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Daily costs seem high

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Njleblan

12/20/2016 06:01 EST

Hello all. My husband and I arrived here from Canada in October. We have rented an apartment in the Cascais area. So far, we are finding things much more expensive then we had expected. We are over budget on just about everything. We like to cook at home and have not eaten out much. We are shopping as locally as we can, and have not been purchasing many imported goods. (Of course a few exceptions such as tea and coffee). So far, our monthly food/wine costs are around 800 euros. The few times we have gone out for drinks or a meal are not included in this number. We are also having a very difficult time finding any quality accomodation. We are currently staying in a 3rd floor ( of a four floor building) T1, renovated apartment. Paying 1350 euros ( short term let). We have heat, which we figured out quite quickly was necessary, but the apartment is still cold and damp. It is so noisey that even with our white noise machine, we are woken up frequently through the night (especially on weekends) and when sitting in our living room you, often we can hear the neighbors using the washroom. We had expected to be around 700 -800 euros for a long term lease, but now are questioning whether we will be able to find anything that will give us any level of comfort for that price. We are thinking a top floor apartment will mitigate the noise transfer but when looking online, cannot find anything top floor for under 1500 euros. Just looking for advice on acutal costs and if we are being totally unrealistic with our budget of around 2500 euros per month. (For comfortable living) Thanks.

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beeg1234

12/20/2016 07:30 EST

This is my opinion & yes standard of living/cost is different for everyone. Cascais area is known to be quite a bit more expenisve than many regions in Portugal. Largely due to its proximity to a major city such as Lisboa.

My opinion is perhaps start researching for an area in the Algarve. My husband & I arrived to live in Portimao from San Francisco in early Oct. (we're both 50 years old) . Please note we visited Portugal multiple times prior to our move so we were surprised by much except for a few things such as productivity/efficiency, etc. Our rent for a brand new T2 south facing duplex (important in the winter for warmth) for 750 euros (about 105 square meters plus a large deck with very good views - not ocean view). We're on the top floor (there are several bldgs in the community; all with elevators & 2 parking spots plus a storage unit) So far our monthly expenses inclusive of dining out & several pub visits weekly, groceries, utilities (internet, EDP, H20, mobile), insurance (health/car/renter), pet care (we have a French bulldog), petro/tolls for one car is around 2250 euros/month. The following is a link to the condo community we live in:

https://www.gardeniasliving.com.pt/index.php/pt

Hopefully this is helpful.

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Njleblan

12/20/2016 08:43 EST

Thank you for your response! It was very helpful. I am going to send you a private message with a couple other questions.

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slamdunkmj

12/20/2016 18:08 EST

I will be moving to Portugal for the first time prior to visiting. In talking to expats that live in Coimbra Portugal, the two live on 1800.00 a month without a car and they don't want for anything. Like everyone is saying, it depends on what life style you want to live. They use public transportation and it is cheap. I hope you find what you are looking for .

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