Endless sunshine, beautiful beaches and the ubiquity of the pastel de nata were not the only reasons I relocated from London to Lisbon on a passive income visa in May 2024.
The low cost of living was also a huge draw. Two years ago, I quit my full-time fashion and beauty editor role at a news agency to go freelance, and even though I had regular income from renting out the flat I own in Lambeth, without my monthly salary, I was still facing a significant drop in disposable income and needed to budget carefully. I decided to take the plunge and move on my own to Lisbon at the age of 40.
Two years on, having built up my freelance journalism career from scratch (I now mainly cover health, wellbeing and travel for UK and US outlets), my salary is now about the same as it was in the UK. However, I’m able to live comfortably and put away more savings each month than I ever could in the UK, and that’s largely thanks to the comparatively low cost of living in Portugal. Last month, I was able to save about £1,000, whereas in the UK I struggled to bank £500, even on a good month.
Here’s how day-to-day costs stack up in Lisbon versus London.
Housing
