Hello again
I forgot to mention in my previous Post that Hubby is going to continue to work in the UK and go to and from there for at least the first couple of years. He is self-employed in the building trade (and taxed to death) and we need a guaranteed income of a certain level until Daughter completes her course, plus we are helping Son to buy Flat etc. and Hubby will use this to stay when he is working here. we did our research and reaslised it would be foolish to depend on work in Spain...However he does plan to try and meet other expats and hopefully manage to earn a living eventually to live in Spain full-time.
Does anybody else do this? or plan to do this?
Kittyx

Me, i fly to the Costa Del Sol most weekends on Friday afternoon and get back Sunday night.

This weekend the flight was a rollercoaster from hell due to winds and the flight back was delayed as Easyjets system went down so I got home at 3 am this morning back in work for 7am.

Its funny, this weekend i got a pink face, people i work with don`t know i do it, so explaining the over tan was fun.

The worst thing about doin it is the fact you leave your family every week, but its a very nice time when your there.

It can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride of emotions or I`m just too sensitive.

Just so you are aware, he is likely to be paying more, as a percentage, than he does in the UK.

You then save money on generally lower costs of living and also saving on stealth taxes.

I find no difference in the cost of living in either the UK or Spain, I went for a steak in a Spanish restaurant on Sunday Lunchtime, I had Argentine beef, my wife had Iberico boar, my steak was 16.50 and my wifes was 14.75 Euros.

My coffee was cheap at 1.50 though.

As for taxes, the UK govt gives me far more incentive than the Spanish.

Dont start me off on this ..... Only in the Cities, surely. I live much much more cheaply here in Spain than I did in the UK. If you're going to wine and dine on Argentinian steak then what do you expect

I certainly felt that Carrefour prices were a lot cheaper than Tesco for most things (especially San Miguel)
I also felt that eating out was cheaper and having a drink with the meal a lot cheaper too. We pay well over the odds for everything in this Country.
KITTYX

It was cheaper than the Solomillo.

Its true I could have eaten a ration for 3 euros, there`s a new bar on the paseo selling prawn and bacon skewers for 2.50 and a beer at 1.50 a bottle, well I did.

The day started with a breakfast of a Catalana and Coffee, then the above prawns on the beach at 12, followed by lunch at 4pm, see its more expensive in Spain because in the UK i`d have stayed at home and had a chicken roast.

See Spain`s cost me more money than the UK

When we moved here I was keeping strict check on spending and we were consistently around 30% cheaper here than in the UK. Semi rural, near the coast, shopping at Carrefour / Mercadona / local shops

I`m a supermarket managers dream, whether it be Tesco or Eroski I buy over the top delights.

but i found my weekly/monthly expenditure on essentials about the same in Euros as Pounds.

Toilet rolls, dishwasher tabs, washing up liquid etc etc are the same price and don`t forget in the UK there can be a large difference in price between Morrisons, Sainsburys and Asda`s.

That's exactly what we have found in all our years in Spain. If you shop as locals do, what you would spend in the UK in pounds costs the same in euros here, give or take a few items.

But then again Spanish wages are a lot lower - so if you are working here and earning a Spanish wage it isn't any cheaper than back home.

And one thing that we have noticed is that prices have shot up and are continuing to do so. We keep a tally of what we spend each month and our weekly shopping bill has increased by almost 60% since November 2004. Wages haven't increased by anywhere near that much and that's why so many Spaniards are complaining about the price of food.

If you have a family it's even harder - the cost of clothes for children, shoes, school books, etc., is far higher in Spain than in the UK.

Hi Kitty,

Have a look at my thread http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=497117

I started quite a debate there.

Hope it helps you as we have not decided yet.

I had a call from my wife today to price the difference in the Polly Pocket car set my daughter wants from Xmas, in Malaga the cheapest she could find it was 40.00 Euros, I bought it this afternoon in Toys R Us in the UK for £29.99, also the new MP3 player for Barbie that links into there site is in Malaga at 70.00 Euros, I got it last week for £39.99.My Tour of Duty 4 in Spain is 49.99 Euros I bought it in Tesco for £22.99 last week.I also bought my jeans in Tesco for £5.00, in Carrefour a pair is 28.00 Euros.

Thanks for all your replies. Opinions seem to vary on this subject greatly! For us to make this move successfully, OH needs to keep up an income, so we will treat it like an off-shore worker type of job. He would like to work in Spain eventually when our outgoings reduce even further (when Daughter leaves School and gets her degree then a jon). There did seem to be a few expat workers making a living in the Hondon area, successfully from what we hear.

One thing I did notice when driving about, was, there is a lot of very nice cars on the road, so some people must be earning reasonable wages

KITTYX

There`s two reasons.

One Spanish view second hand as an embarresment only poor people buy old, even houses and furniture isn`t bought secondhand unless necessary.

I`ve seen builders destroy old Iron baths in skips, you`ll notive very few antique shops unless you go to Madrid, Barcelona or any area that has a high number of guiri`s.

The second reason is Spaniards average age of leaving the parents home is around 34 yrs old due to high property prices, a neighbour in Malaga has a son of 28 yrs who drives a new BMW M3, but he still lives with mummy as he can`t afford a mortgage so buys a flash car instead.

Lee8,guiris is a an insult used to refer to foreigners from a poor country!