Hello everyone. My wife is 27 and I’m 29. We’re from Greece and we’re thinking about moving to a cheaper suburb of Paris. We both speak French and would both work.
I’m pretty flexible with jobs. In Athens I’ve worked as a bartender, DJ, IT help desk, and doing small mobile phone repairs. I also used to play guitar in a band. At first, I’d be completely fine working in a bar, bakery or café.
We’re two people and we have a rabbit. We don’t need to live in central Paris.
How much could we realistically earn together with two full-time jobs? Roughly how much would rent, bills, food and transport cost in a cheaper suburb?
Which areas would you recommend for affordable rent with decent connections to Paris?
Most importantly, with two salaries, could we live comfortably and still save some money each month?
I just moved to Chars, which is northwest of Paris, but still barely in the Ile de France. I’m paying 1000 euros for an 88 meter square house with a garden and parking and I’m a ten minute walk to the Transilien J line, which gets me directly to Gare St Lazare in an hour for just over 2 euros. I could live closer, but I like all the greenery around me and the peace and quiet.
There are many such places way out on the edges of the Ile de France that are still well connected to Paris. Coulommiers and Dourdan, for example, and there are scores of others depending on what sort of place you want to live in.
When you say you are from Greece, are you EU citizens (and not worried about immigration requirements)?
Disneyland Paris is nearby.
But if you’re looking for some real greenery, head a little further out—toward the west or south—to places like Rambouillet or Fontainebleau… Many bars and restaurants and surely some Greek ones
I can’t help much with specific places that might support what you are trying to do. I’m retired and work isn’t on my Bingo card, at all. I don’t think a place like Chars, or anywhere north of Osny on the J line would be a good fit for you- There’s really a lot of farmland here dotted by a few villages. You could still live way up here and commute to a job cheaply closer to Paris, but it will cost you in time. But it certainly is much cheaper to live on the outskirts and the cost of taking the RER or Transilien is pretty low. Perhaps looking at the towns on either bank of the Seine that go west or south of Paris would work for you. I didn’t particularly like many of them, but I was looking for peace, not employment.
It depends on what sort of place you want to rent, too. I have seen houses that rent for $500-$800, but they were smaller, may not have a garden or any green space or parking. It also depends a lot on how hard you look and , as foreigners, what landlord would be willing to take a chance on you. There is plenty of demand for rentals and they usually go to French people who already have steady jobs and have a record of paying. It’s tough for everybody and much worse for foreigners.
Fontainebeau itself is probably expensive (I lived there). Some of the villages in the area may cost less. For town life you want Avon which is kind of joined to Fontainebleau and where the station is, but Avon may also have got more expensive now.
Of course it is, I was just broadening the search .
And it all depends on what they’re looking for—a quiet place, a lively atmosphere, easy public transportation… In the Île-de-France region, it’s easy to find work in the mentioned jobs.
I would guess that the competition for apartments and houses at this price level will be very keen. Preference will be given to safe tenants who already have steady jobs and work contracts. Landlords will want a garant.
You can find things in outer Paris at that budget (inside Paris it will probably be a 15m2 studio), like this
The issue will be persuading someone to rent to you as you have no track record in France. Hence people saying explore your own nationality group for a private rental. You need to look at Dossier Facile and Guarantme to get an idea of what you need to be able to rent via an agency.
Not only no track record, …will you have a job first with any income? You are going to need to find the jobs first, get the income flowing at at least 3x the rent , and then hope to find a sympathetic landlord. I don’t think it will be easy.
If you live way out like where I am, it may be easier to find cheaper places, but there are few jobs out here.
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