2025 was an expensive year for us. Not only did we move from the US to France, but we also moved within France.
We arrived at the Nice airport in mid January with only four suitcases, having sold everything we owned. I’d love to say we lived like minimalist monks for the last year, using only what we brought with us, but that simply wouldn’t be true. Over the last year, we ended up rebuying many of the things we couldn’t take with us, plus some extra (like four more bikes).
After a year of settling and living a modest French life for our family of two, here’s what the full year actually cost us, plus breakdowns for the cost of the move and the French bureaucracy.
If you’re interested in our expense tracking spreadsheet, it’s available on Gumroad.
Our 2025 Cost of Living Budget in France
Our budget for 2025 was $61,740. We retired in 2024 with a budget of $60k, and updated it for 2025 based on the reported 2.9% inflation rate (for the US).
We do all our budgeting and spend tracking in USD. Our credit cards report spending in USD, or investments are all in Dollars, so we don’t budget in Euros. This exposes us to some currency risk, which we experienced this spring with Trump’s tariffs and the Dollar falling almost 15%. Unfortunately for us, we simply had to spend 15% less.
Before the tariffs, we felt quite comfortable in France. Prices were moderate, and we had wiggle room in our $5k/month budget to travel or splurge on some luxuries.
After the tariffs, things got much tighter. We switched from shopping at the local markets to looking for deals at the large supermarket. We planned trips more carefully and often opted for simple day-trips on the train. With a stroke of Trump’s pen, our carefree optimism evaporated.
The Cost of Moving to France from the US
All in, our move to France cost about $5800. Here’s the breakdown of those various items:
| Airfare to Nice, France for 2 | $1491 |
| VLS-TS Visa Application and Fees | $358 |
| Travel to DC for visa appointment | $332 |
| AirBnB in Nice, 1 month | $2531 |
| Insurance for visa, 1 year | $1103 |
| Total | $5815 |
We found a place to rent after a month in Nice, and were luckily able to cancel the remaining two months of our booked stay. We ultimately found a place to rent for €950/month, so this was about $1500 above that monthly cost.
The Cost of French Bureaucracy
All the costs of visas, translations, and appointments can really add up. This is how much it cost us for our first year:
| VLS-TS Visa Application and Fees | $358 |
| Travel to DC for visa appointment | $332 |
| VLS-TS Visa Validation | $416 |
| Translate Birth Certificates for Carte Vitale (x2) | $126 |
| Photos for Driver’s Licenses (x2) | $28 |
| US Driver’s Records | $30 |
| Translate Driver’s Licenses and Records (x2) | $204 |
| OFII Medical Exam Train Tickets Roundtrip (x2) | $40 |
| Carte de Séjour Application Photos (x2) | $19 |
| Postage Costs for All Applications | $50 |
| Total | $1603 |
Hopefully, we’re now done with the majority of the bureaucracy, but we’ll continue to have the Carte de Séjour costs every year: €225 each until the new 2026 budget is passed, then rising to €325.
Our Annual Cost of Living in France Breakdown
Looking through our spending categories, there were a few surprises. The biggest: $10k in groceries. Between the post-Covid inflation and the falling value of the Dollar, groceries ended up being quite expensive. This surprised us, especially given France’s reputation for affordable food.
We’re not even eating steak and foie gras every week, either. This is $10k spent on chicken, fresh produce, baguettes, and local cheese, mostly bought at Aldi. France is definitely not the cheapest place to eat.
But compared to our life in the US, France is still cheaper for us. City center rent is more affordable here, we don’t need a car, and healthcare doesn’t even compare.
Our rent in Nice was €950 for a 40m2 1-bedroom apartment. That ended up being too small for us, so we upgraded to a 60m2 2-bedroom in Annecy, for €1500.
Some of the other expensive parts of the year: $3000 spent on new apartment things to replace the ones we couldn’t bring with us, $2000 on a shiny new road bike, and $600 moving to Annecy.
But perhaps the best surprise of all: less than $1000 spent on healthcare: doctor’s visits, prescriptions, dentists, physical therapy, and everything else. Even without insurance or social security, healthcare in France is extremely affordable.
Questions? Comments? We’d love to hear from you in the comment section, or feel free to write us directly.
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