Sufficient income to live in Portugal for a family of 4?

[carlos carlos]

Hi, we are planning to move to Portugal in the summer, been there and have done some research on schools for my 2 teenager daughters, most likely they will go to St. Dominic's International School at Cascais. We are looking to rent a house/apartment with 3 bedroom somewhere between Ericeira to Cascais which I believed its a nice area to live and not too far from the school. Here is my questions, and I would appreciate your advice.

how much would that be considered sufficient / average household income to live in Portugal for a family of 4?
what is average rental for 3 bedroom house/apartment in Ericeira to Cascais area, 1000 euro?
average cost of living; grocery, utility, internet, tele communications etc?
cost of buying and feeding a car?
any income tax charges to expats?
health insurance?
is approximate 20-30 drive from Ericeira to Cascais realistic?

Thanks in advance.
Melody

[silvers]

Hi Melody,
Your questions are a bit general but I will try to answer some of them for you.
1, dependant on standard of living, family of four could live on 800-1000 per month.
2, Houses are available in that area for that price.
3, Grocery=400 month utility=140 month internet=9.99-24.99 month telecoms= for international calls, you are far better off with Skype, you will need a landline for multi use internet at home and that costs around 15 a month.
4, buying a car, you can have my BMW for 9k, or you can buy much cheaper options or much more expensive, it really does depend what you are looking for. A friend has just bought a new Ford Focus for 23k.
5, Income tax, you must file a tax return, you may not be charged anything, depends on your income and where it is from.
6, insurance is available, but not really necessary, as long as you are residents, if not it can get expensive really quickly.
7, not a drive I have done very much but I would think your timeframe is realistic.

[carlos carlos]

Hi Silvers,
You done well answering my general questions and thanks so much for your helpful info. Excellent, I am not too far off with the calculation.
We will need to hire or buy a car eventually, likely to hire one for the first few months but will not eliminate possibility of buying. Please do let me know details of your BMW.
In which part of Portugal are you staying?
Thanks again,
Melody

Originally Posted by silvers

Hi Melody,
Your questions are a bit general but I will try to answer some of them for you.
1, dependant on standard of living, family of four could live on 800-1000 per month.
2, Houses are available in that area for that price.
3, Grocery=400 month utility=140 month internet=9.99-24.99 month telecoms= for international calls, you are far better off with Skype, you will need a landline for multi use internet at home and that costs around 15 a month.
4, buying a car, you can have my BMW for 9k, or you can buy much cheaper options or much more expensive, it really does depend what you are looking for. A friend has just bought a new Ford Focus for 23k.
5, Income tax, you must file a tax return, you may not be charged anything, depends on your income and where it is from.
6, insurance is available, but not really necessary, as long as you are residents, if not it can get expensive really quickly.
7, not a drive I have done very much but I would think your timeframe is realistic.

[silvers]

Hi Melody,
we live on the Silver coast. My car is a 2001 BMW320D. Our friends have just hired a Ford Focus from Lisboa airport and it is cost them 260 a week. Cars are damned expensive here.

[weasel]

we have been advised that cars in Portugal are expensive and the best thing to do is to bring one with you purchased elsewhere in mainland europe but You do need to have purchased it before you move otherwise you'll be liable for an import tax on it.

[silvers]

A full 12 months before you move here and you have to prove this too.

[ofilha]

Originally Posted by silvers

Hi Melody,
Your questions are a bit general but I will try to answer some of them for you.
1, dependant on standard of living, family of four could live on 800-1000 per month.
2, Houses are available in that area for that price.
3, Grocery=400 month utility=140 month internet=9.99-24.99 month telecoms= for international calls, you are far better off with Skype, you will need a landline for multi use internet at home and that costs around 15 a month.
4, buying a car, you can have my BMW for 9k, or you can buy much cheaper options or much more expensive, it really does depend what you are looking for. A friend has just bought a new Ford Focus for 23k.
5, Income tax, you must file a tax return, you may not be charged anything, depends on your income and where it is from.
6, insurance is available, but not really necessary, as long as you are residents, if not it can get expensive really quickly.
7, not a drive I have done very much but I would think your timeframe is realistic.

Hi Silvers,
You may have already addressed this question before. But one of the things we are concerned with is health. Do we need to buy health insurance, or does the government provide it to residents? I have been trying to find out and several of the government agencies gave me some answers but they were sort of confusing.
Thanks.

[silvers]

Hi Ofilha,
If you are not from within the EU, you will be required to buy private insurance. Unless you wish to pay exorbitant amounts to visit the emergency room (75euros) or to see a doctor privately (30euros-ish) sorry.