So...Are we the new poor??

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Paula
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby Paula » Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:03 pm

I was meaning that on the coast a lot of people that would have say for arguments sake, lived in a terraced house our 3 bed semi in UK, have ended up in a community apartment here. Not necessarily because they wanted to but couldn't afford anything else. So I'm comparing cost of living, in these cases get rid of high council tax but have no option but take on community fees. It sort of balances out to same outgoings.

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gus
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby gus » Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:51 pm

Paula,

We have a 3-bed townhouse in a small community in Fuengirola (with pool) - community fees 35 euros per month (including garage).
We just sold a flat in Isle of Dogs , London in January this year with pool/gym/garage - last community fees just shy of £3000 per annum :shock:

I prefer the Spanish charges :-)

Gus

katy
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby katy » Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:33 pm

That's just generalising, you may be fortunate with your community fees. I don't know anyone who pays that little. We pay around 680 euro p.a. for.....not very much at all. Just an urbanisation of private villas for which in the UK you would pay nada. Our fees include street lighting/road sweeping/gardens on roundabouts etc. (which Marbella should provide!) in addition to this over a 1000 euro local rates. In 1992 we paid equivalent of 100GBP pm. community fees for a townhouse, wonder what they are charging now :shock:

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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby Paula » Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:01 pm

Thats extremely low Gus, is there a pool and gardens to maintain? We had a two bed apartment before this house and were paying 480 a month!! That didn't cover everything one year and we each had to pay another great lump! Glad we got rid of that one before things started to slide.

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gus
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby gus » Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:26 pm

We have a pool but no gardens - we've had it for 6 years plus now.. A couple of the full-time residents tend to the pool and a bit of general tidying up which all keeps the costs down :-) .......1/3 rd of our costs are the Administrators fees!

Mind you, we will need to budget for a full repaint job very soon (although 1 or 2 will try to delay it).

Only 12 properties of which 8 are, I think, full-time residents. A real United Nations mix.

Gus

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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby Miro » Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:34 pm

Since the individual properties are town houses, presumably you also have no lifts to maintain, which can be a big expense, probably no building insurance either (although I would think you need at least 3rd party liability?), no gardener (and no water to maintain plants), maybe no cleaner? We have all of the above, shared by only 12 apartments, and pay about €100 a month each. :x
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby julian » Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:43 pm

we have beautiful gardens, a large pool, ponds , gardeners etc ,water consumption included, for about 120 euro a month.

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gus
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby gus » Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:48 pm

No gardens, no lifts and no cleaners required.....keeps the costs down.

Mind you, on the question of lifts.........

A couple of friends of my parents had a holiday in our house......his only complaint was "it's a lot of stairs to the roof terrace"!

Where exactly did he expect a roof terrace to be??????

Gus

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scampicat
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby scampicat » Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:04 am

Jool wrote:Yes many of them seem to have discovered low cost travel this past year or so.....
Malaga - Birmingham, one way for two people on January 12th - £18 including taxes with Ryanair.

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scampicat
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby scampicat » Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:15 am

Miro wrote:We carried on to Pampaniera and stopped for a coffee and hot chocolate. How far do we have to go to find these elusive prices that all the Costa slaggers go on about? I know, I know - it's touristy up there. Where isn't? Does anybody seriously want to live in Extremadura? The point is, if you live inland, you'll know of places where you can get a cheap nosh up, or free tapas with your beer, but similarly, those of us in the concrete jungle can also find good value amongst the rip-off tourist joints. It's all relative. Right now, if you've got British pounds which you don't want to change into euros (for obvious reasons) you can go to Iceland of all places and buy a beer for less than you'd pay in London! I guess we won't be seeing too many of our Viking friends in downtown Torrie next summer. They must be feeling really poor!
Carry on past Pampaniera, past Trevelez, carry on east and you will find the cheap menus del dia and free tapas and villages that are still largely traditional (although this will be the last generation who work the land with mules and irrigate it by traditional means).

I live in oneof these villages. But strangely enough, like Orgiva, it has also had a book writtten about it. Google 'South from Granada' by Gerald Brenan.

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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby Lavanda » Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:21 am

Gerald Brenan ... still a hero to most Spaniards because of his book 'The Spanish Labryrinth'. Written in 1943 it's still the best account of the social and political background to the Spanish Civil War. I can recommend it and this is the ISBN of a good copy plus introductions, etc. ISBN 0-521-39827-4. Gerald Brenan was interesting for lots of reasons but I discovered him in my teens as he was one of the lovers of one of my favourite painters, (Dora) Carrington, who was in love with the writer Lytton Strachey, a gay academic, who was central to the Bloomsbury Group. I just love it when reading goes around in HUGE cycles. Anyway, that my Christmas reading recommendation to you all. Happy Holidays!

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Chrissie
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby Chrissie » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:22 am

'South from Granada' is still one of my favourite books. A few years ago I nearly bought a house in Yegen because of the Brenan connection! I'm a bit of a sentimentalist :roll: I first visited the area about 35 years ago when the locals certainly weren't used to foreigners, particularly blondes with bearded husbands. Once they'd got used to us however they were so welcoming - I understood what Brenan felt.
A lovely place still I imagine. Wise move scampicat :)
The past cannot be changed, but the present can be spoilt by worrying about the future

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scampicat
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby scampicat » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:28 am

Hey Lavanda and Chrissie...we'd never heard of Gerald Brenan before we came to live here, and when our (Spanish) Estate Agent pointed out the house he'd lived in, my husband said 'Oh perhaps we'll get to know him then?' :oops: , not wanting to admit he knew less about English Literature than a Spanish Estate Agent!

Lytton Strachey visited Brenan here in this village in the 1920s, as did Virginia Woolfe.

And yes, it is still welcoming and friendly and largly traditional.

Anyway, off-topic, so let's get back to being poor!

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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby Lavanda » Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:24 am

Poor in money but not literature, culture and friends. If it wasn't still before midday I would drink to that!

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Chrissie
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby Chrissie » Mon Dec 22, 2008 6:45 pm

Great sentiments Lavanda - I WILL drink to that :oops:
The past cannot be changed, but the present can be spoilt by worrying about the future

Miro
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby Miro » Mon Dec 22, 2008 6:56 pm

scampicat wrote: Malaga - Birmingham, one way for two people on January 12th - £18 including taxes with Ryanair.
Of course, if you want to come back a week later, they'll no doubt skin you alive. And it's dependant on the pilot being qualified to land in Birmingham, I suppose? :shock:

On the subjects of literature and poverty, I'm currently reading Uncle Tom's Cabin. (Nothing to do with Spain, for those who aren't familiar with it, by the way) Now that's a good story to remind us just how lucky we are, and that really, we have nothing to moan about. On finding himself free and reunited with his wife and child, the ex-slave George Harris says "Why, I feel rich and strong, though we have nothing but our bare hands. I feel as if I could scarcely ask God for any more". Amen to that. It's time to forget about the credit crunch and exchange rates for a few days, and enjoy spending time with our loved ones.
Happy Christmas, everyone!
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.

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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby julian » Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:29 pm

happy xmas Miro, I like your post..all too true.

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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby costapacket » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:12 pm

Scot wrote:I've sent my best friend in the UK the same Xmas card as last year from the same pack! Is there a difference between economising and tight?
I give my husband the same card every year......I pack it away with the decorations. :lol:

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scampicat
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Re: So...Are we the new poor??

Postby scampicat » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:38 pm

Miro wrote:
scampicat wrote: Malaga - Birmingham, one way for two people on January 12th - £18 including taxes with Ryanair.
Of course, if you want to come back a week later, they'll no doubt skin you alive. And it's dependant on the pilot being qualified to land in Birmingham, I suppose? :shock:
But many poor expats won't want to come back......


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