⚑ The number that matters most
Budget for two to three months of full living costs with zero income, on top of the move itself. Your first French salary often arrives at the end of your first full month — and the deposit, agency fees and furniture all hit before it.
I am an engineer, so I thought I had budgeted carefully. I had not. The flights and the shipping were the easy, visible costs. What caught me was everything in the first eight weeks: the rental deposit, the agency fee, furnishing an empty apartment, and simply feeding a family while no salary had landed yet. Here is the honest breakdown, so you can prepare better than I did.
1. Getting there
| Item | Rough cost |
|---|---|
| Flights (family of 4, one way, with luggage) | €600 – €1,200 |
| Extra/excess baggage or partial shipping | €200 – €800 |
| Visa & OFII fees, document translations | €200 – €500 |
2. Securing an apartment (the big one)
This is where most of the cash goes, fast. French rentals typically want a deposit plus the first month, and if you use an agency, agency fees on top.
| Item | Rough cost (outside Paris) |
|---|---|
| Security deposit (dépôt de garantie, ~1 month) | €600 – €900 |
| First month's rent in advance | €600 – €900 |
| Agency fees (frais d'agence) | €400 – €900 |
| Home insurance (assurance habitation, required) | €10 – €25 / month |
Costs are far higher in Paris/Lyon than in a mid-size city like Saint-Étienne — choosing the city is itself a budget decision.
3. Furnishing an empty place
Most French rentals are non meublé (unfurnished) — sometimes without even a kitchen fitted. A family arriving with suitcases needs beds, a fridge, a washing machine, a table, and more, more or less at once.
| Item | Rough cost (budget furniture) |
|---|---|
| Beds & mattresses (family) | €400 – €900 |
| Fridge + washing machine | €400 – €700 |
| Table, chairs, sofa, basics | €300 – €700 |
| Kitchen + household essentials | €150 – €350 |
Buying second-hand (Leboncoin, Emmaüs, local marketplace groups) cut this roughly in half for us. It is worth the extra effort in the first months.
4. Living through the gap
Then the quiet, constant costs while no salary has arrived: groceries, transport (a local pass like the STAS in some cities), phone/internet setup, and the small administrative fees that appear everywhere. For a family, budget €1,500 – €2,200 per month of basic living, and assume you carry two months of it before income begins.
If I could give my past self one number: arrive with at least €6,000–€9,000 of accessible cash for a family move outside Paris, separate from the cost of the flights. The peace of mind is worth more than the interest you'd earn keeping it invested.
A realistic total
Pulling it together for a family of four relocating to a mid-size French city:
| Phase | Rough total |
|---|---|
| Getting there | €1,000 – €2,500 |
| Apartment (deposit + first month + agency) | €1,600 – €2,700 |
| Furniture & essentials | €1,250 – €2,650 |
| ~2 months living before salary | €3,000 – €4,400 |
| Total buffer to prepare | ≈ €7,000 – €12,000 |
◆ Move the money before you need it
Transfer your buffer from Morocco early and at a good rate — see opening a French account and moving money with Wise. Scrambling to transfer dirhams in week one, at a bad rate, under stress, is the worst time to do it.
The move is expensive, but it is a one-time hump. Once the salary lands and the apartment is furnished, costs normalise quickly — and that is when the next chapter, building wealth the halal way, begins.
Notes
- Figures are the author's lived estimates for a mid-size French city, 2025–2026; not a formal cost survey.
- Rental rules: French tenancy law on dépôt de garantie and frais d'agence (service-public.fr).