Spain now more expensive to live than the UK?

[olive]

Anybody else noticed, that whilst food and drink have gone up in Britain too, that it seems to cost more to live here day to day than in the UK?

olive

[country boy]

What a load of absolute tosh Olive...with respect

[gerryh]

Hi Olive
I hadn't noticed that electricity, petrol, `council tax´ , ´road fund licence´etc etc was dearer here in Spain than the UK. Perhaps I'm missing something.
Cheers
Gerry

[katy]

If your income comes from the UK and the poor exchange rate is factured in. I would say things are about equal. I have just returned from the UK and notice many everyday things are actually cheaper there. Even fruit and veg. Petrol is cheaper here, council tax...not in urbanised areas. Electricity probably more expensive in spain, as are white goods and most other household items. Eggs are cheaper in Spain and coffee. Bread is cheaper and better in the UK. In the UK a good carvery can be had for 7 pounds or so and is a lot more substantial than those pathetic excuses of 3 course menus del día for about 7 or 8 euros.

Of course if the price of booze and ciggies are part of the budget it is cheaper here. So, swings and roundabouts but whatever you think Spain is not the bargain haven it used to be.

[Julie]

I think the cost of living in Spain has rise dramatically, It depends on who does the shopping, to how much they notice it Lol

[frog]

well said katy,although i will add that water and council tax are a lot cheaper here,the main problem tho is the wages.5-6 euros an hour very common,if you take that into account.............

[Troglodyfae]

I think that it is very much a case of swings and roundabouts. Many things are cheaper in the UK, at this moment in time fruit and veg are substantially cheaper than they are here, however I would argue over both the size and quality. That said there is a massive push in the UK to get people to eat more fruit and veg. I am not wholly convinced that this is being done for the benefit of health, but moreover to detract from the price of meat/fish..call me a cynic ( not all at once if you do not mind I am a tad sensitive)

Diesel has gone down recently where I live, a week or two ago diesel here was in excess of €1.20 L on Thursday of this week it had gone down to 99c L whereas on the coast (CB)it was €1.05 L

My water bill combined with the charge for street lighting and refuse collection is €26 trimestral. I know that Spain is having a bit of a rough trot financially but I do think they are coming out of this a lot better than most of Europe and I for one would rather be here than back in the UK. I have a mutal friend, who was, possibly still is in the UK on a visit, who rang me the other day to tell me how expensive things were back there and he could not, for the life of him understand/comprehend, how people managed to survive.

I just think that things have to be looked at in perspective, which is what I believe I am doing.

[wagon ropes]

I too feel that living in Spain is much cheaper than living in the UK. The things you cannot do without are certainly cheaper on average. Our total cost per month for electric, water, IBI and car tax ( 1 4x4 1 JCB and 1 scooter) is €120 and I am sure it would be a great deal more than that in GBPs in England. Bottled gas here is €15 whereas in England it was over 20GBPs last March. If you include the odd tipple as a 'must have' that is also much cheaper here as are tools, paint and a lot of DIY stuff.

Over all, in general I find that the cost of most things in Spain in €s is the same as in the UK in GBPs. Of course there are some noteable exceptions; the main ones being timber and car parts. Car parts are especially costly and we find it is generally cheaper to have even the heaviest items ( most recently a transfer box) shipped over from the UK then fitted here

As a footnote, a friend of ours was in Southern Ireland recently and he was staggered at the high cost of everything in Dunnes Stores in Ireland compared to the Dunnes Stores here.

[Paula]

This is so much down to general spending and lifestyle, and no two people are the same. For me, I think it's cheaper in the UK, supermarkets are cheaper, clothes, more choice and cheaper, even restaurants. Yes car tax and council tax are cheaper here, cigs and booze etc etc.
But of course there will be people on a budget here that find their money goes further than in the UK. Sadly I don't.

[El Cid]

even restaurants. .

Surely you are joking!

Where in the UK can you get a decent Menu del Dia for £5 including a glass of wine or beer? The average pub sandwich costs more than that.

Sid

[Paula]

Sid, you can't get a menu del dia for 5euros where I live in Spain. I'd get a bit of change from a coffee and a croissant!
As I said it depends on how you spend your money, if I do like for like meaning amount of clothes I buy, the type of restaurants we eat in and what we buy in supermarkets, it is cheaper in the UK.
I'm not saying that if I were on a monthly budget with most of money being spent on bills that it would necessarily be cheaper in UK, but as it stands at present I seem to be able to get more in the UK for the same amount of money in relation to what we spend money on..

[country boy]

I think I must be on a different planet...beam me up Scotty

[julian]

you´re not alone country boy..I´m on the same planet as you !!

[Paula]

We are all on different planets, that's the way of the world

[El Cid]

Sid, you can't get a menu del dia for 5euros where I live in Spain. I'd get a bit of change from a coffee and a croissant! n..

Actually I said £5 as I was comparing Spain to UK prices.

A recent survey showed that the average price of a Menu del Dia in Malaga was €7.50 which was the cheapest in Spain where the average is now €9.

Sid

[spanish_lad]

menu del dia in some bars in alhaurin el grande is now down to €6. oh, and "buffet" brekkie in fuengerola, €4.95 in at least 3 places that i know of, €5.95 buffet lunch.



alot of things are cheaper in the uk.

telephone, electric etc is the same, if not higher than the uk.

gas is incomparable because it was piped in the uk compared to bottles here.

food bills weekly / monthly are working out about the same as they did in the uk, comparing like for like brands.

alcohol in bars is "generally" cheaper. a pint of lager in spain for example is cheaper than the uk. spirits are about the same. (house double and coke, 2.50 quid, same here, about €3 or so ?)

fuel here is alot cheaper, its down to 96.9c now - about 70p? a litre, its nearer a pound in the uk.

road tax is alot cheaper than the uk, but then its relative, look at the state of the roads !! "we" pay less and the roads are potholed and bumpy. "they" pay more and the roads are smooth and perfect. see the point ?

a packet of cigs or tobacco here in spain is alot cheaper than the uk, its always been that way, always will be.

"council" tax here is alot cheaper, but then think about all the extras that you pay? licence to build, licence to paint, pay for the doors that go to the street still... i think if it was all added up over a year it would be the same or more.

wages are alot lower here than they are in the uk, eg, the average wage is 800€ a month (600 pounds?) its more like double that in the uk.




ahhh.. but its all relative you see.. we all moved here for the slower pace of life...the sun...the relaxing afternoon strolls, the swimming pools, the cheap life...

then we buy a big villa and the nice car, are unable to run either, then we sit on our pcs all day playing "keyboard warrior" complaining about the prices and the "manana attitude".. while looking out at the pool we´ve used once the week after it was installed and hiding indoors from the rain

[katy]

Menu del día, I have had them for 7E around here but for me are almost uneatable...3 courses..put the whole lot together and it does not amount to much (and I am not a large eater). Soup or salad, pork chop, stew or the tail end of a fish(not fresh but frozen) and a yogurt or something else frozen which is a toddlers size. There are plenty of places in the UK where you can get a more substantial pub lunch for 5pounds...only one course..but better. Compare same sort of establishment as the ones offering the menu here it would be possible to eat for around 3 pounds in a market cafe!

Why does anyone always quote menu del día? Most who do a menu don't come under the term of "restaurant" and doesn't anyone go to eat dinner in the evening? Comparing like for like, nice restaurants in Surrey, good setting and service, charge an average of 10 to 13 pounds for two courses. The same sort of place here averages 19 to 25 Euro.

As Paula said...buying clothes is also cheaper and they are better quality in the UK. Broadband is also cheaper. I often see those ads from Sainsbury "feed a family of four for a Fiver" everything in the recipes are costed out per kilo/piece and most of the items are cheaper than here, including the meat. The "local" in Surrey sells haIf pint of real ale for 1.25 pounds, around here a tubo is 1.50E, even 2 in some places, so they are catching up. OK I know you can get a pint for 2E in the Brit bars in Fuengirola but I am talking average.still say that both places are about the same.

[Paula]

Well there aren't any 7.50 or 9 euro menu del dias where I am, and no there aren;t any £5 ones where I am in the UK either. But it's irrevelant as I don't eat menu del dias anyway.
We all have this conversation every few months, and everyone has a different view point because we all spend in different ways. It's a fact that it overall costs me more to live (my life) here than it does in UK, but of course that doesn't apply to everyone.

[Paula]

Didn't see your post Katy, yes agree with it all. (And M&S are doing 3 course meal plus bottle wine weekend deal for £10, far superior to any menu del dias I have seen around this area )

[julian]

looks like M&S are encouriging alcoholism if a bottle of wine is included in the price of a meal !!!