Living expenses - Page 3

Kim thank you I have followed this trail & you have been extremely helpful & honest.  People like you who take the time to respond to people’s questions are the reason this forum is so useful. 

Thank you

Ellie 

Hello Trev, just one thing to add to the constructive feedback, after the first year here, when you have to pay the first year's private medical insurance up front ( due to some people paying enough monthly installments to get Residencia and then cancelling it, leaving themselves with no health cover at all), you can join the Convenio Especial for @ €60 a month each and this has no restrictions on pre-existing conditions. It does mean you will be using the excellent Spanish health service where you will probably need to hire an interpreter for appointments, but that is the only negative.
I'm using Duolingo to try to learn Spanish and I find it very helpful as it is based on repetition and you can go at your own pace, repeating sections until you get the hang of it.
With Jim Taylor's excellent guides, you can do all the paperwork yourselves but we found it easier to use an expert. We used Uma at getlegalinspain.com, based In Torrevieja, excellent English and she took the worry and uncertainty out of everything for us, meeting us somewhere convenient, driving us to appointments, telling us exactly what documents we needed and the number of copies and generally getting everything done with the minimum of fuss.
We love our lives here in Spain and this forum continues to be a huge help to us.

Lived here 15 years. You can live of €1700 a month for the two of you, with the mortgage paid etc. 

As with most things, will depend on your lifestyle - if you don't spend your retirement in a bar ;-) or eating at expensive restaurants, it should achievable.

You can eat out here very economically and if you don't have expensive tastes - while electricity is not cheap, for 2 people in an average house €100-€150 per month, council tax here is buttons - we pay around €400 a year (not a month), good size 3 bedroom property. 

If on a community, there will be community fees. In our situation in a small community of 20 properties, with a pool, costs around €100 every quarterly.

Our water €80 billed every 2 or 3 months (not sure), without a private pool! (that's in the community fees).

For healthcare, whilst you can get private, you can also pay around €70? a month to access the Spanish system if you are not yet a pensioner, which when you are, is free (or currently) in reciprocation with the UK. Hopefully, Brexit won't affect.

Hi Trevor,  we moved here santa pola 3 years ago and love it!!!😊on that sort of money you can have a good life😊 your only concern is health care, we are fortunate that my wife is a pensioner I am not yet in receipt of my pension but the good thing about spain is they allow me to piggy back on her s1 form which means we are both covered by Spanish health care which is marvellous,  we have a nice life on less than what your budget is😊 we rent a lovely apartment by the sea it's lovely😊 didn't want to buy it's so much easier renting long term, if you want any other info you can private message me😊   good luck regards michael.

Hi there,

A little late to this conversation.  My and my hubby moved here in October 2018 (he is 58 and I am 49).  I work from home for a UK company and he is retired (just so you have a little background).  We rent a property and brought 3 dogs with us.  I would 100% recommend renting first.  You learn so much especially about living expenses, where to live, the pros and cons of different areas - we are already in our second property and we were too remote first time round.  I know everyone says 'best thing to happen to them' etc which it probably is for most but to be honest we are having second thoughts.  Spain have many plus's (weather being one) and it was lovely having a winter in Spain BUT there are many cons especially for people to quite at the retirement age.  Everyone is different like I say and we have various reasons for moving to a different country - we're thinking of France next.  If you buy in Spain its very hard to sell again and you will never make money on it.  We are reluctant to plough all our lives savings into Spain.  But back to your original question, yes I would say £1,500 is fine if your not eating out every night to down the pub nightly too.  I hope this helps.  Good luck!

Above - very helpful post, especially regarding taking your time renting & get to know local areas before committing.

What I half disagree on 'If you buy in Spain it is very hard to sell again and you will never make money on it - comment'. I can understand why this has been stated & it's half right, but. The problem is taking for example '2 bedroom flats in Torrevieja' as an example - yes, loads of them, many bought as an investment - there are more of these in Torre - so a glut of similar type of properties, in the same location - will be slow to sell. 

However, estate agents now are busier selling than they have been quite some time - and properties which are not 'me too' on some expat ghetto, do not always fall into the same trap. If you buy wisely. I site a frontline property in Guardamar, which i've been offered 50k more than I paid for it, after 18 months odd. However, having a sea view helps!  Anything with either land, value or sea view, often either sells quicker - what you don't want is an apartment in a block of multiple all identical apartments. Best to take your time.

Hi Cheryl have been following with interest. I am moving in October from South Africa and have got my quotes for health insurance to be purchased for 1 year in advance as per the requirements for residency.

However I have pre existing conditions that health insurance will not cover - which I understand. Please tell me more about convenio especial - who do I apply to, would I be able to go to the Torrevieja hospital? Any other information.

Thank you very much Edwina 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.es/faq/what-i-am-covered-for-under-the-convenio-especial-scheme/

HI Trev,

Sadly it really won't be enough.  We are in the same boat (not officially retired for another 4 years) and have an income of £1600 monthly from the UK but we have always had to dip into savings to maintain a realistic lifestyle so more likely to be around £2,000 a month to include everything.  For us, we eat out twice a week, have a few wines and beers at home and in the lovely bars, (don't smoke) but eat well.  We have two dogs which need vaccinating, worming etc., which probably works out at about 100 a month including food.  The main expense for us is visitors who insist they want you to visit all the tourist attractions you've then seen 100 times.  If you have kids/grandchildren visiting they'll expect you to foot the bill for the most part too.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes for your plans

Jo

It's probably also worth mentioning, for example, going out in Villamartin, would cost you twice as much as going out in Rojales - 30 mins down the road. So the choice of areas will affect the cost of living.

We can get a good 3-course meal and a drink for €6-€10 locally. A glass of wine or brandy €1.20 (Spanish village price) triple the drinks prices in the expat 'holiday home areas'. Long term living wise, may to well to bring this into consideration.