Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

A question about : Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

Please use this thread for any hints, tips or just your experiences of re-locating abroad especially on a budget.

Not necessarily for the retired but this discussion started regarding how much it costs per month to live in the UK when retired and living on a limited budget which made people talk about their experiences of living in Spain. No need to restrict the discussion to Spain though

Best answers:

• We have just over £7k to live on at the moment, which is my husband's actuarily reduced Teacher's Pension. He also receives Incapacity Benefit (although we try not to use this for everyday living, as it could stop - it is being reviewed at the moment). We are not at State Retirement age yet.
  We can only live on £7k because we live in Spain (cost of living a lot cheaper) and we have no debts. Our 'Council' Tax here is 80 Euros a year, and our water rates 7E. Electricity is much cheaper and we use bottled gas. There is no TV licence. Car Tax is cheaper too. Telephone is about the same and internet is more expensive. Petrol/diesel is about two-thirds UK price. Groceries are cheaper, so is a night out at the local bar.
  The expenses on our UK house are paid for from the rents of two lodgers and our son, who lives there, so it looks after itself. We could not afford to live there at the moment as we wouldn't be able to have the lodgers if we did.
  We also have savings
• Hi
  I would echo krisskross's advice. I can't understand why anyone would want to move to a foreign country, ANY foreign country, and make no attempt to learn the language. And that applies just as much to those who come here as to those who are thinking of going to e.g. Spain.
  Assuming you are going to get health-care when you need it but factor in the cost of an interpreter is just plain daft IMHO.
  Margaret
• Maybe our cost of living in Spain is so much cheaper because we DON't live in an urbanisacion for Brits, we live in a traditional Spanish village in the Sierra Nevada mountains. As I say, most (not everything) here is FAR cheaper than in the UK -Council Tax 80E a year, Water Rates 7E. Andalucia is an 'autonomous region' and I think sets it's own taxes etc., so they have obviously set them cheaper than the Costa Blanca!
  We can live here comfotably on £7k here a year because everything is much cheaper. We don't have a money to throw around, bur we don't do without anything either.
  Oh - and you have to know Spanish here, no-one speaks anything else! We're getting there slowly!
  We could not afford to live on £7k in the UK.
• Also meant to say, we don't rent our house,- we bought it for £35,000 in 2003.
• What a fascinating glimpse of life in rural Spain.
  Some years ago we toured Andalucia by coach. Our lady guide and her Spanish flamenco guitarist husband accompanied us. Each evening we ended up in a bar singing flamencos with the locals. Our guide, who had lived in Spain for many years, used to point out the 'little old men' in the villages. She reckoned that all these wizened little guys were ejected shortly after 9 o'clock each morning and not allowed back for anything except perhaps lunch until evening by the Senora of the household. Hence all the bars!
  On a visit to Northern Spain earlier this year, the liittle guys were there as well, and the bars looked just as dingy. After a visit to the unspoilt parts of Lanzarote last year, we regularly ate in cafes with the local builders/cement lorry drivers etc each lunchtime €3.50 to €5, and absolutely delicious to boot. Did that in North Spain/Rioja too. What an eye opener.
  Oops - well off topic!
• One way to 'eat cheap' in Spain (at least in Andalucia) if you don't have to drive anywhere, is to go to a bar and ask for a 'cana' (Sorry, the n is supposed to have a squiggle over it, don't have one on my keyboard - the word is pronounced 'canya'). This is a small beer costing about 1-1,5 euros. With this you will be given free, a 'tapa', a small snack to go with your drink. Sometimes you can chose what you want, but sometimes you have to take pot luck. Do this two or three times and you have had lunch and drinks for about 3-4.5 euros.
  Otherwise, most restaurants offer a 'menu del dia' , the menu of the day, and this is a three course meal (which may or may not include a drink), and must cost less than if all the things are ordered separately from the menu. There is usually an element of choice. These are usually around 7-8 euros.
• We always found that Chinese Restaurants were very cheap, menu del dia about 5 Euro but the Indian was really expensive, much more so than England.
  Lucky for my waistline the Spanish are not big on cakes or confectionary. Desserts are usually just icecream or frozen gateau.