From Auckland to Egypt for super cheap living, $21,000 apartment

NOTICE: I live in Hurghada in Egypta four-hour drive from Luxor where Tomb of Tutankhamun is located in the Red Sea Governorate.

I have been living in Hurghada for four years.

My weekly groceries cost 1012 Egyptian pounds or NZ$53.22. I would usually spend $120 a week on groceries in Auckland.

I don’t pay monthly rent, as I bought an 80 sqm one bedroom apartment, one block from the beach in Hurghada, for 400,0000 Egyptian pounds (or 20,650 New Zealand dollars) in 2020.

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The Egyptian pound rate was down from three years ago, but was still very cheap compared to property prices in new zealand.

A friend in Hurghada rents a two-bedroom apartment in Makadi Heights for 2500 Egyptian pounds per month in a gated community 30 minutes drive away.

But her one-bedroom apartment on Madares Street that she just left in the city of Hurghada is still priced at 1,200 Egyptian pounds per month to rent (or 61.89 New Zealand dollars per month).

I am retired (since 2016, when I was 42).

I have two Airbnb apartments that I own in Hurghada and I own a third house in Hurghada that I live in.

The two Airbnbs in Hurghada are occupied 70% of the time.

In New Zealand, I worked two days a week in the Maternity/Gynaecology Department at Auckland Hospital as a duty clerk and earned NZ$700 a week doing night shifts.

I also own three Airbnb apartments in Auckland.

I make more money now with the three Airbnbs in Auckland, plus the two Airbnbs in Hurghada, Egypt, than when I worked two days a week at the hospital in Auckland.

Egypt is a good option for relocating.

My annual advisory rates are zero for my three properties in Hurghada. My annual corporate maintenance fee for my three apartments in Hurghada is also zero.

My annual electricity bill for the 80m² one bedroom apartment I live in is less than NZ$300 per year.

I use the air conditioning 10 hours a day in the summer for this price.

I buy bottled drinking water, for my water fountain it’s 49 Egyptian pounds for 11 liters of Nestlé branded water every 10 days.

I don’t pay water tariffs, because the Egyptian army has its accommodation on my street, so the army gives us free tap water.

When you go to live abroad, my recommendation is to take out very good travel and health insurance.

Many expats in Egypt teach English online or work remotely in Egypt, or are digital nomads who come to Egypt for two or three months every year. Or expats buy businesses in Hurghada like restaurants or bars.

I have also been to Rome, Italy three times in 2022 as one way flights were €50 from Hurghada to Rome.

The one-year Egyptian residence visa is 1700 Egyptian pounds, or NZ$87.69, and the authorities carry out an Egyptian police check and an international interpol police check.

I took basic Arabic lessons twice a week when I arrived in Hurghada.

Highly recommend Egypt and Hurghada as an option.

I made many friends in Hurghada from Egypt, France, Germany, USA, Russia and UK. We get together socially a few times a week and enjoy the great weather here.

It rains in Hurghada only two or three times a year.

Also, you can take the bus from Hurghada to Cairo for less than NZ$10 or 190 Egyptian pounds.

I really appreciate being able to live a good standard of living on a lesser amount of money than I would spend in New Zealand.

I am planning to retire in Egypt as I can have a much higher standard of living in Egypt than me in New Zealand for around half of New Zealand prices.