# How much money needed per month



## nick1 (Oct 9, 2010)

Could anyone give me an idea of how much money is needed to live on per month on the costa blanca. I am not counting going out money or household bills , just shopping/running a car etc.There are three of us 2 adults 1 child of 9.
Thanks Nick.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Hi Nick, have you read the Cost of Living thread at the top of the forum posts? There is quite a lot of information there.

Prices right now are about the same as in the UK, but of course it is all dependent on the exchange rate. Also of course it depends on your lifestyle. If you adopt the Spanish way and cook fresh food every day, lots of fruit & veg from the market, you can live very cheaply, but if you go round supermarkets looking for all the things you had in the UK it can get pricey!


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## nick1 (Oct 9, 2010)

Alcalaina said:


> Hi Nick, have you read the Cost of Living thread at the top of the forum posts? There is quite a lot of information there.
> 
> Prices right now are about the same as in the UK, but of course it is all dependent on the exchange rate. Also of course it depends on your lifestyle. If you adopt the Spanish way and cook fresh food every day, lots of fruit & veg from the market, you can live very cheaply, but if you go round supermarkets looking for all the things you had in the UK it can get pricey!


Yes i have had a read of the thread very informative. We are just making sure we can afford to live reasonably.We will have around 3500 euros pm this will have to cover rent at approx 650 pm and school fees around 500pm in your opinion is this enough to live on.
Thanks Nick


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

nick1 said:


> Yes i have had a read of the thread very informative. We are just making sure we can afford to live reasonably.We will have around 3500 euros pm this will have to cover rent at approx 650 pm and school fees around 500pm in your opinion is this enough to live on.
> Thanks Nick


You should be able to manage very nicely on that, IMO.

The two of us (plus a cat) manage quite well on about €1600 a month, but we don't have rent to pay.


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

nick1 said:


> Yes i have had a read of the thread very informative. We are just making sure we can afford to live reasonably.We will have around 3500 euros pm this will have to cover rent at approx 650 pm and school fees around 500pm in your opinion is this enough to live on.
> Thanks Nick


I think that you should lead a farily decent life on that... 

I presume your income is from the UK? If it is then do consider you will have to make provisions for healthcare, and if you are not contributing into the Spanish system this will more often than not need to be by means of a private policy. I have State & Private and the private costs me around 69 euros a month, and I am a fit, healthy, and relatively young man! So I would _guess _that for a family you would need to allow maybe 200 for something comprehensive.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Alcalaina said:


> Prices right now are about the same as in the UK, but of course it is all dependent on the exchange rate. !



It also depends on where you are thinking of living ... the OP was asking about the CB and I think you're down in Cadiz

I have just come back from the UK and I can definately say that the cost of living in the CB North is less than the UK still. It's more expensive to live down your way, thats become clear to me over a period of time 

You have to be careful where you shop, mind ... The UK supermarkets up here are expensive, because they stock a lot of UK foods. Carrefour is more expensive here now than Mercadonna. We go to Aldi for basics now before we do our main shop, and you can buy good veg from some local markets ... Oliva ihas a good market

We spend about €70 - 100 when we do a main shop, and thats usually every 2 - 3 weeks. We supplement that inbetween of course with smaller outings!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Well.....I actually think you will be cutting it fine to live on 3500 euros if you have no reserves for emergencies, flights home, insurances etc.etc.
Of course it depends on where you live and how much rent you pay (650 euros won't get you much down our way) but utilities including internet/phone could set you back another 300 euros a month. Add school fees to that -and I believe that you will find school fees don't stop at basic tuition- and you have 1500 euros for three people to feed, clothe, amuse and transport themselves.
Of course people can and do live on far less but you could end up with less than Alcalaina per month with one more person -admittedly minus cat -to support.
Drive over the speed limit, find you have to replace some expensive item and you could be in difficulties if you don't have cash reserves. And there's the health insurance issue. 
Of course there won't be any problem if you have cash in the bank.
I don't want to put you off, just give you something to consider.


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## nick1 (Oct 9, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Well.....I actually think you will be cutting it fine to live on 3500 euros if you have no reserves for emergencies, flights home, insurances etc.etc.
> Of course it depends on where you live and how much rent you pay (650 euros won't get you much down our way) but utilities including internet/phone could set you back another 300 euros a month. Add school fees to that -and I believe that you will find school fees don't stop at basic tuition- and you have 1500 euros for three people to feed, clothe, amuse and transport themselves.
> Of course people can and do live on far less but you could end up with less than Alcalaina per month with one more person -admittedly minus cat -to support.
> Drive over the speed limit, find you have to replace some expensive item and you could be in difficulties if you don't have cash reserves. And there's the health insurance issue.
> ...


Thanks for your replies very helpful . We are looking at the Albir/Altea area rents are pretty cheap there nice 2 bed apts from about 500 eu pm inc all services , not utilities mind. The income is coming from interest so in the event of emergencies we would have to use our capital ,so at least we would be covered in the worst case scenario.Maybe a job might help but i have heard its pretty a pretty dire situation out there employment wise.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

nick1 said:


> .Maybe a job might help but i have heard its pretty a pretty dire situation out there employment wise.


To put it mildly ...! 

Seasonal workers now laid off for the winter, so we're back to over 4 million unemployed (20%).


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