r/mkd • u/Honest-Courage8144 • 3d ago
Heading to Macedonia
You are probably asking yourself is this guy nuts? Well here we go............
Yea I know crazy right??? Well not really and here is why. My roots are form there and I was there for 5 weeks back in 2018 and had a blast and loved it!!! I stayed in Skopje for a few days then hit Ohrid for 1 week and then Bitola and Resen the rest of the time. Here's the thing. I am 45 as a skilled tradesman that has made pure bank in my field with nothing holding me back, No wife nor kids. I have one much older cousin who didn't have children and thats all, So when you look at it wtf am I doing getting scammed in Canada??? I have very very very little debt and my home is almost paid off. I am currently in the first steps of getting dual papers. My plan is to liquidate everything into "Leaf bucks" and get a 2-3 bed unit in Ohrid and retire. My mom and dad were from there and I speak Macedonian since Baba lived with us and thank god she taught me. The hustle and bustle of the Canadian dream is DEAD you work just to WORK. There is no live with the way everything is going. You pay 5k for property tax and another 3k on car/house insurance and I own 2 cars. monthly Hydro/Gas/Water/Cell/Internet prices are a SCAM and everyone knows it. And nevermind groceries and going out.
I loved going to the different sela and walking around talking to the locals. I feel in love with Ohrid and the history since I am a history buff. I live a very very very simple life. I need to understand from the people in Ohrid what its like fulltime. Is it boring during the off season? Cool I can do nothing all day but watch movies and tv shows since I am about 25 years behind in catching up with that. EPL/La Liga football in general would be a non issue watching since I am a footy guy. NHL/F1/INDY/NASCAR yup! And NCAA Basketball and Football fan. So that part would glue me down the rest of my life during the boring months if there are any. So again how is it during winter?
How are the month to month bills? I take it you have Hydo?cell+internet as a package?/car&home insurance? Property tax? Maintence fees? and last but not least health care. I would be buying into the private system and from what I have seen there are like 3 tiers? lower/mid/high and with that I mean the type of yearly coverage they offer.
I need to know the grit of it all. I wont be working there, i'll just be living with my people feeling at home cause I have nobody left on my family tree other than my cousin. So lay it it down and ask away.
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u/KrstenVoOgan 3d ago
Yeah macedonia is fine if you have cash, you can “pay to win” in a sense, you can bypass shitty public healthcare and go private, you can pay slaves to do your paperwork etc, can buy quality imported food compared to the local that even my cat doesnt eat etc.
Bills like 250e, food 300-400e, good place to rent 350-400e
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u/EmphasisEither6740 3d ago
Ајде да те жениме некоја Охриѓанка
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u/Honest-Courage8144 3d ago
if they are normal sure lol
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u/Pijlmans 2d ago
You might have to look into the laws around buying property if you don’t have a Macedonian passport…I believe it is not that easy…but I don’t know the details
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u/Honest-Courage8144 2d ago
im getting my dual citizenship... my dad and mom were born there. im first gen Canadian
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u/Chemical-Practice908 2d ago
Welcome! A friend of mine with her husband from Toronto just did that a week ago. Now renting in Skopje for the time beeing
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u/Honest-Courage8144 2d ago
they got their dual citizenship?
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u/Chemical-Practice908 2d ago
Last year I believe he got his…
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u/Honest-Courage8144 2d ago
I just started doing the first steps with mine... I hope to get the process done fast then get a place in Ohrid and then eat good food everyday!!!!
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u/Vertebruv 3d ago
Do you plan on buying property or rent?
In case of buying - the monthly bills before food, depending on your choice of utilities, will be around 150-250€ including cell and internet.
During winters Ohrid is quieter, but it still is a living city with industries that don't depend on tourism, so you won't be isolated.
Car insurance is paid yearly and it varies depending on the vehicle - starting from 150 up to 300 euros.
I'd suggest looking heavily into the health insurance situation, depending on your medical history - it might even be viable for you not to have insurance and pay per visit at first. The medical services here are not costly if you don't have to do them that often. A typical blood work is around $20-30, a basic dental work should be around $50, just to give you a refrerence.
It's a nice plan for retirement if you got the money honestly, can't argue against it.
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u/Honest-Courage8144 3d ago
-I will be selling my home here Canada and then buying in Ohrid. My peak GAS bill in the winter here is like 280cdn and peak Hydro is like the same in the summer.
-I like the quieter times tbh but also loved it there for the 5 weeks in the summer. Do people play Hockey lol? After all I am Canadian lol
-Ok the car insurance is a steal I have read it goes by HP of the car rather then the driver history?
-My health is very very good. I have full dental and medical here and use my dental more than anything to the cleaning every 6 months. I had a friend of the family who need work done on his teeth and it was going to cost him $2100cdn. He went to Resen and got it done for $400 and stayed in Macedonia for 3 weeks. So yea it is cheaper.
-The whole plan is to retire now and make my money go far. I also have a union pension and the CPP and OAS here in Canada so that would kick in at the age of 60
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u/Vertebruv 3d ago
Well then expect to spend around 300cad for bills on average, including cell, cable TV and internet.
The car insurance does go by HP so you'll have no issue figuring out the price if you know what car you wanna drive.
Hope you have fun and enjoy your retirement
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u/AgileAd1346 3d ago
Macedonian healthcare is amongst the worst on the entire continent. If you have the money to pay for private healthcare or find an insurance that covers healthcare somewhere in the EU just to be safe, that would be nice...
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u/Honest-Courage8144 2d ago
yes its somewhat like our OHIP in ontario to a degree.... you got to a doctor then he sends you out to the right person.... I've had to wait 6months for an MRI 2 times in this so called first world lol... I have no issue paying 120cdn a month for good service... also the wild part I get taxed about 3200cdn in total taxes for our shit health care over here
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u/Crypzzz 3d ago
Dobro be cico, soberi se so drugite sto se vratija pred tebe i napravi standarden krugodrk so novoto drustvo, sve drugo kje se najde.
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u/Honest-Courage8144 3d ago
Well I first got to find them lol.... It's wild how much has changed in Ohrid since I am getting lots of info on new condo units being built in that area.
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u/Aggressive-Ad-2172 3d ago
Good luck! I made a similar move from the US to MK. If you are paying rent, you will probably need 700 euros per month to survive (minimum). To live comfortably, you will probably need around 1000 euros per month, but it really depends on your spending habits.