where would the fun be in that?
I have not seen any media report or heard anyone rejoice at the plight of people affected by the poor exchange rate. I hear people say itās a risk that has to be accepted when moving abroad, but perverse pleasure? Definitely not. Canāt say Iāve heard any āvile, offensive remarksā aimed at Remainers either but heard plenty of offensive remarks aimed at Brexiteers before and after the referendum including on this forum. I think you will find most Brexiteers donāt detest Europe or itās people at all but do detest the European Union in itās present form.
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The most sensible comment to date!
I suggest that you look at the daily comments pages on the websites of the British newspapers such as the Express, the Mail, the Sun and the Mirror to name but four. I obviously donāt subscribe to such rubbish, and certainly not their opinions. The epithets used about Remainers include the following āCommies, lebtards, kiddie fiddlers, LGBTers, Lord Haw Haws, traitors (should be strung up, shot, deprived of their pensions etc). Hate for Europe and especially France is frequently expressed (cheese eating, garlic smelling, surrender merchants, back stabbers, white flags, haters of England, ungrateful for being liberated in two world wars etc etc I could go on.)ā We must be living on different planets. Personally I am ashamed of what Britain is putting itself through. This is going to run and run and outlast me. My wife and daughter have become French and yes therefore I do feel rather annoyed by the antics of some of my compatriots, particularly the ones I was happy to leave behind. I am about to be deprived of my votes, after further broken promises, so the only sensible course is to pursue French nationality and I shall be happy when that has been achieved.
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Yep - but sometimes the powers that be do decide on radical changes, and when they do, those affected just have to take it on the chin. What about those of us who lost out big time with the change in pension age. What about kids who lost out when state grants for university education were withdrawn. Thereās always collateral damage.
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No, if anything the Euro was dragged down by its close association with the pound. To understand the Euro Dollar rate changes you have to take the recent changes in the USA into account.
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No David Iām not part of the Wandsworth Naylor family.
Oh well here we are.
We have made the effort to be here, done our sums and our research but
known of us have have a crystal ball,
For sure uk is going in the wrong direction so we have to do our best to
live happily ever after in Franceā¦or move on.
One thing is for sure the challenge continues and it keeps us on
our toes. I am always exploring ways to make sure that I will have guests
coming to stay with us. This will probably be my way of life until my last moments.
But the choice Gensac or Londonā¦I made the right choice.
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No, youāre not the only one suffering. I live on UK income and have no euro income so the drop in the exchange rate has affected my finances badly. It happened in the crisis too though, not long after I moved here, with the exchange rate being around 1.50 at first and then pretty quickly it dropped to near parity, so I have always been prepared for it to happen again. I always advise people who ask how much is needed to live on over here to budget for parity between the Ā£ and ā¬ if they only have Ā£ income. Itās still not nice when it happens or gets close but itās the only sensible way to plan. Iām getting worried about reports that it may go below parity soon thoughā¦
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My biggest complaint is that this particular drop in the value of the pound is a direct result of the catastrophic Brexit vote. I always understood there would be fluctuations but not this erosion. Since January 2016 my pension has dropped by more than 300 euros a month. I am not destitute but I canā t afford to do things like change my car, have a wood burning stove fitted, go to England when I want etc. From expecting a comfortable retirement in the sun, I have to consider each expenditure. And yes I would still prefer to be poorer here than in the UK.
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Peter, you need to claim back the money paid to HMRC on your British state pension, then you need to declare that income in France, where you will benefit from the French personal allowance.
Your teacherās pension will still be taxed in the UK when you will benefit from the UK personal allowance. This will improve your income, and also give you a little British tax refund.
It might be better t receive your TPA in the UK and bring it to France yourself at more advantageous rates, but the state pension is best paid directly into your French account.
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Iād agree with that; itās the same for my NHS pension too. Itās the only thing the UK Gov are good at in the current climate 
David, do you live in the U.K.? I live there for six months of the year and six here in France. I can assure you that other than diesel and wine our living costs are cheaper in the U.K. and we have far more choice of food. Yes some prices have risen due to the exchange rate because we import a lot of food but so have prices risen in France (without exchange variation). As someone else mentioned we have had parity of Ā£/ā¬ before and nothing to do with Brexit
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Hi Angela
If you do not live here fulltimeā¦ you (possibly) miss out on the very real bargains that are to be hadā¦ in all thingsā¦at regular intervalsā¦
and I am surprised that you think UK offers more choice of food. 
six months (in my mind) is not long enough to winkle out the best placesā¦ to find out how the locals shop and whereā¦ 
However, I think we need to agree to disagree ā¦
I will just say that we (personally) have a better quality of lifeā¦ nowā¦ hereā¦ on just our pensionsā¦than we ever did, working our socks off in UK.
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Hi Stella, thanks for your comments. Iām not sure that comparing your now retired life is fair to compare with your former working life. However, back to the point. Firstly, Iām well aware of bargains here in France (I should add, I used to live here full time and grew up here and speak French like a native). We also grow our own veg in France and have many fruit trees so I do factor that in. I realize that we are very fortunate in being able to enjoy the best of both worlds and both countries have huge plus points as well as minuses. Retirement in a Dorset village brings just as many pleasures as our village in France but the cost of living is more or less the same when everything is taken into consideration. The rest is all down to personal choices.
I agree about prices, most things seem cheap when I go back to the UK, I hear that some prices have risen recently, but they still seem cheap to me.
But Iām not sure what bearing this has on the discussion here. Many people who live full time in France on a UK income donāt have the option of going back to live in the UK where their pension will stretch further and the exchange rate wonāt affect them, the elephant in the room being house prices / rental.
As I suggestedā¦ we need to agree to disagreeā¦
I was comparing living in UK with unlimited incomeā¦ to living in France with limited (and reduced) incomeā¦
Our income is suffering due to the exchange ratesā¦ but our lifestyle is not suffering one little bitā¦
Last time I went back to the UK I was surprised by how high many prices were, I was expecting wall to wall bargains. As to more choice, perhaps, but that is only a benefit if you want those things. My Tesco shop in a large store near Camberley resulted in a few packets of Mc Vities plain chocolate digestives, nothing else jumped into my trolley. Again I was surprised, I had expected to be tempted as I walked around the shop. There is no way that I could enjoy the standard of living I enjoy here in rural France, on my income, if I lived in the U.K.
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TBH Iām not a great price watcher, when I get back from shopping I couldnāt tell you to the nearest 50 cents or 50p what I paid for each item, but I do get the impression that things like butter, sugar, bog rolls, toiletries are cheaper in the UK. Even like for like - I seem to remember noticing that Lidl sell their identical fresh breakfast patisseries for less in the UK. But when I go back I stay with people so I can only imagine what the cost of living actually is. Perhaps imagining it is cheaper is just wishful thinking because I like to think that Iām not costing them a fortune to feed while Iām there 
.
Coffee beans can certainly be cheaper in France, Iām a coffoholic and I buy the 500g bags in Carrefour for under 5ā¬ for everyday drinking - rough stuff but you canāt get coffee beans for that price in the UK. I take bags back for the people I stay with so that I donāt cost them a fortune in coffee. But good coffee beans in France are around the same price as in the UK. I also take back things certain things that mine hosts like that you canāt get, or canāt easily get in the UK - gĆ©siers, confit de canard, cervelle, cheeses, rillettes.
I have to say that the lifestyle I share with mine hosts when I go back seems good to me, itās different from my lifestyle in France but I wouldnāt call it better and I wouldnāt call it worse. They visit me, I visit them, we all enjoy both worlds. I donāt really see the point in trying to compare apples with pears. And I still donāt see what it has to do with the original topic of exchange rates and the issue of trying to juggle living in a country when your income is in a different currency.
Yes youāre correct Anna and I do realize that and sympathize. It was more a comment in reply to Davidās post. It is very tough for people here on their U.K. State pensions and I have several friends who are struggling and as you say going back to the UK isnāt an option even if they could sell up here. I love both places and I do believe the pound will rise once Brexit has been sorted.