I couldn’t afford to be a stay-at-home mum in the UK so I moved to Mauritius
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A woman who moved to Mauritius for a "better lifestyle" says it allows her to be a stay-at-home mum which she could "never afford" in the UK.
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Hide AdAnnabel Fenwick Elliott, 37, didn't want to put her son Jasper, two, in day care and had become self-employed so she could be more present for him.
The mum-of-one moved her family to Mauritius as her German-born husband, Julius Scholtes, 31, couldn't get a visa in the UK.
But the family fell in love with the lifestyle and now pay a similar price for a four bedroom house with a sea view, pool, cleaner and gardener as Annabel did for her "tiny" studio flat in London.
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Hide AdThe cheap cost of living means she can afford to stay at home with Jasper - and work from home, while still renting out her studio flat in London.
Annabel’s London flat cost her £1,200 in mortgage and bills, whereas she says the average price of a 900 square foot furnished house in an expensive expat area is about £800 per month, or £490 in a "normal local area".
Annabel decided against putting Jasper into nursery but said it only cost £150-a-month - compared to the average £290.77 weekly price in the UK for full-time nursery for a two-year-old.
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Hide AdShe said locally sourced food is cheap, petrol is just £1 a litre, a monthly unlimited phone data is £6 per month and cleaning services are just £3 per hour.
Annabel, a freelance journalist, living in Poste de Flacq in Mauritius, said: "It's a big big house. I never thought I'd be able to live somewhere like this. In England this would be more than a £1m house. Everything is so much cheaper."
"It's always warm. We go to the beach every day. We have a pool - which is so insane. I don't see how we could have a good lifestyle in the UK. I feel so lucky."
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