Is it cheaper to live in Spain?

Which Sensodyne toothpaste did you buy?  I bought the normal one for 3.10€ in Jumilla.  The whitening one was a bit more expensive (let me know if you want me to price it!) and I´ll try and remember to price dishwasher tablets on Saturday.

Sue

Hi boboal,

Interesting comparison.  You'd expect Spain to be a lot cheaper than the UK as salaries are so much lower here in Spain than in the UK.  According to the el Pais newspaper, the average salary in Spain is half the average salary in the UK, which is a pretty shocking statistic.

I think Spain is extremely expensive relative to salaries that you can expect in Spain.  Costs are not half of what they are in the UK, as you would logically expect.

oh hum!

Here I go again!

Beating my drum about how it's cheaper to 'live' in Spain... but for us it is true!

We are talking about the costs of living in Spain, not the individual costs of a British item purchased here in Spain such as Cornflakes, frying pans, Tea bags, Toothpaste, etc.

Go Spanish, Go Markets, Go shop around and then also look at all your monthly bills, not just your monthly shopping.

As I said, when we do, it is cheaper for us here than it was in North Devon!

Lidl is a very good shop as well. You can sign up for their newsletters so you know what is going to be on special so you can plan when to go!

Sorry, Technoape, hadn't realised that corn flakes, frying pans and toothpaste were British items.  I assume the Spanish have paella for breakfast, lunch and dinner and don't bother brushing their teeth?

We do go shopping on local markets but man cannot live by a barra of pan and veg only, you know.  And tea bags.  Have you tried the Spanish branded tea bag?  Probably worse than the Liptons stuff they sell in America which is only good for iced tea, IMHO.  Thankfully, I'm a coffee drinker but SWMBO would be impossible to live with if she didn't stock up on strong tea bags from the UK. 

On the other hand, I am a bit of a sucker for the hams (Serrano or other) which are almost giveaway prices in Spain.  (for example, 200 grams of Serrano with over 20 slices at around 5 euros compares with around 3 quid for 5 slices in UK).  Even the cooked ham off the bone at Consum (no added water) is a gourmets delight at about two thirds the cost of comparable ham in UK. 

I do agree it is still cheaper in Spain for a lot of things but, IMHO, furniture (I assume the Spanish use furniture?) is very overpriced.  Even things like beach chairs (which you can't tell me are only British) cost double or more  (even taking into consideration the weak pound). Outdoor furniture is deemed a bargain if you get a set for under €200 whereas it is very easy to pick up set for 70 to 80 pounds in UK (where you probably won't even get around to using them for more than a couple of days a year).  And decent furniture made out of wood!  Do the Spanish take out a mortgage for these things?  Those leather suites you see in abundance are usually the cheap Chinese imports which cost less than half the price in UK.  Basically, it pays to shop around.  Oh, and I also quite like that Cruzcampo beer.  Normally a Guinness drinker (hence the avatar) I will quite happily take the Cruzcampo at 1.20 a litre (UK £1.99 a half litre by the way) as opposed to my favourite black nectar at €1,85 a 440ml can. 

(Sorry if I sound a bit on the bitchy side.  Getting very frustrated at not having flogged the house in UK yet.  Estate agents tell me it is a very difficult time but haven't even had a viewing this year despite dropping the price.  Don't want to just hand the keys over and disappear as the garden will probably have 8 foot grass in a month.  Just very frustrating at the moment as all our furniture is out there in Spain and we were hoping to have moved over long before now.  Eso es la vida)

Sorry Bobaol, I meant the British versions of such goods as opposed to the Spanish versions.

A lot of people moan about how much British goods cost over here and then try and compare like for like expenditure - in which case it would be more expensive!

We used to shop at Morrison's in Gibraltar once a month and stock up on British goods, but we have now found Spanish versions of just about everything, and not only that we prefer Spanish versions.

I agree with what you say about furniture and we also find that electronic and electrical products are more expensive than in the UK, but then again things like that are more 'one off' expenditure, as opposed to 'day-to-day' living expenditure. Having said that, as you say, shop around and you can find the deals, and I have noticed that prices are starting to fall on electrical and electronic goods, and you also get a two year guarantee here in Spain, as opposed to a one year guarantee in the UK.

When we go shopping, we go to Eroski, Lidl, Maxi Dia and Mercadonna for things we want from Supermarkets, and then the Friday or Sunday Markets for Fruit and Veg. We tend to stay clear of Supersol as it caters mainly for ex-pats and as such is more expensive on most products.

Lastly, I agree 100% with what you say about Cruz Campo and Serrano Ham.

Oh! And I love tapas.

I think you've to shop around & not do all the grocery shopping in one shop as I find it even in Richmond (Canada), I've to shop 3 or 4  places to cut down my bill& rely on the flyers to see where the offers are.

Are there any weekly flyers in Spain? The flyers can be from supermarkets to furniture shops, etc  & every week certain items are on sale. I never have to pay full price for my breakfast cereals (Special K with berries, kellogs raisin bran flakes, etc). They've long expiry dates & I always stock up when they're on offer, same as my Jameison vitamins. Practically I buy almost  everything on offer except for milk. I hope I can do the same thing when I move over to Spain. I bought a year's supply of vits & glucosamine as I got 50% off though it cost over $100 & they have expiry dates till 2012 as I'm sure it will take me a year to settle in my new home in Spain.

Hi Forhotspot,

Yes! We have seen flyer's for all the Supermarkets we shop in, that I mentioned below, and that's why we shop around.

We also stock up on the offers, other than the short life goods such as milk, eggs, bread, etc! Also, as Marysafc said, you can sign up to the likes of Lidl and receive their newsletter via e-mail.

As for Lidl, they also tend to have great offers on Garden furniture from time to time, such as last week I believe (we got our sun loungers last year at a great price).

Hi TechNoApe,

   Thanks for telling me about the flyers but I presume the flyers won't be delivered free to each household like we do in Richmond. I was told that there will be a Mercadonna opening in Quesada but I'm not sure if there 's a lidl in Quesada close by where I'll be living.

If there's a lidl close to me, I would sign up for their newsletter.

We usually shop at Maxi Día, Mercadona and Aldi, which are all within walking distance, as is the local Tuesday market.  We pick up flyers in both Maxi Día and Aldi.  Aldi do also distribute flyers to many houses, but not to ours as we are a new development. 

I also have a Consum card, which means that every month I receive a flyer through the post, so we look at their offers and if there are any bargains we can go there to stock up.  There is a smaller Día, which we go into once a month to get coupons for their monthly special offers, which we can then use in the Maxi Día (for some reason they don´t issue coupons there!) 

Sue

For fear of repeating what others have said on this thread... I'm still going to say my bit

Living on an island such as Lanzarote - prices of general food stuffs can be a bit higher than other places. However - we tend to cook everything from scratch now, unlike all the ready made sauces etc we used to buy in the UK. We don't use brand names... and stick to the local stuff. There are of course some things where we allow ourselves treats, such as Branston, Colmans Mustard, or Butterscoth Angel Delight - but on the whole we're pretty immersed in the local stuff now. We have Hiperdino, Spar, Ropers (local store which is fab!!!!!!) and now LIdls... although I haven't been up to that one yet. The farmers markets are ace - and dirt cheap for great fresh veggies, cheese, and wine.

Our car insurance was way cheaper here than in the UK. Rent is about the same as we were paying... but to be fair this place has a private (unheated) pool and two terraces, and is in the year round sunshine in a lovely town - and not at all like my city centre maisonette with no outdoor areas that we moved from. Our electric seems really steep to us... as in double the price that we used to pay - and we don't have heating here. We don't have gas bills. Our water bills are minimal.

We do love to eat out - but don't do it very often... as I love to cook - so we entertain quite a bit at home. Wine for less than a euro a litre, and I've become a dab hand at seafood and Chinese food... which means we normally have people over at least once a week.

All in all - we earn a fraction of what we used to in the UK... but our cost of living is way lower. €1500 a month keeps us just about comfy... €2000 and we're living well.

Elle xx

TechNoApe said: "We used to shop at Morrison's in Gibraltar once a month and stock up on British goods, but we have now found Spanish versions of just about everything...".

It always amazes me how long (if ever) it takes some people to figure this out. A British owner in our building, having only just moved over permanently, asked me once "Do you live a normal life here? Like back home?" The answer was yes, of course, by which I meant I buy local brands and products rather than expensive imported fancy stuff, and don't spend every day & night drinking in bars and eating in restaurants. (Which is what he meant when implying that many Brits do not live a "normal" life here).

In some ways it can be said that this perennial question is as pointless as my Just curious..... thread about the length of a piece of string. It's a matter of lifestyle; in the UK I used to drive about 50,000 miles a year, last year I covered about 1,000kms and spent more on insurance & road tax than can reasonably be justified for that distance, but to conclude that my relative expenditure on fuel means that Spain is cheaper than the UK would be to miss the point entirely.
 

Forhotspot, if you are confident enough to Google a bit in Spanish you will probably find most of the major supermarket's flyers on their websites. They are usually delivered to most homes too, but although the reliability of their delivery systems are far superior to that of the Correos, I wouldn't rely on it!

Bob, TechNo:  Cruzcampo?  Yeuch!

It all depends on how you're going to live and where.

I have always favoured self-sufficiency, wherever I live. Grow your own vegetables and do a bit of bartering. Seems to me a fun way to live and it fits well with the Spanish mentality.

,I have been a member of EOS for some time and have gleened a great deal of useful advice from reading the very interesing threads. I am an early retiree and have been thinking of moving to live in Spain for some time. I currently own a 2 bed 2 bath apartment in Vera Playa which I visit as often as I can.  Family circumstances have so far prevented my wife and I from moving to spain, but having experienced the last two winters, we are now seriously planning to give it a try.

   The cost of living is of great interest as although I am personally retired, my wife is stll in employment and if we were to move to spain our income would drop significantly.  We have savings and would not be selling our home as I think it would be wise to retain a foothold in the UK property market.  We would have an annual income of appx £18,000 net.  Clearly the lifestyle you choose dictates how expensive the cost of living may be, coupled with the exchange rate. I would however appreciate any comments on whether our combined income would be sufficient to make the move at this time. I should add that I have no mortgage on the spanish property and my community charge is currently 75 euros per calender month. 

Call it 18K euros for simplicity - you will be significantly better off than a great many people who work full time here and live perfectly comfortable lives. But of course, as you say, and as has been discussed previously, everybody's idea of what constitutes necessities, and therefore cost of "living", varies enormously. Maybe this will help a bit though: we are a couple living year round in a 2/2 apartment, so our approx. annual costs presumably will be a reasonable guideline?

Elec: 800 euros - we cook a lot at home, using all electric; gas is much cheaper. If your apartment is particularly hot or cold, you may use the a/c more - we don't need it much in either summer or winter

Water: 200 euros

Fixed line telephone, mobile & ADSL: 900 euros; we use SKYPE for most calls, which helps keep costs down. We use Telefoníca, there are cheaper alternatives

Community fees: 1300 euros (yours are less!)

Rates (IBI): 300 euros (you're paying this whether you live here or not!)

Home insurance: 150 euros (ditto, presumably!)

Car road tax: 80 euros

Car insurance (fully comp): 450 euros

That's 4,180 euros which I consider basic essentials which I can't avoid. OK, I don't "need" a car, and I haven't counted fuel because obviously that depends on how much you use the car. Food & drink is equally hard to put a figure on, but I think a couple can very easily stock up for a good eal less than 100 euros a week. So by my calculations, you'll still have plenty left in your pocket for "extras" like a nice meal out occasionally, new clothes (you don't need as many here), fuel for the motor, flights back home a couple of times a year etc.

Anyway, hope that helps a bit?

Cheers Roberto,

A great help. A good starting point to start my planning for a new life in spain. I'm looking for a much simpler and more chilled out lifestyle, so hopefully I should be able to keep the expenditure down. Once again much appreciated.

 Hola all,

This is our 2nd winter out here.

Weighing up the pros & cons, we think its cheaper in spain.

For 1 thing i'm not tempting into buying bogof..s because they dont exist here so my freezer is full of stuff i realy need.

We will wait 12 months before we realy decide, you have said it all.

The good thing is the price of wine uk will never beat it.

Jeanie 

I agree, the wine is cheaper and always taste that much better sitting on the balcony. Very envious!!

When we come over we are going to just relax for a year and then hopefully we will have enough experience of the the pros and cons to make a decision about the future.

Hopefully the pound will improve against the euro and the future will look better for everyone.

With a property in both countries, keeping your options open, and the income you mentioned, I'd say your futures look pretty rosy - good for you!

Don't forget to look into healthcare - if you are both below retirement age, you won't necessarily qualify for free healthcare, so a private plan may be called for.

Just repeating something I posted a couple of weeks ago;

Effective Jan 1st Electricity charges up by 9.8% gas up by 3.9%.

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