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The world is in the middle of a financial crisis. Expats are not spared. While some are fortunate enough to remain in good circumstances, others face redundancies, reduced pension income because of the exchange rate, or even poverty. If you are well off, you probably have more interesting things to do than shave every possible cent off your expenses, but those who are less well off may find some hints on this page.

Don't hesitate to write to me if you have other ideas. 

Check out the rest of this site
Particularly the page "Commercial Practices in France".

Discount supermarkets
You will find a list of all French supermarket chains, including discount stores, on this site. However, you need to find out what is worth buying in discount stores and what isn't. Some mainstream supermarkets have introduced sub-departments with discount goods and discount prices, notably Auchan, so in fact they have a discount store within the mainstream store. Some goods may be cheaper in mainstream supermarkets than in discount supermarkets. Example: last time I compared, 1 kg of sugar cost 85 cents in Aldi and 79 cents in Auchan's discount sub-department. Some goods are of inferior quality in discount stores. Others are the same or better quality than in mainstream supermarkets. The consumer magazine Que Choisir found that Aldi's washing powder and liquid are among the best on the market, and much cheaper than other brands. You also need to take transportation costs into account. If you need to drive further to get to a discount supermarket, any savings are quickly lost in transportation costs.

Purchase online instead of in supermarkets
Certain goods can be very expensive in supermarkets. Vanilla is a good example. Sometimes, you can find similar goods online at much lower prices.

Examples:
Vanilla pods in Auchan: 4g for €3.55, or €887.49 per kg.
Bourbon vanilla pods from Dessusdeuxsous, Réunion: 100g for €11.50 incl. postage, or €115 per kg.
(if you don't like to shop on eBay, where this shop is, you can get it from the same producer on Priceminister for €129 per kg with added payment security)

Prepare goods yourself instead of buying them pre-prepared
It is normally cheaper to prepare things yourself rather than having someone else preparing them for you, although it depends on how much time you have available. It may also require that you have certain equipment.

Examples:
Price of Madagascar vanilla sugar in Auchan: 37.5g for €2.21, or €58.93 per kg.
As you can see above, you can buy vanilla pods for €115 per kg. Vanilla sugar only contains 6%-7% vanilla, so one kg of vanilla sugar would require only 60g of vanilla pods at a cost of €6.90. It is not the sugar that will ruin you. You do need a food processor, blender or similar. There are many recipes for vanilla sugar in the net, such as bbc.co.uk/food, herbsspices.about.com and baking911.com.

Minced meat is sometimes more expensive than non-minced cuts, and you know what's in the final product, whereas some packs of minced meat are not of very good quality. Unless you have a mincing machine, this is not realistic of course.

Purchase abroad via the Internet
You can often find goods cheaper on the Internet from foreign stores such as Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de or other stores. You will often find savings on books, CDs, DVDs, video games and video game consoles, for example. The strong euro makes this exercise worthwhile. Even if you have to pay international postage, there may be savings. Within the EEA (which includes the EU), there is no VAT or duty added in customs because of the principle of free movement of goods. However, if you order goods from outside the EEA, you may have to pay VAT and duty before your goods are delivered, if the purchase price is above a certain minimum. Also note that some foreign products may be incompatible, such as for example video tapes and recorders and TV sets (NTSC/various PAL standards/SECAM), DVDs (region locking, video standard NTSC/PAL/SECAM), Nintendo Wii (region locking, video standard NTSC/PAL/SECAM) and possibly other video games. Voltage and plugs may be different, although adapters and step-down transformers may solve the problem, but don't forget to add these to the total cost.

Example: 
Pack of 4 rechargeable Energizer AA batteries, 2000 mAH, in Auchan: €14.80.
Pack of 4 rechargeable Duracell AA batteries, 2650 mAH, on rapidbatteries.com (UK) incl. postage: €11.50.

Purchase tyres online
There are significant savings to be had buying tyres online. The tyres are either delivered to your home or to a chosen garage. The sites often help you find a garage willing to fit the tyres at competitive prices, and some of the sites even make it possible to make the appointment online. See my list of sites for tyres online in France.

Prepare your packets online
La Poste gives you a 5% reduction if you use Colissimo.fr to prepare your packets.

Negotiate your insurances
Be sure your insurances cover just what you need and don't include options you don't need. Insurance companies have a tendency to bundle several options in without asking you. I recently knocked about one-third off the cost of two car insurances by negotiating with my AXA agent. If your mileage is low (8000 km per year for example), if you don't drive to work, if you don't need replacement car, roadside assistance, legal assistance or accident cover of the driver, etc., you may obtain a lower premium. You may want to keep some of these options, of course. Legal assistance may be very useful in case of an accident, for example, and roadside assistance may come in handy too (if you keep that, note that many companies don't cover you within a radius of for example 50 km from your home while other companies don't impose a limit). Many new cars come with roadside assistance the first years, and in that case, you can save it on your insurance. I simply told the agent, "look, I need to save money, and I have found these lower prices elsewhere. I don't really want to leave AXA, but saving money is a must. Can you do something to moderate the cost?" Miracle, he could do something to moderate the cost. You can always find a discount insurance company, of course, but check out the cover. Such companies also have a tendency to offer low entry premiums, just to quickly increase the premiums the following years, hoping you don't notice.

Avoid traffic fines
It may sound obvious, but a traffic fine can weigh heavily on a tight budget. Be sure to fully understand the French speed and alcohol limits. A GPS can help you observe the speed limits by showing the precise speed - something a car rarely does - and by alerting you to fixed speed cameras. If you intend to use a mobile phone while driving, get yourself a bluetooth wireless headset so you can talk legally (the mobile phone itself needs to support bluetooth), as using a handheld phone while driving is illegal. Be aware, though, that using a phone while driving, whether wireless or not, significantly increases the accident risk due to reduced concentration.

Purchase second hand goods
Sell stuff you don't need
There is a vast number of sites for selling second hand goods in France and elsewhere, and not just eBay. Check out my list of classifieds, auction and other second hand goods sites in France.

Pre-nuptial agreements
A pre-nuptial agreement (contrat de mariage) is legally binding in France. Its main purpose is to determine what happens in case of a divorce, but it can also be important in case of bankruptcy, whether you are personally bankrupt or your own business is bankrupt. If you go bankrupt and you have not prepared a pre-nuptial agreement stipulating the separation of belongings, then your spouse as well as you can be pursued for the payment of your debts. If you are running a small business, it will often be a good idea to draw up an agreement of separation of belongings and to avoid common bank accounts.

What if a bankruptcy is inevitable?
If the crisis has hit you so much that a bankruptcy is inevitable, then you need to start planning how to handle it as early as possible to protect your personal belongings and what capital you may have left, so as to avoid that the bailiff (huissier) confiscates it. One way out is to donate capital and belongings to your children. You can give each child more than €150,000 over a six-year period (or once, if you prefer) without any tax being due. In case of belongings, you need to estimate their resale value. You can use the second hand goods sites for that. To make the donation (don manuel) legally binding, you must file a 2735 form at your local tax office (the form is available on www.impots.gouv.fr). Beware that if you do this less than six months before a bankruptcy, the donation may be considered void, as it would be seen as a deliberate attempt to avoid paying your debts. Hence the importance of early planning.

If you are running a business, then the liquidation judiciaire is the definitive closure of the business and liquidation of assets to pay debts. Both your personal and professional belongings are at risk, unless the business has its own legal identity with limited responsibility. Your personal debts are taken into account as well as your professional debts. Should you want to continue the business under a receivership, the redressement judiciaire may give you up to ten years to pay back debts without interest or penalties. Again, personal debts are covered too. Both of these procedures are mutually recognised in other EU/EEA countries, so debts in these countries are taken into account too, and you cannot be separately pursued for debts in these countries.

If you are not running a business, the procedure to use is the procédure de surendettement filed at the local branch of the Banque de France. The result may be either up to ten years to pay back debts or a liquidation of your assets to pay debts.

Get your tax return right
It is important to declare all family members on your tax return, as you get important tax reductions for each. Read about French income tax here. You can obtain a tax credit of 50% for child minding expenses and salary to domestic staff. You can deduct the cost of travelling to and from work. You can optimise tax on capital income.

Claim the benefits you're entitled to
This is a vast subject where an individual analysis of your situation is required.

Unemployment: Unemployment allowance is paid by the job centre Pôle Emploi. Even if you were employed by a foreign company based in the EU/EEA and temporarily posted to France, you may be entitled to French unemployment benefit. In such cases, be prepared to explain the European Regulation 1408/71 to Pôle Emploi, as they often don't understand your rights in this case. When your unemployment benefit expires, you may be entitled to ASS - allocation de solidarité spécifique. If you don't qualify for ASS, you may as the last resort be able to obtain RSA - revenu de solidarité active. RSA is handled by CAF.

Low income support: RSA - revenu de solidarité active - may in some cases supplement low income. Apply at CAF.

Child benefit - family benefits - housing benefit etc.
The CAF handles a variety of allowances. Check their benefits catalogue online.

Complementary medical cover
If your income is low, you may be entitled to complementary medical cover - CMU complémentaire or a cash benefit to help you pay for private complementary cover. This is handled by your caisse de maladie - in most cases the CPAM.

Reduced taxe d'habitation
Your annual taxe d'habitation (dwelling tax) may be reduced with each family member and as a function of low income. This is not always automatic. Verify it. If you receive the RSA benefit, you don't pay this tax at all.

TV licence
If you receive the RSA benefit, you don't pay this.

Legal aid
If your income is low and you need a solicitor, you may be entitled to legal aid.