# Single mum wanting to move to spain



## Lisa2012 (Aug 9, 2012)

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone could please give me some advice. I am a single mum of two children a 3 year old and a 1 year old. I am 27 and have wanted to move to spain for sometime now. I am hoping to move in a years time with my two children. I have saved up a few thousand pounds over the years in the hope to move to spain in the future. I also have a regular income of just over 1000 a month from my internet business so I would not have to worry so much about getting employment. I am just wondering if anyone can offer any advice on nice areas to live, schools, nurserys, healthcare, rent prices, meeting new friends ect. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Lisa2012 said:


> Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone could please give me some advice. I am a single mum of two children a 3 year old and a 1 year old. I am 27 and have wanted to move to spain for sometime now. I am hoping to move in a years time with my two children. I have saved up a few thousand pounds over the years in the hope to move to spain in the future. I also have a regular income of just over 1000 a month from my internet business so I would not have to worry so much about getting employment. I am just wondering if anyone can offer any advice on nice areas to live, schools, nurserys, healthcare, rent prices, meeting new friends ect. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.


Hi Lisa,
There's a lot of info on here already about schools, renting, paperwork etc in a sticky at the top of the main Spain page called something like "Forms and education, driving, tax etc". For nice areas to live, choose a town or area and search it on the forum, for example Malaga, Alhaurin, north Spain, Galicia...
I'm not sure about the money you'd be earning. Your 3 year old could go into full time education, but the one year old would obviously be in a playschool type place if you didn't look after him/ her at home and that would mean your 1000 euros a month wouldn't go very far...


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I can't answer for other areas but where we live there are many ex pats with children the age of yours, with mum and toddler groups available etc. There are long term rentals available in Nerja for 2 bed apartments in town for around €300 - €450 a month but you wouldn't need a car as the public transport is amazing. Further north in the town is Capistrano and other small urbanisations where you might have the luxury of a private pool but in such cases you can expect to pay an amount each month for maintenance etc. If you have a car, rentals are much cheaper in the campo for villas with pools etc. Remember, though, that once you are a tax resident here (after 182 days) you will be liable to pay tax here and that might also mean becoming autonomo which will cost you a minimum of €260 a month, but that will also give you healthcare for you and your children. Having said that, the Spanish system here will never turn away a sick child under any circumstances. Good luck and keep us posted!!


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

How exciting, Lisa, but you have a lot of careful planning to do if you are to move to Spain, because sadly Spain is being extremely badly hit by the Eurozone crisis. Unemployment, averages 25% across the country at the moment - actually over 30% in some areas.

You are lucky if you have an income of £1000 to start you off, but that would be tight without you getting another job, if you consider that you will get no benefits in Spain like tax credits or housing benefit. You will no longer qualify for your Child Allowance and there is no Spanish equivalent. Nothing at all!

You will have to study areas you fancy living carefully, as prices vary widely. As Thrax has already mentioned, there are areas where you could get a 2 bed rental for maybe 350-450e, but other areas are much more expensive. In my daughter's area 600e is pretty much the starting price for a half decent one bed rental. 

To make things harder, the Spanish Authorities have recently introduced some new legislation meaning that you will have to prove that you have sufficient income and healthcare provision before you are allowed to register for residence. Unless you meet these requirements, you will be unable to gain access to many things including state healthcare and schooling. At the moment, it is not quite clear how much income each person will need to satisfy these requirements, but the figures being talked about seem to be around 450-600e per person. That would mean that for the 3 of you you would need a contracted job to boost your income sufficiently above your internet business income (obviously you could not really declare income from a cash in hand, casual job!)

The good thing is a contracted job would mean your National Insurance type contributions would be paid, entitling you to healthcare, schooling, etc. It might be hard to get a contracted job with unemployment so high, and fit in child care, etc.

Another option is to become self employed (autonomo) with your internet business but that automatically means paying contributions of around 250e/per month no matter how little you actually earn. In any case, you will have to take proper advice re. your business and paying the autonomo and Spanish tax on it.

Lots of financial planning to do to make sure you can move your family sucessfully, but there's plenty help and info here!


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

All of the advice given above, is good and common sense. What I would advis, is that before you move out here, set aside funds so that if it all goes pear shaped, you have the money to move back.


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

Lisa,
I swore to myself that I would not offer further advice to people hoping to live the dream. I come across as the depressed, dopey, dont-do-it negative thinker. You are a single mum with two children and very limited income. The chance of acquiring a decent paying job in Spain is pretty remote. You can support yourself to the tune of a thousand per month. Believe me coastal Spain will soak up that income in accommodation, food, clothes, transport, education, child-care etc. Even if you are lucky and obtain an extra income in Spain the costs will increase. I know people who survive in Spain on UK pensions who now have to support their income by menial means. I am not criticizing them and fair play they live their dream by doing work in Spain that they would not do in their country of origin.

I know if everybody thought like me, nobody would be coming to Spain. Dont be fooled there is as much ex-pats going in the opposite direction, skint, disillusioned, wiser, etc. In time (I'm talking years) the european economy will improve again and then perhaps your dream can be realised? Now is not the time for dreamers, sorry!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Leper said:


> Lisa,
> I swore to myself that I would not offer further advice to people hoping to live the dream. I come across as the depressed, dopey, dont-do-it negative thinker. You are a single mum with two children and very limited income. The chance of acquiring a decent paying job in Spain is pretty remote. You can support yourself to the tune of a thousand per month. Believe me coastal Spain will soak up that income in accommodation, food, clothes, transport, education, child-care etc. Even if you are lucky and obtain an extra income in Spain the costs will increase. I know people who survive in Spain on UK pensions who now have to support their income by menial means. I am not criticizing them and fair play they live their dream by doing work in Spain that they would not do in their country of origin.
> 
> I know if everybody thought like me, nobody would be coming to Spain. Dont be fooled there is as much ex-pats going in the opposite direction, skint, disillusioned, wiser, etc. In time (I'm talking years) the european economy will improve again and then perhaps your dream can be realised? Now is not the time for dreamers, sorry!


as a now single mum of 2, albeit much older, kids - I can totally agree that 1000 a month isn't going to be enough by any stretch

and also almost certainly won't be enough to satisfy the govt. that you can support yourself & your family & therefore register as resident

if you can't register you can't get access to education or healthcare, as previously mentioned


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## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

I agree about 1000 not being enough for a family. It's fine for a single person, but I could not imagine being able to support two kids with that income.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Clemmie00 said:


> I agree about 1000 not being enough for a family. It's fine for a single person, but I could not imagine being able to support two kids with that income.



Especially when you consider school costs - when they start at primary school, you have to pay for the books. For our children, books this year were 500 euros each!

Some schools 'round here are now insisting that parents (via their children) bring in paper and pens, toilet tissue etc. etc.


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## Lisa2012 (Aug 9, 2012)

Thanks for the messages. I am thinking maybe wait.a few years until the economy picks up again and for me to bebetter prepare for the big move. I do have a good amount saved approx 42 grand, but I imagine I could soon eat into the savings. Maybe save as much as I possibly can and learn the language thoroughly beforehand. But ultimately it is a dream of mine and I know without a doubt that in the near future, albeit a few years or so that I.will live my dream. But I am not fooled into thinking its all going to be a bed of roses, I know spain like the majority of europe has been hit hard by the recession. Thanks for the advice though


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Lisa2012 said:


> Thanks for the messages. I am thinking maybe wait.a few years until the economy picks up again and for me to bebetter prepare for the big move. I do have a good amount saved approx 42 grand, but I imagine I could soon eat into the savings. Maybe save as much as I possibly can and learn the language thoroughly beforehand. But ultimately it is a dream of mine and I know without a doubt that in the near future, albeit a few years or so that I.will live my dream. But I am not fooled into thinking its all going to be a bed of roses, I know spain like the majority of europe has been hit hard by the recession. Thanks for the advice though


I think the decision to wait on it is a wise one Lisa. I would also think long and hard about using up your savings to make the move, but it's a good idea to use this time to prepare yourself a bit more by learning a bit of the language and finding out about schools, local councils, areas to consider etc


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## Jaangee (Feb 8, 2015)

Hi Lisa. I was googeling expat single mums in spain and came across your post. Im a single mum myself who considering moving to spain.. So im curious, did you make the move, and if so how is it going??? Best regards Marie


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Jaangee said:


> Hi Lisa. I was googeling expat single mums in spain and came across your post. Im a single mum myself who considering moving to spain.. So im curious, did you make the move, and if so how is it going??? Best regards Marie


Welcome to the forum, I have to say, that unless you have a good independent income or a contracted job lined up, its going to be very hard to manage financially

Jo xxx


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## ABERAFON (Aug 15, 2014)

Lisa2012 said:


> Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone could please give me some advice. I am a single mum of two children a 3 year old and a 1 year old. I am 27 and have wanted to move to spain for sometime now. I am hoping to move in a years time with my two children. I have saved up a few thousand pounds over the years in the hope to move to spain in the future. I also have a regular income of just over 1000 a month from my internet business so I would not have to worry so much about getting employment. I am just wondering if anyone can offer any advice on nice areas to live, schools, nurserys, healthcare, rent prices, meeting new friends ect. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.


Hope you did not try it Lisa.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

I agree with the advice given by others but it is worth bearing in mind that if your internet business generates 1,000 a month in UK pounds that converts to over €1,300 a month, so a little better than perhaps it at first sounds. Having said that, exchange rates go up and down, although the outlook at the moment looks good for those in receipt of a UK Sterling income. If the euro/pound exchange rate returns to its 2006 level (as some financial experts have predicted), your income would be far healthier over here and your 42,000 UK pounds would be worth over €60,000. Just something to think about.


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## littlecritterz (Nov 29, 2012)

coastal living is more expensive than inland. I live about 45 minutes from Malaga and can live quite comfortably on the equivalent of £1,000..this pays for my rent, electric, gas bottles, water, rubbish, movistar package (internet, mobile phone and tv), food bills, dog food, clothing and other miscellaneous items and I run a car. I am a single parent with one teenage daughter and 3 dogs. There are some nice properties here and it is possible to rent a 4 bed townhouse for as little as 280€. Water bills are very cheap here as it is mainly farmland. The public transport is pretty bad but we have most things in the village including a couple of small supermarkets, bakers, cafes, bars, restaurant etc. we don't pay for school books here either and other than school trips we don't have any costs in relation to the schools. I have my residencia and only had to show a regular income going into my spanish bank of around 650€, they didn't need to see any income for my daughter.
I don't drink but do go out for coffee on a regular basis and, at the moment, i also smoke (although I am trying to quit) so as long as you don't want to eat out every day or drink all the time then it can be done. However, if you need to find work then forget it as there is no work available here. The only jobs are online (if you can get them) or travelling to a bigger town for work (but then fuel costs would eat into your income)


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

littlecritterz said:


> coastal living is more expensive than inland. I live about 45 minutes from Malaga and can live quite comfortably on the equivalent of £1,000..this pays for my rent, electric, gas bottles, water, rubbish, movistar package (internet, mobile phone and tv), food bills, dog food, clothing and other miscellaneous items and I run a car. I am a single parent with one teenage daughter and 3 dogs. There are some nice properties here and it is possible to rent a 4 bed townhouse for as little as 280€. Water bills are very cheap here as it is mainly farmland. The public transport is pretty bad but we have most things in the village including a couple of small supermarkets, bakers, cafes, bars, restaurant etc. we don't pay for school books here either and other than school trips we don't have any costs in relation to the schools. I have my residencia and only had to show a regular income going into my spanish bank of around 650€, they didn't need to see any income for my daughter.
> I don't drink but do go out for coffee on a regular basis and, at the moment, i also smoke (although I am trying to quit) so as long as you don't want to eat out every day or drink all the time then it can be done. However, if you need to find work then forget it as there is no work available here. The only jobs are online (if you can get them) or travelling to a bigger town for work (but then fuel costs would eat into your income)


This is a very good point. Inland Spain is a different world from the coast, where all prices seem to have a "tourist premium." When we decided to move to Spain we deliberately avoided the coastal areas because we had already discovered how much cheaper everything is inland, especially property. Inland is also far more peaceful, no traffic jams, it´s easier to integrate with the wonderful, friendly Spanish people and the scenery is far more beautiful and interesting.


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## Jaangee (Feb 8, 2015)

Lisa, hope we gonna hear a update from you soon.. For me, its not the economical situation there is my concern. I study in denmark but do it online, and here in denmark we get paid to study..Yes i know we are very very privilege.. so for the next 3 years I'm going to have a stable income..All in all I'm going to have about 2500€ a month, maybe a little more. but I'm not going to reply for residencia so I'm going to pay for private kindergarden for my girls so i can have some free time and the girls can meet other kids.. For me, i think its a little hard, that there is pretty much NO single expat mums down there, i lived there from last january until april, and loved it but thinks it can be strange not to meet anyone who's in the same situation as you.. Also we have moved some times here in denmark already and I'm afraid its going to be too much for my daughters..


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