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-   -   A Place in the sun (https://britishexpats.com/forum/spain-75/place-sun-774736/)

Mitzyboy Oct 29th 2012 9:54 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by Jaques2go (Post 10355181)
On these new place in the sun progs. they are saying how much cheaper than Britain the cost of living is in spain, i know the council tax is, mine is £145 a monthin Hastings, but the last time we came to look at property with the intention of buying, we stayed for a month in Pego, we love the area around oliva and the beaches there, we found that food/toiletries were much more expensive generally than in Britain. Simple things like a bar of soap, we use pure vegetable soap, around 90p for 4 bars, its hard to even buy a bar of soap in that area, they seem to have just liquid soap. Also we can only eat wholemeal bread and in spain its expensive, just 2 every day items - we went to several supermarkets so looked around. We also noticed baby products such as nappy cream, £8 a tube from chemist, and the day to things you need for a sprog plus childrens clothing cost at least twice as much unless they were from a market. I would think for families on a tight budget or pensioners, it would be a probem, but i would like to hear from others who live there full time.

I think thats the difference between visitors, and people who live there. We know where to shop for what, and I can assure you that in the Oliva Pego Gandia area of the Costa Blanca (which is where I am best able to comment on), it is still cheaper in Spain than it is in the UK. I dont say that from guesswork, I regularly go back to the UK and have just spent a month there, and I also own a property there.

By the way, your council tax is £145 a month, mine is €400 a year. My car tax is €100 a year in Spain and was £180 a half year in the UK. Grocery bill in Spain around €400 a month. Yes, certain things are more expensive in Spain, but overall Spain wins as far as our area is concerned.

I'm sure A Place in the Sun will exaggerate things, and I am also sure the South of Spain is more expensive to live than CB North btw

Rosemary Oct 29th 2012 10:05 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 
These programmes always seem to push the cheaper cost of living aspect but they should not because one thing might be a lot cheaper such as the community tax but other things may be higher so many people say that the overall costs are similar. There are always differences of opinion on here as to whether Spain is cheaper than the UK because it very much depends on what you have to buy, which area you live in and the way that you live your life.

Mercadona is good for reasonable wholemeal bread. Baby things are best from the supermarkets rather than the chemist because the chemist always charge top whack.

When my husband was ill it was costing us between 100 and 200 euros every month for the additional items that he required that we could not have on prescription and some of these items were not available here in Spain so we had the additional postage costs due to ordering them from the UK. So during that time we would have been far better off living in the UK than here in Spain.

I am on an extremely tight budget at the moment due to reasons that I will not go into on here and I am coping financial whereas I do not think that I would if I was in the UK.

Rosemary

rspltd Oct 29th 2012 10:17 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 
Just an observation - council tax may be cheaper but it doesn't provide the facilities that itdoes in the UK. Now it may you don't need them (education, libraries, cabs, function halls, etc are just some that immediately spring to mind) but you don't have the choice in Spain.

Rosemary Oct 29th 2012 10:32 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by rspltd (Post 10355243)
Just an observation - council tax may be cheaper but it doesn't provide the facilities that itdoes in the UK. Now it may you don't need them (education, libraries, cabs, function halls, etc are just some that immediately spring to mind) but you don't have the choice in Spain.

You have mentioned function halls and it has always amazed me that our town has an old cinema that has had all of the seats removed so that it is very adaptable. They put tables and chairs in one half for dinner dances, the stage is used for musical evenings with our towns orchestra, there are discos held there, meals for fiestas etc, etc. There are no charges to the various organisations and so much of the things put on are free to the people attending too. Apparently the school provision is good and the library is well used too.

My town is quite small and tends to be as self sufficient as it can be so I think that this has an effect too. We have at least three concerts during the year that are very well attended and completely free. As far as I know the only things that people pay for when attending any of the functions is the food provided.

I presume that like most things in Spain that everything depends on the area.

Rosemary

Domino Oct 29th 2012 10:37 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by rspltd (Post 10355243)
Just an observation - council tax may be cheaper but it doesn't provide the facilities that itdoes in the UK. Now it may you don't need them (education, libraries, cabs, function halls, etc are just some that immediately spring to mind) but you don't have the choice in Spain.

well in our little place in the sun we have a library, only open evenings, the function hall appears to be an outside auditorium on the side of the commemoration park, (much used during summer months with 2 films a week and social functions including the Saturday "Grab-a-Granny". Our schools are full of kids being bused in from outlying villages who also come to us for dentist and 24hr doctor service. Although the buses to/from the big city are only once an hour there are at least 2 cabs waiting for those who wish to go on to outlying/campo.

mind you thats in Spain, whilst I keep reading that in the UK if they havent already done so then most of that will be outsourced. in our old UK home they outsourced a couple of years ago but now they are laying off the outsourced staff. The roads don't get swept more than fortnightly, lights take weeks to replace, libraries have been closed or had their hours seriously restricted. The mobile library to the outlying village has been put in the garage on bricks.

at least we still get the road sweeper come round on a regular basis, the local unemployed clean the park and other community areas each morning

`

Domino Oct 29th 2012 10:43 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by Rosemary (Post 10355262)
You have mentioned function halls and it has always amazed me that our town has an old cinema that has had all of the seats removed so that it is very adaptable. They put tables and chairs in one half for dinner dances, the stage is used for musical evenings with our towns orchestra, there are discos held there, meals for fiestas etc, etc. There are no charges to the various organisations and so much of the things put on are free to the people attending too. Apparently the school provision is good and the library is well used too.

My town is quite small and tends to be as self sufficient as it can be so I think that this has an effect too. We have at least three concerts during the year that are very well attended and completely free. As far as I know the only things that people pay for when attending any of the functions is the food provided.

I presume that like most things in Spain that everything depends on the area.

Rosemary

Rosemary, that seems to be the operative - Self Sufficient !!
Everyone seems to take part, from small children thru to adults, most contributing in some way.

We have an annual marching band concert/competition each year and there is great pride in their later advertising to say if they have won. They march round the village then meet up in the park and we all traipse in to the auditorium for a (rather discordant) music time.
Then there are the Christmas and Easter religious parades up to the church and at least 2 if not 3 fairs - we had the annual horse fair a week ago, just before the rains started.

Many of the smaller villages and hamlets around us seem to have a building (in many cases without a roof) marked as Cine de Verano

This is community living - something the UK seems to a greater extent to have forgotten, regrettably.
:(

agoreira Oct 29th 2012 10:50 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by rspltd (Post 10355243)
Just an observation - council tax may be cheaper but it doesn't provide the facilities that itdoes in the UK. Now it may you don't need them (education, libraries, cabs, function halls, etc are just some that immediately spring to mind) but you don't have the choice in Spain.

And of course with education, parents have to pay a considerable amount for books, equipment etc which run into hundreds of pounds per child. As someone said, they were paying hundreds extra a month for medicines, JLFS used to tell us his parents were paying a huge amount for medicines. Throw in dental care for the kids, I've said before friends of ours were well into four figures to get their son's teeth sorted. People in urbanisations can pay some large figures in charges every month, second hand cars are crazy prices, high broadband prices, but these things rarely get a mention. But I have learnt here that €3 menu del dia's are great value.

Mitzyboy Oct 29th 2012 11:05 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by rspltd (Post 10355243)
Just an observation - council tax may be cheaper but it doesn't provide the facilities that it does in the UK. Now it may you don't need them (education, libraries, cabs, function halls, etc are just some that immediately spring to mind) but you don't have the choice in Spain.

True, but with the £1400 possible saving on council tax alone, the £260 on car tax and thats before I start on anything else ..... you could buy more books than you would ever borrow from a library in a year :D

It kind of highlights what Rosemary said .... everyone has different circumstances, and we'll never be able to tie it down ;):)

Not having children I'm not fully up to scratch on Education in Spain, but afaik the schools are provided of course ..... its down to the fact that a lot of the books have to be purchased. In the UK in many areas that's also the case. Even when my daughter was at school we paid for a number of books

When I moved here the r/ex was 1.50 / 1.60. It went down to almost parity, and now its up to around 1.20ish. Within in year or so of moving here our income was cut because of this by around a third. Even then, it was still cheaper for us to live here in Spain. Where your income comes from also makes a huge difference, because if you a working in Spain then your salary is relatively less. If you are a pensioner or someone with a UK income, then you are likely to be better off

Mitzyboy Oct 29th 2012 11:13 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by agoreira (Post 10355297)
People in urbanisations can pay some large figures in charges every month, second hand cars are crazy prices, high broadband prices, but these things rarely get a mention. But I have learnt here that €3 menu del dia's are great value.

OK, I'll mention them :D
I pay just over €30 a month for unlimited internet, my phone system, and unlimited free calls to Spanish and UK Landlines. With that I can also make calls at 1 p a minute from my mobile whenever I am in a wifi area. In the UK I will get a bigger connection for sure, and £20 a month. I'm sure there is cheaper, but thats just for internet

Urbanisations, I cant say as we aren't urbanised in Spain. In the UK I am on a private estate and pay £1500 a year maintenance fees plus £850 a year council tax, as opposed to my €400 a year in Spain. Second hand cars ... yes, I know what you mean. But when I eventually sell mine to change it I will also get a higher price for it. It's the initial hit I guess.

Lynn R Oct 29th 2012 11:15 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by rspltd (Post 10355243)
Just an observation - council tax may be cheaper but it doesn't provide the facilities that itdoes in the UK. Now it may you don't need them (education, libraries, cabs, function halls, etc are just some that immediately spring to mind) but you don't have the choice in Spain.

We have lots of publicly funded schools in the town I live in, a library with 3 floors (general library, with free internet access for members, children's library floor and a study floor for students. Also a public theatre which puts on free or heavily subsidised productions and concerts (I saw the Cologne Symphony Orchestra perform Vivaldi's Four Seasons there for 10€). The town has a public sports complex with indoor swimming pool, tennis and padel courts. One very large park with more tennis and padel courts, lake with ducks, jogging/walking track, outdoor gym equipment and children's play area. Plus lots of smaller parks with children's play areas. School transport buses are provided for students (I don't know if parents have to pay towards this or not) and also transport for disabled children and adults to attend special schools and day centres. The Social Services department provides carers to some elderly residents who need help at home. There is a day centre for pensioners with a cafeteria serving very low cost meals (also open to the public) and lots of social activities like keep fit classes and dancing. Our rubbish bins are emptied every night of the year, including public holidays, although we do need to take the rubbish to the bins ourselves. We have a streetsweeper who comes every morning Monday to Friday, and in the town centre they work Saturdays and Sundays as well.

All in all, I think it's quite good value for the €319 I paid in IBI this year (oh, that's with the €200 discount the Ayuntamiento gives me just for being on the empadronamiento, living in the house full time, paying by direct debit and not having any outstanding debts to them). I don't live on an urbanisation so have no extra fees to pay.

Pocaloca Oct 29th 2012 11:44 am

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by missile (Post 10348441)
I thought the silver was propane and orange butane?

My propane comes in orange bottles! I would have to sign a contract with CEPSA to get the silver ones delivered (which are much nicer) because Repsol don't do them round here. I'll get round to it one day ...

missile Oct 29th 2012 12:03 pm

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by Pocaloca (Post 10355371)
My propane comes in orange bottles! I would have to sign a contract with CEPSA to get the silver ones delivered (which are much nicer) because Repsol don't do them round here. I'll get round to it one day ...

Maybe a local thing then?
The Repsol man delivers silver light weight aluminium and orange heavy steel cylinders every Tuesday afternoon. :thumbsup:

mogsmum Oct 29th 2012 12:26 pm

Re: A Place in the sun
 
For me the issue is exactly what some have already said on here.

I expect I could have this debate with the people I work with here in the UK. My idea of expensive is anothers idea of cheap, and vice versa. I dont have young children so have little interest or knowledge of costs of education, books, uniforms etc so yes those who have will have an opinion on that.
We eat home cooked food - what we eat for dinner in the evening we have the following day at work for lunch - so we eat cheap - I have freinds who buy costa coffee every morning, sandwiches on the way to work etc, that suits them so they would probably say its expensive to eat here (uk). If you drive a 4 wheel drive thats going to be more expensive that a little runaround Everyones idea of cheap/expensive/haves have nots is different. My daughter can easily spend £100 on a pair of shoes, not me, however she feels that I spend to much money on my hobbies and should treat my self to an expensive pari of shoes, she's not right but neither is she wrong, she is just has a different outlook to me.

You get my drift.... its about what you think/know you can live with or without and acceptance of what you cannot have its about compromise.

Jaques2go Oct 29th 2012 3:26 pm

Re: A Place in the sun
 
food for thought, thank you folks, thats very interesting all round, my wife and i live in a 4 bed semi and grow a lot of our own food, for our council tax we get dirty rubbish emptied once a fortnight and recycle rubish every other week, we do enjoy walking in the park and along the prom we can see the sea from our balcony, hastings is a great place to live, but we dont use the library and the kids are grown up, so feel our council tax is very high, i love spain, the weather, the people, just about everything, we have looked several times into moving and in fact did once, for 3 weeks, i have a reasonable private income and pension which would allow us to downsize and get a small place here and a cheap place in spain but i kinda like the idea of a big spanish house, so would have to sell my english property- to be able to sit out at night and listen to the cicadas etc.is wonderful, i love the countryside but not too remote. Im just scared if we want to come back to England we wont be able to sell, like so many others.........we were able to rent a new 2 bed, 2 bath flat with huge balcony, use of pool, garage and lovely mountain views in pego for 400 euros for a whole month, 2 yrs ago, they couldnt let nor sell the properties around. As im now over 60, pretty fit and active, seldom at the docs, but i get free medication for my high blood pressure and what ever i might need, but as has been mentioned, some medicaments have to be paid for in spain............. swings and roundabouts from what i read. We are off to Laos on wednesday for a month, lovely weather there, beautiful country but takes us almost 3 days to get to the village where my son and his family live - spains so easily accessible:thumbsup:

Pocaloca Oct 29th 2012 3:34 pm

Re: A Place in the sun
 

Originally Posted by Jaques2go (Post 10355676)
food for thought, thank you folks, thats very interesting all round, my wife and i live in a 4 bed semi and grow a lot of our own food, for our council tax we get dirty rubbish emptied once a fortnight and recycle rubish every other week, we do enjoy walking in the park and along the prom we can see the sea from our balcony, hastings is a great place to live, but we dont use the library and the kids are grown up, so feel our council tax is very high, i love spain, the weather, the people, just about everything, we have looked several times into moving and in fact did once, for 3 weeks, i have a reasonable private income and pension which would allow us to downsize and get a small place here and a cheap place in spain but i kinda like the idea of a big spanish house, so would have to sell my english property- to be able to sit out at night and listen to the cicadas etc.is wonderful, i love the countryside but not too remote. Im just scared if we want to come back to England we wont be able to sell, like so many others.........we were able to rent a new 2 bed, 2 bath flat with huge balcony, use of pool, garage and lovely mountain views in pego for 400 euros for a whole month, 2 yrs ago, they couldnt let nor sell the properties around. As im now over 60, pretty fit and active, seldom at the docs, but i get free medication for my high blood pressure and what ever i might need, but as has been mentioned, some medicaments have to be paid for in spain............. swings and roundabouts from what i read. We are off to Laos on wednesday for a month, lovely weather there, beautiful country but takes us almost 3 days to get to the village where my son and his family live - spains so easily accessible:thumbsup:

I think you're dead right to be cautious about making the leap. Why not rent a place in the countryside here for a couple of months just off-season, say May-June or September-October? You should still be able to get something nice for €400 a month, not sure about a pool but you'd certainly be able to enjoy the outdoor life.


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