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Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Old Aug 9th 2011, 10:00 am
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by jackytoo
We find eating out less expensive where we live in the UK. Local pub, nice tudor one with inglenook fireplaces, does a roast Mon-Fri for £5.95, only 1 coure but a lot more substantial than those offering 3 courses for 9 euro on the CDS. 2 courses are £7. Wine is £10 per bottle. Locally in Spain 11 euro.

What I do find more expensive in the UK is coffee. Too many Starbucks type places. Although in marbella there are many who charge 2.50 euro!

Can't remember the exchange rate when we moved to Spain but it was good. Better still the bank rate for savings was 15%. Put a lump sum in and it was possible to live off the interest.

I think if you have to watch the pennies in the UK then you will in Spain too.
In my part of London if you're careful you can find a decent main course at lunch for 7 or 8 pounds. Trouble is, they then charge you £4 for a mediocre wine (although they do give a large measure) or £3.50 for a beer, even the bottled variety. So the menu del dia in say Madrid for 8 Euros is still far better value.
Agree with you on the coffee - although you can find a good coffee for around 1.50 if you look around the local cafes and avoid the Starbucks/Costa tourist traps.
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 10:03 am
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by jackytoo
We find eating out less expensive where we live in the UK. Local pub, nice tudor one with inglenook fireplaces, does a roast Mon-Fri for £5.95, only 1 coure but a lot more substantial than those offering 3 courses for 9 euro on the CDS. 2 courses are £7. Wine is £10 per bottle. Locally in Spain 11 euro.

What I do find more expensive in the UK is coffee. Too many Starbucks type places. Although in marbella there are many who charge 2.50 euro!

Can't remember the exchange rate when we moved to Spain but it was good. Better still the bank rate for savings was 15%. Put a lump sum in and it was possible to live off the interest.

I think if you have to watch the pennies in the UK then you will in Spain too.
Some of this is very true, but here we go again.

It's much cheaper here in (choose country) because (select commodity) is so much (cheaper/fresher/in your face - delete one that does not aply) than it is when I stick it up my (select orifice) and ......

Anyway. where was I?

Oh yes. If the UK is so much better, piss off there and stop bothering the rest of us.

Only kidding.

Jacky, if you compare a bottle of wine, take into account tax. A 2 - 3 euro bottle here would cost hugely more in the UK, and in a restaurant still more.

Apples and oranges, apples and oranges.
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 10:07 am
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

What we save on Council Tax (here 244€ + 114€ Basura, compared to £1000 in the UK) and water (here less than 1€ M3 in UK £4.50 M3) offsets any other things that are more expensive here.

Five bed detached here, one bed flat in UK.

Our annual water bill in the UK is more than here, where we fill and top up a 7x3.5m pool each year!!

Our menu del dias in town are still around the 6€ mark and they include wine or branded beer (hardly any increase in the eight years we've been here. Last week in Leeds I was paying £2.80 just for a 33cl bottle of beer in a 'budget' restaurant.

Last edited by derek500; Aug 9th 2011 at 10:10 am.
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 10:15 am
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by jackytoo
We find eating out less expensive where we live in the UK. Local pub, nice tudor one with inglenook fireplaces, does a roast Mon-Fri for £5.95, only 1 coure but a lot more substantial than those offering 3 courses for 9 euro on the CDS. 2 courses are £7. Wine is £10 per bottle. Locally in Spain 11 euro.
We're not big "eaters out", maybe a couple of times a month, but we went to a local pub recently, and to our surprise because it was before 8pm (just) it was "2 eat, pay for one". With the crisis, there seem to be deals everywhere, "children eat free", "one child eats for free" "early doors, 2 for 1 deals" "free bottle of wine". It gets people through the door, then hopefully they'll spend a bit on booze!
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 10:29 am
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Yes Bill, I know I am going down the same road as others Bit like the leccy and council tax. Depends on areas etc. It is horses for courses.

The CDS kept on putting up prices simply because they could. A nice chiringuito we went to at least twice a week only cost us around 15 euro for a light lunch and a bottle of rose wine. Two years later the same meal was costing 27 euro. So we didn't go as much as I expect many others went less. To counteract loss of income what did they do...put up the prices again! This happened allover the CDS.

I reckon if you really want to find out how it is for you, rent in Spain for a while.

Agoreira...our very same pub does 2 steaks for 1 on Thursdays. I went with Daughter last week, she is a vegetarian
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 10:30 am
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by derek500
What we save on Council Tax (here 244€ + 114€ Basura, compared to £1000 in the UK) and water (here less than 1€ M3 in UK £4.50 M3) offsets any other things that are more expensive here.

Five bed detached here, one bed flat in UK.

Our annual water bill in the UK is more than here, where we fill and top up a 7x3.5m pool each year!!

Our menu del dias in town are still around the 6€ mark and they include wine or branded beer (hardly any increase in the eight years we've been here. Last week in Leeds I was paying £2.80 just for a 33cl bottle of beer in a 'budget' restaurant.
What used to piss me off hugely in the UK was the feeling that we were paying thru the nose with council tax and the like, and yet we weren't getting what we paid for. Our council and rubbish charges here are so much less, the bins are emptied 3 times a week, and there isn't any little jobsworth there measuring how high the lid is, or checking precisely what I put in the bin.
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 10:33 am
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by jackytoo
Yes Bill, I know I am going down the same road as others Bit like the leccy and council tax. Depends on areas etc. It is horses for courses.

The CDS kept on putting up prices simply because they could. A nice chiringuito we went to at least twice a week only cost us around 15 euro for a light lunch and a bottle of rose wine. Two years later the same meal was costing 27 euro. So we didn't go as much as I expect many others went less. To counteract loss of income what did they do...put up the prices again! This happened allover the CDS.

I reckon if you really want to find out how it is for you, rent in Spain for a while.

Agoreira...our very same pub does 2 steaks for 1 on Thursdays. I went with Daughter last week, she is a vegetarian
Quite right. we are down again to comparing Marbella with Newmarket, or london, or little snottington on wye.

Might as well compare it with Conil de la Fra, Medina sidonia or Benalup.

The renting comment is so true. Rent, and rent in different areas. Drive about, try everything. If you buy, you may find you are nailed down and can't sell.
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 1:35 pm
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by jackytoo
We find eating out less expensive where we live in the UK. Local pub, nice tudor one with inglenook fireplaces, does a roast Mon-Fri for £5.95, only 1 coure but a lot more substantial than those offering 3 courses for 9 euro on the CDS. 2 courses are £7. Wine is £10 per bottle. Locally in Spain 11 euro.
Thats exactly the point I keep making though
The CDS is a lot more expensive then, for instance, the CB North. Plus, when we go for a menu for $8 or whatever, we are stuffed full.

When we went down to Seville, Cadiz and Cordoba we were really surprised at how much things cost

Much the same as the cost of living in London is more than the Midlands or further North
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 2:52 pm
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by Mitzyboy
Thats exactly the point I keep making though
The CDS is a lot more expensive then, for instance, the CB North. Plus, when we go for a menu for $8 or whatever, we are stuffed full.

When we went down to Seville, Cadiz and Cordoba we were really surprised at how much things cost

Much the same as the cost of living in London is more than the Midlands or further North
In short, anyone, in whichever country, that says that one country wins hands down is a fool.
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 3:02 pm
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by Mitzyboy
Thats exactly the point I keep making though
The CDS is a lot more expensive then, for instance, the CB North. Plus, when we go for a menu for $8 or whatever, we are stuffed full.

When we went down to Seville, Cadiz and Cordoba we were really surprised at how much things cost

Much the same as the cost of living in London is more than the Midlands or further North
Yes that's true. I sometimes travel to Yorkshire/Derbyshire and strange as it may seem eating out seems more expensive than our part of Surrey. Madrid is cheaper than marbella to eat out. CDS is more expensive than Costa de la Luz. Found santander the most expensive. None of it very relevant though, except for visitors

I would say that one important cost of living in Spain...house repairs and renewals. Property seems to need more maintenance than other countries.
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 3:19 pm
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by jackytoo
Yes that's true. I sometimes travel to Yorkshire/Derbyshire and strange as it may seem eating out seems more expensive than our part of Surrey. Madrid is cheaper than marbella to eat out. CDS is more expensive than Costa de la Luz. Found santander the most expensive. None of it very relevant though, except for visitors

I would say that one important cost of living in Spain...house repairs and renewals. Property seems to need more maintenance than other countries.
Again, how do we compare it?
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 3:30 pm
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by jackytoo
I would say that one important cost of living in Spain...house repairs and renewals. Property seems to need more maintenance than other countries.
I certainly seem to have shares in the Spanish paint industry
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 3:51 pm
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by bil
What used to piss me off hugely in the UK was the feeling that we were paying thru the nose with council tax and the like, and yet we weren't getting what we paid for. Our council and rubbish charges here are so much less, the bins are emptied 3 times a week, and there isn't any little jobsworth there measuring how high the lid is, or checking precisely what I put in the bin.
That is because half of it doesn´t go in the bin but just thrown undiscriminantely somewhere in the region for the levante to pick up and distribute even further.
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Old Aug 9th 2011, 4:06 pm
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by Chiclanagir
That is because half of it doesn´t go in the bin but just thrown undiscriminantely somewhere in the region for the levante to pick up and distribute even further.
Ah, well I can only talk about the bins near me. Come to think of it I'm not sure what my council charges have to do with litter blowing around. That's damn near endemic, in both countries.
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Old Aug 10th 2011, 9:03 pm
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Default Re: Do you find the general cost of living cheaper in Spain than in the UK?

Originally Posted by jackytoo
Not really an average example is it! On the coast we paid 1200 IBI (council tax) & basura. 75 euro pm phone and internet. Water bill varied between 25 to 50+ euro according to season. Electric 80 to 120 euro pm. These figures are for just over a year ago. Then we had giant gas bottles for CH. Small bottles for one bathroom and gas hob...lost count of how many

Our car tax was 120 euro. Suppose it does have it's advantages lving "high on a hill somewhere"...until you fall ill, or the car breaks down
On an income of Euro 2500 monthly, could a retired couple live in a inland town in Malaga? This would have to include the cost of running a small car. No rent but owning a house.
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