Help desperately needed please

Do you have a query on how to get things done in Andalucia, where to find things, who to call? Find out by posting and hear about others experiences.
colena
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Help desperately needed please

Postby colena » Mon May 14, 2007 10:37 am

Hi everyone. My 7 year old son and I are moving to Spain at the end of July 2007. As yet, we do not know where to live, work or where I should put my boy in (state) school. We just wanna be by the sea within walking distance of his school and my work hopefully. Advice would be very much welcomed. I will have completed my TEFL by then so will be seeking a teaching position or just a simple shop/bar job as my intention is that our life will be more quanlity than quantity. We wants a simple uncomplicated life.

Seat.driver
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Postby Seat.driver » Mon May 14, 2007 10:59 am

hello

do you have any idea where you want to be? i think that is the first thing to think about.

Once you have an idea on theplace you want to be, you can begin sorting all the other bits and bobs out. There is loads of info on this site regarding what you need to do when you get here (NIE etc) but work out if you want to live in Brit land, or experience a bit more of real spain and head east of malaga.

We moved to Vinuela region about 6 years ago, and have moved to nerja region in the last year for work reasons. I would recommend areas around Periana, ALcaucin, but it also depends on your budget.

What is it you are looking for in your move to Spain?

Regards

SeatDriver

colena
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Help desperately needed please

Postby colena » Mon May 14, 2007 11:11 am

Hello. I want to be in Benalmadena or Estepona or Cabopina or anywhere on the sea that is gorgeous and not too built up. I want English people around me. I am really more concerned about my son's school and I will live where that is. I have found one in Benalmadena called Jacaranda but don't know if it is any good.

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Postby sueb » Mon May 14, 2007 12:25 pm

colena, july isnt far off, you need to do some thinking, quickly. what are you going to do for work as work in spain is very hard to come by unless you have a skill and are a fluent spanish speaker. Estapona by the way is very built up and getting bigger but plenty of brits about if that is what you are looking for, have you thought about Brighton?

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claire4james
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Postby claire4james » Mon May 14, 2007 12:38 pm

OK, heres my advice for what its worth....

Get a job at home now in telesales....Then come and live somewhere between Fuengirola and Estepona, where you will find an abundance of good respectable companies looking for honest hardworking staff with experience...You do not need a rare skill OR spanish and you will earn enough to live on.

You could work in a Bar and or restaraunt, but they will expect nights and evening shifts which wont work with you child.
from La Cala with love...........

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Re: Help desperately needed please

Postby laclotte » Mon May 14, 2007 1:05 pm

colena wrote: I want to be in Benalmadena or Estepona or Cabopina or anywhere on the sea that is gorgeous and not too built up. .
I find this person now really QUITE amusing.....sorry for those that are taking it so seriously. For someone who did 'research'......Estepona not BUILT UP!!!
LOL
HA HA HA
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colena
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My move

Postby colena » Mon May 14, 2007 1:06 pm

Whatever...

sueb
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Postby sueb » Mon May 14, 2007 1:07 pm

claire4james
i was not suggesting a 'rare' skill, just a job that is needed in spain/the area she chooses to live so no need to get tetchy. with a child to consider i was only suggesting she is totally prepared before she leaves uk because as you know it doesnt work out for so many people over here.
i wish her good luck though
sue

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claire4james
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Postby claire4james » Mon May 14, 2007 1:33 pm

wasn't techy sue....sorry...

I also think the main reason it doesnt work out in Spain is because people can't find a job...

Thing is, if you relocate to the middle of the back end of beyond, just past nowhere, with no languages and little cash, of course it isn't going to work out...

Of course Estepona isn't THE prettiest place in Andalucia, however if you don't speak the language and do need to work, then you simply cannot choose a place to live based on anything other than "how easy will it be for me to find a job?"

London is a horrible place, with places like the lake district and or the coast of cornwall being much prettier, but work is easier to find in London.

A comparison must be made on How attractive and built up/attractive Estepona/Marbella/Mijas Costa are to where she lives right now...

I live on the coast nr La Cala, and whilst its not traditional Andalucia and a lot of you campo dwellers think it's awful and overrun with brits etc, compared to my "old life" in the UK, it's SUCH an improvement and if I moved to the pretty traditional inland places, I would have no income!
from La Cala with love...........

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Postby Retro P » Mon May 14, 2007 2:13 pm

[quote="claire4james"]OK, heres my advice for what its worth....

Get a job at home now in telesales....Then come and live somewhere between Fuengirola and Estepona, where you will find an abundance of good respectable companies looking for honest hardworking staff with experience...You do not need a rare skill OR spanish and you will earn enough to live on.

You could work in a Bar and or restaraunt, but they will expect nights and evening shifts which wont work with you child.[/quote

Laclotte if you find that one quite amusing then this one will kill you it did me, I was in stitches, "an abundance of good, respectable companies" yeah right :lol: :lol: :lol:
Ah! the full english!!

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Postby laclotte » Mon May 14, 2007 2:29 pm

Sure thing Retro P .......after an hour of highly amusing/entertaining reading the cherry on top was "an abundance of good, respectable companies"!!! Like perhaps all the ‘time share sharks’?? Or maybe in a beauty salon with all the Marbella belles?? Wow - what a great standard of living that will give. Nevertheless a good laugh for a Monday morning! I quite convinced colena lives in Benidorm!
- You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note -

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claire4james
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Postby claire4james » Mon May 14, 2007 2:52 pm

Retro/LaClotte.....You can sit and make sarky remarks but that helps no one (not even you funnily enough)....Do you both work here, full time, and have a genuine understanding of the market based on 000's of your own experiences (like me) or have you just come accross a few shady companies, struggled to get work and jumped on the badwagon watching watchdog about dodgy timeshare companies??

Retro your post about anyone earning 2k per month sterling wouldn't even consider such a move, was in fact, ridiculous! 2k per month is not a lot of money.. by the time you pay the mortgage, insurances, car tax, petrol, council tax, 50 per week child minder, shopping, clothes, etc etc) there is not going to be a lot left...

I am passionate about this because pretty much I decided to come here, and within 2 months was!....

Things are going ok, I have a good business, a great team of people, a beautiful home, and even if sometimes money (like at home) gets a bit tight, I can spend time around the pool playing with the kids in the sun or walk to the beach for free (which i couldn't do in the UK)

So yes, I do believe it's a legit posting because other than the fact the she is single, and I came here with the wife, and that her income is 2k per month and mine was considerably more than this, our decisions/motivations are the same......
from La Cala with love...........

colena
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My move

Postby colena » Mon May 14, 2007 3:27 pm

Thank you ClaireforJames. I am very hurt by the comments that are being made. I live in Caterham in Surrey. I work in Croydon. I have to work out my 3 month notice to end July then we plan to go. This is all above board and as you say, £2k a month is nothing. My mortage is almost £900 per month, my council tax over £100, my after school club at £200 per month or thereabouts, my service charge at £150 per month then what with gas and electric, petrol and travel to work, food etc, it's gone in an instance. Anyway, thanks for your kind words and encouragement.

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Postby Retro P » Mon May 14, 2007 3:33 pm

Clare4james, 2k a month is more than the average UK household income and you know it, however the original poster "Colena" states that she has no debts whatsoever, so that adds up to 2k a month disposable that's a lot for someone with a 7 year old son, she will not get half of that in Spain and she will still have bills almost equal to that amount, like I said the posting doesn't stack up.
In answer to your other comments, I have a legitimate and lucrative business in the UK, plus rental properties in Spain and Ireland, I've worked long and hard to build up my lifestyle and there were many years when I never even saw 2 grand so I know the value of money, believe me there are a lot of people in Spain who would love to have 2 grand disposable, if you know your way around Spain, especially the Costas (as I do) then you will know that getting 2 grand a month is virtually impossible for ordinary people with no special skills, I don't want a slanging match with you, my original response was because I get fed up with people asking me to believe the impossible or more correctly the improbable!
Ah! the full english!!

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Postby Laslomas » Mon May 14, 2007 3:40 pm

I think anyone seriously thinking to move and work needs to realise it is very difficult/almost impossible to get a work contract - and for any other legitimate work you must pay 250 euros monthly (social security) to be legal. And when you start working your earnings may not even cover this. So it is all coming from capital.

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Postby katy » Mon May 14, 2007 3:50 pm

Don't you need to pay about 2 months rent in advance? Who will take care of the kid during the long (3 months?) summer hols.? All this stuff about playing on the beach/swimming pool, we have just had 6 months of crappy weather. Who told you there would be a job with a TEFL course?

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Postby sherlock holmes » Mon May 14, 2007 4:08 pm

Who told you there would be a job with a TEFL course?

there are jobs going, they pay 10E an hour and have no contract or guaranteed hours. Normally schools teach 2-3 hours a day with one teacher. Its a nice part time job for the missus.


Thats about 150E a week.... a little short of the 2k £ a month take home which I reckon is about 40K£ or 60kE a year :?:

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claire4james
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Postby claire4james » Mon May 14, 2007 4:11 pm

2k is a realistic salary but it buys no quality of life in the uk, hence people are attracted here.....

Telesales roles on the coast (with contract) pay between €1200-1500 (avg tends to be a net figure of 1200 and I say average because some are more and some less) basic salary with commission on top of this...

1200 here will be as good to her as 2k at home...

her current costs...."My mortage is almost £900 per month, my council tax over £100, my after school club at £200 per month or thereabouts, my service charge at £150 per month then what with gas and electric, petrol and travel to work, food etc,"

Her costs here....650 rent, no council tax (but maybe €100 community charge) after school c €100, gas less, electric less, food less, petrol less)

Retro, you have obviously done very well and like you say worked hard to achieve what you have. I do believe though that times here (and when I say here I mean the coast from Malaga down to and including Gib, as this is the area I can talk intelligently about) are changing. A few years ago it would have been improbable to make €2k per month without spanish and or special skills. not so now. Also employers are becoming more professional (indeed the law is cracking down on illegal employees) and more contracts are being offered as a result. Basic salaries are becoming the norm rather than the exception.

I think it's down to posters like us (with experience) to advise people on what to do and where to go, and I stand by my comments, there is reasonably paid (even well paid) work here if you are in the right place!
from La Cala with love...........

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claire4james
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Postby claire4james » Mon May 14, 2007 4:17 pm

katy wrote:Don't you need to pay about 2 months rent in advance? Who will take care of the kid during the long (3 months?) summer hols.? All this stuff about playing on the beach/swimming pool, we have just had 6 months of crappy weather. Who told you there would be a job with a TEFL course?
I would guess she could use the advance rent/sec deposit she will receive from her tennant in the UK who is renting her flat??

the schools have summer camps for the holidays (the schools being aware that because salaries here are low it's normal for both parents to work, so they provide for this)..

the last 6 months hasn't been crappy weather...admittedly it hasn't been the best, but still there has been far more opportunities for the kids to play outside (unlike the UK where it rains, a lot and is dark very early!) and simply, this improves thier quality of life

I do however, agree about the TEFL job thing...useful maybe to supplement an income, but doubtedly an income in itself?
from La Cala with love...........

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Help desperately needed

Postby Chrissie » Mon May 14, 2007 4:17 pm

Oh for goodness sake, whatever happened to the spirit of adventure of nearly all you posters? :x
Children are naturally adventurous and if Colena's son is loved he will survive and so will she.
Give her a chance to make her mistake or make a success of life in Spain. It would be very sad to never to have tried and to spend the rest of her life in regrets.

Colena: don't be put off by all the old miseries on the forum. Nothing will be lost if it doesn't work out (apart from a couple of months of your life in England and that is probably no loss at all :!: ) :D
GO FOR IT :!:
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