When will I be able to " settle"

Thankfully I was brought up by my Mum on limited means so I've never had a credit card or anything like that and am more than able to live within my means.

@kaththomas700  Hiya, I was also very unsettled when we first came over, but we said we would give it 2 years...if I still felt the same after that then we would have a rethink....16 years and still loving it ❤️

Is there no way your hubbies mother could move over to live with you. My friends mum came to live with her, and she was in her late 70s. Or is this not an option.

I'm sure you will soon settle down and get into the Bulgarian way of life. Stress free and chilled out.

..

Unfortunately my mother in law besides being 87 she's not been in the best of health for a couple of months she was in hospital for a while and since she's been out she's gone way down hill. When we bought this house six years ago we asked if she'd like to move with us to Bulgaria and she refused.  Husband is an only child and wrongly as far as I'm concerned she has become even more dependant on him than ever before and he's not able to break away from her.  Sad but true and he's always been honest with me, when we first met up 23 years ago he said to me " I'll marry you but we'll never live together" well not until she's passed.  I'm so glad that I didn't bring my son's up like that, they've always had their own lives.

@kaththomas700 that's a good question!

I think I only really became settled after I moved from Veliko Tarnovo to Varna - I wasn't in VT long enough to get completely settled.  Now we have our own place, the kids's school is 10 minutes walk away and everything is familiar around us. We live in a respectable community, to which I feel a part. My wife's family has also adopted me and I really feel like Varna is my home now.

In truth, I guess everyone is different and I can't say any length of time is right or wring - it is what it is.

But another aspect of this, is what I left - South London - a God forsaken place, where I was paying (in 2020) £630 per month plus electricity via a coin meter, for a bedsit, where I had to continuously watch my back when I went out, for fear of being stabbed or shot at and I could barely break even each month, after working 75 hour weeks at a supermarket.  Anything has to be better than that!  Bulgaria is infinitely better than what I had and I have a real life now.

Congratulations.  Yes living in the UK as a pensioner is more or less beyond my means I could manage but I wouldn't call it a rewarding life.  I've got what I had on my " bucket list" when I left my first husband.  A cottage with a projective garden not too far from the coast. Well beyond my means in the UK but doable here which is just what I've got rather than living in a high rise flat where water came through the living room ceiling and the social landlord claimed there's was nothing they could do.  I moved here at the wrong time for planting up the garden but I'll have the winter to get that together.

Projective? Productive

You will immediately feel more settled when you realize that going back to the UK means living in poverty. :-) No joke, a full UK pension for a single person is currently below the official poverty income threshold. Whereas here you own your home with a nice garden, no rent or mortgage to pay for... and your council tax and electricity bills are peanuts rather than a couple of grand a year.

I love Bulgaria, it's a beautiful country with wide-open spaces and spectacular national parks. We've been here nearly 6 years, with no problems at all. I've never felt unsettled, on the contrary, I can't believe how lucky we are! We have a country house in a lovely mountain village just outside the Central Balkan National Park (my local peak is 1,500m which is higher than anything in the UK), and a holiday studio in the centre of Bansko, Bulgaria's top ski/mountain resort, and a charming little town. Equivalents in the UK or France would be heading for 10X the price!

Just a few moments ago (while writing this) I got an email reminder from Easy Pay about pending bills. It sounds silly, but when I see an electricity bill for 6 euros it never fails to put a smile on my face. :-)

And it's not just about the money! I popped up to the house this weekend, and had 4 days of blue skies and sunshine and the house martins still flying around the garden. I had a 3 hours bike ride on Sunday and had the whole mountain to myself. Here's a couple of pics at 1,200m.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9g7q3MEjycz1TbqJA

https://photos.app.goo.gl/G85vGwDq9yyJHcJw5

True, very true. Unlike most pensioners I'm so lucky to have an alternative.  My council tax alone was over £120 a month and that was with a percentage off because I lived by myself.

I was "settled" the day I first got off the plane in Sofia.  That was 17 years ago now and I'm still settled here.  In those early days I commuted to London, sometimes daily and sometimes for the week, and was happy to get home to Sofia every time.

I've lived in a number of countries and have always subscribed to the "Home is where the heart is" philosophy.  Now I'm yet another OAP struggling along on what HMG apparently regard as fair recompense for a lifetime of extorted taxes and contributions; at least they've made me grateful that I managed to get in before Brexit ushered in the various  barriers to OUR free movement and right of abode.

I agre with you so much Jimj. I think that my escape was more luck than judgement but here on my state pension I can live very well rather than hand to mouth in the UK.

@kaththomas700

Brave lady..well done kath..back in the uk now..

Good restaurants..

NEPTUNE..which is well priced..reasonable menu..staff have finished for now..so not much english..its a 10 minute walk from the end of the high street..towards the grand hotel..over the traffic lights..up on the R.H.side.

Keep walking..in front of the grand hotel..is a great favourite...ask for michael..he is a great friend..speaks english..works there all year...great  menu..bit pricey..but hey ho..its called

PETAR and PAVEL..its a spa too.

In the high street itself..up on the R.H.Side.is the George..Hotel..good menu..english spoken..and is a spa

Behind the george is BAM BUDA..another great place overlooking the sea..

Further up the road..past the bambuda on the left is another fine restaurant..Hotel..called Paradise..

There are many..you choose..cheapest is Neptune.

Those with music has closed the music for now..

I could tell you more..depends how much of Pomorie you know..and the layout..

btw cath..do you live in or outside pomorie..i wish you well..maybe meet again soon..well next year at least.x

Hope this

More days at the house... had to tame the jungle that is our garden. My neighbours use the fertile soil and long growing season for a bounty of fruit and veg... I use it to grow weeds taller than our garden wall. :-) It's not helped by my continued use of the tiny Argos electric mower that I used for our little patch of UK grass. This time, I finally sorted out a proper petrol mower, and a decent petrol brush cutter (350 euros for both)... and, for the first time since we bought it, the garden looks like it has been mowed.

While there, I finally registered the house and paid the property taxes. As it's over 5 years since we bought it,  I was very pleasantly surprised that it was only 370 euros. Chuffed with my good luck, I figured I should go to the post office and pay the water bill too, as I haven't done that for a couple of years either. They said I owe 0 lv (although I'm not sure how).

And my neighbours summoned me over and shared their bounty. Mitko gave me a big bag of grapes and apples, and Ivan gave me plums, grapes and cucumbers. All fresh and tasty... and free. :-)