Re: Cost of living
 

DonnyMatt, its way cheaper to live in Spain than the UK. I have now had a full set of bills for the year and i can tell you that my Electric water taxes internet are all cheaper along with the Beer.

Re: Cost of living
 

I don't think many will agree with you about electricity and water

Re: Cost of living
 

Everything is relative, but in general, Spain is going to have a lower cost of living.

If you come from London and park yourself in some rural finca outside some little village in central Spain, it will seem ridiculously, laughably cheap. (pocket change). But if you come from some little town in the north and decide to park yourself in central Madrid, that would likely be a bit more expensive.

Re: Cost of living
 

Indeed and the cost of living comparisons never work, unless you are comparing identical properties, identical products etc. Even then you might find different special offers & discounts in various supermarkets. Just like the UK, prices vary in different parts of Spain and you can make life as cheap or as expensive as you like. If I'm self sufficient in the UK, I might be growing pears instead of oranges.

Re: Cost of living
 

Re: Cost of living
 

Neptuno, its a fact my bills food alchohol minii cabs you name it are cheaper in Cabo Roig Costa Blance than in my home town of Cobham in Surrey. I agree that if you live along Benefits St UK, it might be cheaper but also probably illegal to be buying most stuff......

Re: Cost of living
 

I would like to see a similar list of bills for the guardamar area or could you give me an idea of your monthly costs please?
I ve read the costs for 4 cities and towns in spain, using the numbeo website, However, the expatistan website gives costs app 30 percent higher, using the same locations!! Why is that??

Re: Cost of living
 

Easily explained by different stores, I think I could get a similar result for a set of groceries within 300m herre. Electricity and gas price is fixed, but water, fuel, IBI, Internet costs vary widely.
I can do a 30€ difference in price on an identical wheelbarrow at almost adjacent shops, explain that.

Re: Cost of living
 

As youve been living there, would you
be able able to say, if a rental of app 400 is possible say, 20ks inland from guardamar? ta

Re: Cost of living
 

You are buying very expensive wheelbarrows. Try wheelbarrows r us, or wheelbarrowstretcher

Re: Cost of living
 

35€

Re: Cost of living
 

now theres a classic example of why im asking all these questions, you see. it 15 quid in b and q here

Re: Cost of living
 

It might be £15 or 21€ to level the playing field but Quality is the thing, cheap B&Q made in PRC or El Pino ferretería made in Barcelona.

Re: Cost of living
 

Actually, there's truth in that. It has improved a lot in the past decade, but remnants still exist - for example, property listings here (still) often have no bearing on reasonable market price.

10 years ago, the difference in prices for the exact same item would be even wider at adjacent shops. 100% difference at times.

I haven't found a rational explanation. I do speculate that it has only been in the past decade that Spain has really started to live in the 21st century (old joke here - 'Spain missed the 20th century').

In the old days, the Spain was not guided by modern market forces. You had a shop, and you price things however you see fit. Customers were driven by personal loyalty far more than than price. Besides, you always gave a good discount to loyal customers, so you built that into the price.

A (young Mallorquin) estate agent recently offered an interesting analogy related to this phenomenon:

Family of 6:

One day, the parents are sitting at the table and ask "How much do you think we should leave the kids when we die?".

"Well, I think maybe €200K apiece should serve them well".

"OK, then, the house will be priced at €800K. We'll put it in the will".

Re: Cost of living
 

There's plenty of 1 / 2 bed apartments available from about €250 pm upwards. As you mentioned earlier, Almoradi has plenty on offer. If renting from a Spaniard it's likely to be cheaper, but of course you won't have British TV.

Long term renting might be worth having a dish installed though, one off cost, and then take it with you if you leave !

You could also try places like Jacarilla or Daya Nueva, both have small friendly expat communities for company, with easy driving into Guardamar. Good luck.