how much do you need to live on in spain

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13 Feb 2011 12:00 AM by dianelewis Star rating. 4 posts Send private message

how much would i need each month to live on in spain paying a rent of 450 euros





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13 Feb 2011 3:05 PM by suemac Star rating in Jumilla, Murcia. 1001 posts Send private message

Diane

Whereabouts would you be living?  Some areas are more expensive than others to live in.  Will you be on your own or with a partner and/or family?  Also, what extras will you have to pay on top of your rent, which I assume is monthly?  When we moved here initially, our rental contract stated that we had to pay for basura, water, gas and electricity, but not IBI. Last question from me: how large is the property you are going to rent?

Sue



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13 Feb 2011 4:30 PM by morerosado Star rating. 6927 posts Send private message

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Diane, I have just looked at your other post here & you're also asking about car tax.

As Sue asked where are you renting? Are you including eating out in your 'to live on in Spain' ? Eating out can be very reasonable but it depends on what you want, of course. A menu del dia (menu of the day) is great value. If you shop in markets for fresh fruit & veg you save.

You should check what is included in your rent?




 


 



This message was last edited by morerosado on 13/02/2011.

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13 Feb 2011 5:23 PM by fpegman Star rating in San Miguel De Salina.... 441 posts Send private message

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You can live on 1000 euros a month if you are sensible



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13 Feb 2011 6:17 PM by morerosado Star rating. 6927 posts Send private message

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Can you elaborate Fred?  We all have very different lifestyles after all. 'If you are sensible' .. what do you consider is 'sensible'? Give us a breakdown of this is achieved, please. For as long as I can recall I've often seen the sum of 1000€ bandied about on forums but then I see pensioners are losing 200€ a month because of the exchange rate  so it's a case of how long's a piece of string in my opinion.



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14 Feb 2011 6:37 PM by EOS Team Star rating in In Spain of course!. 4015 posts Send private message

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Let's see...

Rent:  €450

Electricity:  €70

Water:  €40

Phone & ADSL:  €75

Food:  €200 (Living cheaply)

Extras/ emergency money:  €100

Petrol:  €100 (if you don't travel much)

Car insurance:  €30 (cheap car)

Total:  €965

Not far off what Fred was suggesting.  Although I think this is the minimum really.

If you have kids this goes up a lot.

Maybe watch these videos we recorded and the comments people left:

The True Cost of Living in Spain

Cheapest supermarkets in Spain

 

Justin



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14 Feb 2011 6:50 PM by Toddie Star rating in Nr Elche Alicante Hu.... 107 posts Send private message

 

We know of many couples and even families of four that are surviving on a fixed budget of  1,000,00 a month, it's tough but much easier than trying to live on the same budget in the UK  !!   If you happen to be lucky enough to own your home and have no mortgage or rent to pay then you can survive well on a thousand euro budget a month.



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14 Feb 2011 8:05 PM by Roberto Star rating in Torremolinos. 4552 posts Send private message

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Someone said "it's a case of how long's a piece of string in my opinion". Mmm, seems to ring a bell. Didn't I start a thread called "How Long is a Piece of String" the last time someone asked such a daft question? For what it's worth, here's my equally daft answer: how much do you need to live on now, wherever you are? Double it, and you'll be OK.



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14 Feb 2011 11:08 PM by foxbat Star rating in Granada. 1114 posts Send private message

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Justin....

70 Euros for electricity?

What do use it for: just boiling an occasional kettle?

My leccy bill is never less than 110€ and that's in May and September. My combined December / January bill was 542 Euros....

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14 Feb 2011 11:32 PM by Roberto Star rating in Torremolinos. 4552 posts Send private message

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Which just goes to prove my point. A piece of string could be 70 euros long, or 542 euros wide.

Just for the record, I've only had one bill over 70 euros in two years - and we're all electric and cook every day. FB, are you running all the ski lifts in your area?



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14 Feb 2011 11:58 PM by foxbat Star rating in Granada. 1114 posts Send private message

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Guess we must be!

3000 feet up an alp doesn't help and like most Spanish houses insulation is minimal.

One has only to look at the various reports on this forum about Iberdrola and Endesa to realise that living costs are very dependent on where you live.

fb



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15 Feb 2011 12:41 AM by stanleymiguel Star rating in Kensington London UK. 15 posts Send private message

I WOULD NEED ABOUT A 1000 A WEEK BUT I AM UPMARKET

STAN



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15 Feb 2011 8:01 AM by EOS Team Star rating in In Spain of course!. 4015 posts Send private message

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Wow fb that's expensive electricity you've got there!

My highest has been 223 for December and we have electric heating on all day.

Normally leccy bills are around 100 euros and we live in a 4 bed townhouse and have two kids.

The piece of strong long is starting to make sense!

Justin



This message was last edited by EOS Team on 15/02/2011.

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15 Feb 2011 8:25 AM by dianelewis Star rating. 4 posts Send private message

thanks for all your replies. i am a single person on a budget of 1500 sterling so maybe the costs are not so bad.. would like a part time job just to keep me busy. so will investigate further. again thanks for your replies





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15 Feb 2011 12:47 PM by foxbat Star rating in Granada. 1114 posts Send private message

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Diane...

£15K= 17.8K€ at todays exchange rate. For a single person quite do-able.

But remember if your income is initially in £ sterling you will have to deal with a variable exchange rate. Its not so long ago that the rate was 1:1 and that can have a big effect on your living standards.

When we first moved here the rate was £1=1.45€ so £1500 was worth 2,175€...one hell of a difference from today or just a year ago, especially when you have to take into account the other whammy of a steadily increasing cost of living.

Electricity costs as I have said can vary greatly depending on your location.

On the coast ie the Costa del Sol or the Costa Blanca day and night temps are correspondingly higher than inland and halfway up an alp!

We have electric heating  on 24/7 in the living room and main bedroom and at the moment we cannot use our log burner as an alternative because the fireplace is blocked by a huge dog crate where our two miscreant abandonado puppies live. In any case using the log burner can also be quite expensive if one buys logs from commercial sources. The difference is that the log burner is a sort of 'pay as you go' thing whilst the elctric bills arrive once a month with a dull thud as the hit the post box and the wallet!

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15 Feb 2011 5:42 PM by suemac Star rating in Jumilla, Murcia. 1001 posts Send private message

I think the crucial question is where you are living and how big your property is.  We live inland, though not nearly as high up as foxbat (just over 500m above sea level and approx one hour from the coast).  We live in a modern Spanish 2-bed apartment, with tiled floors and no central heating so it is in a traditional style i.e. cold in winter! 

Our average monthly bills work out as follows:

Mortgage:  €560

Community charges:  €23.20

Insurances:  €22.00

Water:   €12.50 (local water company Agua de Jumilla)

Electricity:  €35.00 (Iberdrola)

Natural Gas:  €15.00 (HC Energia)

Phone and internet:  €51.00 (local company Telecable Jumilla)

Food etc (living pretty well!):  €280.00

Total:  €998.70 (if I got my maths right!)

So that leaves a bit of spare change from the €1000!  This is for two of us, however note that we don't run a car - we use the bus if we want to travel further afield.  It also doesn't include holidays, clothes, books etc.

Sue

 



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Author of "Retiring the Ole Way", now available on Amazon

See my blog about our life in Spain: www.spainuncovered.com




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15 Feb 2011 8:45 PM by Rob in Madrid Star rating in Madrid. 274 posts Send private message

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Spending money of only 200 (300 if you include gas) is very very little to live on. It leaves very little for emergencies. How little you can live will depend 100% on how lived back home.

Are you the kind of person who is always living pay cheque to pay cheque, always struggling to make ends meet. Are you the kind of person who likes to go shopping or are you content with old out of date stuff. When was the last time you went shopping for new clothes. What about your TV 42 inch flat screen with Sky HD or an old analogue one

The answer to that question will clearly tell you how much money you need.

Electricity costs can be all over the board, I've had huge bills and other months nothing

BTW living on a grand a month is very very tight most people need 2-3 times that

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15 Feb 2011 8:49 PM by westport Star rating in London & Co.Mayo Ire.... 509 posts Send private message


Hi

Below is a list I made up. As you can see there are lots of other hidden costs that have not been mentioned before. Would be interesting to know final amounts given below once these extra bills have been added, both living on the coast and inland.

 

SHOPPING

PETROL

NIGHTS OUT BAR/RESTAURANT

MORTGAGE

COMMUNITY FEES

WATER

ELECTRIC

LIFE COVER

INTERNET

PHONE LAND LINE & CALLS

MOBILE PHONES

CAR TAX

CAR INSURANCE ( BREAKDOWN NORMALLY INCLUDED )

CAR REPAIRS / TYRES / MOT ( ITV ) AFTER 4 YEARS THEN EVERY YEAR

CAR SAVINGS POT FOR REPLACEMENT CAR AFTER X NO. OF YEARS

BIRTHDAY PRESENTS ( FAMILY & SCHOOL CLASS MATES IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN )

XMAS PRESENTS

SCHOOL BOOKS

HEALTH CARE

DENTIST

TV LICENCE ??

BUILDINGS & CONTENTS INSURANCE

SATELITE TV

NATIONAL INSURANCE STAMPS UK ??

SPAIN RESIDENT TAX OR NON RES TAX

ANNUAL TRAVEL INSURANCE

ACOUNTANT FEES

CLOTHES SHOPPING

HOLIDAYS – FLIGHTS – HOTELS – SPENDING – CAR HIRE

IBI

RUBBISH

GARAGE TAX 

 





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15 Feb 2011 9:20 PM by Sanchez1 Star rating. 853 posts Send private message

Spain is no longer a cheap country, post-euro.  We spend around 1000 euros per month between the two of us, and that's for the essentials such as rent, electricity, diesel, car insurance, telephone/broadband, food and a couple of nights out per week at a local tapas bar. 

A large chunk of the Spanish population are known as "mileuristas", who are people that earn 1000 euros or less per month.  For these people, they don't have much left over each month from their pay packet!



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15 Feb 2011 9:28 PM by kathym Star rating in Oliva, Valencia. 22 posts Send private message

Westport, why have you included TV licence in your list?   No such animal in Spain!

 

Diane, I live alone.  It is perfectly possible to live on 1000-1200€ a month paying rent of 450€..  A bit more would be nicer though!ñ  But on 1500GBP a month I don't think you'd have much of a problem.  My electriciy bills are about 70€ a month eight  months of the year rising to about 150€ a month in winter.





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