# Cost of living



## Redave (Dec 23, 2009)

I have been living in America for eleven years so I have not kept in touch with the cost of living in Spain.
Can anyone who is living in Spain full time give me some basic figures of cost.
We are thinking about Valencia because we can pay to join their medical system.
I will buy my house and car without any loans, so there will be no monthly loans to pay. 
So I need some ideas on weekly costs for the following, there is just myself and my wife.
Food.
Electric for lighting.
Electric or gas for heating.
Water fees.
Property taxes.
Car insurance.
House insurance.
Anything else which is required.
I know the figures can vary depending on how you live.
We are only trying to get a rough estimate to make sure that we have enough to live on, plus some spare money for things changing/going wrong.

Thanks Dave & Eileen


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Redave said:


> I have been living in America for eleven years so I have not kept in touch with the cost of living in Spain.
> Can anyone who is living in Spain full time give me some basic figures of cost.
> We are thinking about Valencia because we can pay to join their medical system.
> I will buy my house and car without any loans, so there will be no monthly loans to pay.
> ...


I read somewhere that 800€ a month would be the right amount for a couple to live fairly easily - obviously without going too wild LOL But its so dificult to estimate how someone else would spend their money - big house that you like to keep warm/cool will cost much more than a small flat that you dont spend much time in. A "juicy" car that you drive alot companred to an aixum that you simply go to the shops in....... you get what I'm saying! What I would say is that the cost of living in Spain isnt much less than it is in the UK these days, but this 800€ I read about could do it I guess??

Jo xxx


----------



## country boy (Mar 10, 2010)

This is an old chestnut and always causes debate amongst members on any forum. I can only say what we find: We are a couple of pensioners , living in a house that we own in the countryside with no mortgage, we run a fairly old 4x4 and have one dog. We do not dine out or go on holidays very often, we do like a drink and have a reasonable expectation of quality from our purchases.
We live well on €1100 per month, which covers all our normal expenses but not emergencies. 
Hope this helps.


----------



## JazII (Mar 11, 2010)

I think CB and Jo are spot on. Around Euros 800 for a single person would provide a *comfortabl*e standard of living (including some pleasurable activities for example membership at a nice gym, water sport, trips out) and around Euros 1200 for a couple provided you don't eat out *excessively*. Some folks maybe able to survive on less, it all depends on what other activities you do and any related costs associated to them. Since you are planning to purchase your property outright, the estimate does not include any related mortgage or rental costs ;-))


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

There's info in the "cost of living" sticky although it's a bit difficult to wade through. Try the link I gave on the last page.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

country boy said:


> This is an old chestnut and always causes debate amongst members on any forum. I can only say what we find: We are a couple of pensioners , living in a house that we own in the countryside with no mortgage, we run a fairly old 4x4 and have one dog. We do not dine out or go on holidays very often, we do like a drink and have a reasonable expectation of quality from our purchases.
> We live well on €1100 per month, which covers all our normal expenses but not emergencies.
> Hope this helps.


Also pensioner. Wife, Mother-in-law and myself live comfortably on €1100 per month and put about €200-300 in bank. No mortgage, car - berlingo diesel carry all, council tax (inc water, sewage and basura) - pay per year what we used to pay per month in UK (about €120). Of course we have no extravagances but are comfortable and want for little.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

A youtube video on the subject made by one of our own members I believe!!?? (From 2009)


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Pesky Wesky said:


> A youtube video on the subject made by one of our own members I believe!!?? (From 2009)
> 
> YouTube - Cost of Living in Spain - Fruit and Veg



Who's that then???? 

I will say something - if you can live on oranges, then you'll live here for nothing!!!! My neighbour has given me a load, a friend up the road brings me some and now the petrol station has started giving them away!!! I'm fast disappearing under a mountain of the things!!!! They're not even the type you can make marmalade with!! Has anyone any tips???????

Jo xxx


----------



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

jojo said:


> Who's that then????
> 
> I will say something - if you can live on oranges, then you'll live here for nothing!!!! My neighbour has given me a load, a friend up the road brings me some and now the petrol station has started giving them away!!! I'm fast disappearing under a mountain of the things!!!! They're not even the type you can make marmalade with!! Has anyone any tips???????
> 
> Jo xxx


drink them?

if you have a big freezer you could juice them & freeze the juice


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

jojo said:


> Who's that then????
> 
> I will say something - if you can live on oranges, then you'll live here for nothing!!!! My neighbour has given me a load, a friend up the road brings me some and now the petrol station has started giving them away!!! I'm fast disappearing under a mountain of the things!!!! They're not even the type you can make marmalade with!! Has anyone any tips???????
> 
> Jo xxx


Make juice and freeze it for use as juice or make lollies, both refreshing in the hot weather in summer.

Here there are streets with orange trees in them but they ARE the Sevilla bitter (marmalade) type and we asked now the Council staff pick them and bring them to us to make marmalade. Mermelanda de Naranja is not greatly appreciated so they don't use the oranges and they just fall off and rot.


----------



## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Thats a job for the kids isnt it!!! What a great idea. I'll set them to work after school this evening

Jo xxx


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

The big secrets here are (1) to have a large freezer and also (2) to re-learn the ways our grandparents and great-grandparents used to preserve fresh fruit and veg during the glut months of the summer and autumn for use in the lean months of winter and early spring.

Neighbours are often only to glad to offload some of their surpluses on to those of us who don't have huertas and our own surplus. We in turn bake cakes and biscuits, make jams and jellies, pies, soups, wines and cordials, sweets and desserts using some of that produce and give it back to them.

On the subject of preserved fruit and veg we still have from last year, broad beans, orejones (sun dried peach slices - literally 'ears' and apples), jams and jellies, chutneys, pickles, etc.


----------



## Maddalena (Feb 6, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Also pensioner. Wife, Mother-in-law and myself live comfortably on €1100 per month and put about €200-300 in bank. No mortgage, car - berlingo diesel carry all, council tax (inc water, sewage and basura) - pay per year what we used to pay per month in UK (about €120). Of course we have no extravagances but are comfortable and want for little.


So, this 1100 euros is NOT counting rent, correct? So adding rent or a mortgage payment would up that number considerably, no?


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Maddalena said:


> So, this 1100 euros is NOT counting rent, correct? So adding rent or a mortgage payment would up that number considerably, no?


Yes, our net outgoings including food, utilities- telephone (inc Broadband), gas (bombonas), electric, water, sewage, basura, etc - amount to about €700-800 per month. But three adults and one smallish dog live on that, comfortably.


BTW if anyone wants to use the Euro symbol (€) and doesn't have one on their keyboard: hold down the Alt key and type on the numeric keypad: 0128


----------



## Keidik (Nov 26, 2008)

Hi Dave

Here are my monthly bills for the following:
Food (200€) I live alone so if you have a family allow for more!
Electric for lighting and heating (average of 40€ a month)
Water fees (not much at all - so little that I cant even remember!)
Property taxes (This is a very small amount too, maybe 200€ a year, but it all depends on the value of your property)
Car insurance (I pay about 300€ a year with Linea Directa)
House insurance (This is another annual fee - around 250€)


----------



## Maddalena (Feb 6, 2010)

Thanks for your responses Baldilocks and Keidik!!


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

The amount you spend for utilities will obviously depend on the kind of place you live in. I'm calculating our electricity/water bills as a monthly average of 220 euros over the past year. We spent an extra 160 euros on logs for the fire.
But we chose to live in a large house with large gardens so we can't complain. The sprinklers are on most of the summer months at night and the pool needs topping up but very occasionally. We don't need the air-con in summer as the house is very light and airy.
Food-wise, I'd agree with other posters. Two adults and a dog can live well here on 800 -1000 euros a month, especially if you actually buy fresh ingredients and cook. I've included petrol/diesel in that but we don't use much as we do mainly short journeys and we go to Gibraltar to shop and to fill up the LR about once every two months and that full tank usually lasts until the next trip down.
Our rent is our major expense but we chose to do that rather than buy and if some economic catastrophe befell us we'd be happy to downsize here or, more sensibly, move inland where we'd find a similar house at almost half the rent.
How much you'll spend here depends more on your lifestyle than would be the case in the UK, it seems to me. As I said, our house is our chief source of entertainment here so we rarely go far from it in the summer months. No need to factor in holiday expenses, this is our holiday. We spend most of the days in the summer in swim gear so clothes aren't sio important. I order loads of books from Amazon, usually used, sometimes for as little as 1p plus postage.
I do miss going to the cinema, theatre and music concerts, especially the opera - the best seats were cheap as chips in Prague -but then radio, tv and internet fill that gap.
One of the most attractive aspects of life here for me is that you can tailor your lifestyle and expenditure to your tastes and economic situation much more easily than in the UK.
Downsizing needn't mean despair, sunshine is free.


----------



## shoemanpete (Jan 4, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Yes, our net outgoings including food, utilities- telephone (inc Broadband), gas (bombonas), electric, water, sewage, basura, etc - amount to about €700-800 per month. But three adults and one smallish dog live on that, comfortably.
> 
> 
> BTW if anyone wants to use the Euro symbol (€) and doesn't have one on their keyboard: hold down the Alt key and type on the numeric keypad: 0128


Hi baldilocks, interesting tip re euro sign, but cannot do this on my laptop as no separate number pad. Do you know a way to do it?


----------



## beverleyp (May 26, 2009)

*How to preserve fruit in its original condition*



jojo said:


> Who's that then????
> 
> I will say something - if you can live on oranges, then you'll live here for nothing!!!! My neighbour has given me a load, a friend up the road brings me some and now the petrol station has started giving them away!!! I'm fast disappearing under a mountain of the things!!!! They're not even the type you can make marmalade with!! Has anyone any tips???????
> 
> Jo xxx


The following link explains an ancient way of preserving fruit as is, without sugar:
How to Preserve Fruit Without Sugar: 10 steps - wikiHow


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Maddalena said:


> So, this 1100 euros is NOT counting rent, correct? So adding rent or a mortgage payment would up that number considerably, no?


No we actually live very comfortably on about €800 per month. We have no rent nor mortgage and own our house outright but then it cost us only €85k for a five BR, 2BA house with room in the attic for 3 more beds and another bath. That would barely buy a 1BR flat in the southern UK


----------



## laulah (Mar 30, 2010)

Hi there!

Just for you to compare, here comes our monthly expenses from Barcelona center (couple, no kids):

Studio flat in El Born 35m2 590/month
Electricity 20 - 70/month (summer - winter)
Water included in the rent
Internet 29/month (Jazztel superfast, offer)
Food 500/month - including supermarket and restaurants, we like to eat out )

We don't have a car but transportation is approximately 100 a month, metro + taxis.

Hope this helps


----------

