How Much does it Cost me to live in Bulgaria 🇧🇬?

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Today I will share my experience with the costs of living in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is commonly known as a low-cost country, where your money can go pretty far, especially if you're making income in the west.
What are the actual costs of living in Bulgaria? How much does it cost to get an apartment? How expensive is food? What about going out?
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Author: Michael Rosmer
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[@NxD3TH]

Very informative! When I was in Sofia, I used the metro to go from the centre to the airport and it was fantastic! Modern and very cheap. The airport metro station was very sleek.

[@MichaelRosmer]

I have to admit I've never used it going to or from the airport but yes the metro is cheap and works well. Bulgaria is a very affordable country and Sofia a very affordable city.

[@matrices3987]

That's about where the good stuff ends...

[@jameshamilton3348]

I dont know why people think €1,100 is cheap? This video would suggest Bulgaria is not cheap. This kinda of apartment in Bangkok is $500 a month with a gym, a pool, a sauna, security, a great view of the city and high end fixtures and fittings.

[@tw9419]

Interesting. Looks like you can rent out some decent properties for a good price. Happy to see that 😄 Costs in Bulgaria seem to be reasonable for the most part.

[@MichaelRosmer]

Yeah it's probably the most affordable EU capital

[@tw9419]

@@MichaelRosmer I wonder how it compares to Warsaw or Bratislava 🤔🤔

[@MichaelRosmer]

@@tw9419 cheaper especially than Bratislava

[@AlainA-NL]

Normally in bulgaria you pay half a rent to the real estate agent, the other half is for the owner of the apartment. Unfortunately your agent was kinda greedy because he/she got 1.5 rent as a comission. Like nice places start of 500 euro's a month in Sofia. In Varna and plovdiv, it starts from 300. For this apartment i would have paid max 800 euro's, but if you're happy with it, i am also happy. All i want to say is that personally i would go for a better deal.

[@MichaelRosmer]

I talked to a number of real estate agents and they were all charging the same. Friends have also paid the same. There are ways around it and you can negotiate but our guy went above and beyond. We dealt with a few different people and there was no contest and well beyond just finding a place. I've got no problem compensating people who do good work for me. As for the price in Sofia location matters a lot and there are a bunch of really annoying things in most properties such as total crap bathrooms. We looked at a lot of places and unfortunately if you want a place in this area of this size with tolerable bathrooms that's about what you have to pay.

[@OffshoreCitizen]

Follow us on Instagram 👐👐👐 instagram.com/offshore_citizen?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= This is our only profile there!

[@FrozenSkyy]

Thanks Mike. Very helpful. The modern house you showed at 4:50 looks stunning. Do you recall the name of that development? Would be nice to check out more pics and videos of that place for some design inspiration, as I'm looking to build my own home in Europe next year. Thanks and appreciate :)

[@markmartin7384]

You talked about vegetables, but what is the quality of other fresh foods in the grocery store, like fruits etc...?

[@OffshoreCitizen]

I’d say that if you want the best quality of fruits and veggies you should go to local farmer’s markets. Supermarkets generally don’t have the best quality of fruits and veggies. Other items are fine, just like anywhere else.

[@markmartin7384]

@@OffshoreCitizen what about in the winter? Can you get fresh fruits at the market? Or stuck with grocery store?

[@нямаиме-к]

@@markmartin7384 Depends on the type of fruits and vegetables but overall during the winter is far from optimal.The market is opened always no matter summer or winter and you are going to find better deals probably then the grocery store but it`s not like in the season.In general try to eat in season.

[@greek-freaks]

great informations...thanks a lot. Which website you would say is good for looking for long term rentals?

[@millenium13constantin58]

I dare to say the bulgarian vegetables are the best in the world. But you are right about the beef.

[@OffshoreCitizen]

Yeah their vegetables are awesome, especially tomatoes 😀

[@MichaelRosmer]

Depends where you buy them though. Most of the grocery stores aren't very good but markets are great

[@millenium13constantin58]

@@MichaelRosmer In the winter there are mostly turkish.

[@MichaelRosmer]

@@millenium13constantin58 haha not sure how they'd feel about hearing it that way

[@yeahweburnstuff]

@@OffshoreCitizen At the market in GEO MILEV every Friday a beef farmer's food van appears. Beautiful quality and presentation. You're welcome!

[@subashpun9398]

Very goodvideo. I am happy.

[@MichaelRosmer]

Thanks!

[@Vagas2012]

Did you sign a 6 months or a 1 year lease. Tourist visa for US & Canadian citizens are 90 days and was wondering how you worked that out.

[@OffshoreCitizen]

1 year lease, but before signing I got temporary residency that needs to be renewed yearly

[@alvaroalvarez5009]

​@@OffshoreCitizendon't you need a lease before you get temp visa?

[@yanbu000]

DIS-agree... Living comfortably in Bulgaria, "on par" with most BG locals, will cost you at least €10K monthly. By "on par," I mean two international vacations yearly (the locals all do this), additional home(s), which the locals all have and need to maintain, plus hefty expenses for food, bills, and energy. It's not a budget-friendly place, especially if your partner enjoys life. I lived in California for 40 years, and I would put the cost of living here on par with living in California. Bulgarians manage it, but on a whole different level-mostly by gaming the system.

[@OffshoreCitizen]

This is just 100% untrue I lived there for years on a fraction of that living far better than Bulgarians

[@yanbu000]

@@OffshoreCitizen Sorry, you are wrong. I've lived here for 15 years under the parameters I described. Read them again. You do not know Bulgaria.

[@marduk505]

Which operator are you using for unlimited mobile plan ? I am using Telenor

[@OffshoreCitizen]

Vivacom :)

[@marduk505]

Thanks! I'm moving to Sofia as well, this really helps

[@MichaelRosmer]

@@marduk505 awesome hope you enjoy. A good resource is to join the Facebook group Sofia Foreigners and Friends

[@marduk505]

@@MichaelRosmer I just joined the FB group :)

[@kuyumdzhiev]

You are getting ripped off like crazy. 3k euro a mount for 2 people....

[@MichaelRosmer]

Depends how you live I guess. You can spend a lot less but we can afford it so why would we worry about how often do we eat out, where do we go, how much do we eat, get a good sized nice place in a good part of the city, go out as often as you want etc.

[@kuyumdzhiev]

@@MichaelRosmer The rent is too high... I live in Varna in my own apartment and i dont't pay rent or credit. I still get food delivery and go out when;0ever i want. I don'y know the laws about non-EU people, but i think its better to pay upfront for apartment and pay as small as 400 euro /mount fir your payments at the bank than paying 1100 euro rent + 200 bills. If you are not planning to live in BG for long term its still better investment than paying 1100 + 200 a mount. Also you say veggies and fruits are not good q in BG which is funnny and BG is not tourist country... Make a research before you talk )

[@MichaelRosmer]

@@kuyumdzhiev yeah foreigners don't have those options the same way. But in reality a €300k cd would have payments not so different from that level anyway. When we came we considered the real estate market but it had just gone up a lot two years in a row so we didn't deem it a good time to buy. Looking at it in hindsight definitely glad we made that decision as there were much better things to do with money. I said fruits and vegetables in the grocery stores are horrible, which is true. Markets are good but grocery stores are really bad, not sure why, I'd think they could get the same produce but seems not. Although I should caveat that, the big Fantastico near the ring road is much better than what you get in most of the others.

[@svenw.6918]

New sub here! Like your channel ALOT! I have a serious question for you and your the expert 👌. You may answer with yes or no 😁: I'm from Belgium and I get taxed to death. I'm a full time daytrader US stocks. If I go to my city house and say I'm leaving Belgium they remove me and I'm still Belgian but I'm not a resident anymore. Then when I move to Sofia I can apply for residency in Bulgaria. If I'm accepted I live officially in Bulgaria and I pay Bulgarian taxes on my yearly income from my trading? Correct? I'm not a business person I'm just a person with no employer but making good money online. I also don't need a company to be able to be allowed to trade my own money in Bulgaria? I'm visiting Sofia as soon as possible to explore it to feel the city and to look for the area who I like the most there. So is this right or wrong? Thanks in advance 👍

[@OffshoreCitizen]

Yes this is correct

[@svenw.6918]

@@OffshoreCitizenThanks for your quick answer. I did my homework right I see 😁 Bulgaria here I come 💪

[@vimalcurio]

@@svenw.6918 How is your experience in Bulgaria?

[@preciousabraham7872]

Do houses in Bulgaria come with chairs, tv etc I mean house facilities?

[@OffshoreCitizen]

Often but not always

[@kallaji7383]

WOW! That's super affordable! Here in Germany the rents are inhuman murder, especially for the middle class who gotta pay half of their income to the state and the other half to the landlord. Not fun! I think I might bug out of Germany to Bulgaria!

[@OffshoreCitizen]

We have lots of videos on Bulgaria, definitely check it out. If you decide to make a move, let us know😄

[@artjomaltenhof9691]

Such dir eine bessere Arbeit, Opfer.

[@gracielalachmayer5599]

hello! great video! thanks for all the great info! we are moving to Burgas (from Germany) in the next 6 months. How much are you paying for car insurance and health insurance? thanks!

[@MichaelRosmer]

Really depends what you get the most basic health insurance is like €85/yr or something but I'm not sure I'd want to rely on that. For car insurance a few hundred EUR a year

[@gracielalachmayer5599]

@@MichaelRosmer thanks! we would definitely want to go for private health insurance. Was the car insurance hard to source? do you speak Bulgarian? I assume I will be going to school to learn at least basic conversational Bulgarian.

[@MichaelRosmer]

@@gracielalachmayer5599 I don't speak Bulgarian no. Insurance isn't hard to get. It's good to have people around you who speak Bulgarian but tons of people speak English

[@teresalehtonen8499]

wow expensive rent even if its in expensive area... its Bulgaria not Finland

[@iztokstudio]

finally someone mentioning the awful interior design in bulgarian bathrooms, if you need a remodel hmu i'll show you some actually nice projects i have worked on

[@OffshoreCitizen]

Haha excellent so true!

[@matrices3987]

I've spent a few weeks in Sofia. I wouldn't live here if the EU paid me a 5k Euro stipend to park my bum in the city.

[@OffshoreCitizen]

Why? What’s so bad about it? 😂

[@vimalcurio]

Wow 😮 awesome place only if more people speak English there 🙄

[@vimalcurio]

Are there uber?

[@OffshoreCitizen]

No Uber but they have local taxi apps. Taxis are quite affordable, and these apps tend to do the job.

[@vimalcurio]

@@OffshoreCitizen oh. Okay thanks for the information

[@paletteandeasel5167]

From watching this video, you come across as being a person who came to Bulgaria, not for a love of the beautiful country and a wish to immerse yourself in the history and culture of its people but as a wealthy and entitled American who wants to live a more lavish lifestyle than you could in the United States. You said more than once in your video and in the comments that “we can afford it”, and because of that, you are paying way more for your flat than a person who is modest and and respectful of the fact that $1100 in rent is 2 months salary to some in this country. You could have bought a perfectly nice apartment outright and saved so much money. If you have so much money, why not use it in a way that makes the world a better place? It seems wasteful to use it just to live affluently in a poor country. That’s just my 2 cents, and I am just making assumptions of this one video. I don’t know your personal circumstances but this is the way you came across in your video.

[@rainmaker1461]

Lol you're miserable

[@jemalrankin6159]

This video is totally one sided . It’s only for upper class living . So many people who are just wanting information on regular prices . He starts high , and then goes up to 15,000 dollars ?! As soon as he goes to the lower prices he just pushes past it real fast and starts talking about maids and bla bla bla . Nothing here for us “ common folks “...

[@fred5114]

tell people about what they need to know - how and where to get the income in the first place ( not every one speaks Bulgarian or makes money from the internet , how about some information for newbies on how to get entitlements from the UK or bulguria where and how to get visas and rsendency , all these videos are the same , just some one quoting a price for every item in a super market ? Have youTube banned the public from getting the most obvious and useful information as well now ? how to transport large dogs for example not just rat size , like Sofia air port and eurostar saying they don't allow pets , living in the middle of nowhere also comes with its transport problems ( so where and how to hire cars - just any useful information , not just dribbling on about the cost of food or accomodation ( let's get down to the Raw facts that people auctally need to know , like estate agents costs and location , if I was rich I wouldn't need to waste my time on these videos , most people don't have an endless supply of money and not every one is physically able to get a job , come on details please lol

[@JoseLopez-fb8bv]

This is typical ignorant US BS... Bulgaria is not excactly NY... No offence, but ignorance is still a blizz for many..

[@2daybmine]

a lot of empty words and no content, loosing my attention your monotone and borring