Do you want to go back to uk??
Do you want to go back to uk??
Can anyone really afford to move back to UK after living in Spain? Our costs alone would be monthly
1) mortgage £350
2) council tax £90
3) water rates £30
4) car tax £90-£100 yearly (new diesel) don't know proper costs cos hubby always paid it!
5) shopping £40 per week (excluding beer and cigs so you can add approx £50 per week on top!).
6) electric/gas £30-40 depending on how cold it is....
7) plus life insurance etc. etc.
Total approx £700 per month before you start LIVING!!!! Are we mad moving to Spain, but not on the costas????? Give us inland any day!! And not Whitby too expensive ha ha!! And all these costs come from NW England - dread to think what they are in South of England!
1) mortgage £350
2) council tax £90
3) water rates £30
4) car tax £90-£100 yearly (new diesel) don't know proper costs cos hubby always paid it!
5) shopping £40 per week (excluding beer and cigs so you can add approx £50 per week on top!).
6) electric/gas £30-40 depending on how cold it is....
7) plus life insurance etc. etc.
Total approx £700 per month before you start LIVING!!!! Are we mad moving to Spain, but not on the costas????? Give us inland any day!! And not Whitby too expensive ha ha!! And all these costs come from NW England - dread to think what they are in South of England!
- hillybilly
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Totally agree re the extortionate costs of some things in the UK. Although not having lived there or even visited for a while I'm a bit out of touch with the real cost of day to day living. OH is there at the moment so no doubt he'll report back in great detail on the cost of a pint and a packets of f a g s.
However isn't it all relative? Salaries and wages are also much higher in the UK than here. I reckon I earn just over one third of what I used to in the UK (although I work FAR fewer hours, by choice). And so if the cost of living is 3 times greater then one can afford that. In theory!
Plus, I used to be able to pick up a half-decent secondhand car for a few hundred quid, no problem. Which is a sore point here at the moment!
However isn't it all relative? Salaries and wages are also much higher in the UK than here. I reckon I earn just over one third of what I used to in the UK (although I work FAR fewer hours, by choice). And so if the cost of living is 3 times greater then one can afford that. In theory!
Plus, I used to be able to pick up a half-decent secondhand car for a few hundred quid, no problem. Which is a sore point here at the moment!
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The cost of living in Spain is certainly far cheaper than the UK.
My mortgage & living expenses were in excess of £1800 a month in the UK. Yes, the salary vs. cost of living were more of a level. But in Spain higher car insurance prices, similar fuel costs, the cost of food, eating out, 300 days of sunshine etc means that my quality of life is far better. OK, my standard of living isn't the same, I don't got to the beauticians once a week, don't buy ready meals in Marks & Spencers & I don't spend £100 eating out once a week........but I love my life here.
I even thought for a mad moment that I missed my "old life" in the UK, we moved back after I was offered a great job, 9 weeks later we were back in Spain regretting ever leaving. If nothing else learned, I couldn't & wouldn't live in the UK again, even with a well paid job, working 14 hours a day, road rage, agendas, paperwork, rain, stress, traffic jams, cold weather.....no thanks.
I have been food shopping, put fuel in my car, smoked too much, had a couple of take aways & in 10 days spent a mere €130! - How, I don't know! My supermarket shops exceeded that per week in the UK.
It took me a while to realise the difference between standard of living & quality of life, there is a HUGE difference & that's why I live in Spain.
My mortgage & living expenses were in excess of £1800 a month in the UK. Yes, the salary vs. cost of living were more of a level. But in Spain higher car insurance prices, similar fuel costs, the cost of food, eating out, 300 days of sunshine etc means that my quality of life is far better. OK, my standard of living isn't the same, I don't got to the beauticians once a week, don't buy ready meals in Marks & Spencers & I don't spend £100 eating out once a week........but I love my life here.
I even thought for a mad moment that I missed my "old life" in the UK, we moved back after I was offered a great job, 9 weeks later we were back in Spain regretting ever leaving. If nothing else learned, I couldn't & wouldn't live in the UK again, even with a well paid job, working 14 hours a day, road rage, agendas, paperwork, rain, stress, traffic jams, cold weather.....no thanks.
I have been food shopping, put fuel in my car, smoked too much, had a couple of take aways & in 10 days spent a mere €130! - How, I don't know! My supermarket shops exceeded that per week in the UK.
It took me a while to realise the difference between standard of living & quality of life, there is a HUGE difference & that's why I live in Spain.
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- Tourist
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Reply - who cares about the cost!.
Here in London today it is blowing a gale is cold and rainy, the tubes all running late, headlines in the papers about sleazy politicians and foiled terror attacks.
Even if spain was more expensive it has to be better!
Hey ho one day I'll make it over full time
back to working to pay my megga mortgage
Here in London today it is blowing a gale is cold and rainy, the tubes all running late, headlines in the papers about sleazy politicians and foiled terror attacks.
Even if spain was more expensive it has to be better!
Hey ho one day I'll make it over full time
back to working to pay my megga mortgage
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I thought so Alan, you get by on your UK pension and possibly profit from a UK property sale like a lot of people. Or from UK savings. Nothing wrong with that, youve earned it.
But if you started from scratch with nothing and had to work, the UK might not look such an unattractive place. Certainly your chances of a job would be much less, if not nil, in Andalucia.
But if you started from scratch with nothing and had to work, the UK might not look such an unattractive place. Certainly your chances of a job would be much less, if not nil, in Andalucia.
- Faire d'Income
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You've hit the nail in the head there Kevin if given the amount of Spaniards located in the South East is anything to go by. So far I've met a Spanish vet, Spanish colleague and a Spanish plumber all over here so that they can earn decent salaries which are unobtainable in Spain - at least on the same remuneration package.
So for all the Poms out there whingeing about how awful the UK is, just bare in mind the rest of us are quite happy earning a decent living.
So for all the Poms out there whingeing about how awful the UK is, just bare in mind the rest of us are quite happy earning a decent living.
- spanish_lad
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- spanish_lad
- Andalucia Guru
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because i could go back to my 18,500 a year job (plus expenses, miles, fuel, company car...) and not have to scrabble around for 50 euros a weekkevin77 wrote:Why do you say that Lad? They tell me that things are so cheap and its a great life (if you are retired with a good pension!)
living in spain is propertionate to what you earn. wages are a third of the uk, u only pay out a third of what u would in the uk. its propertionate. it is NOT cheaper. everyone just thinks it is when, like u say, they are on an english pension, it looks like they have alot left over...
Alhaurin el Grande since 99, working at the airport since 2011.
- fearfulfred
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I agree with you Spanish lad ...coming from Canada things are more expensive in Spain than in Canada almost Euro to the Dollar...but the weather is a lot better in winter! And when we compare prices to the UK it is Dollar to Pound..but the wages are proportionate too..problems is where you earn your money. If you earn in the UK and spend in either Spain or Canada you are on a winner!
You have summed it up there Fred. Then why do we have these smug people coming on and telling us that the UK is a disaster, and that they will never set foot there again etc....when they are living off the money generated from the UK, not from Spain.problems is where you earn your money. If you earn in the UK and spend in either Spain or Canada you are on a winner!
- stellastaff
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