Living and working abroad - reality sets in.

For the last few years I've been living in France with my husband, 2 kids, dog, cat, garden toad and numerous lizards. Oh and the snake which passes by from time to time between the skylight and the roof tiles!

We moved to France for numerous reasons including my health, cleaner air, less crime, better weather and a better life. The move proved positive on all accounts however better life also includes having the ability to be able to provide for the family; but earning a living and finding job opportunities here proved to be disastrous. It really isn't the best place to find a job or to start your own business. I wont even bother describing the red tape, endless paperwork, high taxes and social charges etc.

We didn't come with rose tinted specs though like many do! We knew it would be hard, that it would take time to establish ourselves that we would need some creative thinking and some financial backing to keep us going for the first year.

The first year certainly had it's ups and downs, peaks and troughs, good times and bad times! The good times were great, we met new friends, visited new places, enjoyed the summer weather, spent most of the time outdoors breathing in good clean air, watched our first lot of veg grow, picked fruit from our own trees, watched the children progress in a foreign language and intergrate with their new French friends.... The list is endless.

Oh, but the bad times! The endless forms to fill in, language barriers and regional accents to overcome ( we failed miserably!) and the frustration of not being able to apply for a job on the supermarket checkout without the need to show a degree in retail marketing and 10 years experience to boot!

My OH managed to find some temporary work and then some building work. It wasn't the income that we were used to so I had to get my creative thinking hat on! What could I do to help bring in the extra we needed to pay the bills, run the car and pay for the groceries?