When living in the UK, Bonnie Ray felt herself inadvertently drawn into a lifestyle of “keeping up with the Jones’s” where she felt the pressure of making sure they drove a certain car and that her children wore the right trainers.
Since moving to Portugal just over a year ago, Bonnie says her family’s life has been transformed. As well as loving the simplicity and happiness of their new life, she says most things are a lot cheaper than in the UK.
The 38-year-old was living in West Malling, Kent, with her husband, Liam, and their children, Elodie, seven, and Reuben, five, but decided to take the plunge and move to Portugal after realising she and her husband could both work remotely from another country.
“We are really happy here and have no regrets,” she told The i Paper. “We are currently renting in Portugal, but are talking about buying here as we can see ourselves living here for good.”
While living in the UK, Bonnie was working as an executive assistant for an accounting firm and husband, Liam, had his own business.
The couple regularly went out to Portugal for holidays, and they even decided to get married over there.
Bonnie and husband Liam dreamed of retiring to Portugal – but then realised they could do it a lot earlierThey often talked about their dream of retiring to Portugal later in life – but after COVID opened up the reality of remote working, they realised they could bring their plans forward.
Bonnie said: “After I had Reuben, I never went back into the office again and worked remotely. Liam did his own thing anyway, so we started thinking that if our jobs allowed us to work remotely, what was actually keeping us in the UK?”
Although they tried, Bonnie’s firm was not able to allow her to work remotely because of tax implications. So she left her job of 10 years and began applying for new roles. When she was contacted via LinkedIn by an AI startup company that wanted her to work remotely, she felt it was meant to be to make the move to Portugal.
“We were renting in the UK, so were able to get out of the contract easily,” she said. “We looked at houses every day on the Portuguese equivalent of Rightmove and we found our perfect home.
“I wouldn’t move to a new country and buy straight away and we knew we wanted to give it a good couple of years before we looked at buying.
“However, we can already see ourselves living out here permanently because we are so happy and settled.”
Bonnie described how different living out in Portugal is compared to the UK when it comes to the enjoyment of getting the most out of your days – and she says her children are also loving their new life.
She adds: “Every single day in winter in the UK, you would wake up in bleakness and it would be dark. You’d get up and do the school run, then come home and work all day inside. Then you would go and pick the kids up from school, come home and not go out again. Your day would end at around 4pm.
“But out here in Portugal, we are probably getting an extra three hours where we can do things. The kids are outside all the time and we live near the beach.
“We can do something for free out here all the time and don’t have to fork out £40 anymore just to get the kids out for a few hours.
Bonnie says her children love life in Portugal and spend a lot more time outdoors“We had a nice sense of community wherever we lived in the UK, but in Portugal, because we are all ex-pats, we have an amazing little community and it is so lovely.”
Bonnie’s children, Elodie and Reuben, go to a Portuguese school as Bonnie and her husband wanted them to learn the language and the way of life. They have both settled in fine and are doing well with Portuguese. Bonnie even thinks Elodie will be fluent by next year.
“They both love it out here and I adore the simplicity of life in Portugal,” said Bonnie. “In England, unfortunately, especially in the area we lived, you felt you had to keep up with the Jones’s and have that nice holiday booked each year, have a decent car and that your children had to wear a certain brand of trainers.
“It sounds awful, but you do get sucked into that way of life. Here, there is none of that, No one cares what car you are driving or what clothes you are wearing. It is just a really lovely and simple life.
“That’s a nice environment for the kids to grow up in because I want them to have those values and know how lucky they are. I don’t want them to be brats.”
The cost of living has been refreshing, says Bonnie, especially when it comes to food and eating out.
Bonnie and her family have no regrets about moving to Portugal and can see themselves settling there“A food shop is cheaper overall out here and eating out is so much cheaper,” she said. “We can go out to a Portuguese restaurant and eat a lovely two-course meal for about €12 (£10.40) a head.
“With alcohol prices, I am actually better off having a glass of house wine than a can of Coke. A house wine in a traditional Portuguese restaurant is about €1.50 or €1.80, equivalent to £1.30. In comparison, a can of Coke is about €3 or €3.50.”
Bonnie admits rent in Portugal is higher than it was paying in the UK – but she believes it is worth it because everything else is so much cheaper.
“In the UK, we were paying £1,600 for renting a three-bedroom detached house,” she said. “Here in Portugal, we are renting a three-bedroom villa with a pool for €2,800 a month. But it is because we are in the Algarve which is an expensive and sought-after area.
“The villa is modern and in a lovely area and the rent is worth it in my eyes because the cost of living is lower,” she said. “For our three-bedroom house in the UK, we were paying more than £400 a month to British Gas and around £270 a month in council tax.
“Here, the electricity bills are really cheap and our utility bills are more than half cheaper than they were in the UK.”
Bonnie’s husband Liam is on the digital nomad visa to allow them to live in Portugal and Bonnie and the children are on the family reunification visa to be with him. However, Bonnie says the visa process is slow and is still ongoing.
Your next read
square SAVING AND BANKINGHow I Manage My Money: Mum, on £2,000 a month in benefits, after caring for elderly parent
square PENSIONS AND RETIREMENTI spent £50,000 travelling in my 60s on a gap year – my pension can wait
square PROPERTY AND MORTGAGESI pay £6,000 a year on leasehold charges – I can’t sell my flat
square PENSIONS AND RETIREMENT Money ClinicI want to withdraw my first pension lump sum. How much tax will I pay?
Despite this, she has no regrets about their choice to move to Portugal, and has inspired so many people who keep asking her for tips and advice on moving to a new country that she has started an Instagram account sharing her adventures.
Bonnie states: “There are things I miss about the UK – such as my family and friends. But we are only two hours away on a flight and we have friends and family coming to stay with us every month, so we can have quality time together, rather than a rushed coffee.
“I want to inspire anyone else who is thinking about making that move. If it’s something you want, just do it.”
Hence then, the article about i dreamt of retiring to portugal now i ve moved in my 30s bills are half as much was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( I dreamt of retiring to Portugal. Now I’ve moved in my 30s – bills are half as much )
Also on site :