Living or Surviving in Bulgaria?

I mentioned on a previous post that it is not a case of living here but surviving here. For many who come here to retire they have a income from either a pension, inheritance or a nest egg they have saved to live on. These expatriates are mainly here to retire and take the backwaters of Bulgaria. Trips to the Coast, the mountains, sightseeing, restaurants and many other things to keep them amused and entertained. There are other countries that can provide a much better retirement location that Bulgaria and I still contest that the main reason expatriate retirees are here is because it is cheap.

It was my original dream to move to France, I loved the diverse countryside,the culture and the language. Everything was geared toward a move there, then the cost of living went sky high, property prices untouchable with a dream now that had faded into oblivion. A depressed Englishman with a dream of living on a small holding completely shattered. I didn't want much, just a small living area and a bit of land to do my own thing. No cars, televisions, microwaves or anything that the modern world makes you think you need. A simple life where you work for you food, not a financial world, but a bartering world. It can still be down to a degree in Europe, the question was for how long?

Bulgaria was there, it seemed just what I was looking for. Then the affordability of Bulgaria came in to play. Affordability is one thing, maintaining to pay for living a life there is another. You can survive will a little money, but you can't with none. Without any pension, nest egg or inheritance, this was the last chance I had. Staying in the UK wasn't an option and although it going to be difficult in Bulgaria it was something I felt compelled to do rather than carrying on in a downward spiral - You could call it desperation I suppose.

Galia works for her brother who owns and manages a boiler manufacturing company. On the site they not only have a new massive factory, but around a big area of land, part of which is farmed by the workers and the crops are rewards for their labours. Now I have been offered work there in the past as another cog in the wheel of boiler manufacturing, but Galia didn't want me to as she felt that this isn't the kind of work that I would enjoy. Besides that that assume that the pay would be an insult to an Englishman. She works there full-time from 7:30 to beyond 5:00 and the odd Saturday and receives less that £150 a month. She is a manager and gets paid more than the workers there who work the same hours. We manage on this wage and Baba's pension; I earn next to nothing and living off other people's income and this is very difficult for me to accept. There is little or no work for me now in the factory as the financial crisis has meant that employees have had to be laid off.

Today, we are just about surviving, as long as our health is fine we should make it. As it stands we will be working all our lives to survive. Having said that, that's exactly what we would be doing the UK and probably end up in an early grave for our efforts.

Would I return to the UK to work for a short spell again for more funds? There is only one reason I would go back to the UK, but that's my secret.