Monthly costs
 

Hello

were looking at moving to Spain in the very near future and wondering what the monthly cost is with regards to gas electric council tax water health insurance and the like, we will be buying a property at about 150k, we are a family of four with 45,49,12,4 years of ages, we’re just starting the non lucrative visa application now thanks in advance for your help

Re: Monthly costs
 

Suggest you search this forum - this question has been asked and answered many times.

The answer depends on many factors including where you live, rent/buy, lifestyle, community costs (if any) etc etc.

I would say in summary property running costs are typically less than UK given you use less energy and it is cheaper as is council tax (IBI)

But when you are a resident here you have to do a tax return here and tax allowances are lower than UK so income tax can be higher.

Re: Monthly costs
 

To give you a rough idea based on a 320m house, 2 humans, 1 teen and a pool. Last year:
Electricity 1508
Water 420
Gas 1618 - A note on this, I had a 907 bill in March and then flipped to using the fireplaces and air con units only. Since then it's a steady 60-65/month.
Internet and SIMs - 635. The first half of the year was with Digi, the second with Pepephone including Prime, Netflix etc
House insurance - 780
Car insurance - 640
Pet insurance - 476 (2 dogs)

Healthcare insurance is through my employer but the cost of private healthcare is pretty low. A general consultation is about 20, for specialist consultations 80-150 depending on what's required. I'm not sure on the rules of what you need and don't need but at your age I would suggest getting the basic cover.

For lifestyle, that's up to you but to give an example in 2020 I would consider 45-50 reasonable for a half decent meal for 2, now it averages around 80. Groceries have gone crazy but that's also covered in other posts.

Re: Monthly costs
 

You appear to be a young family and your budget for property is rather low- 150k won't get anything that big. If you are going for a NLV this means that you will live off unearned income only-as you cannot work anywhere. You are going to need a fairly substantial amount of investments for a family so wouldn't you be looking to buy a more substantial property?

Re: Monthly costs
 

You are aware that as a family of four to qualify for an NLV you will need to show a passive income of €50,400 p/a for each of the 5 years it takes to acquire permanent residency?

I don't know where you live but here on the Costa Blanca today €45 will buy an excellent meal for two with change, €80 is gourmet dining!

Re: Monthly costs
 

Thanks everyone for the replies very much appreciated

yes I’m aware of the rules and financials involved in the nlv and have that covered for every year,

my plan is to leave the whole amount in an account which will cover the whole nlv for all the required 5 years,
150k on a property plus fees will buy me just what we need, I’ve seen a nice 4 bed detached inland with land, pool olive trees etc which is more than enough for us,

I’m just trying to get a feel of what the monthly/ yearly out goings will be so I can work out with the finances we have will it last, basically its the gas electric water and council tax insurances and phones internet, we live a fairly quiet lifestyle and just want to take 5 years out and chill, and get away from the uk for a while

Re: Monthly costs
 

Will you be able to afford moving back to the UK in 5 years? Unless you are not selling your home there.

I hear property is getting expensive there and unless something drastic happens it is only going to go up..

Re: Monthly costs
 

I would have thought a ball park figure for a family of 4 around about 3.000€ a month and that is probably too low. . The thing is you cannot just expect to live on some minimum amount if there are 4 of you- especially children. The elder is 12 so school itself will need to be private as they won't be able to join a secondary school so late without Spanish - that alone will be around 1.000 € a month. But they you have lots of other things, healthcare, entertainment, repairs, travel, dentist , car etc - it is always much more than you think.

Re: Monthly costs
 

Several things are cheaper, while others are more expensive. I would suggest you budget for same monthly expenditure as you currently have in UK.

Re: Monthly costs
 

Just outside Valencia. I was comparing a 45/50 meal from 2020 that would now cost around 80. I’m not a huge fan of menu del dia but you can still get those for less than 15 per head. We went out for lunch today, nothing extravagant at all and that’s over 70 before a tip.
I think best to follow the advice above, your budget won’t change from the UK
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...e2387c4bd0.jpg

Re: Monthly costs
 

I thought the bill seemed a lot more than we would normally pay, but on reading the bill saw that it was for 3 courses and 2 alcoholic drinks each, which explains it. Neither of us ever orders 3 courses in a restaurant, not to save money but because we just can't eat more than 2 and sometimes it's a struggle to finish the main course if the starter has been quite substantial. Also we normally go to a bar before the restaurant and have a drink there, so only order one drink with lunch.

A 2 course meal for us is usually between €35 to €50 these days, meals which used to come to €40 a couple of years ago are €50 now. We stopped going to one restaurant where we'd been customers for years because we felt they were raising their prices more than was reasonable - their wine by the glass had gone up to €4 which is more than anywhere else we go, even in Málaga capital or Nerja, and it is the only Italian restaurant we used which charges extra for parmesan cheese. The extra charge used to be €0.50 and they increased it to €1.50. A "special" bruschetta starter went up to €9.50 and the amount of topping had become less generous. This is not a large restaurant with many staff or in an especially expensive location, and on our last visit the bill for two bruschetta starters, two pasta dishes, parmesan and two glasses of wine came to €51.50.

Re: Monthly costs
 

The OP is more interested in the costs regarding normal household expenditure. Meals out are secondary.

Rosemary

Re: Monthly costs
 

I was just wondering what the OPs Assets value is as they are both quite far off from retiring and plan to live in Spain with two young children without working. Remember that wealth tax can kick in in Valencia at 500.000 € so if you have a house in UK that becomes an Asset for Spanish taxan plus any savings etc. Presumably the OP will be generating a passive income as they need an income to meet NLV requirements so all this could suggest that might also face wealth tax which effectively can wipe out any income you are generating through your assets.

Re: Monthly costs
 

Summary of cost of living in Spain:

• A family of four estimated monthly costs are 2,471.1€ without rent.
• A single person estimated monthly costs are 700.5€ without rent.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...?country=Spain
Serach the web for Numbeo Cost of Living Spain - gives good breakdown of costs by category and is frequently updated.