Comments on: What our mini-retirement actually cost

By: Meagan

Meagan — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 17:36:05 +0000

In reply to Gentleman's Family Finances. Thanks, yes fair enough, may not be a fair comparison than if we'd stayed longer. Others have commented on the locations we stayed as well being of the pricier variety, but also the fact that our expenses are already quite low in Ireland makes it harder to compare. Lol about crappy expensive wine, I very rarely drink so did not throw me off. :)

By: Gentleman's Family Finances

Gentleman's Family Finances — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 11:26:11 +0000

Nice to see a comprehensive post like this – but it’s hardly a mini-retirement and more of an extended holiday (IMO). That might be why you didn’t make the size of savings you’d thought
We’ve been to Portugal a few times and I’ve always liked it – possible retirement location? I think it would be in the mix but the distance to the ski slopes puts the Lady off.
On Cork living – I got put off the prospect of working in Cork when back in 2004 I bought a bottle of wine for €8 that tasted like vinegar – at that point, I thought that the cost of living wouldn’t make starting a career there a wise choice.

By: Meagan

Meagan — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 11:43:25 +0000

In reply to Joana. Great insight :) Next time we go to Portugal (and as long as travel/safety permits, there will be a next time), we will definitely check some of these places out. I still don't think we would live between the two places longer term due to the isolation and other factors but will definitely like to make a habit of spending at least 3 weeks there in the winters!

By: Joana

Joana — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 12:11:00 +0000

Im Portuguese, living in Ireland, very interesting exercise!

Portimao is literally for tourism. Would be nice to do the same exercise in more “local” areas.

I’ll leave you here a few suggestions:
. Milfontes
. Odeceixe
. Porto Covo
. Lagos (also in Algarve)
. Porto

In the first three places you would get very cheap meals in very nice restaurants. Nice beaches and rent a house is way cheaper. More quiet, less crowded. Algarve is over priced in everything.

Porto is incredibly cheap when compared to Lisbon. It is an adorable city with incredible food.

By: Sister MH

Sister MH — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 12:13:05 +0000

Glad I could help you rack up your restaurant expenses wish I could more often.

By: Meagan

Meagan — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 19:39:22 +0000

In reply to Kirill.

Hi there, yes, we actually did look at renting out our place while we were away but ran into an issue with insurance. I detailed our considerations on that in this post https://mrsmoneyhacker.com/how-we-managed-a-mini-retirement/ and here https://mrsmoneyhacker.com/tips-for-planning-a-mini-retirement/#House_prep.

By: Meagan

Meagan — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 19:34:49 +0000

In reply to BK. Thanks :)

By: BK

BK — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 14:56:48 +0000

Great detail as always Megan…thanks for sharing

By: Kirill

Kirill — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 14:36:38 +0000

Nice, except you still pay for your main accommodation in Ireland while on mini-retirement (rent or mortgage). To offset that would be nice to AirBnB it away, hopefully this will be possible in the future.