Supporting a family on a TEFL wage in Italy

[nm]

Hi
I was wondering if there are any TEFL couples working in Italy who also have young children. I am thinking of moving to Italy with my wife and 2 young children - my wife & I will both be teaching. We are not looking to work in Milan or Rome, but instead a smaller town/city somewhere in Tuscany or Emilia Romagna.
I am looking for advice from people in a similar situation and their views on quality/cost of accommodation, schooling, cost of living etc.

Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks
Nick

[notalis]

Hi,
I've been teaching on and off here near Brescia for about 10 years, and I teach in a private language school.
Have you spoken with any schools in the area you'd like to move to?
The cost of a two bedroom apartment in this area (Lombardia) is about 400 euro, a three bed would be about 500, a month, and I assume it would be the same in E.R., though higher in Toscana for sure.

Groceries are considerably less expensive than in Texas, my home, but petrol is higher, around 1.30 a litre.

Utilities are cheaper because the houses are built sturdier and, in my opinion, are more efficient.

Buying a house is expensive. We've just paid about 220K for a "row house" in the country, and in a bigger city like Brescia it would cost at least 400K for the same thing.

If you have any questions and feel I may be able to help you, please write whenever you'd like!

[notalis]

I have two girls, 4 and 14, and I would never move them back to the states for anything. The value placed on families here is fantastic, and the education they recieve in the public schools is so much better than anything they'd get in Texas. The private schools are even better.

Sorry about my typos. I can't see, just burned out a light bulb!

[nm]

Thanks for the info.

I must admit I was expecting rents to be a lot higher. Are the rents around €500 in Brescia itself, or in a nearby village? What is the best way to find a good value apartment - through local ads or the normal immobiliari companies?

I'm not going to make the move until September 2007, so I haven't enquired at any schools. I'm going to avoid the larger cities like Bologna & Firenze due to cost, and concentrating on smaller towns where the rents are hopefully lower. Around the €500 mark would be great! With my wife & I both working I hope we can bring in around €2000 per month net. Is that realistic do you think?

p.s. I couldn't agree with you more about bringing up children in Italy!