Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Unfortunately here in Chiclana it is a sad fact that many Brits are going home as they cannot survive without the vital services so many of us take for granted, ie electricity.... I know of quite a few who have just locked up their villas and gone back to UK:(

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

I haven't read the Chiclana thread ... in the (hopefully) short term are generators not an option?

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

we are lucky that my husband has a particular skill he has been able to get employment with, however , it took long training hours, money and commitment to get that skill, that enabled us to come out here, without it we would not have stood a chance.
I agree it takes a certain type to tolerate the lifestyle in 'trad' spain and if your not prepared for it your life will be miserable. I am like that there is no point in getting stressed or het up about something.
I also find I have to reassure some spanish that I am not out here to create 'little england' but to embrace thier culture, by doing this they have then taken interest in my culture and we have a healthy respect for each other. My butcher always asks how i will cook the meat i buy and his wife gives me advice on spanish cookery, one day I shall invite him over for roast beef and yorkshire pud, if i ever get my yorkshire puds to rise!
You need a lot of elbow grease when you move here, and if you dont have it, good luck!

love

mary xx

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

>>And the best piece of advice I have seen is if you own a UK property keep it, rent it and use the income to rent out here, it gives you an almost failsafe fallback position, takes the pressure off a little and allows you to review continuously your position<<

We would not have come if we had have had to sell up.

It's even better if you have an adult child, to live in the house as our son does. He lives there with two other young men, the rents pay the bills and we have a resident manager in the house!

We were lucky enough to be able to pay cash for our Spanish house from the sale of an ex-council property my husband inherited from his mother. Otherwise we would have rented, but money would have been VERY tight.

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Scampicat has the right idea. Unless you can afford to purchase outright in Spain, have independent means to maintain your lifestyle and retain a property in the UK you should not even consider the possibility of moving here.

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Hi there,it was nice to hear your reply amongst all the scary ones.We too are a young family who are moving to the Alicante area in afew weeks,we are going to rent out our house and as you say hopefully the excess will gotowards the cost of our rent on a small flat.This is the bit I find scary that we are moving from our lovely 3 bed house with lg garden etc into a tiny 2 bed flat with a very basic kitchen,but if we are only renting there is no point throwing money away.We do have finances in place to carry us through for quite a while.We are both self employed,my hubby does property maintenance and I had a small shop which I have just sold.We are expecting things too be tough at first but have no set ideas what we will do for work but will be open to any opportunity that may come our way.I would like to start up a business again,but dont yet know what the gap in the market is,thats if there is one.We dont expect to be rich,but hope to experience a better quality of life,especially for our young daughter.Living in the UK with young children is a very scary prospect at the moment,this country is out of control.

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

good luck with your move over

its very daunting when you come over with children (depending on their age) I was worried how my son would cope but now 4 years into it, he has adjusted well and picked up the language (well both of them) without too many problems and is doing well in his exams at school

He has more freedom and a better social life than he would ever have in UK

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

I know a few people with young children and they alll say it is a MUCH better life for the children.

One little boy from our village, who has lived here since he was a baby, and is now five, didn't understand why he couldn't walk the streets and play on the swings with just his brother (9) whilst visiting Grandma in the East End of London!:eek:

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

arent they funny

my 10 year old came in a couple of weeks ago and said "Im going to knock for so and so at 10pm then we are walking up to the fiesta, I will be home 12-12.30am after the fireworks" :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: to which replied "WHAT"

He said its ok mum I am 10 years old, I can look after myself

The thing is even the 6-7 year olds are playing out until that time so I do feel a bit mean when I call him in at 11pm some nights

:D :D

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

As a general guide, what level of income is required for a comfortable lifestyle in Spain? Say for a couple, or a family of three for example.

Also, what is the average long term rental costs for 3 bed house?

Just a rough guide would be helpful

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

The safety and freedom for our little girl(who is 6 yrs old)is the driving force behind our move so its great to hear that a better life does exist,it is quite scary reading about all the brits who have failed and wonder what makes us any different.The comfort I have is that we are quite sensible people and we are not selling lock stock so we do have a safety net,that said obviously we hope to succeed and not have to use it.Also when we eventually do sell we should be able to buy a nice house in our chosen area and be mortgage free or almost.I am hoping that this will give us a better chance.

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Since we have been here we have been (for a couple) living on 1000 euros a month and when I came here I was expecting a budget of £1000 a month. However we do have funds available for one off purchases or emergencies and does not include the tax bill. This has included eating out a couple of times a month, going out for drinks etc, but certainly not throwing money around. Groceries in this area are around 30% less than in the UK and if you use the local markets you can do better.

I don't expect in the long term that we will stick to the 1000 euros a month, but it was important for us when we came here to establish a yardstick.

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Hi

That is quite encouraging as I already draw a small pension of just over £600 per month. With rental income from our own property (unless we sell) and existing funds this should give us about £1200 a month. Assuming we do not go mad I hope this should be sufficient.

Cheers

Graham

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Depends where you end up Graham. The CDS is more expensive from what I hear, and the cities of course may be more expensive than the UK. We're 6 kms inland in the very Northern CB.

I was suprised, I must admit, but if you live like youre living here rather than as if you are on a long holiday then its do-able

Re: Brits going back to UK
 

Not sure where we want to be yet, but definitely somewhere inland and cheaper than the tourist areas.

Yes we would need to adapt our lifestyle to the Spanish way and cut our spending to make it work, but that is one of the main reasons for wanting to move to Spain anyway.

Will probably pop over on a recce trip before the summer.

Thanks for the advice