Books like Driving Over Lemons and A Year in Provence paint a romantic picture of moving abroad, but like all big life decisions it’s a good idea to engage your head as well as your heart. When you’re considering a move, one of the most important things to consider is cost of living. Knowing how much your monthly bills, weekly shop, and little treats like three course meals will cost is a great way to prepare financially for the big move.
If you don’t have a particular destination in mind, try comparing the cost of living around the world. It’s a far more practical way of doing things than spinning the globe and seeing where your finger lands!
Where to compare costs
Resources like the Post Office Holiday Costs Barometer are ideal if you want to find out which destination will give you the best bang for your buck in the short term, but there more comprehensive websites out there for those considering a permanent change of scene.
Our favourite is Numbeo. They list cost of living information for over 4,600 cities (and rising!) with prices sourced from people who actually live there. They have a handy map on their homepage, too, where you can see the best value places to live at a glance. Expensive destinations are highlighted in red, while cities where your money goes further appear in green.
Compare and calculate
If you have a specific destination in mind already, like the south of France or Sydney, you can type it in to see the average cost of everyday products and services. You can even see two cities side by side: it’s a good way to work out how much you’d be saving (or losing) compared to where you live now. You can also use it to weigh up two rival destinations to find out which one offers better value.
Numbeo also has a ‘Cost of Living Calculator’. Tell it where you live now, where you’re thinking about moving to, how much disposable income you have, and it will tell you how much more or less cash you would need for the same standard of life in your new destination.
Make your location independent budget go further
We know a lot of location independent professionals (or as we like to call them ‘flexpats’) use TrustedHousesitters. Obviously! Budgeting and internet connections are extremely important for people who work remotely, so house sitting is the perfect option. Flexpats get to live ‘rent free’ and, as the majority of our house sits have internet access, they can still make a living.
We’re sure flexpats will find Numbeo useful, but NomadList is designed with location independent workers in mind. Not only does it show the monthly cost of living in a range of cities, it also shows which places have the best internet. This is taken into consideration to give each location ‘points’, and they’re ranked into a list so it’s easy to see which places are most flexpat friendly. If you’re not sure which country to look for your next house sit in, let NomadList be your guide.
Was cost of living a big factor in your decision to move abroad? What financial advice do you wish you’d been given before emigrating?
The post The Ultimate Guide to Comparing the Cost of Living- Globally! appeared first on TrustedHousesitters.com Blog.
