cost of living

[marcia]

hi .could anybody give me as much info as possible regarding the cost of living in spain for two (hoping to retire to spain in april 07.
thanks in advance

[Pianokeith]

Hello Marcia,
Although prices have risen in Spain, generally costs here are cheaper than the UK, certainly in terms of running a house. My total house running costs for one year was 1526euros, that was for everything ( dont have a mortgage). Food can be around the same price as UK, some items are much cheaperat the markets and some supermakets, as at home you have to shop around. Imported foods are more expensive. Prescription charges are less than UK, free if you are a pensioner as is medical treatment. Dining out is a lot cheaper. If you have an income of 150 euros a week you will live well.

We have a lifestyle here that we could not have in UK, here it is possible to live on a UK pension. When we first arrived we decided to see how cheaply we could live for a week, we ate out twice and had a normal life as near as possible to the one we had in UK, believe it or not, we had change from 100euros!!

good luck with your move

[sandra5]

Hi Marcia, its very much dependent on your personal lifestyle. Do you both smoke and drink or not, do you want to eat out a lot or not, run a car, those types of things.
Biggest saving compared to the UK are council tax, depending on the size of your property it will cost you roughly the equivalent of 1 months payments in the UK for the whole year here. I was paying about 170 quid a month more than 3 years ago in the UK and 240 euros for the year here for a 4 bed 2 bath house. (My place in the UK was 3 bed/1 bath).
No TV licence, 39 euros for our car tax for the year (Renault Megane) again it depends on the size of the car I think.
Eating out we do mostly at lunch and have Spanish menu del dia which we pay roughly 8-10 euros for, that includes salad, bread, 3 courses with wine or beer and sometimes a coffee as well. In the supermarkets, some foodstuffs are more expensive here than the UK and some are less expensive. If you buy the local brands and avoid "English" stuff then you will save money but if you cant live without certain things then you will probably find them a little more expensive. Fruit and veg are cheap in the markets but the stuff goes off very quickly in the heat and I find it better to shop for small amounts more often than stock up on loads at the market then chuck it out!!
If you have no mortgage or rent to pay I think a couple could live reasonably well, eating out a couple of times a week, petrol, out for coffees etc, for about 1200 euros a month or less (we are quilty of eating out far too much).
Obviously I dont know your full circumstance but if you have to find and furnish a property then you will have allowed for those costs, my reply is related to a normal day to day type living.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy living in Spain, I love it!!

[marcia]

thank you sandra & pianokieth,

its just me and my husband,we will both be retiring in april,we will have no mortgage or rent
so it will be food
telephone
internet
community tax
electric
gas bottles
running a car have i left anything out?
we have been visiting spain for over 20 years ,mostly in the Calpe,Denia,Javia,orba,regions,but the last 2 years in and around Torrevieja area,we are undecided where we will put roots down,we liked Guadamar,the Hondon valley,but we dont particulary like urbanisations,stayed with family a few times in Playa flemenca.you darent let a pin drop after 10pm.!!!
we dont want anything grand,just a laid back life in the sun
marcia

[WENDY]

[Pianokeith]

Hi Marcia, you see what I mean 3 different people who live a similar lifestyle. One thing is sure, you will have a much better standard of living here and your money will go much further, eg gas, We changed a gas bottle (we have a gas cooker) on Christmas day and it ran out last month, cost about 12e. for a refill i see Gas is going up in UK.

Hope your move goes well, if you need help or advice you will find it here
come and live La Vida Loca
Keith

[marcia]

good morning folks,me again,the more i find out the more confused i become !!!!!!
how much roughly .......yearly...for community tax
car insurance.......fully comp
house and contents insurance.......
telephone line and broadband........
thanks again and thanks for your patience
marcia

[Crazy]

Hi Marcia

It really depends on size of house you will buy also if it has a communal pool, Size of car we pay 44Euros a year for a estate car insurance is around 348E a year fully comp. communal tax is 250E a year. Telephone and broadband i pay 67E a month but that is with a fast connection also free local calls, electric depends on size of house and whether or not you have aircon as that uses quite a bit of electric, gas bottles are around 12E each. We live pretty comfortable of say 200E a week but have to admit don't keep count of what we spend. Eat out a lot and not just menu del dias which are very cheap. Could not live like this in England, a better quality of life here.