Next month I begin my fourth year in Paris. I wanted to use the milestone to share some reflections on how I have changed and ongoing tips on how to make the move yourself. This is the third in a series of four. You can find the first one here and the second one here.
People are always a bit shocked when I say it’s “not that expensive” to live here. I say that because I am thinking of places like NYC, SF, Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, etc. where it really is shockingly expensive to live. Paris isn’t, and rather than just tell you my “feelings” I have put together a spreadsheet for you based on my basic expenses across the last three years (I have not included weekend trips/vacations because that really varies per person).
| Category | Year 1 (2014) | Years 2-3 (2015-2016) | Comments |
| Rent | 8 m^2, 650€/mo | 39 m^2, 1350€/mo | both apartments furnished |
| Location | 17eme | 2eme | I don’t see the point of living in the suburbs; Paris is worth paying for. |
| Taxe d’habitation | n/a | 80€/mo | this varies based on where you are in the city |
| Utilities & internet | 40€/mo | 80€/mo | sometimes these are included in your rental |
| Food | 100€/mo | 200€/mo | in Year 1 that was 90% canned, whereas now it’s 100% fresh |
| Cellphone | 70€/mo | 70€/mo | I’ve never skimped on this because I make a lot of calls to the US and travel in Europe a lot. This package comes with unlimited calls to the USA and 20 gigs of data which I can use anywhere in Europe AND the USA. |
| Health Insurance | 35€/mo | 70€/mo | I now participate in the French health care system so those payments are quite a bit more than my “foreigner’s insurance” (roughly double) but it means I am fully covered. |
| Renter’s Insurance | 20€/mo | 22€/mo | some landlords don’t require this, but the prefecture almost always does. |
| Metro | 25€/mo | 75€/mo | In my first year I just tried to make do with the occasional ticket purchase, but it’s just too much nuisance. I don’t use the metro all the time, but the annual pass gives me access to all of Ile de France for free on the weekends |
| Legal and Accounting | 100€/mo | 100€/mo | Unless you possess a very special set of skills you will need help filing your French tax return as well as dealing with specific questions on your dossier for the prefecture |
| Etc | 100€/mo | 200€/mo | this is for haircuts or clothing or spending money and varies per person. I’m a single male in my 30s with strong minimalist tendencies, so keep that in mind. |
| Monthly Totals | 1140€/mo | 2197€/mo | you can see that as a visitor, it’s not a big burden if you’re willing to sacrifice (e.g. canned food), but when you’ve decided to settle in here, it’s going to cost a lot more. |
| Annual Totals | 13680€/year | 26364€/year | The French government will require access to more than 13k€ per year for the long-term stay visa. I’m just pointing out you won’t actually need more. |
What are some expenses you didn’t plan for? Feel free to share in the comments below.
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I’m surprised by the jump in food costs. I’m currently surviving off of Picard and Marks & Spencer (I refuse to cook in my shoebox in St. Germain) but I figured once I moved to a place with a regular kitchen, my costs would go down. The markets seem to be fairly cheap.
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I see that the first year you do not pay taxe d’habitation, but only did when switching to a working visa. I just began my second year and after reporting my revenus, received a letter stating that I owe taxe d’habitation. It seems like just living here continuously means I have to pay this, even though I have a visitor visa. Does this mean that they made a mistake and I can contest it?
Melissa – I think it was more likely that my landlady paid my first year’s taxe d’habitation to avoid declaring my rental income. I wasn’t going to tell her I needed to pay it 🙂
I did pay it when I was a still a visitor – after I changed apartments to one from an absentee landlord to one that was owned by a lady who does everything by the letter of the French law.
You owe the taxe d’habitation unless you have worked out something with your landlady/landlord otherwise. I just got my love note from the Finance department today myself.
There’s nothing to contest since it’s not a mistake to receive this tax. There’s no exemption for being a foreign national.
Thanks for clearing that up. It was quite the surprise… even stranger, my roommate (another American who came here at the same time I did) hasn’t received anything regarding taxes. Lucky me 🙂
Is the 13k per person if you are in a family? Or 13k per adult or just total? Thanks!
Just me. You can expect it to increase proportionally for a family.
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