Charliefiggis

Morning,

First post so this may be a bit rambling!!

Its in the beginning phase at the mo but my OH is desperate to get back over to living in Spain. He did live just north of Benidorm about 20 years ago but has been back here about 14. He came back for a number of reasons, all out of his control and not to do with the way he was living out there. I think if they hadn't occurred we would never have met!

IF we do it this time we would have a 10yr old and a 3 yr old in tow and they are my biggest concern. Will they cope with school? , he says yes they will adapt, maybe I'm just limiting in my own mind how easy it is when your young.

We wouldn't be looking for jobs as we would have plans in place to be self employed. He was when there last time and successfully so. I have said there would need to be enough money in the pot to last at least 6-8 months whilst everything was set up. I have in my head about £1,000 a month, I have no clue if this is realistic lol.

He has said that he will sort out all that needs to be done and he does have an understanding of the legalities involved from doing it before, so that doesn't worry me massively.

Im not totally against the idea of doing this, I don't want to be always sat here saying what if!

Does anyone have experience of moving with children and how well/bad it went.

Thanks if you got this far

cricketman

Hi Charliefiggis

I wont answer the bit about children, I'll let others do that

For savings and income. I've moved 3 times to different parts of Spain, and its difficult to do it for less than £5k. You have to pay for removals (could be £5k on their own), 1 month commission for estate agent, 1 month deposit (some ask for 3). Plus you have costs for things you find your new property needs

Then £1k per month is not very much at all for a family of 4. My modest outgoings are more than twice that. People do it though.

Biggest question you should be asking is about being self-employed. What in? Is there a market for it in Spain, can you afford the 250 euros social security payment each month (actually 500 euros if you are both going to work)?

I would say you would need 20k or more savings to establish yourself, unless you already have an almost guarenteed income when you arrive

If your income drops or savings run out then you will not get any help from the Spanish or UK governments, you will go hungry unless you can find a charity to feed you.

Good luck!

lynnxa

without getting into the employment side of things, which I think cricketman has covered...........

be prepared for a 10 year old to struggle in Spanish school

yes, children that age & even a little older can settle in well, pick up the language & succeed in Spanish school

but many many more will struggle dreadfully - & even those who seem to be doing fine may well never really get to grips with the language well enough to get good grades at school, & go on to further or higher education


be prepared to perhaps have to send him/her to private International/British school - that's something like 500€ a month

by all means try Spanish school - as I say - some settle in & succeed - but just be aware that you might have to pay out for his/her education on top of everything else

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Rotor

Sounds like the wrong time to move to me , the 10 year old will hate it unless they go to an international school (fee`s!) and life will be crap on £1k pm , £1700 p.m minimum I`d say , and even then life will be modest.
As for setting up a business in Spain I`d forget it , 99% of foreign owned business`s fail quite quickly, rather than mess the kids about and bankrupt yourselves why not take six weeks holiday next summer and get a feel for how things really are ?

flotsum

My daughter was 10 when she started Spanish school, my son 6. My son had a few problems because he is partially deaf, however he gets more support for this than he ever did in the UK and is now more Spanish than English, we have to give him English lessons at home, if we do not then he will never read and write English properly!. My daughter did struggle she went from top of her class in England to bottom in Spain, however she got there, we did not push and neither did the Spanish teachers there was extra help if and when she needed it, the teachers said she needed at least 4 months to absorb the language then she would slowly begin to pick up her grades. In the school she was in, every 2 years is a summative year when they have to pass exams to move up to the next two year block, this meant that by keeping her in the same year she would have been in if she stayed in the UK she started at the beginning of the two year cycle, if they had moved her back a year which is what we were expecting she would have had to pass final exams at the end of the year, hence she had 2 years to pass her final primary education exams, by the end of her first year she was passing all her subjects and had no problems in her final year at primary. She has completed her first year at secondary now and today started year2 her weakest subject is Spanish, however she has never had to have remedial lessons for this unlike many of her Spanish friends, she did not get on with her Spanish lengua teacher last year which is why I think she struggled a bit more than the year before. I think we have been lucky that she adapted there have been wobbles along the way, what helped the most was getting her involved in an activity outside of school with different friends, she took up horse riding and after this her Spanish and confidence improved. This brings me on to the finance of having children in school in Spain, this year I have spent 595 euros on books and stationary just for the beginning of term, today my daughter came home with a list of the 6 literature books they will need this year which we will also have to buy, there will also be school trips and out of school clubs such as football, these are on the whole cheaper than the UK but it does mount up, and many schools take the final year kids on a week long school holiday which was a very nasty financial shock! Hence when looking at budgets be warned we find that putting 100 euros aside a month is the minimum we need to save for books, pay for school trips and outside activities. We were aware when we moved over that we might have to pay for extra Spanish lessons for our children so we did hold a contingency fund for this for the first two years. The other thing I would say is that children in Spain do seem to get a lot of homework and certainly with a 10 year old you will need to be free every afternoon to help with that for at least the first year as at first every word will need looking up, we broke 2 dictionaries in the first year!!! I don't know who shed more tears of frustration over the first PE homework, her or me! However it helped me with my Spanish no end and I think that since I am no longer needed to look things up etc my Spanish learning has slowed down horribly.

We do not have a mortgage or rent but as a family of 4 we would struggle on a 1000 a month, we could do it and when times have been tough we have done it but it was not easy, it depends if you include insurance for car, house etc in the 1000. My husband is self employed and that is 274 euros a month and then 60 euros a month for the assessor.

If you do decide to go for it Spanish lessons whilst you plan the move are a good idea, we did this but the kids were convinced we would not go and did not take it seriously!

cricketman

What a wonderful post

Nice to see that kids can get up to speed when they are supported by their conscientious and responsible parents

mikelincs

Biggest stumbling block would seem to be the income part, your partner had a sucessful business some 14 years ago, but times have changed incredibly since then and everywhere people are struggling for work, employment is very high, many of the people that Brits used to get business from have gone home, and you will have to PROVE sufficient income and healthcare cover before be granted residency, and you would need that to start up a business, Healthcare alone will be over €250 a month if you are paying autonomo as self employed, and don't forget there is no state 'safety net' if you get into financial difficulties. The 3 year old will be OK with schooling, however the 10 yr old will have difficulties unless they are already fluent in Spanish, if an international school is needed that needs to be added to the costs, €500 a month has already been quoted. Does the £1000 a month include rent and utilities?, if so you will have little to live on, and the cost of living there is almost on a par with the UK now.

Domino

the honest answer ?

No it isnt viable.
things are vastly different to how they were 10 or 14 years ago
you only have money to last 6 months you need at least 18months
you need no mortgage, no financial millstone

so many people have been there, done that and gone home broke
OK you have experience, some of them did and more money and still they went home broke.

you will need €260 each to go autonomo (self employed) from the day you change your status from holiday maker to self employed. Unlike the UK there is no breather/setup period, no relaxations. From day 1.

but my being honest with you will make you more determined so go to
http://www.advoco.es/hot-topics/43-g...mo-system.html
for further information about going self employed
if you decide to start an s.l. the Spanish eqvt of a Ltd co
http://www.advoco.es/most-requested-...-in-spain.html

I have plenty more information about setting up in business including EU initiatives but they don't always pan out and similar with local Spanish initiatives as they require registration by certain dates which vary dependent on where your are living

as to children, well others will tell you better than me, but those expats I know generally admit that it can be 50:50 as to how well the children will do in a Spanish school, how alienated they are by the whole thing. Usually the younger the better. Just remember what it is like in a UK school for those bloody foreign kids in the classroom.

hth
rgds

Charliefiggis

Hi thanks for all the replies.

Flotsum, I think that's exactly what I needed to hear. My 10yr old is my main concern, but if we do this he will be having lessons, as will we all, for at least a year so hopefully the language barrier will not be such a big one.

The living costs were for bills and utilities, not food, going out. We have always had the view that we pay what we need and what we have left we make do with.

This is not something that we are rushing into, the planning of everything will be checked and double checked.

The business, because of its nature, will be just as good as it was before, it has proven its self time and again. Plus my inlaws are still doing it in Southern Spain at the moment.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply x

flotsum

Hi Charliefiggis, glad I helped but I have to say it was a stressful time for me and my eldest, it was a full time commitment and at times heart breaking to see her so out of her depth and struggling and at times angry with me, we got through it. It was much better once she had her horse riding where she learnt so much Spanish and gained confidence. My youngest started in year one and has sailed through and he has his football, definatly the best bit of advise the teachers gave was learn through play with other kids with something your child enjoys. However having been through the process there is no way that I would bring a child over who was older than 10 or struggled in school unless I could afford International school.

mikelincs

As has been said, you would need at least €500+ just to get health care if you registered as self employed, not declaring being self employed and working 'on the black' would mean private health care, however many of what were sucessful business ventures did rely on being 'on the black' (not saying your relatives is), and the authorities are now clamping down on this as it is costing the government thousands in lost taxes etc. Your £1000 certainly would NOT cover the cost of rental, utilities, taxes, healthcare etc if you went the autonomo route, which, if self employed, you should be doing.