If you’re thinking about moving to Bulgaria and wondering what it costs to live here, read on. The following figures show my non-discretionary spending over the 12-month period from March 1, 2016 to February 27, 2017.
groceries: €4,420 49.55%
rent: €3,070 34.41%
electricity: €794 8.90%
cell phone: €161 1.80%
ISP €145 1.62%
clothing €142 1.59%
water €129 1.44%
health care €60 0.67%
TOTAL (rounded) $8,920
NOTES:
1) I rent a 2-bedroom furnished apartment.
2) The electricity bill ranged from €27 (July) to €158 (January).
2) If my clothing expenses seem low, that’s because I buy most of my clothes at Lidl. Hence part of my expenditure on groceries was, in fact, money spent on clothes. Not much, though.
3) My cell-phone costs are probably abnormally low, too; I use the phone only once a month, to text the landlord to come and collect the rent.
4) My internet set-up is the usual WiFi, delivered by landline. The deal includes a landline phone number, which I never use.
5) The figure for health care represents vitamins, antacids and acetominophen, plus the €2.50 I spent on a taxi to the hospital when I fell and broke an arm. The hospital didn’t charge me anything. “Emergency care is free,” they explained
