£2,500 a month, a couple
41 of the 52 countries we track are comfortably within £2,500 a month for a couple. The table shows what is left over in each after normal living costs — rent, food, utilities, transport and private health cover.
| Country | Modest | Comfortable | Spare on £2,500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | £1,800 | £2,500 | £0 left |
| Cyprus | £1,800 | £2,500 | £0 left |
| France | £1,700 | £2,500 | £0 left |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | £1,500 | £2,500 | £0 left |
| Brazil | £1,800 | £2,500 | £0 left |
| Japan | £1,650 | £2,500 | £0 left |
| Portugal | £1,700 | £2,400 | £100 left |
| Grenada | £1,500 | £2,400 | £100 left |
| Uruguay | £1,650 | £2,400 | £100 left |
| Greece | £1,600 | £2,300 | £200 left |
| Panama | £1,600 | £2,300 | £200 left |
| Malta | £1,600 | £2,200 | £300 left |
| South Korea | £1,400 | £2,200 | £300 left |
| Croatia | £1,550 | £2,150 | £350 left |
| Mexico | £1,400 | £2,100 | £400 left |
| South Africa | £1,100 | £2,100 | £400 left |
| Mauritius | £1,400 | £2,100 | £400 left |
| Costa Rica | £1,500 | £2,100 | £400 left |
These sit within about 20% of your budget — possible on a modest standard of living, or if you own outright and have no rent to pay: Italy (£2,700), Antigua and Barbuda (£2,700), New Zealand (£2,900), Seychelles (£3,000).
At £2,500 the monthly number has largely stopped being the binding constraint. Nearly everything on this list is affordable, so the decision moves to what you are buying rather than what you are spending.
That makes title the question. A country where a foreigner can hold freehold in their own name is worth several hundred a month more than one where you are on a lease or a right-to-use, because it determines what happens when you sell and what your family inherits. Two countries at the same monthly cost can be completely different assets.
This is also the level at which people start buying rather than renting, and the two are not the same calculation. Buying replaces rent with service charges, local property tax and maintenance — usually far less per month, but with capital tied up and a resale question attached.
It assumes you are renting, and it excludes flights home, tax on your pension in your home country, and the cost of any property you still own there. Those three are what most often break an otherwise sound plan.
Working to about £2,500 a month? The four questions take two minutes and tell you honestly whether buying abroad fits your situation.