I forgot. My glasses were free as I picked the ones that were 100% covered by insurance. If you want fancy ones, you’ll have to pay more, anything up to 500€ for designer ones .

My daughter was an exchange student in France some years ago. She had a serious fall which required surgery. It was addressed and surgery performed the day of the incident. The hospital took beautiful care of her and evan invited her roommate to stay in her hospital room during her confinement. As she left, they presented her with her exrays to present to customs to keep the detecters from screaming because of the screws and plates. I will forever be thankful for their kindness.

Thank you for making these videos, they are very helpful. Myself and my husband are at the start of our journey around the decision to move to France from the UK.We haven’t decided on the area yet, we are fact finding at the moment, and trying not to get overwhelmed.

Jane and Mike- First, congratulations on the life you live. I know you did a lot of research before making your move to France. This video has depressed me greatly LOL. I'm in Florida USA. Our property insurance is more than 10x what you pay, property taxes 2 1/2 x (we have between 1/4-1/3 acre), car insurance 3x, medical (I don't want to talk about it b/c you know health care is stupid expensive in the US). Our income taxes are high and we are taxed on many things multiple times. Food here is very high. A meal out..min $50 for two people without drinks, coffee, appetizers etc and tips are now expected at 20+%. Our Internet+TV (no premium channels is $229/mo. Mobile phone $45/ea. Your grocery hauls and budget breakdown videos have been very eye opening for me. I wish we got "something" for the taxes we pay instead of the squandering our ridiculous government does with it. Thanks for your channel. Always a pleasure to watch!!

We in the US are envious of your health care.

As a soon retiree, you've given another prespective regarding budgeting for my home, hobbies, meal planning, insurance, etc. I can't thank you enough for your insights. As most of my colleagues are younger, the suggest that I travel the world, but that's not in me. I like that you live on your terms. I will too. Bravo!

I envy European healthcare. I know none are perfect anywhere but we Americans pay so much for ours and we're brainwashed into believing it's the best way. I'm retired now and I'm lucky I was able to keep my health insurance, most Americans aren't able to. It did go up by about $30 a month, so I pay nearly $200 a month. Copays are $30 for routine doctor visit, $40 for a specialist. When I turn 65 and go on Medicare, I lucked out by picking the right health insurance years ago and that company reimburses you for most of the yearly cost because Medicare is billed first. So many people here are paying a $1000 or more a month for health insurance. I don't know how they do it. It really irks me that some in government claim we can't afford universal healthcare but then magically pull out billions in foreign aid at the drop of a hat.

For going out and entertainment in Brittany, free festivals, free music and dancing in the summer and when the weather gets too cold to dance outside, the indoor events cost between 6 to 10 euros. We used to go to a weekly dance class in Riec Sur Belon for 3 euros each.

I live in Colorado. Don’t get me started on healthcare in the US. But fortunately we are granted a free health check-upin and a free mammogram annually due the the Affordable Care Act. Thank you President Obama ❤

Extremely helpful, thank you!

Thank you, so much for sharing, Jane and Mike.

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. 👍🏻

Hello Jane and Mike Love the mobile studio (car). A good talk and you covered a lot of things. Understanding and being aware of your family expenditure is important. You both are doing a great 👍 job Keep up the good work.

Very interesting video👍🏻

I guess I need to move to France. This is such an informative video. Thank you.

Wow, it seems affordable........happy for you. Here in the US it's ridiculously alot higher. 😢

This was a great video you two. Very informative. We made the decision to retire to a rural community and there's a lot of trade off here in the US. We live in an area with property taxes are only a little over $100 a month, which is much lower than the $350 a month that we paid in a suburban area. But here we have limited grocery choices, and very limited medical care available within 1 hour of our home. Our electricity costs are lower per kwh due to having a electric cooperative. We have our own well, so no water or sewer fees, but we have to have the septic pumped out every 3-4 years at $200. Our home insurance and auto insurance in Michigan is ridiculously high. $1400 a year for auto, $1000 a year for a 1000 sq ft 2 bed q bath home. We live frugally and garden, canning and preserving any harvests we get. Living with in a budget being retired is easier than if we were still raising children.

Great video! Very informative for me as we are contemplating a retirement at least partially spent in France. I would say things are across the board more expensive here in the US. We live in a hurricane prone area and the insurance on our home (which is no mansion and is not on the water or in a flood zone!) is over $400 per month! Yikes! We paid our house off over three years ago, but just adding up the insurance, property taxes and basic necessary services like water, trash, sewer, we spend almost $1,000 per month just to stay in our home. Which makes me wonder how people do it with a large mortgage on top of that!

Super interesting! You are right things are different everywhere. Here in Southern California going to the cinema is $20 USD. Yikes! And a lunch out would be about $40 for what you described. I,like you and Mike, am frugal and don’t do those things very often. I can still have a really great life without breaking the budget 😊

That was an excellent video Jane, very informative! I think it seems cheaper to live there than here in the UK!

I have just bought 500 litres of oil for our central heating & water £380. We use approx 1500 litres per year for a 3 bedroom house.

Hello from Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Your costs are very reasonable especially property taxes. I have a small 1300 SF condo and my taxes are twice what yours ($1300 USD). I am on a tight budget, as well, and can pay my bills but not have much left over for savings. Your home looks lovely and whenever I watch your channel, I start planning a visit to that part of France! I've only been to Paris and the surrounding area years ago. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for such a thorough analysis of costs where you live. As others in the US have mentioned, pretty much everything here costs more, especially health care and taxes. We live in a mid-sized Midwest section of the US, so less expensive than many areas in the US. We have lived frugally our entire adult lives, and we wonder how we will survive in retirement because everything is so expensive. We have always saved and are debt free including house, drive one old car, and do many of the things you do to be frugal. Currently, gasoline is less in our area than the UK or Europe, but I think that's the only thing less expensive. We have been waiting for a less expensive internet option to become available in our area. For the most basic service, not high speed internet, we pay $80 per month! If the less expensive option becomes available, it will go down to $50 per month. The data on your phones is incredible! We get 4G per month each and compared to most, pay a low cell phone rate of $25 each per month plus taxes. Everything is taxed including utilities at 11%!

Thank you so much for all this information. We are planning our early retirement in France and this helps a lot to establish a budget 👍🏻 (we live in Switzerland and costs are very different)

Great video. I live in Ireland and eating out, motoring costs, TV, phone and Internet costs are at least three times the cost in France.

Here in NE Tennessee a cinema ticket costs $8-9, then a drink and popcorn are about $10.

I just wish our health care in the US was as good as that. Thankfully I will qualify for our Medicare in 6 months, which will help me so much financially.

Thanks for the update. We live in northern Australia so no heating required, and we have solar to the grid so our electricity is free until our current generous feed in tariff reduces in 2028.Our property taxes (called council rates here) and insurances are a lot higher than yours so we chose not to replace our pets, have one car, and simplify our food choices. Eg, our car insurance is $A120 per month, our rates are discounted for aged pensioners but still cost $100 per fortnight. We do not pay any health insurance though. It seems costs vary so much depending on your country and chosen area to live.

another informative video, we are getting ready to spend 2024 as trial retirees in the budget department to see if its really doable for us to retire properly in 2025

In 2021 I had to stop going to the movies. Tickets were $12, popcorn $8 and $4 for bottled water. Just not worth it. My internet is $60 and cell phone is $50 each month. Gas is only used for the hot water tank. I don't use heat in the winter because I need the air on during the summers. It gets so hot in Phoenix AZ and I can't afford to do both. It's a juggling act to stay on budget but so far so good!!

We pay over 200$ per for internet and our television. We live in the mountains in a very rural area so internet is stretchy at best so we had to go with a premium company. Which we are grateful for. We do most of our cooking at home. My son is a cordon bleu trained chef so we really enjoy cooking together

Our property tax is 1,200 per year. Our electricity bill is usually @$200 per month- a bit more in the winter.

I pay about 20% of my income for state, federal, social security/medicare in the US. I am paid 13$ an hour with no benefits/health insurance. I qualify for some lower cost health tests because I’m near poverty level, ie, mammogram/pelvic exam. I am in deep medical debt (only medical debt) and have 2 separate payment plans to pay them off. The debt payments are equivalent of a new car payment each month. (I drive a 19 year old van) Socialized medical would truly benefit people like me. Thank you for sharing your cost of living in France. Thank you the content you put out. It is so helpful and informative to many of us.

The property taxes seem reasonable compared with Scotland. Very interesting video.

I’m in the US Midwest. I am astonished at how cheap your home internet and mobile phones are!

I am so envious. I live in the Northeast of the US. Our costs are at least triple.

👍👍👍

Hi Jane excellent again. Health service is excellent here. I pay no council tax because I’m 78.

Thanks for the video. Most of your expenses are much less than what we spend in New England (North east USA) and we do live frugally. The 2 items that are cheaper for us are car fuel ( we are currently paying about $3.60/US gallon) and banking fees. Our car is very fuel efficient, getting 40-50 miles per gallon and we drive about 5000 miles per year. We do our banking with a member owned federally insured credit union. We pay no fees. Our checking account currently pays us 5.25% interest per annum. Other accounts pay varying percentages of interest depending on the type of account. Our credit cards (which we pay off every month so no interest) pay us cash back bonus between 2% & 6% depending on the card and type of purchase. Our primary supermarket has a cash back program which pays us in store credit, 2% of the purchase prices of all store brands purchased. This gives us about an extra $15 per quarter year to spend in that store. Every little bit helps!

My first time to visit your channel. I loved it. I also have a KZfaq channel, so I’m just wondering do you live on a frugal budget to save money or what is the reason. I live on my own and I think my groceries are about 60 a week. I also don’t eat out.

Don’t have a land line or tv package,only internet. That cost is 102.00. Amazon prime, Netflix ,Brit Box PBS documentary and PBS Masterpiece total 52.00. 2 cell phones and I pad 128 a month. When we were in Provence and London had some conversations with locals at the pub on healthcare in both France and England. No one complained . We are envious of your healthcare there.

In the USA, car insurance is more like 1000 a year..... it keeps going up and up.

What about the Holidays and gift giving? Is that a sinking fund with a set amount? Great Video!!!

Hello! It is Izzy from Portugal. You said you have work going on in your house... -just curious, what are you guys having done? I enjoyed your video and I was continually comparing prices to Portugal. Some lower, some higher. All the best!

Do you have a funeral plan ? I know it's something people don't like to talk about but just this afternoon we have been round to our insurance company to renew ours. We have been paying in for quite a few years now, but when the time comes everything is paid for. We are both 70 years old and we pay 54 euros a month for the two of us.

Because I was a Illinois teacher, which is a public employee, my pension is state tax free. I have to pay US federal tax. I like that you cannot run up a balance on your credit card in France. We pay off our credit cards promptly each month. Thank you for doing this video.

EXCELLENT video! If you bring your savings from the UK to France, what happens?

Thank you, very informative and makes my blood boil about the astronomical cost of living in the U.S. in general and New York City in particular. We pay $1500 a month for health insurance for a couple, Our property taxes are $1300 every 3 months, car insurance is now over $200 a month, bills, gas, food are all astronomical and keep climbing. I have pets and the cost of veterinary care here is criminal, a routine check up for my healthy young dog plus preventative routine meds was $350, my cat had a serious injury and the hospital emergency bill was $8000 (YES, that is not a mistake, $8000, they basically told me pay or your cat dies), my previous dog died from cancer and the cost of her care was over $12000, a health insurance for my pets is a must and I still only get 80% of that money back. The situation with pet owners here is sad, the animal shelter are full of pets that people can no longer afford to keep, pet ownership has become for the rich. So sad.

This is very helpful. I will be sending this information video over to my husband. He is from Tunisia. I live here in America. He is planning to come to America and then in the future we’re hoping to move to France. He speaks French I do not! What do they do for American speaking individuals for France? Do you all speak French? If not, how do you understand the titles on French items in the grocery store! Thank you so much for this video. It has been very very helpful. We are hoping to move to France in the future or southern England. We’re not sure yet which one I do have a daughter that if she goes with me in the future, she has hydrocephalitis, which means it’s fluid on the brain and she’s had multiple brain surgeries, so that’s the only thing that we are really struggling to figure out more of his medical for a high end brain surgery if and when she needs it again. 26:46 26:49

What do flea/ tick medication and heartworm medications cost?

Hi Jane. My property tax in California is $6,800 per year. 😢

How I wish we had your type of medical coverage here in the Midwest United States. Our medical costs are thousands of dollars a year. Our son is experiencing health problems but isn't going to doctors and tests because the costs are so high even with "insurance". Our property taxes are around $3400 a year for a 1400 sq.ft. house. Best wishes.

Hi Jane, thanks for this video. Im just wondering if you qualify for the UK state pension when you reach the age? I'd love to more abroard but I'm not sure if we can still qualify to receive it. I'm 30 years off so probably still loads of time to get enough NI contribution years.

Taxes for your home is very inexpensive for the year. I had a half acre with a ranch home and I was paying close to $4,000.00 a year and that was 6 years ago who knows what it would cost now. Wine is from 5 to 8 dollars restaurants can range from $15 to 30 for a regular place but can be so much more at a fancy place. Coffee is $2.50 at a restaurant and $5 to $7 at a coffee shop

Thank you, very good review. How much average house cost? Property taxes exactly same as I pay for my condo in US😊

Hi Jane. This has been a great video! Thank you. Are there standard vaccinations that our required for your dogs each year, like rabies, lepto or canine influenza? What do shots cost? Do you have issues with fleas or ticks in your area? Is you vet accessible/easily available or is there an emergency care place?

Had to chuckle at all the spelling mistakes on that map at 1.00, as a teacher I pick up on things like that...

It costs so much more money to live where I do - in Corpus Christi Texas - than where you live.

Gee, my homeowners just went up to $1107 per year. My and my husbands total health insurance per year is $6000. Our even billing gas and electric just went up to 200 per month. We keep the thermostat at 68 in the winter and AC to 78 in the summer. We live in SW Ohio, US. We are retired and on Social Security monthly payments. Expenses are just getting out of control.

So different in USA. Enjoy living in France .

IHi Jane. I have a question. Why did you and Mike retire in France instead of the UK?

Our television, telephone, and cell phones are much higher. Wish we only had to pay what you do. Canada has the highest rate for cell phones in the world.

I was thinking…once you Guys get your state pension you will be finally elevated to a fantastic income won’t you?

Hello Jane, hello Mike, may you please name the insurance companies that you use for your house and for a car? I am also living in France, in Grand East region and must admit that it's double of what you've mentioned. So I am just looking for another insurance with more attractive tariffs.

Wow! I’m very surprised at how affordable your property taxes are. Ours are about $600 a month.

I agree with you in the main, all life threatening illnesses are fully covered but a broken leg etc isnt fully covered, just the 70% rest you pay or your mutuelle pays. If on low income, below €9,000 a year for a single person the government pays 100% but your dental and glasses choice is limited. It is a great system either way but I have had experience personally of the mental health care and it is not good in my region at least, very archaic, they still perform electric shock treatment, I have had a friend and a client that had it, the friend had no choice, was not allowed to sign himself out and reject treatment. I was advised by my GP NEVER to get involved with the mental health services here and just speak to her for treatment etc due to the old fashioned opinions of the health service. BuT like you said every region is different for some things.

Random question: Does France have snakes?