I've mentioned before that life has been more expensive since I moved to Portugal, compared to my small (but very comfy) two bed house in Hereford.
I'd put this down to the fact that I have been getting the land set up but thinking it through, over the long term I don't think the 'basic' costs of living associated with either set up are that different, once one's rules out mortgage costs, which I could do NOW if I wanted to on the house.
Below is a breakdown of what I estimate the average costs would be per month over a 20 year period, factoring in things such as replacing heating systems/ batteries and so one and holding the cost of rent/ mortgage at 0 - once one has paid for one's property, the cost to one, after all, is zero!
Taxes
Here the land in Portugal wins hands down, just a nominal tax of I think it's 5 EU a yer, while in the UK council tax is going to be around £120 a month... although I may have slightly overestimated that trying to factor in how much it's gone up by in the last two years.
At least the council tax has a soft cap as pensioners on the state pension have to pay it.
Electricity
My bills were never that expensive in the UK - I estimate around £50 a month now as they would have gone up of course.
Compared to a solar system which I'd need on the land - to be comparable and allow for a washing machine I'd need to invest around £3000 in a system, and I'd probably have to replace the batteries every now and then - so £25 a month would be paying for that on around a 10 year cycle, and allow for upgrades/ repairs.
Solar isn't free after all.
NB I could of course install solar in the UK and reap the benefits there, not as efficiently given the lack of sun, but it'd be something.
Heating/ Gas
Now this is gonna be at least £60 a month in the UK - my house is SUPER insulated and small, so cheap.
In Portugal I still need bottled gas for cooking, and I have to buy in some Firewood - total around £25 a month
Food costs
I figure this will be about even - it assumes a set up with a full allotment in the UK, rent is negligible, and I'd still need to buy in food (such as rice) and food prices are similar, just a little cheaper in Portugal - £80 a month compared to £100 a month in the UK.
Petrol
This is where the UK wins hands down - I just wouldn't need to drive as much in the more compact UK - in Portugal I need the car and I need to use it due to the lower population density - it's a 40 mile round trip to the nearest decent supermarket, in the UK I can walk!
Maintenance
As with food, about equal - for the UK this is mainly one thing - the gas boiler, factoring in replacing it every decade or so.
In Portugal it's maintaining and replacing the Strimmer/ Chainsaw/ Water pump/ I mean I could go on!
Final thoughts - NOT much in it!
These stats are based on my two SPECIFIC situations so I could tweak either and make them cheaper, I could probably reduce my Portugal expenditure but I know myself and that's what I've settled on.
So it turns out that life in the UK, albeit more 'gridded' isn't that much more expensive than being much more off-grid in Portugal!
Off-grid ain't that cheap!
NB I always KNEW it wasn't - it's not the cost that's the main reason to go off-grid, it's the freedom from the system and the reduced dependency on big companies delivering yer gas/ leccy/ water - that's one big advantage of Portugal of course!
The last paragraph is why i want to do it. Nothing is free, but being free is priceless.
Totally agree!
Well I can go off grid solar for around 10 000 ponds per month here and that would be plenty of electricity including the batteries/inverters that last 15 years. No gas for cooking as it would all be electric. I think your 3K estimate will do far more than just a washing machine. All costs are going up and at some point I think no matter where you live you have to find alternative energy and that is the freedom like you say.
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It defo makes sense if you've got the initial capital!
Portugal is one of my favorite countries and how are you finding the environment?
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TBH I prefer the UK environment, but I'm a bit of an odd one!
Is it 5£ a year? Damn that's a huge different. Tho i wonder what's the minimum wage in UK vs Portugal.
Life here in Asian countries are quite cheap NGL but a huge, huge difference in lifestyle or development tho not in some Asian countries whose are standing next to bankruptcy.
There's not that much difference in prices in EU countries, but yeah big difference with poorer parts of Asia for sure!
So no taxes on the houses at all after you have paid it off? Thought UK claimed owner-tax/land-tax like we do here in Denmark xD
In the UK Council Tax is quite pricey, very much cheaper in Portugal.
I don't know what that is?
We have owner tax on top of our regular tax x)
I got a quote for solar panels via a group buy. It would be from around £7500 and more if we wanted batteries. I think that is a lot cheaper than a few years back and would pay for itself in 10+ years. UK sunshine just isn't as powerful as further south, but could still be worthwhile.
It is interesting that Portugal is not hugely cheaper than the UK, but it depends on what sort of lifestyle you want. I wonder if you can live really cheaply in Europe. You might have to go further afield to cut the costs further.
I hope you can find something that works for you.
I think the thing with Portugal is that it's easier to DIY your off-grid set up without planning - probably in the UK you'd need to get a regulated company to do your install - I could install a decent solar rig myself for £5K absolutely no problem all-in, whether or not I'd be allowed to is another matter!
Much easier to live cheaply in Portugal mainly because the state is off your case!
As with many things there needs to be some compromise on regulation of power generation. Some people will mess it up. I don't really want to be crawling over my roof and running all the cables anyway. Doing it on your plot would be much simpler.
Yeah that's true - I actually met someone recently who's thinking of doing a stealth install in their parent's house, but he works testing electrical equipment so he knows exactly what he's doing!
Potentially a great contact to have!
40 mile round trip for groceries?! Wowzers!
And here I thought my 15 minutes by bicycle was bad.
Yeah it's a bit middle of nowhere here!