can we afford to live in spain - Page 2

Oh and by the way.....we are not pensioners either and do enjoy a beer or two. x 

Ah Bob to hell with that.  That sort of attitude to retirement can only end in one way...badly. Never seen the need to "ave it large" and then moan about having beans on toast for Sunday lunch.

You weigh every possibility up..good and bad and make a calculated choice on where you want to be in say 10 years. We got lucky with investments and property but I don't need to drive a Ferrari to feel good :) Give me a couple of beers at lunchime with me paper and watch me smile :)

Kev.

Hmm I wonder how many of those "friends" are still around if you know what I mean :)

Kev.

Dear Kev and Julie Thank you for those kind words of support. New to this forum but I think there is a private chat room, late now but will explore this soon. kindest regards Mark and Jen

Simple fact is to get residency here in Spain now you have to prove income and medical cover. 

As you are not retirees medical insurance will have to be paid. Eventually when you retire you can get free medical cover arranged with Newcastle.

1500€  per month after paying rent? You do not need to work with such regular income, unless you want to.

If you live a normal healthy life and resist turning to alcoholics, easy mistake ex pats make with  time on their hands, oh we will have a drink in the bar. Then its a couple of drinks, daily. Then it turns into all day binges.

No the odd drink and you will easily live comfortable on your income. Paying all the bills, food, entertainment, holidays, running a car, paying your taxes. 

You will be fine. We are, and our total monthly income is less than yours. We have a home, we rent a holiday apartment, and we each have a car. We book appx six holidays per year in different locations around Spain, in all our favourite spots. We love Spain. Left the Uk nine years ago, never been back. Had 60 years of it, enough. We like the fresh air, the beaches and not worrying about the weather, instead of the eight month long winters in the UK.

Good luck, best wishes, Al

Hi Al, that just what we are looking for a no nonsense experienced view on what can and what should not be done on a certain level of income. Thank you for those kind words of advice its helped put our minds at ease. Best wishes to you and yours

Kind regards  Mark and Jen

With you all the way Al with that one. I have seen it first hand with the inlaws. They moved out about 15 years ago and we watched them year on year slip into the "its just the one " stage.

The booze got one of them in the end. The emotional turmoil was vast. They lost a hell of a lot of friends they had made through the Gin !!

I used to remember taking my first beer on the early morning flight out of Manchester and justifying it with the "well I am on holiday" speech.

Its kind of odd now we are here full time thinking about the holidays here we had and trying to drink and see and interact with as much as we possibly could in a week. We where still working then and had a lot of disposable income to just blow away on hols. I wouldn't dream of doing that now.

Its not that I am tight with the cash..and don't let my missus tell you anything else ok :) But the desire to get wasted before lunch soon wore off.

Nothing needs to be rushed. Jesus can wait for me dude :)

Keep the faith,

Kev.

No worries, will be glad to help if we can.

You will enjoy it here if you do settle down in the area. That I promise :)

Kev.

Hi Mark & Jen

You will be fine, over here that sum of money will go a lot further than than it would in the UK or California. Like keV said you soon get into the mind set, and find where to go and where to avoid, and when your here permanently you soon get fed up of going out all the time..Someone mentioned medical Insurance earlier. If you are not 65 then yes you will need to prove you have this to get your residencia which is around 2000 euros per annum depending on who you insure with and the cover you require. We have lived here since summer 2012 and love it, we bought our apartment 2002 so knew the area well before we retired early and came out permanently. I think we do a lot more here than we would back in the UK and of course the weather helps. Best wishes and enjoy every minute in this lovely area.

Hi many thanks for those constructive words of advice! Regards Mark and Jen