Monday 8 February 2010

Making a Living in Limoux

When we decided to move to France just over a year and a half ago, we didn't stress too much about how we were going to financially make do.

"Hey we'll manage.
Got a bit of savings to last a few months.
Live life to the full.
We're bound to find something.
Learn a bit of French first then find a job teaching English or cleaning gites or whatever.
Let's take each day as it comes and things will sort themselves out....."

Actually thankfully we didn't think like that but there are many who do.

We did in-fact have some vague monetary plans. Bill planned to be a consultant in his field of development work and I planned to work from home with my websites. We had a little nest egg of what we thought was sufficient for a year of 'no work' just in case things didn't go as planned.

Well our nest egg very quickly became a nest without eggs. We were caught in that trap of wanting to do up the house, do up the garden, enjoy the sunshine and our new lifestyle and sample all the local delights and delicacies. And not worry about work.

All very well, but all that costs money. And we have 3 kids and a dog.

Being a bit naive about real costs (having coming from Vietnam where everything was so cheap as most things seem to be made there), we didn't anticipate the real costs of our new lifestyle.

We bought a newish house. Great we thought little work to do.

Wrong.

The French tend to strip their house when they sell it. We never realized that 30 light fittings and lampshades would cost so much or that planting a small hedge would mean a small mortgage.

So to counteract misjudgement, Bill packed his bags and went to work in far off places and i dusted off my desk and chair and sat down to balance the books and write more website pages.

Being a consultant work is never sure. Bill either seems to have too much or hes' stressing about when the next job will be. However recently he has landed a 2 year contract in Liberia which means 2 months on and 2 months off. Not ideal but it's work.

As for me, well I started dabbling with the Internet a few years ago when we were living in Asia. I wanted a job that was mobile and which allowed me to be at home with the kids when i wanted to be. That led to me creating a couple of hobby websites which have been a godsend and which I just love doing.

I soon discovered that I could earn a living from them and they now earn me income though advertising and commissions from sales.

You can read more about it here: www.kids-partycabin.com

Oh and i started this blog - but that's for fun!

A few things we discovered:
  • France is not cheap. Many of our visitors from the UK feel it's much more expensive in France.
  • If you don't speak good French, your chances of finding a decent paying job are slim unless you have contacts or are in a big town/city.
  • Many French people work for family or friends. Learn French and make lots of friends and your chances might be higher.
  • Unemployment in France is higher than in the UK.
  • Teenagers finding jobs is like finding a needle in a haystack. Forget newspaper delivery boys, they don't exist. Picking grapes usually happens when the kids are back at school. If they are under 17 year old, they will be highly unlikely to be even considered.
  • Working for yourself is much more feasible. However.................you will pay a lot in social security payments and taxes. Much more than if you were employed. We are discovering that and feel shocked at how many cheques we write out each month to various social security departments.
Having said all that, many people arrive here and manage or get by.

At the end of the day you need to think about whether you'd be happy just managing and getting by. If not, then you may well need to find a job that makes life more comfortable.

I so admire a friend whom I met here, who spoke little French when she arrived but was determined to succeed. Within 6 months, she was speaking enough French to get by and had set up a market stall in Limoux selling coffee. Yes coffee to the French. No-one else in Limoux (population 10,000) sold fresh coffee. She had found a great niche.

Here's her website: Le Moulin Noir

Another retired English man whom I also met in the market sells imported curry sauces and spices. His best customers are some old French ladies.

And another English friend spent a couple of years learning French and is now a French teacher to the English and runs a B&B.

So where there's a will there's way.

Don't get anxious reading this if you are thinking of making the move here, but do get realistic and do get creative with your work ideas.

Also be prepared for the social security department to whip you hard earned profits out of your hands from time to time.

Well it's now back to work for me. I'm writing an eBook about kids party games...that's another income stream I hope.

Next Time: The French Bac. What do my kids think?!

8 comments:

caroline wright said...

Dear Tim
I live in Herault . This may seem a strange question as you don't know me from Adam' but have you ever encountered a builder by the name of Paul Roberts of European Property Services
Regards
Caroline Wright

caroline wright said...

By the way i forgot to add i have been working here as a nurse since 2001
Regards
Caroline Wright

Nicole said...

Hi Caroline. Sorry i've never heard of the builder you mentioned. I hope you find him...
Nicole

abainfrance said...

I know exactly how you feel. Even though less expensive than Paris, it is still more expensive than what we were used to in the States.

Rebs said...

@ Nicole and Caroline wright, I am a medical student and my mum has bought a house in Limoux. I was thinking of going out there this summer. Do you know where I can find any summer work? It can be fruit picking, painting and decorating, gardening etc. My french isn't very good... but have a little.

Nicole said...

Hi Rebs - Lovely as Limoux is, it is not a great place for finding short term work. My teenager kids haven't had any luck in spite of living here. I think a lot depends on who you know and being in the right place at the right time. For grape picking it tends to be early to mid September so if you are in Limoux then and your mum knows any vineyard owners then you may be in luck. You could however look at getting work in Carcassonne (20km away) as it is a much bigger town and has lots of tourist businesses needing extra summer help. Sorry to have not been much more help and maybe see you in Limoux sometime!

Jess said...

Hi Nicole, I'm a 17 year old british student moving to France with my family this summer. I have a younger sister of 12 and brother of 10 years old. The stress of moving our whole family to France is weighing heavily on my parents shoulders and it's a little daunting to be honest. Have you got any tips for us and any essential documents/procedures we need to undertake to make our move a success? Thanks, Jess x

Nicole said...

Hi Fresherella
Moving house is always quite stressful and moving to another country as well, can add to that. It's normal for you and your parents to feel a bit stressed as everything is going to be new for you all. However it can also be very exciting too. I don't know your situation and whether you will be going to school in France or whether your parents will be working here, but my advice is jut to take each day, one at a time. There will be some challenges, but most things can be sorted out. We have found the French to be very helpful especially if you make an effort to practice your French, good or bad! If you want to email me privately with specific questions I am happy to help. My email is thetods.limoux(add an AT sign here)gmail.com
All the best
Nicole