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Hi,

We are a Maltese family living in Carlow for the past 8 years and we are also looking to return back to Malta, I've made contact with some recruitment agencies in Malta and I got an interview (three interviews in total) via Skype and I'm waiting for the call to come in sometime tomorrow and hopefully I'll be in Malta on Thursday.

The reason for leaving Ireland is because of Job security, for the past 8 months I was always paid late by two weeks! and I've had enough with all the austerities.

If I land the job I'll will go on my own, I know it's hard to leave my wife and two kids behind but I want to make sure that I settle in before we sell our house. There is a big gap when it comes to wages and not like everyone says that the cost of living is much cheaper in Malta, believe me my wife she is on top of the weekly shopping. The only area that is cheaper in Malta is dining out and booze.

If he is going to be the only bread winner at least he needs to have a starting salary of 35K, this is based on my relatives living in Malta experiences.

Zeppi

You are wrong mate, I left Malta eight years ago because we couldn't live with what I was earning (23K), we never dined out or went to bars we lived a very ordinary life.

My sister and her husband they earn around 26K combined and have a 550 mortgage they are struggling big time.

Yes you are correct to say government owned schools are free but don't forget that most of the kids they need to be helped with private lessons (grinds) and they cost alot.

As regards shopping Malta is expensive in certain areas, lets take an example same products from Lidl as shown below there is a difference of 2 in the same item.

Lidl Ireland: lidl.ie/cps/rde/SID-2E8B95B7-8EFC2BC2/www_lidl_ie/hs.xsl/Offers.htm?id=180
Lidl Malta: lidl.com.mt/cps/rde/SID-48A0CA31-67D50E8E/www_lidl_mt/hs.xsl/Offers.htm?id=188

35k is the absolute minimum required for supporting a family with two kids.

The lidl links are being moderated but I can tell you what they are, they are a simple men Tshirt in Ireland they are marked at 3.99 and for the same Tshirt in Malta they are 5.99 and I can give you another example a packet of Devon cream crackers in Ireland (Aldi) they are 26cents and in Malta (Pavi) 80cents.

1400 for a family of 4 is not enough.

Thanks for all the reponses. Zeppi it is particularly intresting to have your point of view as some one who knows both Ireland and Malta. I have to say what you have written has scared me off quite a bit. I perhaps quite naively presumed that as wages in general are lower in Malta the cost of living would correspond with that.
Here in Ireland we are currently living off 22,000 a year plus child benefit which is another 3000ish, we are all fed, clothed and have a roof over our heads. If we stay over here my husbands wages will rise to 36k within the next year and we will be more than comfortable on that salary.
I am quite put off then by the fact we would need to earn 35k in Malta, although I would hope to work over there too after a settling in period with the kids I can't imagine I would earn much over there. We are not in any way money minded people and live simply but I wouldn't want to move the children and have a lower standard of living than we do here in ireland.
Perhaps we should either look elsewhere which is a shame as Malta has truely catured my heart on our visits there or shelve it until the kids leave home.

Hi,

I do not want to scare you or put you off but I wanted to give you a good idea.

Malta it's a brilliant place to live especially during spring/ summer time don't get me wrong, one thing that is much cheaper is during winter you are not going nowhere near of what we spend here in Ireland to keep the house warm.

Child benefits again I'm going to disappoint you they are nowhere near of what we get here. Doctors are much cheaper in Malta roughly 50% less.

If you manage to work both of you then you should be ok but you need to keep on top of everything because of the good weather in Malta you spend more because you tend to live outdoors. We as a family we go nowhere special here because of the weather.

If I get the job (fingers crossed) that I've applied for I'm going to earn 10K less than in Ireland (currently I earn 46K).

Inneedofchange, I am glad you manage to get by on 22k as a family of 4 but can't understand how. I say this because a relative of mine struggled to live comfortably in Dublin when she was earning 30k about 5 years ago. She was living alone.

Zeppi, I am quite confident that 36k in Malta will get you as far as 46k does in Ireland.....especially if you're living in Dublin.

That's one of our major factors in wanting to move from Ireland Zippi, the fact that the weather is so bad. I know we could put on waterproofs and go out anyway but I can think of little I would like to do less than hang out in playgrounds and the like with rain battering down on us in the middle of August! We just feel our quality of life could be better elsewhere. I am aware that Maltas child benefit is so low you wouldn't even factor it into your budget really the only reason I mentioned it is that the 260e a month we get over here isn't an insignificant amount of money.

Lambada, we live in a commuter town in the west of Ireland so don't pay the crazy prices for rent that they do in Dublin. That probably has a lot to do with the fact we are ok on 22k. Although of course everyones idea of what it is to live comfortably, is unique to them.

Oh and I meant to say I hope you land the job Zeppi and manafe to move out of our grey old country!

Hi Inneedof chang,

I fully agree with you and I know the feeling. Now a days with Facebook you know exactly what my relatives are doing such as going to the beach or a family BBQ by the beach. It hurts when I see my two kids missing on this experience and just stucked in front of the TV or play station.

I know that I'm going to lose money but at this stage I've had enough and I don't care I want to have a happy life. I'm sure you are adult enough to weigh things up and make your dreams come through.

There is a good Facebook page called "Situations vacant in Malta" I suggest you to keep an eye. Also search "spotonconnections" they are very helpful and they got me in contact with employers I'm sure that you partner can nail down a good job.

Any questions let me know

Just a bit of information from the field :-)
I'm working as a senior developer in Malta and have family of 5 (3 boys - need 2 more to play five a side :-)).
Anyway, I earn 3000 a month which is 2450 net a month. Out of this I pay 725 for accommodation (rent and utility bills). We spend circa 600 on food, we could save a bit but we would have to really tighten our belts. That leaves us with roughly 1000 disposable income. Obviously we pay for petrol, clothing, toys and similar things yet we still manage to save around 500 a month. We also get child benefit (400 per child a year).
From my point of view (used to live in London before) the bad things:
To buy imported stuff is very, very expensive. That includes food, toys, clothing and pretty much everything except for some local food.
Choice is limited and sometimes not existent - but Amazon and other online retailers deliver to Malta for a small surcharge.
Medicine is expensive - ridiculously! Stock up pain killers and other medicine before making the move!
This place is overpopulated. I'd say half of the island is actually buildings. So you have to plan ahead when travelling (avoid rush hour) and where to go (avoid the usual hot spots).
Powercuts - there's only one power station and it's struggling at times.
No bargain shops :-(
The good things:
Accommodation and transport are cheap. We rent 3 bedroom apartment (110m2) for 625. But it's brand in Attard. If you go to places like Mosta etc. you get the same size for 500 and probably even less. I walk to work and that saves me a lot - I used to pay 拢320 a month to get to work in the UK - monthly bus pass here is 26.
You don't get taxed as much as in the UK. No council tax, no TV licence, upper income tax band is 29% and tax allowance is transferable.
You don't pay for heating. Back in the UK I paid 拢60 a month for gas - here - 0.
You save on holiday - in fact every weekend is a holiday.
Local produce is cheap - vegetables, local fruits and fish. Tuna fish is 6 a kilo (you're lucky if you get it for 拢20 in the UK).
You also (strangely) save on clothing - you don't have to buy warm winter clothes, shoes etc. I've got 5 shorts, 10 t-shirts, 3 pairs of sandals and that's what I need for a summer.
You save on kids activities. No more soft play areas or things like that. There's always a playground nearby and it is free.
But most of all - you save yourself a lot of stress. No more rat race, daily commuting etc.

Hope that helps :-)