I live very well on €1,000 a month in France

To the Editor,

You recently wondered how well a US immigrant could live on a pension equivalent to €2,000 a month.

As an Irish immigrant, I receive a basic allowance for old people with no other income.

It is Aspa (allocation de solidarité aux personnes âgées) and amounts to a little over €1,000 a month, and rent.

I live very well on it. I can even save money for future problems and donate to the local animal shelter.

Brought up frugally in the 1940s and 1950s in Ireland, I am not one to splurge on consumer goods, yet I have all I need, including a good laptop.

What many foreigners do not realise is that there is a wonderful market in everything second-hand (except cars) offered by ressourceries in even quite small towns, and the occasional Emmaüs shop.

One could completely stock and furnish a home, bit by bit, 'for buttons'. I recently got a brand new top-of-the-range electric kettle for €8.

These shops sell everything from bicycles and bed linen to beds, hi-fi systems, bathroom fixtures and clothing. 

All my shoes at €5 a pair are second-hand.  Very little in my house was bought new.

Then there are the vide-greniers for six months of the year...

I also eat very well, mostly fresh market produce. It is possible to get pretty good wines for €5-€8 a bottle.

I do not eat anything that can feel pain, which reduces my spending. Avoid the specialist bio shops: they can be very expensive.

There are two main problems, however. Firstly, second-hand cars are twice the price of anywhere else in the world.

Mine is nearly 30 years old, and has lasted because the roads in the south are never salted.

Secondly, public transport is scandalously bad, so it is a good idea to live near a 'skeleton service' bus route between two large towns, try to find a second-hand car for under €2,500, or live near a railway station.

Alternatively, one could choose a good small town to live in, and avoid the transport problems.

As for health, I get a service not much inferior to the NHS – free hearing aids, spectacles, GP consultations etc.

Finally, there is now a government advice service in almost every town and many villages, which is much better than the Citizens Advice bureaux in the UK.

This advice is for a single person. Two people would find it quite difficult to live on €2,000, though it would be possible.

A.W., Tarn-et-Garonne

Do you have any more tips on how to live frugally in France? Share them at letters@connexionfrance.com