Cost of Living

We should be completing on a property in May / June, and our intentions are to move out to spain in 12 months time. my question is could anyone tell me what amount they believe i would need per month to live. There will not be a mortgage, the property iis a 3 bed villa and is all electric, there is a pool, we are not party goers however we do like a drink or two and would like to go out at least once a week for a meal. I will be 60 when we go, and I just need an idea of what we need out there, from people who already live in Spain. would be very grateful for your help

This is a really difficult question but I recently spent 4 weeks out in Spain and I found that I spent the same amount on food as I do in UK.  I eat a lot more fish as I think it's very reasonably priced.  Also a lot of food in UK is quite cheap at the moment due the supermarkets trying to out do each other.  I also get my fruit and veg from the local markets although Mercadonna now are selling some fruit and veg which you can indivually weigh.  My husband hasn't retired yet so he only comes over for a weekend, I therefore don't need to buy huge amounts of food.

We eat out once a week at our local Chinese very cheaply.

We have a townhouse and a community pool.  Our bills would be lower as we don't live there full time.  Our yearly budget is now £1200 due to the fall in the euro, we also have a landline (Telefonica) but don't have internet.

We go for 2 months at a time. I find I save on my usual UK outgoings when in Spain. The bulk of our expense goes on food and drink (450 euros a month) compared with £320 at home. However that includes a couple of meals out a week & lots of daily cafes con leches plus plenty of entertaining .

I pay on average 80 euros a month on electric/water for my 2 bed Apartment.

Community fees are 500e for pool/lifts etc. Council tax 500e a year.

I could live here quite a lot more reasonable from home because I don't need a car (5 minute walk to the shops/beach).

The area I could blow the budget is golf. My wife & I play maybe once a month compared to 3 times a week at home.That is the onlly downside as I really miss it but refuse to pay 60e each to play on courses that whilst OK do not in my view hold a candle to UK courses in summer.

Good Luck

My husband plays golf and when he decides to take early retirement he's going to join a golf society.  There's quite a few advertised in the costa blanca news and he says they say that guests are welcome.  He thinks this will work out cheaper than paying the full green fee.  Recently he paid 45e at Campanor at Easter but he normally pays between 60 or 55e depending on the time of year.