can we afford to live in spain

Hi there, we've had the following reply on our Facebook if this is of any help:

"1500€ per month is a good figure. Electric is dear so providing you dont go mad you should live comfortably. Food is quite reasonable too... markets are good for your fruit n veg. Places like Lidl and Mercadonia are reasonable too. Wine and beer cheap. Petrol has gone up but diesel cheaper than UK. Its all a learning curve... first few months you are here budget carefully until the bills all start coming in lol. As for work, depends what u do but everyone looks for work. Mojacar is very touristy so jobs in summer may be easy to secure but harder in winter. € rates per hour not that good either. Try it and see how u go. Talk to other expats too but always go on your own gut instinct. There are places that offer fab advice to expats for a small fee to help with any problems. Get hold of the Euro Weekly on Thurs and Sol Times on Fri. Best of luck.

Ps council tax paid yearly is a hell of a lot cheaper than UK and there is no TV licence. Good internet providers so shop around. Heard Town Halls offer good rates. Lorraine"

Hi Many thanks for this, good to know.

Regards Mark and Jen

Hi,

We have a home in Australia introduced by a couple who had just retired & moved from Victoria to Sunshine Coast. Qld. Unfortunately they had & retained expensive hobbies & an expensive lifestyle. 6 years later they were both working again and had encashed their pensions. Surely it is a matter of living to your income??????!!!!! On the figure stated we would have no problem.

Wasn't it Mr. Macawber (? Spelling & source) about an income of £1 pa?.

Give it a try and, as we do, with 5 properties worldwide, run a very detailed account book. Sandra calls it Bob's Bible.

Best Wishes,

Bob and Sandra

Mojacar Playa and Puerto Lumbreras

Hi, thank you for your response the contents of which we have noted, we were just asking and looking for a friendly response to our questions as we are very new to Spain. Just like you my partner and I have lived and owned properties in many countries including Scotland, England, America ( California and Florida) we are both very widely travelled but very new to Spain. We are now retired but still hoping to work, all we wanted to know was would our current income allow us to maintain our current lifestyle in Spain before we considered work. Thank you for your Dickensian analogy but we are I feel slightly more in touch with the 21st century than Mr Micawber ( by the way this is the correct spelling) all we want is just a little bit of sound advice. Thank you anyway.

Kindest regards,

Mark and Jen

Good evening both. Ok time to get things into perspective.

When you come over here,you have to remember you don't need to treat it as one long holiday. The mentality needs to change. You know when you are over for a fortnight holiday, you know full well you only have a certain amount of time to cram as much in as you possibly can. Hey your on holiday so of course we need to live life to the minute....eating out all the time...drinking in bars...seeing the sights hiring cars etc etc etc.

That's where a lot of people get their maths from...."oh my god,we spent 2 grand on holiday this summer and what have we got to show for it apart from a headache and a slightly larger waistline that's a little sunburnt.

My point I am trying to say is that there is no rush to do everything in one go and therefore no need to spend a lot of money "living the life to the full"

When you are here longer you get to find the best places to eat,the best places to shop and where and who to avoid !

I am not trying to be condescending in way but 1500 euros is a hell of a lot of money to live on a month. You don't really need to change what you do, just do it in a different mind-set.

Like most people here will tell you, a lot of the stuff over here is cheaper than the UK. You will enjoy looking for the good places to go and eating and drinking here is relatively cheap if you know where to go.

I bet you could half that budget and even after paying your taxes and utilities you would be considerably be better off than being in the UK.

Hope this helps,if you have any questions or need advice,just give us a shout or anyone here will help as best they can.

Enjoy yourselves in the sun,

Kev

Well said Kev. It has amazed us over the years how many acquaintances have ended up in financial difficulties ' living it large'. Irrespective which property we are at we know exactly the daily expenditure we can afford. However I certainly would never want to have retired thinking I would need to work at some stage.

One couple in Albanchez would throw amazingly lavish parties for their 'friends' and then about 2 years later was working at the local marble quarry until made redundant in the 2008 crass.

Best Wishes 

Dr./Colonel Bob and Sandra

Mojacar Playa and Puerto Lumbreras

Hi Kev Thank you so much just read your post. That's just the type of re assurance we are looking for. All we want is a little help from people like you that know what it's like to move to Spain. We have taken on board your advice, would be nice to meet and chat when we  come over in April on our fact finding trip.

Kindest regards Mark and Jen

Hi Thank you for your comments, you have offered us good advice in the last few days. We are not looking to live life in excess all we are asking for is for you to share your experiences with us so we can try to plan for the future .

Once again thank you both for your help

Kindest regards Mark and Jen

Would absolutely love to meet up for a little lunch in the sun when you get here. Glad you understood what I was trying to say :)

Don't try to live life to the max every single day.....you get tired :) The sun still comes up the next day lol.

You will do fine I am sure. I know we went a little mental the first few weeks but soon got the hang of things. To be honest we would rather be here taking our time and living the life we want than living it to the max,running out of cash and end up back in cold old Britain..(ok wont knock the place in the summer..when we get one,  every six years now is it ? :)

Being here is all about the relaxing way of life...chill out...and enjoy.

See you when you get here,

Kev & Julie x