions. This also covers my laptop, camera, tablet and phone outside of the house too, which is really good. For that, I am paying around 140/year. Worth having in my opinion.


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## David_&_Letitia (Jul 8, 2012)

de.zero51 said:


> Hi there
> my husband and me are retiring to paphos in about a years time. We have naturally done a lot of research, and visited several times. Lots of questions crop up. Could anyone give a rough estimate of monthly outgoings for 2 people in a 3 bed villa. We will have no mortgage and own our car. Also could anyone tell us are there any decent english hairdressers. We are looking at properties in Tala, Pissouri and Peyia, if anyone lives in any of those areas, how are you finding it. We are visiting again in June and can't wait. Hope to hear from some of you soon
> 
> Clive and Dawn


Over the last 2 years, I have seen this question asked on the Forum many times and the answers you will get will probably be as varied as the people who respond. There is no definitive 'correct' answer as it all depends on your lifestyle, expectations and income, so clearly you need to make allowances accordingly. If you have purchased a house, you will not have rent to pay, but will have other expenses I have not listed; if you are in receipt of a UK State pension you do not need private medical insurance and if you do not go out very much, you will clearly not have the expenses I have listed.

Letitia and I moved here in late Oct 14 on my retirement. After a 'holiday' period for the first month and a devil may care attitude, I thought that I needed to keep track of where our expenditure was in order to keep tabs on our finances, so I have maintained a spreadsheet for the main items from 1 Dec 14.

*Rent*: €800 pcm
*Water*: No bill received yet after 4 months although we have the water in our name and paid a deposit.
*Electric*: €106 per month (this is for the Winter period when our solar panels have had to be supplemented by the immersion heater daily so expenditure should decrease accordingly from now on).
*Internet*: €66 per month (6 Mb service with Cyta, but note that the connection fee and cost of modem have been spread over 12 months which has inflated the current monthly cost. No contract). 
*TV*: €16 per month (this is for NTV UK Premium Package, plus OnTapp for TV Listings - both via Kodi)
*Food/drink*: €600 per month (I will not split this figure further! Suffice to say, that if you are teetotal, you will make a substantial saving!) 
*Petrol*: €35 per month
*Mobile*: €5 per month (CYTA PAYG)
*Gas*: €127 per month (we have gas central heating, so this is applicable to the Winter quarter only)
*Eating/drinking out*: €400 per month
*Pool maintenance*: €15 per month (chemicals etc - likely to increase during Summer months)
*Home contents insurance*: €9.00 per month
*Car insurance*: €22 per month
*Medical insurance*: €221 per month

*Total*: €2422 per month (£1719 per month at current exchange rates)

As many have said previously on the Forum, don't expect the overall cost of living to be cheaper in Cyprus compared with the UK, but the quality of life here in comparison makes a move here, in our opinion, really worthwhile. Good luck!


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

David_&_Letitia said:


> Over the last 2 years, I have seen this question asked on the Forum many times and the answers you will get will probably be as varied as the people who respond. There is no definitive 'correct' answer as it all depends on your lifestyle, expectations and income, so clearly you need to make allowances accordingly. If you have purchased a house, you will not have rent to pay, but will have other expenses I have not listed; if you are in receipt of a UK State pension you do not need private medical insurance and if you do not go out very much, you will clearly not have the expenses I have listed.
> 
> Letitia and I moved here in late Oct 14 on my retirement. After a 'holiday' period for the first month and a devil may care attitude, I thought that I needed to keep track of where our expenditure was in order to keep tabs on our finances, so I have maintained a spreadsheet for the main items from 1 Dec 14.
> 
> ...


The monthly cost will probably be lower because they will buy a house without a mortgage. And if they have state pension the medical insurance is not a must.


For yourself I would ask for the water-bill to avoid troubles. We have not got any for the two years we have lived here, even if the water is in our name. But if I had not paid the water in council office it would have been closed. This is Cyprus


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## MacManiac (Jan 25, 2012)

I believe the office in Polis where the water rate is calculated, and from which the bills are dispatched, had a catastrophic server failure, and that is why the bills have not come out. A friend of ours went to the office to enquire and was told not to worry.


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## David_&_Letitia (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks Anders and Martin. I called in to the Municipality this morning and explained that I haven't yet had a bill after 4.5 months. She checked her system and told me "you have a bill, but it's not ready yet." 

I guess that I'll just have to take another Cyprus chill pill. Going on Zach's figures though, I'm not overly worried.


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

David_&_Letitia said:


> Thanks Anders and Martin. I called in to the Municipality this morning and explained that I haven't yet had a bill after 4.5 months. She checked her system and told me "you have a bill, but it's not ready yet."
> 
> I guess that I'll just have to take another Cyprus chill pill. Going on Zach's figures though, I'm not overly worried.


No I dont think you have to. We pay about 30 € per three months for a 2-person household


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Baywatch said:


> I think they wanted to buy house so rent cost will be different. If house owners there is also council tax and refuse tax. Refuse tax is about 110 € p.a.
> 
> And car insurance must be added


In earlier posts the OP said they were going to rent so unless they have changed their minds rent does need to be accounted for in their outgoings.


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

Veronica said:


> In earlier posts the OP said they were going to rent so unless they have changed their minds rent does need to be accounted for in their outgoings.


I read this line as going to buy cash

"We will have no mortgage and own our car"

If wrong, ofc rent must be considered


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

It's interesting seeing the figures different people pay in different areas. Here in Kannaviou we receive no bills and have to remember to go and pay each year in December. In December 2014 we paid €55 for rates, €60 Euros for refuse and €46 for water for the year.

I think direct comparisons of household budgets to be slightly pointless as we all have differing lifestyles, however I still conclude that our bottom lines costs are about the same as the UK.

Pete


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## Talagirl (Feb 24, 2013)

All I can say is that our income has hardly changed in all the years we have lived here (apart from the annual increase in the UK State Pension) and we now have a better life style and more money left over at the end of each month than we did 7 years ago.


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## Cleo Shahateet (Feb 23, 2009)

My wife and MIL like Jonney Boo in Paphos for a hairdresser - 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jonney-boo-Premier-Lounge/152592161591818

Interesting to see the expenses posted. As a family of 5 I can't remember the days of 250 per month groceries. Maybe we need to buy a cow, chickens and grow everything ourselves!  Even buying fresh, local and cooking things like lentils and healthy, filling food we spend A Lot!


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Cleo I also find it hard to imagine 250e per month on food if you want a healthy diet.
We probably spend 500 per month on food for 2 of us.


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

Veronica said:


> Cleo I also find it hard to imagine 250e per month on food if you want a healthy diet.
> We probably spend 500 per month on food for 2 of us.


We spend 400 for two plus a labrador that eat raw food


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

Veronica said:


> Cleo I also find it hard to imagine 250e per month on food if you want a healthy diet.
> We probably spend 500 per month on food for 2 of us.


I would imagine vegetarians could live and eat well on €250 per month over here with a perfectly healthy diet.

Over the last year we spent €320 per month on food and €269 per month eating out.

Pete


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## Cleo Shahateet (Feb 23, 2009)

Veronica said:


> Cleo I also find it hard to imagine 250e per month on food if you want a healthy diet.
> We probably spend 500 per month on food for 2 of us.


Ok, that sounds more reasonable or do-able since we probably spend 200 - 250 per week for 5 (no nappies or formula).


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## Mavvy (Apr 19, 2016)

zach21uk said:


> My wife and I are living in a 3 bedroom villa, just the two of us, here is a breakdown of our average costs over the last 7 months:
> 
> Rent: €475 / month (this includes pool fees and other complex fees but its for a fully furnished property in a fairly nice area)
> Water: €20 / quarter
> ...


Hello Zack, very interesting cost list, can you tell me which Internet company you use?


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