Category (in euros)	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Rent	1083	0	0	0	0	0
Electricity & Gas	included	146	147	147	132	141
Water	included	41	38	38	38	56
TV/Phone/Internet	included	23	43	43	50	50
Property Taxes	included	104	105	108	108	100
Habitation Tax	included	77	79	81	0	0
Property insurance	20	36	39	40	41	42
Food/Grocery items	320	320	320	320	320	320
Cell phone service	10	10	10	10	10	10
VPN for US connex.	3	3	2	3	3	3/4
Bank fees	13	13	10	10	10	10
Local bus	8	8	8	8	3	3
Health ins. France	153	153	42	42	44	44
Health ins. USA	164	204	0	0	0	0
Medical visits & OTC drugs	50	50	50	50	50	50
Entertainment	350	350	350	350	350	350
Residency card fee	44	44	44	44	44	0
Furnace Certification/Maint.	–	–	–	–	12	12
Total/month in euros	2218	1582	1287	1294	1215	1186

* Notes:  2018 – We joined the national health plan and dropped our USA health insurance. We purchased mutuelle insurance (shown above as “Health ins. France”) that covers some of the out of pocket expenses. This is a personal choice as to how much coverage you feel you need.

2020 – Fiber optic cable was installed in Carcassonne and we opted for the highest speed possible. Lower prices are available. Our boiler (that provides instant hot water and heat) required service and for insurance purposes it must be recertified each year so we purchased a contract. Due to changes in the way our US income is treated for tax purposes (mostly government pensions – IRAs, SS, state pensions) we no longer pay the habitation or TV tax.

2021 – We have our 10 year residency cards so will not need this fee for a while. Not travelling due to Covid-19 meant we were home to use more water, etc. so our budget had to increase for some items.