Hi

Surprised you have had no response to your post yet, they must all be flying home this weekend on the last Sri Lanka Airways flight so I will try to answer what I can

There are four main costs

The flight...... at present a good scheduled return via Mumbai is about £500 pp

The accommodation ....normally you need to come out end September or early October to have your pick but I think next year will be quiet. I can't help on rental as we have our own house but you need to decide on where you want to be, north, south, in a resort, away from resort, near beach, etc as it will effect the cost but at a guess allow £1000 for six months
You will probably get loads of posts now saying I am talking a load of rubbish they can get you a mansion on the beach for half that prices

Transport...if you want to hire a scooter, bike or car allow £1.50 to £6.00 x 179 days (you have to leave by 180 days)

Living......depends on where you are, in the north there are plenty of good local places to eat in or get takeaways that makes cooking at home other than breakfast a waste of time, our biggest expense is when friends and family come out as they want you to take them to the best tourist restaurants but the average cost is still works out a lot cheaper than the UK

Hope the above helps

A&R

Asked friends who live out there and they said -
Rental - on a complex - depending on rupee rate - 8,500 to 10,000 a month £120 - £140 month
Scooter - on a 6 month rent - no more than £1 per day.
Sorry but cooking at home is not a waste of time and money, saves ££££sss and is safer for you.
During the day do you want to eat at the shacks every day or sit by your own pool a few days a week.
It all depends on how much you want or have to spend after paying rent.
They live in Goa for the season and do not rent a bike as they said it is too unsafe, they shop in the market and Mapusa and eat out maybe twice a week. They are not on holiday but living as they would in UK even if it is cheaper to eat out there but said when you add on the price of the drinks you would not have at home the rupees start to tot up. They do go out to socialise but not eat out every day.
They said depending on food and drink consumption £10 a day is plenty for them as they are not big drinkers and just have a couple on the balcony after their dinner if they stay in and watch a film.
Sky tv costs about £4 a month if you have a dish and 1.500rps to have it installed if you don't have a dish.
Internet with a blue tooth mobile phone costs 30rps Idea and 15rps with Airtel. 1.000rps to get connected. (with a blue tooth lap top).
Didn't ask anything else so that is all I can tell you.

waterproof

I do not know why you are having a pop at me, I gave my opinion you are only giving somebody else's not even your own so why are you having a go at me

Sorry but cooking at home is not a waste of time and money, saves ££££sss and is safer for you.
During the day do you want to eat at the shacks every day or sit by your own pool a few days a week.
It all depends on how much you want or have to spend after paying rent.
They live in Goa for the season and do not rent a bike as they said it is too unsafe

I said cooking at home is a waste of time... who wants to go shopping, stand around cooking and washing up in this heat
I never even mentioned shacks let alone said we eat in them every day
We do not pay rent but have other overheads we also have a car for the wife to drive and a bike for myself but I still like to use the bus or walk and not because you and your friend have declared to the world that it too unsafe to ride a bike

Are you an school teacher?

Excuse me - what on earth do you mean - having a pop at you?

The answer about shacks was not aimed at you or anybody else, just said there was a choice where you could spend your day - if you are on a budget.

"we also have a car for the wife to drive and a bike for myself but I still like to use the bus or walk and not because you and your friend have declared to the world that it too unsafe to ride a bike"

No I said they do not hire a bike because, in their opinion, (and everyone in the world is allowed to have one) they think it is unsafe to ride a bike.
I did not know whether you drove a car, rode a bike or an elephant so how could it be aimed at you. You really are paranoid.

None of us are in Goa and I took the trouble to get in touch and ask them these questions - do not know why I bothered when I get a reply like this.

If it is any of your business I am not a school teacher but a midwife.

Can I be the curly haired Scouser with the shell suit? Calm down, calm down!!

As an impartial reader I don't think either of you meant any offence, you're just expressing an opinion, and what else is this forum for, if not expressing opinions?

Calm down. We shouldn't get upset at folks with different opinions. Wedothodon'twe?

thanks Roma
I think it is just a misunderstanding. Some good tips from both for goantogoa
(says me- the school teacher )

Thanks to both of you for the information. We have just booked to go out ovey Easter so we will ask around and possibly look at what long term rentals are on offer.We would be looking for some home comforts such as internet,sky tv etc as we would spend a lot of time at the apartment and probably just use weekends to go out - pretty much like at home but with a nicer climate. We are not looking at it as a six month holiday. My wife is a teacher for infants and likes the idea of doing voluntary education for reading, writing of infants during our time there. I would also like to do some voluntary work and wondered if there is anything I could do. In fact I will make a new post asking the question

p.s. The 30 and 15rps for internet is per day.

have a look at el shaddai site ,child rescue .net if your looking for voluntary work

There's a good section on our website for long term residency....

http://www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com/Volunteer-Goa.htm

There's weather facts, Excahnge rates, cheap calls to India (0.5p per min at the moment), etc hope it's of some use...

Also at the bottom of this page (to give you an idea of costs involved) in staying in Goa, we supply this for volunteers but obviously it's a help to everyone...

http://www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com/Volunteering.htm