How much does it cost to live in Italy: price list, bureaucracy and all the details of an Italian li
Original post here
Since we have moved to Parma, in Italy, many people have asked us “how much does it cost to live in Italy”. Now, that we have completed three months in here and bills have already came, we can, at last, share values and information.
We tried to make this post as descriptive as possible in order to have every question cleared up for those planning to move over here. However, if you are not really interested to read the details (😜), here is your answer: we spend 900 Euros per month to live in Italy (cost for a couple).
After 2 years travelling around the world, Fernanda had an opportunity to apply for her Italian citizenship (Ti has his dual citizenship since he his childhood). We had almost spent all of our money and were already planning to settle down (for a while) in some place, just to sort things out (launch our audiovisual content creator company and organise all the material from the world travel).
Above all, though, we have always dreamed of living in Italy one day, learn the language and familiarise ourselves better with the culture.. After all, everything fell into place so well and so we moved over here on April 3rd, 2017!
We decided to come to Parma because Tiago has a cousin (not really, but long story short: cousin) who lives here and could give us a hand with the citizenship's bureaucracy as we are not fluent in Italian. Parma is a quite rich city (less than before, yet quite well off than the rest of the country), located in Emilia-Romagna Region. It is known as the gastronomic capital of Italy (some will say of Europe, we will keep in the country 🙄).
We fell in love with the city from the moment we arrived! It is small, beautiful, well preserved, has a quite famous university, thus quite lively too, the quality of life is brilliant, there are many cultural events... well, we love it all, really.
The culture and the lifestyle in Italy can considerably change if you go from north to south, from east to west or from mountain to coast. Therefore, it is really hard to generalise. Nevertheless, here our opinion goes, from whom live in a northern city, small and well developed:
The quality of life is great. The people are really nice and everything works relatively well (transport, security and health). The rhythm is a lot less frenetic than London, obviously, and the food... You eat really well without having to spend too much. Basically, all we needed for this period in our lives, so we can't really complain about anything.
We like in here so much that the initial three months plan has already gone. And we have no date to leave still. Regardless, this is just our mere opinion for a quite subjective topic.
Ok, then… But, how much does live in Italy cost?
Well, now that we have said why we are here and what we are doing, let's get to the point: how much does it cost to live in Italy!
The following numbers relate to our expenses. However, we have spoken with some people who live in other parts of Italy and realised that our expenses is somewhat a national average.
Ps1: Cities such as Milan, Bologna and Firenze are more expensive. If you plan to live over there, we advise to add some 200 Euros at the end.
Ps2: South Italy is just a bit cheaper, on average.
Ps 3: All numbers are related to the costs of a couple. (Do you want to know who we are, check in here.)
Rent
- Cost: 400 euros/month
- Rental agreement: 50 euros (one off payment in order to legalise the document).
As most of the things in Italy, to rent a house is quite bureaucratic. Most of the state agencies ask for a minimum of 2 years contract (!). We only wanted a place for 3 months and really struggled to find one. To our luck, the cousin of Tiago's cousin (a real one 😉 ) works as a state agent and had an apartment which could have been rented for a short period. We paid the three months in advance and it was all fine!
The location is perfect (right at the historical city centre). The apartment was furnished and, although small, was quite comfy. We really love it!
* If you are having difficulties to find a place for a short period, check some of these tips:
- Talk to some of the local people to know if he or she knows anyone with a room to rent.
- If you plan to live an Italian lifestyle, you can also find something on Workaway, Helpx and Worldpackers. Haven't you heard of them? Peep over some of these posts which explain how these websites can help you save money on your travels!
Internet
- Cost: 23 euros/month
- Router + installation: 50 euros + 25 euros (one off payment).
There are mainly 4 major mobile companies over here:
Vodafone
Tim
Three
Wind
We heard that Tim and Wind have really poor signal, still we chose Wind for our home internet and we are quite satisfied.
Mobile plan
- Cost: 10 euros/month (3Gb of internet + calls).
- This deal is only available for a three months package. In other words, we paid 30 Euros for three months contract.
Our network company was Vodafone, which we knew from London. We had never had any problems so far.
Supermarket
- Cost: 250 euros/month
We have never dined out because we think that cooking at home is one of the best ways to keep costs low. On the other hand, we buy a lot of good quality food and what we eat at home is mostly of the times even better than restaurant food 😎.
Bills (Water + Electricity + Gas)
- Cost: 53 euros/month
The bills are more expensive during winter because of the heater, as any European know.
Transport
- Cost: 35 euros /month
We have never really needed a bus in Parma. We go everywhere by foot and when we visited the neighbour cities, we took a life with friends.
The cost above (35 Euros) is related to the monthly card for the transport in Milan. There is also a monthly card which allows you to take any bus for the whole month here in Parma. However, is really not necessary. You best invest in a bike, if needed!
By the way, we really advise towards investing in a bike as a way of transport if you plan to live in a small town. It is possible to find some for about 80 Euros.
Italian classes
As we are in Italy, the least we can do is to learn Italian, isn't it?
We found a social occupation in Parma (called Art Lab Occupato) which provides free Italian classes for foreigners. We also know that Milan and Bologna have also free classes. It is just a matter of searching well.
There is also a self educated course from RAI – the Italian Communication channel, if you fancy it.
Extra
- Cost: 100 euros/month
We spent an average of 25 Euros per week for things like, a bottle of wine, an aperitivo(something like the Italian happy hour where you pay about 5 euros for a drink and eat as much as you want), a meeting with friends and so on.
Total
The total of fixed cost is about 833 Euros, but you can round it up to 900 per month, which is basically what we spend, really. There is always something to pay over here, others over there, a burnt lamp, a train ticket, or whatever.
That is all, people. We hope you liked it and it helped you! If you have any queries, please get in touch on getintouch@mondayfeelings.com! Good luck with your planning and see you around!
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