Cost of Living in Portugal! Laying Laminate Flooring & Trim and Finishing Work.

[@jacquelinesmyth3167]

Yeahhh your back 😊

[@notyouraveragegringos]

@jacquelinesmyth3167 Thanks! We've found our sanity again after working like maniacs. 😅 Happy to be back online so to speak.

[@maresp61]

Nice to see you guys back! Beautiful job with that laminate floor in the guest bedroom! I just got back from Canada and as you mentioned, I was shocked with the high prices of everything there!!! Minimum wages are much higher there than in Portugal, but the cost of living is so high there that many people struggle to make ends meet at the end of the month ( car & home insurance is extremely high, cost of groceries, restaurants, fast food, etc ( eg. Mcdonald's meal, a big mac, fries and a drink, $12.98 ) That's more expensive than a meal at a restaurant in Portugal ( on a week day, weekends it's a little bit more expensive but not by much ) which includes a plate of soup, a plate full of delicious food, wine, desert and coffee for 8.50 euros! Yes, minimum wages in Portugal is 820.00 euros per month, but the cost of living is so much lower here, that I noticed that people making minimum wages in Canada, struggle much more to make ends meet there than people do here!! Have a great and productive week.. 🥰😘

[@notyouraveragegringos]

Thanks for the compliment, very happy with the new floor. 😀 I agree that although minimum wage is lower in Portugal than in Canada life is still more affordable here. The value at local restaurants here is amazing. You get fresh homemade delicious healthy food for a good price. Glad you're back in Portugal and I'm sure your doggies are happy to see you. 😍

[@maresp61]

@@notyouraveragegringos Thanks :) Yes, they are so happy to have me back and so am I !! They're back to their normal routine 🥰

[@mm.6991]

❤ Love the update 🎉 Still about Macdonald's, I think that eating in certain restaurants is more affordable than at Macdonald's and healthier, at least in the area of ​​the Setúbal peninsula where I live. A great week for both of you 😘

[@notyouraveragegringos]

@mm.6991 We have so much progress to share. 🤩 Neither restaurant was McDonald's. Not sure what restaurant they went to in Canada, but it was a small local restaurant. It was a limited menu at the beach restaurant in Praia do Pedrogão, probably because we were not there during the busier summer season. Definitely more expensive than the usual cafés we go to because it's at the beach. I prefer the Café near the sawmill in Vermoil, they serve 2 meal options per day with a different menu each day of the week. But I made the comparison because it was more fair to compare burgers and fries with burgers and fries. Have a great week! 🥰❤️

[@FarmsVilla]

Glad to see your editing woes seem to be behind you. And as I was typing this I saw your message pop up on the screen. 🤣 interesting to see what your cost of living is compared to ours. Once you figure out how the laminate flooring works it gets easier to lay. The roll of insulation works much better than the folded stuff. Nice job on the spare room. 👍🏻

[@notyouraveragegringos]

@FarmsVilla The folded underlay crap got the better of me, and we stopped filming because there was too much cursing to edit out. 😂 The actual laminate went down easy peasy once I figured it out. My editing program is cooperating for now. Hoping it holds out until we get a Macintosh and I can start using iMovie. 🤞🏻 I'm so happy with the laminate flooring. So much easier to clean than a cement floor! 🤪

[@FarmsVilla]

@@notyouraveragegringos yeah cement dust is a bitch! Gets everywhere and it settles after sweeping so it looks like you haven’t cleaned 10 mins later. 😳

[@notyouraveragegringos]

@FarmsVilla Add cats into the mix and you have dusty paw prints everywhere. Just finished a load of laundry 🐾 just wiped the coffee table 🐾 just put nice clothes on to go out 🐾 The struggle is real 😅

[@FarmsVilla]

@@notyouraveragegringos add a dog into the mix and you will understand Mandy’s pain lol

[@deborahwhite2339]

Just catching up; the floor looks great! That is a weird underlay. Quite fiddly. Portugal is definitely cheaper than 🇨🇦. I have managed to trim things down like insurance, internet, phone plan, etc so I have more wiggle room. I roll with visa because you can track spending and collect points. I also have a presidents choice mastercard and bank card that I use strictly in the Atlantic Superstore for groceries. (AKA Loblaws) You can do quite well using coupons and points. 🙂👍👍🇨🇦

[@notyouraveragegringos]

@@deborahwhite2339 I agree the underlay was weird and fiddly. There was a lot of cursing. Next time I’ll buy the stuff on the roll. Portugal is definitely cheaper than Canada, and I think even with the lower income you have more disposable income here. I figure wages are about 5x higher in Canada but your big ticket items like buying a house, car insurance, house insurance, utilities, property taxes… these are about 10x higher in Canada. We use coupons and points as well. Lidl is really good for coupons and free items through their app. Continente has 5€ off coupons once in a while too. Thanks for the compliment on our floor. No more cement floor! 🤩❤️

[@josechapman7611]

It’s easier if you cut out the bottom of your door frame useing an angle grinder then the laminate or any flooring slides in better

[@notyouraveragegringos]

@@josechapman7611 I don’t know why I didn’t think of doing that. Guess I like to learn the hard way. I’ll remember that for our next renovation project. 😁

[@alex78-c3q]

Сравнивать стоимость жизни в разных странах по затратам на еду - некорректный процесс. Для усреднения и был придуман "Индекс Гамбургера". Конечно , хорошо зарабатывать деньги в богатой стране , и тратить их в бедной. Подложка для ламината действительно -дрянь . "Лерой Мерлен" торгует товарами дерьмового качества во всех странах. Но по минимальной цене . Я полагаю , вы сделали зазор между ламинатом и стеной 10мм по всему периметру ? Иначе , ламинат разбухнет от влаги , упрется в стены и покрытие встанет горбом. И укладку досок (обычно) делают паралельно направлению света . Так меньше заметны ошибки монтажа . И каждый кусок доски должен быть не меньше 300мм, поэтому стартовую доску принудительно укорачивают . И так сложно никто не делает стык ламината с дверью - просто можно было пропилить низ дверной коробки вашей самурайской пилой от пола на толщину ламината плюс половина толщины подложки и затолкать это под дверную коробку. Я дополнительно грунтую цементный пол разведенным латексом , чтобы при хождении по полу из под него не вылетала пыль и наношу на стык досок герметик для "наборных" полов . В "LM" он , кстати , тоже дерьмовый))))). Хорошая работа для первого раза. ВЫ получили еще один навык.)))))

[@notyouraveragegringos]

@alex78-c3q I didn't just look at the cost of food, it was just the more visual example. I went over our monthly expenses (internet and communications, electricity, water, health insurance, gas for the car, propane for cooking and groceries including cleaning supplies, pet supplies and hygiene products). We also went over our annual expenses (vehicle tax, vehicle inspection, vehicle insurance and home insurance). The burger comparison was the best like for like comparison we have at the moment. For the flooring, not much options in Portugal for other building supplies as most shops carry the same brands. We left a 6mm gap between the laminate flooring and the wall as advised by a friend who installs laminate as a profession. The underlay extends up the wall and is trimmed off level with the top of the flooring so we shouldn't have moisture entering the laminate. It was suggested we lay the laminate in the other direction but we chose this way so it's in line with the bed (it's the only way the bed fits) because I thought it would look stupid to have all the short ends sticking out from under the bed. Better to have the length where I can see it. Happy with the results so far! 😁