I have capital, but I'm not rich by any means. My connections in Porto came from being helpful to the people who helped me. I get what I give.
If you were in the bottom 5% of humanity you'd have the income of an Indian or Somali villager. 220.00/month puts you well into the top half since 3 billion people live on less than $2/day.
1. I helped out my prof friend and the apt came later. Luck happens when generosity finds reciprocity.
2. The entire world, and especially the Medterrenean, is based on relationships. The CRUE is, in any case, unnecessary if you're an EU citizen. Since I have a Latvian permanent residence card, and my wife a Latvian passport, we can stay in Portugal as long as we like without it, just as a Portuguese can stay in Latvia without asking for residency.
3. The developers obviously make a higher return by building new than going through an uncertain property search process. Post-Soviet Latvia was similar. In Porto I see construction work all over the place.
4. Any EU citizen or permanent resident can stay in Portugal permanently. As a Latvian citizen, my wife could live and work in Portugal without messing with immigration. Same for my daughter and her French husband. You can open a cross-border account with a neo-bank like Wise (former TransferWise), N26 or Revolut without a Portuguese tax number. Why mess with a local Portuguese bank anyway. Medium pays into my Swedbank, Latvia account. Why change that just because I move? I could easily change that to my Wise account.
5. My daughter used English in govt offices.
6. Portugal is loaded with difficult to resist carb-heavy temptations. But Portugal's fresh fruit and vegetables are much better than Latvia and cost a lot less. Sweet strawberries for 4.00/kg. On googlemaps I found 10 Mercadona locations in the Porto area.
Meat: I had lunch with another prof at an excellent meat restaurant, Taberna Londrina on Porto's Circumvalacao. 29 euros for two. BB Villa, a fresh fish restaurant with a garden a 15 minute walk from Francos metro, was superb for 100 euros for four with wine, dessert and coffee. Great fresh salad too. Best octopus I ever ate.
There's another restaurant near us where the construction workers go: 6.50 for the prato+sopa+pao (bread)+coffee. 1.80 for beer.
The cost of living in Ireland will be much higher.
8. I'm 67. From the same insurer you can buy an annual policy. As an EU citizen you could take a Flixbus to a clinic over the border in Spain to get vaccinated. Faro to Huelva for 7 euros, 1h45m.
You came to Portugal with a northern European mindset and expectations and discovered the Mediterrenean did not suit you. I hope you're happier living in Ireland.
Here's what it'll cost you: nearly 2x Portugal.
Summary of cost of living in Ireland
Family of four estimated monthly costs: €4,794
Single person estimated monthly costs: €2,766
Ireland is the 4th most expensive country in Western Europe (4 out of 20)
Cost of living in Ireland is more expensive than in 91% of countries in the World (9 out of 93) https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/country/ireland
Summary of cost of living in Portugal
Family of four estimated monthly costs: €2,960
Single person estimated monthly costs: €1,474
Portugal is the 2nd cheapest country in Western Europe (19 out of 20)
Cost of living in Portugal is more expensive than in 55% of countries in the World (43 out of 93)
