outside of London<\/a>, I couldn\u2019t see a two-bedroom house for less than \u00a3250,000.<\/p>\n\u201cI just couldn\u2019t get my head around putting myself in that much debt \u2013 it made me feel uncomfortable. So that was a big part of the decision to move to France. I always wanted my own place, and here, I could afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Five years later, Ms McAleer says she is the most financially secure she\u2019s ever been and feels settled into her new home, a small village just outside the city of Limoges, in the south-western central part of France.<\/p>\n
While she spent most of her first year in France renovating the house, which needed rewiring, plus new windows and heating, Ms McAleer has since converted the upstairs into a B&B accommodation, which is now steadily booked on weekends.<\/p>\n
Life in France has also provided the foundation for Ms McAleer to launch and run her own business, while also becoming a single mother by choice, giving birth to her daughter Rose in 2022.<\/p>\n
She received maternity payments from the French Government of \u20ac50 (\u00a343) a day for five months, plus two years of welfare benefits. Rose, now aged three, attends nursery four days a week, at a cost of \u20ac80 (\u00a370) per month.<\/p>\n
While the number of Brits living in France has been steadily declining since Brexit, Ms McAleer holds an Irish passport and is eligible to receive social support in EU countries.<\/p>\n
Thanks to all of this financial support, Ms McAleer was last year officially able to launch her business, The Gen AI Academy, which offers online AI courses.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving secure, affordable childcare allowed me the space and affordability to build my new business. I couldn\u2019t have done that in the UK,\u201d says Ms McAleer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have had to stay living with my Mum. The French authorities have been very supportive, taking into account all of my work history, and not doubting that I\u2019d end up a productive resident.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not just about the money. The community which Ms McAleer has built in her village has been crucial in helping her raise Rose, who starts school in September, saving a year of nursery fees compared with if she were living in the UK.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a community here that I wouldn\u2019t have had in the UK, which is a reflection of how busy people\u2019s lives are now. I\u2019ve come to basically a retirement village, and about 50 per cent of people are English. The people who own the bar are English, and we\u2019re over there all the time getting ice cream. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are basically like Rose\u2019s grandparents. They\u2019ve done our shopping when we\u2019ve been sick. When Rose had an allergic reaction, I just rang the bar and somebody came over and drove us to the hospital, because we couldn\u2019t wait for an ambulance,\u201d says Ms McAleer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s such a community vibe here. We\u2019ll often have breakfast with people in the cafe. We go to the market every Sunday and there are festivals on all the time. I also love that Rose is growing up bilingual, and that I can live this lifestyle with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, one thing that weighs on the 42-year-old\u2019s mind is the health of her mother back in Northern Ireland. She was diagnosed with cancer last year and has since had an operation and chemotherapy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been travelling back and forth a lot, and in general, I want Rose to be good at travelling, as I want her to be open to exploring the world,\u201d says Ms McAleer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the best education any parent can give a child is traveling and opening their minds to different experiences, people and lives. I hope that we\u2019re lucky enough to be able to afford to travel more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Helena McAleer decided to move to France because of the community feel – and how much cheaper it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,20291,36,2516],"class_list":{"0":"post-268489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-expats","11":"tag-france","12":"tag-property"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114866891409648203","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}