Cost of Living in La Axarquía, Andalucía

[East of Malaga]

Further to my previous post on the Cost of Living locally ( in August 2012), you might be interested to know that contrary to what most people think, the actual prices of groceries on my "Standard Grocery List" has come down over the past three months. These lower costs also apply to prices of butane gas bottles and petrol.

You can see the findings here:
http://eastofmalaga.net/2012/11/13/cost ... mber-2012/

[frank]

Gas is cheaper than it was 3 months ago, but it went up 5.9% in July and then came down 4.6%, so it's more expensive now than it was 6 months ago. Same with petrol, the price dropped recently but it's still dearer than 12 months ago.

[katy]

Quite a good idea putting on an selctive up to date shopping list. Possibly an idea for A.com instead of letting someone else spam their forum

[spanish_lad]

bottom line, its about the same, but we have "better" weather.

[East of Malaga]

I´m so glad you approve, Katy. It´s always nice to have support for good ideas

The local Cost of Living is always an interesting subject to both residents and visitors alike, and of particular importance to people thinking of moving to Andalucía permanently, when considering their budget.

It´s sometimes difficult to find regular, updated information of this type - online, but I am happy to continue posting updates every 3 to 4 months. Stay tuned!

[frank]

It´s sometimes difficult to find regular, updated information of this type - online, but I am happy to continue posting updates every 3 to 4 months. Stay tuned!

It's not difficult to find figures, some published here in September differ from your figures in that a "shopping basket" of €35 went up €1,6.
http://www.abc.es/20120907/economia/abc ... 61607.html

[East of Malaga]

That´s an interesting article, Frank, but sadly over two months out of date.

The OCU study took in 1148 establishments in 65 locations, to establish that Alcampo supermarket offered the cheapest products, but nonetheless their "shopping basket" of €35 went up €1,60 after one week, following the IVA increase at the beginning of September. (Article dated 7/9/12). Do you know how the "shopping basket" price is panning out in November, Frank, if it´s not difficult to find figures?

My "standard grocery list" is a direct comparison of exactly the same products from exactly the same supermarket (Mercadona in Torrox Costa) - between August 2012 (before the IVA increase) and last week (November 2012). I deliberately used the same supermarket again to make the comparison exact and found an overall price reduction.

[El Cid]

And most of the price reductions on your list were seasonal fruit and veg - hardly a realistic comparison.

You will have to work a lot harder if you want to produce any meaningful statistics.

Sid

[East of Malaga]

And most of the price reductions on your list were seasonal fruit and veg - hardly a realistic comparison.

That´s not correct, Sid. Only 4 of the price reductions were seasonal fruit and veg, but perhaps you noticed them more because they were grouped together near the top of the list. 6 grocery price reductions were not seasonal items, nor do I believe are petrol and gas prices.

It was never my intention to "produce meaningful statistics" - rather a snapshot of the day-to-day costs of living here in Andalucía, which I know is a valuable resource to potential expats and tourists alike. After all, if people weren´t interested in "Living in Andalucía", why would they visit this forum?

[katy]

If anyone wants to do a realistic price comparison then it's easy to go online to the supers own site. I think Málaga Sur does a proper shopping basket too. As I have said before, if you have to compare the price of apple and pears then you cannot afford to move

[frank]

In UK there are lots of cases of producers charging the same price but reducing the size/quantity of the product (in most cases it's hard to notice) but I know the Spanish wouldn't do that. We're always being told here everything is as cheap as chips, now it's even cheaper!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/201 ... ducts.html

[frank]

As I have said before, if you have to compare the price of apple and pears then you cannot afford to move

Either that or you're ****, spending time checking prices when you could be out enjoying the sun.

[East of Malaga]

As I have said before, if you have to compare the price of apple and pears then you cannot afford to move

Either that or you're ****, spending time checking prices when you could be out enjoying the sun.

Hahaha - that´s priceless coming from people with thousands and thousands of forum posts!

[Enrique]

Hi Frank,
Bit dated that link...........and you will need Expatshield to watch it.....

Thought this post was just an advertisement anyway....surprised it hasn't been removed

[East of Malaga]

I´ve noticed that the majority of “Andalucia Gurus” are better at criticizing, and making negative, snidey comments than proving useful links for visitors to this Forum, who might be interested in the Cost of Living in Andalucía.

Katy: Do you happen to know the website addresses of the supermarkets you are speaking of? I´ve checked with Mercadona online https://www.mercadona.es/ns/entrada.php?js=-1 but it appears you need to register with them before you can gain access to the information - which might prove difficult to some expats/visitors who don´t understand Spanish.

Could you post the link to the Málaga Sur shopping basket? That would be most interesting

Whilst I can see that it would be easy to compare shopping online between various supermarkets at today´s prices, I´d be very surprised if they published prices from say three, six or twelve months ago to enable a realistic "Cost of Living" price comparison, over time.

Frank: If you notice, I was very careful on my Standard Grocery List to note the size/quantity of the product and the comparisons are exactly the same as the ones noted in August 2012.

Enrique: An advertisement? This is merely a Cost of Living comparison which I am surprised isn´t regularly featured on Andalucía.com. At least Katy and I can agree on one thing.

Anyone reading this thread will see what an unhelpful, negative and unfriendly bunch you are in this Forum. Are there no moderators here?

[Enrique]

Hi East of Malaga,
My apologies , I got it wrong...its a very useful Blog..........keep posting.

Yes we have Mods on this Forum and all our members are great Guys and Gals........
We tease occasionally and have a dig, but there is always plenty of good info....and help....

[IreneD]

I would just like to say that I am facebook friends with East of Malaga and she is a really nice person, plus she posts lots of helpful and interesting info on her blog, also some fab photos.

[katy]

As I have said before, if you have to compare the price of apple and pears then you cannot afford to move

Either that or you're ****, spending time checking prices when you could be out enjoying the sun.

Hahaha - that´s priceless coming from people with thousands and thousands of forum posts!

Yes but we aren't running a blog and an *beep* account, would imagine it's a bit time consuming. Blogs are ok.....and I think yours is good, probably gets more traffic than this site right now. However, blogs are a bit different from fora as they present only one side. I do think your idea of scanning receipts is brilliant.

There never will be a true picture of price comparison. In the UK there are lots of offers, many Dept. stores are currently running 25% of everything and Boots is too off toiletries. I have a spend of £92 on my loyalty card since March. I expect Spain has various offers too.

[katy]

I meant ass book

[katy]

Th shopping prices appear from time to time in diariosur.es. A search just brought up this

http://www.diariosur.es/rc/20120926/eco ... 61606.html