# Cost of Living



## Dee & Paul (Jun 15, 2015)

Hi all.
My hubby & I emigrated to South Africa to spend a few years here as my daughter married a South African. We came here 2 years ago & hate it! I cannot get on a bus, train or walk anywhere as its so unsafe.
My youngest daughter Emma did not want to join us & stayed in the UK. However its a long story but my beautiful daughter died at the age of 23 in Dec in the UK due to medical negligence.
I have nothing left in the UK now & do not wish to return.
We have enough to buy a mobile home in Costa De Sol & some savings. The only job my hubby could get here is commission only Estate Agent! So he could do the same again.
What i would really like to know if we could live on 1,000 euro's a month? We don't led extravagant lives at all. We know life is not perfect anywhere but i'm so lonely here not being able to get out.
Your advice would be much appreciated.
Dee X


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

I reckon if you had no rent to pay and lived modestly you could get away with your budget


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## Dee & Paul (Jun 15, 2015)

Thank you so much


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

Hi Dee,

I'm sorry that life has been so challenging for you lately, I hope things improve for you soon.

If your 1000 is what you have left to spend after your roof-over-your-head costs are gone, i.e. home is paid for, site rent paid for, etc. I think you have enough. I only spend more than 1000 Euros in a month if I go off travelling, buy gadgets, have expenses associated with my car, such as insurance, serving. etc.

If you want to post a list of what you would want your 1000 to cover then you might find we can help with approximate costs, e.g. weekly shopping for 2, eating out once a week, cigarettes, hair salons, etc.

The main problem with 1000 a month is that it leaves you with very little contingency for any unforseen big expenses, but then again, without a house that probably isn't a big risk.

As for employment, I am sure it's a challenge to get a job but I do know that estate agents seem to be opening more positions than at any time for several years. I still wouldn't make any assumptions but extra income coming in from that, and it appears you aren't anyway.

And I am sure somebody will ask about your health cover, are you aware of how that works and what you will do?


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

You could in the Canary islands, cheaper purchase tax 7%.

We run two properties and a car on that amount, booze, holidays, etc. are extra.


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## Dee & Paul (Jun 15, 2015)

Thank you Horlics
We would want it to cover food, drink eating out. No cigarettes. We have all our gadgets & are having them to shipped to Spain. Can you tell me the cost of leather suites, we have two large sofa's & just trying to decide if its worth shipping them too. I know no where is 100% safe but surely Spain is safer than here in South Africa!
We will have savings for the unforeseen 
Dee


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## Calpedream (Mar 7, 2015)

Hi Dee

When we make the move to Spain for 6 months of the year( hoping to make the move early 2016) we are looking to live on the same budget 1000€ a month after paying gas , water, elec etc and we think it is doable if we keep a close eye on our weekly spending. When we were last in Spain for our holidays for two weeks we had a "dummy" run and stuck to c400€ and we even had money left over. This included eating out 2 or 3 times a week having the menu of the day and also a far few visits (sometimes twice a day) to our local cafe for coffee for wi-if access. We plan to have Internet when we move so this cost will reduce. We spent 8€ on two tubs of ice cream one day while out walking which we won't do when we are there long term we would buy it from the supermarket and wait until we got home to have one! every time we spent something we wrote it down and reviewed the list at the end of each week. Some days we spent more than others depending on what we did we even had two NSD the 2nd week but overall we were in budget and had everything we wanted. Like you we will have a pot for unseen circumstances. We are not planning on running a car in Spain so we don't need to factor this cost in and the 100€ euro I left out of of our dummy run we thought would cover things we wouldn't do or have to pay every week (events, hair cuts, sums bill etc).


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

For the cost of furniture, you could use Bienvenido a IKEA España - Muebles y decoración - IKEA, if you like their things. They have a delivery service.

I would expect you to be able to buy a new sofa for less than the cost of shipping one. 

Also, if you are moving from a house or flat into a mobile home, you might well want to choose furniture that is a different size to what you already own.


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## bandit1250 (Aug 5, 2014)

good old Mandela's 'dream', a rainbow nation,,,, my opinion (apparently for what its worth) is go for it, E1000 should get you a half decent roof over your head and food in your belly, anything after that is a 'luxury' when you consider where you are coming from. Get a place in walking distance of the beach (costa del sol etc) and you should never look back again, just count the pennies more that's all, just make a solemn pact with your partner that you will not fall out/argue about money as that can be a killer when times are hard, don't wait for another 5 years and regret not coming to Spain (as its really nice here).


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## bandit1250 (Aug 5, 2014)

sorry forgot to say rent for a year close to where you are thinking of buying, its the best advice out there, I know rent may seem to be dead money but it could save you big time regarding re-selling ie noisy neighbours (lol! its spain) /no work etc.


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

bandit1250 said:


> good old Mandela's 'dream', a rainbow nation,,,, my opinion (apparently for what its worth) is go for it, E1000 should get you a half decent roof over your head and food in your belly, anything after that is a 'luxury' when you consider where you are coming from. Get a place in walking distance of the beach (costa del sol etc) and you should never look back again, just count the pennies more that's all, just make a solemn pact with your partner that you will not fall out/argue about money as that can be a killer when times are hard, don't wait for another 5 years and regret not coming to Spain (as its really nice here).


I would be very careful about areas like the Costa del Sol, within walking distance of teh beach. The cost of living tends to be very much higher than inland. 

I'd also be very careful about a mobile home. There can be lots of problems with unseen costs, sites not being maintained, etc. Fo a search of teh forum- there are old threads on this topic. Bandit does make a good point about renting to make sure you like the area, the neighbours etc,

Many people can and do live on 1000€ per month but you will need more than that to gain residence- which you must do within 90 days of arrival. For residence you will each need to prove you have approx 600€/month being paid into a Spanish bank account and/ or 6000€ each in savings. You also need to prove you have healthcare provision, either via a work contract or private policy with no exclusions. If you read the FAQ thread you will find lots of practical info like this.

Unemployment is very, very high in Spain so work could be hard, and be very careful with the estate agent idea. If it means being self employed, this is very expensive in Spain, although I think there are still special offers for start ups- again see FAQ thread.

You might be able to make this work but you need to do a lot of research and make a. few visits first.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

From reading old threads like this one

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ing-spain/112282-park-home-sites-spain-2.html

whilst mobile homes may be cheap to buy, it seems the ground rents can be €300-€400 per month. At the moment, you could rent a good, modern 2 bedroom apartment in many areas (including coastal ones where your husband might be able to find estate agency work) for €400 per month (and your IBI - equivalent of Council Tax - and community fees would be included in that), so maybe that is something you could think about which would allow you to keep more of your savings intact, thus helping you meet the requirements for registering as residents. If you could manage with somewhere smaller, rents could be even lower.

My OH and I lived on our savings for the first 8 years we were in Spain, until our pensions came through, and discounting things like short holidays in Spain and trips back to the UK, our living expenses including food, utilities, IBI, internet, private health insurance, and personal/entertainment costs, came to €900 per month. We had no rent or mortgage to pay, though, and we don't have a car as we live somewhere with excellent public transport links.


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## musie (Dec 23, 2014)

Hi if it doesn't include rent then yes we are mortgage free and live on 800 euros a month nicely food is cheap wine too if you live out of holiday area like us then things loads cheaper,we are in mallorca ,I feel totally safe go to beach on my own cycle to the shops etc we are loving it good luck but I highly reccomended it.


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## bambi89 (Apr 1, 2015)

Hi Dee, sounds like you've been having a real rough time of it recently, sorry to hear that.

I was on holiday visiting relatives in South Africa myself a few years back and know what you mean about the safety thing. Nothing happened to us at all but I always felt like it was unsafe, definitely not somewhere I'd be comfortable getting on a bus or walking any great distance either.

I will have a budget of slightly less what you have mentioned when I move to Spain so hearing everyone's thoughts on this has been helpful.


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## Phil-H (Feb 9, 2015)

brocher said:


> .
> .
> 
> Many people can and do live on 1000€ per month but you will need more than that to gain residence- which you must do within 90 days of arrival. For residence you will each need to prove you have approx 600€/month being paid into a Spanish bank account and/ or 6000€ each in savings. You also need to prove you have healthcare provision, either via a work contract or private policy with no exclusions. If you read the FAQ thread you will find lots of practical info like this.
> ...


Please excuse my ignorance, but as a British subject would/do we still have to apply for residence if intending to buy or rent property?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Phil-H said:


> Please excuse my ignorance, but as a British subject would/do we still have to apply for residence if intending to buy or rent property?


You don't apply for residence, exactly. But within 90 days you are required to register as a resident. In order to do that (as an EU citizen) you need, as has been mentioned by Brocher, to provide proof of adequate financial resources (€600 per month per person being paid into a Spanish bank account, or a lump sum of €6000 per person in a Spanish bank account), plus proof of comprehensive healthcare cover. If you are not working and are below state retirement age and therefore unable to get an S1 form from the UK, then you need private health insurance from a Spanish company. All of this applies whether you buy a property or are renting one, it is the fact that you are resident here which counts.


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Lynn R said:


> You don't apply for residence, exactly. But within 90 days you are required to register as a resident. In order to do that (as an EU citizen) you need, as has been mentioned by Brocher, to provide proof of adequate financial resources (€600 per month per person being paid into a Spanish bank account, or a lump sum of €6000 per person in a Spanish bank account), plus proof of comprehensive healthcare cover. If you are not working and are below state retirement age and therefore unable to get an S1 form from the UK, then you need private health insurance from a Spanish company. All of this applies whether you buy a property or are renting one, it is the fact that you are resident here which counts.


.... all as Lynn says, except that in some areas I believe it can be 600€ month PLUS 6000€ savings.... or they might accept one or the other but it is completely up to the officials in each area. 

I.e. if they ask for monthly income, then savings won't be enough.
If they ask for savings, then monthly income won't be enough.
If they ask for both then so be it!

There is no hard and fast rule- it can vary from area to area, or the mood of the official that day! But you will certainly need something along these lines, and the healthcare.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

And if you applied and they turned your application down....??


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## Phil-H (Feb 9, 2015)

Rabbitcat said:


> And if you applied and they turned your application down....??


Surely you would make sure you found out what was required before applying, or at least I would think you should, I'm sorry but only a fool would apply without knowing all the requirements.
However, should the inevitable happen, then at least you will know what the officer of the day requires and best to get the reply in writing.

With regards to the above replies, it sounds just the same as the regulations in Turkey, also 'depends on if the sun is shining'


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Having lived the last 9 years in Turkey I can assure you its a. VERY different kettle of fish than Spain


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