Here’s another practical post. Many readers have written in asking what the real costs of moving abroad are. It’s a great question. So let’s do it. Let’s talk about the nitty gritty of how much money it took the Blairs to move to another country. Spoiler: it wasn’t free, but it likely wasn’t as much as you’d guess.
Also, I’m going to write this using a tone that assumes you’re interested in moving abroad. If you’re not, no stress. Feel free to skip this post.
Our rent for La Cressonnierre is almost exactly the same as the rent we paid on our modest home in Denver (around $1500/mo). It’s actually slightly less or slightly more depending on the Euro exchange rate. If the house was closer to Paris, I’m sure it would be much more expensive, but because it’s almost 2 hours away, the price is very reasonable. After some research, we can see that our daily expenses and utilities in France will be quite similar to what they were in Denver. Which means that really, our monthly family budget won’t change much at all. So the good news is: if you can afford to live wherever you’re living right now, you can probably also afford to live abroad — assuming you’re flexible about location. In fact, if you move to a country with a lower cost of living, your monthly budget costs could even go down.
But, there are real costs leading up to the move.
1) Passports. If you or your kids need one, they are about $100 each to apply for.
2) Visas. Some countries require them. Some don’t. It depends on where you’re headed and for how long. Our visa applications were about $125 each. If there are less of you, costs would obviously go down. : )
3) Travel for visa application. My sister had no travel costs for her visa application, because her assigned consulate is in San Francisco, where she lived. But we had to fly everyone over 6 years old to Los Angeles. The flights were about $115 each. We went back and forth the same day, so there were no hotel costs.
4) Luggage. You may already have what you need, but if not you’ll have to go shopping. We found our luggage for $90 per person.
5) Plane tickets. This was by far our biggest expense. We found our plane tickets for less than $600 each, which was a good price, but they added up fast.
6) Rental security deposit on your Home in Another Country. Of course, any time you rent a home, a security deposit (usually at least 1 month’s rent) is required up front. In our case, assuming we receive a refund of the security deposit on our rental in Denver, this should be close to net zero expense.
7) Moving service. If you need to move your stuff out of the house you’re leaving behind, you’ll need to recruit friends and neighbors to help, or hire a moving company. This cost might be eliminated if you decide to rent out or sub-lease your current home as a furnished property.
8) Storage unit. Our storage unit is about $140 per month. If you have fewer people in your house, I’m guessing you might own fewer beds and less furniture and might need less space — which means a better deal per month. Or, you might have a parent’s garage you could move things into. Or, you might not need a storage unit at all if you’re renting out your house as a furnished space while you’re away.
9) Storing your car. We actually don’t have a cost here, because we were able to turn in our lease with only a small additional fee. (We drive a Honda Pilot and it’s held it’s value so well, Honda was delighted to buy it back. Nice!) Happily, we only drive one car, so that was easy. Instead of storing your car, you could also sell it. (Here in France, we’ll arrange for another car to lease for the year — but again, that really won’t change our monthly car budget at all.)
Conclusion. Are there extra expenses associated with a move abroad? For sure. The truth is, there are extra expenses associated with any move, any where. But it’s definitely less than we expected when we started our planning. Could we have done it a few years ago, back when I started Design Mom? Hmmm. Probably not. Ben Blair was a graduate student and we lived in New York with 5 kids — a very expensive proposition — it was hard to set aside money. But we’ve both been fully employed for the past couple of years so we’re in a different situation now. I’d guess, if you’re a family of 4, your moving expenses could probably be less than $5000. That’s not chump change, but it’s also not a down payment on the average American house.
Really it’s all about whether you want to do something like this or not. And I totally get that it doesn’t appeal to everyone. It wouldn’t always have appealed to me. We’ve only been here a week, and maybe I’ll feel different in the future, but at this point, the hours of research, preparation and stress leading up to the move were far more of a challenge than the funding.
What do you think? Are you a pay-for-an-adventure sort of person, or do you prefer your money securely in the bank?
P.S. — I’m really, truly no sort of financial person. So I will feel just awful if you make any plans based on what I’ve written here without doing your own research or seeking expert advise. : )
Thanks for sharing this. So helpful to hear it can be done, and done without too much additional expense. Thanks for your honesty talking about $. Love that.
pay for adventure…all the way!!
Thanks for the info! I wonder if you would share what your husband does for a living. Does he work with you on Design Mom? Or, does he work from home in some other way that allowed him to work overseas? Curious, because I am a stay-at-home mom and my husband and I are hoping to do something like this for our kids. The difficulty is finding work that allows the move. THANKS!
Gabby… What an extraordinary, eye-opening adventure for you and Ben and all your kids!! What a way to truly experience another culture and not just “visit”. You will all come back changed. I lived in 4 different countries before moving to the USA as a middle schooler. It certainly has made me flexible — and taught me that we are all the same, no matter where we’re from. ENJOY the year of life away to the fullest, counting your blessings (all 6+1 of them!) and the flexibility that allows such an adventure to take place! You are all very lucky. I’m thrilled for you!
Do your kids speak French? No matter…. I did not speak a word of English arriving here at 13. Within 4 months I was fluent. Immersion. Survival. Zoom and Electric Company helped. :)
I’m glad you wrote about this, because a lot of people never realize how easily they can move to a foreign country. And it’s a total blast. One comment about cars: both times we have moved abroad, we have left one car with a family member to drive and maintain. This way we didn’t have to worry about selling it in the middle of a move and we were able to have a car as soon as we returned. We did ship one car this time we moved, but my husband’s employer paid for it. Can’t wait to hear about more adventures!
Just stumbled on your blog just before your move to France ~ which is wonderful. We spent 7 months last year in Aix en Provence (from New Zealand), and think we will do the same again this year. My husband commutes from France for his work, which means a lot of solo parenting, but a great experience for our children. We also made our decision rather suddenly (3 months from deciding to arriving), and with a new baby it was quite whirlwind.
I was wondering what you have taken for the children (other than clothes and toiletries) that are a must. Last year I felt I did not take too much for the children (then aged 5yrs, 2.2yrs and 4mths), and we did not buy much to make it feel homely.
Looking forward to reading more about your adventures.
Enjoy the experience, its lots of hard work, fun and laughs ~ and amazing for the children!
At the end of the year you’ll have to add up all the costs you didn’t anticipate…like how much you spent on French cheese, pastries and wine.
(it might be a lot, but will be SO worth every centime!)
:)
I’m loving your posts about the practical aspects of moving abroad. My husband and I kick this idea around quite often but it can seem scary. Please keep them coming, I’m really enjoying this (and I send them to the man) and maybe this will give us that little extra nudge.
What a wonderful recap and post about the expenses you incurred making such a big move. Very diplomatic and well-worded! I appreciate the info. You have a way of making anything seem doable and that’s so inspiring! thanks!
In my time living overseas (5 years in Singapore, 2 in China and 4 in Holland) I have found that the biggest expenses were my children’s education, renting or buying a car and taxes. How are you handling those aspects? We purchased a used Volvo in Holland, but between the inflated prices and road taxes (which we had to pay each year) we could have bought a very fancy car in the US. Each place that I have lived education costs have run close to $20K per child. And the taxes…unfortunately the US requires you to pay taxes no matter where you live and earn your money. We have gotten an unwelcome surprise from the IRS more than once.
I’m curious about your move to Singapore. My husband and I are considering moving there. Do you mind me asking what was the cost for shipping your furniture over? What were you able to bring? (Did you leave anything behind?)
Also, I’m curious if anyone has transported a pet overseas? I really don’t want to get an ID chip because they are expensive and creepy in my opinion. Does anyone have any advice on this issue? She is a very healthy 5-year-old cat who is also spayed. I’ve had her since she was a kitten so I would absolutely hate to part with her.
thanks! i was wondering if you could tell us about your banking? my husband is from ireland, and it is pretty much impossible to get a bank account over there without *actually* living there first. we got married over there, and it was quite an ordeal to pay for everything as there are large fees for credit card transactions as well as bank transfers. also, our next door neighbors are from wales and they have had a really hard time getting credit, as recognized by US banks. pretty much the US banks don’t recognize good credit from other countries, and they had even gotten accounts over here previous to their move. for example, they got a mortgage no problem (!) but weren’t able to get a car loan or lease and had to pay for that in cash. have you had any problems like this?
Okay, that costs less than a vacation to France. Well done, sister!
This was so interesting! Thanks for taking the time to break it down for us. Would love to have done this when our kids were young. But maybe once we’re empty nesters. Oh, and btw when we bought our first home in 1991, our down payment was $5,000. :)
Just as a heads up, Paris is a very different story. When Jordan and I were looking at apartments, it was very normal for apartments to require 6 months to 1 year down payment (well, money locked that can’t be accessed until the term is up) + 2 months security deposit for furnished apts. It is definitely a renters market here, because Paris apartments are hard to come by.
Anne
So, so envious. The costs don’t really matter to me, as I have monthly medical expenses averaging around $9000/month pre-insurance, and even with a legal job in a foreign country…I still wouldn’t be able to work out the medical care that I need. I highly encourage everyone who _doesn’t_ have extreme medical expenses/insurance needs to move abroad for even a short while if they possibly can.
Just wanted to add something..because we just got ours in the mail today. When you arrive here you have to send in information to OFII – the Office Français de L’immagration. Then 4 months later you’ll get a letter and in that letter you’ll have an appointment for a medical exam in the nearest large city (Paris for you I’m sure), you also have to go to your Tresor Public and get “timbres” (stamps) for this, 55 euros each and you have to buy 5 per person. Then you go to your medical exam, which inlcudes a chest xray to make sure you don’t have TB. Then you mail all that in and you’ll get a notice back and you can go pick up your “temporary” carte de sejour at the local Marie. Then the permanent one will come in a month or so. That’s allowing you to stay in France, not the long-stay visa.
When we first moved her in 2008 – our visa’s cost 350.00 each and we had to go to the local Prefecture within 3 months of arriving to get our carte de sejour. Now they have changed the whole process, our visa’s cost 250.00 for both of us and now we have to pay more through the “timbres” and do the medical exams for the carte de sejour.
Gotta love France.
Oh, I totally forgot about those timbres, but the chest x-ray makes me laugh. My husband had his right before school one day, so he had to carry around this giant x-ray all day, as apparently you get to keep it. Unfortunately, he left it at school. Maybe that was fortunate though, bcuase how would I have taken a giant x-ray back to America? I got to skip all the shots and x-ray as I was pregnant. Yea!! Thanks for this memory jog.
I also thank you for this post and ALSO the list of sites to find long term furnished homes to rent…My fiance and I will hopefully soon be having a similiar adventure :)….we live under the “buy your memories, rent your recreation standards” so we are good with spending money on our adventure :)
great post – Im very interested about your lease … we are trying to get out of our lease right now, and doing research on it. Were you able to get out only because you were moving out of the country? I wonder is CA is different than the US for this? We have an 2009 CRV. Or were they just very interested in buying it?
Love you blog – so envious of your amazing move to FRANCE
:)
I think it’s amazing that you took on such an adventure moving across the Atlantic with your family of 8. My husband and I would love to live abroad and fortunately can do it with the kind of work he does. Only problem is we are not done having children. I too have a plan :o) and want to keep my children close in age. So I think we will finish having children before we do it. I do have one question and forgive me if I missed the answer elsewhere on your site. How did you handle your transportation while in France and what is the cost of that? That is the only thing I was unsure of after reading all the other posts. And just out of curiosity, did you come across information about how to move to France on a permanent basis and what that entails? I really love your blog. Thank you for sharing!
I think moving abroad works differently at different stages of life.
When I was 7, we moved from a small town in India to a then small city called Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman in the Middle East. Obviously I didn’t have a say in that, it was my parents decision and a lot of involvement from fate.
When I finished school, I moved to India for my BA in Psychology and then to England for an MA in Communication Studies. All alone, and totally loved it. Moved back to India to work in two different cities over the next 4 years, in between which I met the wonderful man I wanted to marry. Turns out this wonderful man wanted to take up this chance he got to move to Dubai. So a month after our wedding, I moved to Dubai. It’s not a completely new life to me, since life in the Middle East doesn’t really differ very much from country to country. But moving from the hustle-bustle, rustic, very “real” life of Bombay to the glitz, glamour and often artificial Dubai was a HUGE change for my husband. Took a year for him to get used to it, and now since we have Baby no.1 on the way, moving again just so soon doesn’t make a lot of sense. We have great friends here, and we know our way around better so it’s not as bad as it used to be.
I think the primary thought that people should have before they move to a new country is about their priorities. For example, when you move to a place like the Middle East, it’s mostly for the tax-free and often higher income, better domestic life (labor is cheaper so having a maid, driver etc is not uncommon) and the sun! But you should be prepared to miss out on rains, nature and the easy availability of baking ingredients!
If anyone reading this is having thoughts about moving to Dubai or somewhere in India, I’ll be glad to offer any kind of help.
As a fellow designer who (1) grew up speaking french, and (2) whose kid is also entering a french immersion school, I am so envious of you being able to do it! But since my designer husband and I own a business together, i just don’t see how we could pick up the business and leave for a year. :( A lot of our clients prefer us precisely because we are local, so we’d lose a lot of business I think. Perhaps in a few years.
I want to move abroad so badly! My husband is a physical therapist and we haven’t looked into the possibilities of working abroad. Amazing that your rent is so affordable! Thanks for the details!
Did your kids need any special immunization shots before starting school? Did you need to bring references from teachers in US or report cards to the school your kids are attending in France? Did you need your marriage certificate and birth certificates transcribed into french beforehand? Sorry for the quiz, I’m just curious.
This is great information. However, can you elaborate any on how much more (if at all) it costs to actually live in France vs the US (since that is your experience)? The US$ is so weak at the moment and the Euro so strong….and I don’t foresee this changing in the near future. So, I’m interested about your daily expenses…food, transportation, entertainment, toiletries, etc…and how much more should be budgeted for that. Our family is interested in traveling during the summer months and knowing how much extra to budget for per everyday expenses would be helpful. My husband is Australian and when we travel there, we have to budget quite a bit extra as the difference is significant. Thanks in advance for any info. I am really enjoying reading about (and being inspired by) your adventures abroad. I traveled quite a bit when I was younger, but with kids it’s fallen by the wayside….I’ve got itchy feet now. ;)
I love your photos, large family, great adventure. How does one get to stay in a country for over a year when they have limitations as to how long you can actually visit a country? My daughter was traveling and living in France and had to leave after 6 months. Her boyfriend from Ireland had the worst time visiting the US for more than 3 months. Would love to hear yours or anyone else’s answer. I have wondered about this a lot especially after reading all of those wonderful books of living in Italy and now this. Thanks for your input and have a great year!!!
Such a great post! Helpful and inspiring. I am definitely a pay for an adventure kind of person — a real “move” may not be in the cards for our family at present (will have to live vicariously through you!), but we are going to France and Italy for a month this summer. Exciting! Maybe that will inspire us to make the real move for a year or more in the future…. :)
You are truly AMAZING! I have just found out about your blog, I have just found out that you were Jordan’s sister, I have just found out that you are a mother of 6 and that you guys are spending a year in France . I have only two children and every other day, I am overwhelmed. How do you guys do it?
I am so inspired, so thrilled to have found your blog.
Thank you!
Just got the good news that our long stay visas have been approved so we’re off to France for a year – with our two dogs. Love your blog Gabby and found it very helpful. I’m curious to know how your leasing a car for a year in France worked out. Was that a viable option? I thouht that buying a car would be the only option as our visa prohibits us from working in France.
Love the blog and I was left wondering how all the people who move to another country do it, from what I know you need a lot of money to invest or have a job that takes care of the visa situation but reading posts from others I see that there are other ways, can anyone help out with links or info? it is my dream to move to Europe, it would be my husband, son and I but I don’t see how. thank you!
Great article here! My only concern would be asking friends to help for something as big as an international move. It’s one thing if you’re moving somewhere in the same city, or even to a nearby city, but to another country? I’d probably err on the side of caution and hire a pro that can not only help with the heavy lifting, but also do the delivery and handle storage. Some of them will even ship a vehicle along with your belongings (I know A-1 Auto Transport, Inc works with several overseas movers), which makes it even easier. I suppose if saving money at every turn is the goal, it’s not a bad idea, but I’d want to leave something like this to the pros.