How to save money in Spain

Brexit is causing problems for many expats. It does not matter if you live in Spain or Portugal, you are just as likely to have some financial concerns. Future foreign exchange rates are a major concerned for many expats. How do you know that you are going to have enough money to live on, and how much is your UK pension going to be worth.

Should I sell My Villa in Spain

Property owners in Spain are worried about the property they own. Are they going to be able to keep up the maintenance of your villa on a lower income if your pension is affected by a Brexit? If, you rent your villa in Spain out, are you going to have to pay higher rates of tax? Will people want to pay as much for renting your villa in Spain? There are many things to consider, and there is really very little guidance available.

Property Prices in Spain After Brexit

What is going to happen to property prices in Spain after a Brexit? No one really knows, but it is likely that property prices will slump as Sterling will be lower than it is today. It will be less tempting to buy a villa in Spain because of worsening exchange rates.Most large European banks are betting that the Sterling will slump even further. It goes without saying that a poor exchange rate will lower the price that you get for your villa in Spain, should you want to move back to the UK.

Foreign Exchange Rates for Expats in Spain

Also, if there are more properties on the market, there is a likelihood that many UK property owners in Spain, will lower their prices to get their villas sold off so that they can return to the UK or perhaps go into rented accommodation in Spain. Once again, foreign exchange rates are going to have huge effect on any profit that you may get from your villa. You are likely to make considerably less profit on your villa in Spain.

The Final Outcome – Should I Sell my Villa in Spain?

So, what should you do? Some people say that a Brexit will not effect property values in Spain. The problem is that so many other markets have opened up, and many more markets will open up once the UK complete the Brexit negotiations. There is a surplus in the US housing market, and flights are cheap to the US now. President Trump is keen to increase foreign investment, and the Americans do speak English. It is likely that a lot of Brits will choose to invest in other parts of the world, or even make foreign property purchases a thing of the past. After all, holidays to foreign destinations are cheaper today, and you are spoiled for choice.

A final Brexit deal may come up sooner than we expect, and it is important to make sure that you review your own personal financial situation. Not only that, but you may want to check out where you stand on health as well. Will you need a Expat Health Insurance to stay in the country that you are in?

None of us really know what is going to happen after a final Brexit, so it could be a good idea to be prepared. After all, you do not want to end up out of pocket and not being able to afford your expat lifestyle which you have come to love. But, what factors should you take a look at?

Expat Income and Foreign Currency Exchange rate

Do you currently have income from overseas? If you currently have income from an overseas country like UK, you may want to remember that foreign exchange rates are likely to have an effect on your income. In fact, this week it was predicted that Pound Sterling would fall during and after the Brexit process. Many expats around the world have already been effected by the fall of Sterling. It could be a good idea to check out Currency Transfer Companies to see if they can offer you a better exchange rate.

In Trust or a Limited Company

If you have assets in the UK and abroad, you may want to speak to your independent financial adviser. It is very likely that cross border tax agreements will change in the near future. You want to make sure that you will not lose access to your assets, or end up paying too much income tax. There are several ways in which to deal with the situation. Considering open an offshore company, or setting up a trust may be the best way forward if you plan to spend your future in more than one country.

Pensions

What will happen to UK State Pensions? Those on just UK State Pensions may end up suffering the most. The problem is that the UK government could perhaps even make a decision that you cannot have any pension increases in line with the any new agreement. At first you may think that it will not matter a lot, but if the value of Sterling drops as well, you may find that it can cost your dearly.

Set Up Some Savings

At the moment, you may not be getting much interest on your savings, but it is still a good idea to save money. You can think about it as your own personal little slush fund that you can go to when you need some money. If health agreements change, you may find that you will have to pay for some or all of the costs of your medication even though you have transferred your rights.

Expat Health Insurance

If you are an expat living in Spain, it could be a good idea to take a look at expat health insurance. Generally, the age you join a company, is the age that you stay. Companies such as ASSA have easy to understand policies and ASSA agents are often based locally. It is one of the better companies in the health insurance market place today, and you should perhaps ask for a quote.

Will Brexit make life easier for expats? Some say that nothing will change, but other financial advisers find that hard to believe. When it all comes down to it, it is better to be prepared and make sure that you are happy with your own financial situation. Complete your own expat review. It is better to know what areas may cause of concern. If so, you can do something about them, speak to a financial adviser or follow your gut instinct.

Most of us presume that it is cheaper to book your holiday online with sites such as Booking.com, but that may not be true. If you are planning a holiday or vacation, you should certainly check out the rates online, but don't presume that it is cheaper to book your holiday online. Some of the so called discount booking sites are very tempting, but do they always give the best deal? I am not sure about that at all.

I have just booked my annual vacation, and going to be traveling in a couple of months time. Needless to say, I checked out all of the online sites, but I ended up booking directly with the hotel by phone instead. To my surprise I saved just under 200 Euros and got a better room as well. So, what is the secret to saving money on your holiday.

Booking to be Clever

Hotels may put some of their offers online, but far from all of the offers go online. Today, when I booked my holiday, I got a 10% early booking discount for booking with the hotel directly. The young lady who took my booking, also asked me if I had stayed at the hotel previously. No, I said and that entitled me to a special rate. None of these offers were available online or at sites such as Booking.com.

On top of that, I was upgraded to a better room. I simply asked the girl if they had any better room available and she said yes they did. As it was my first time with the hotel, and I was staying for two weeks, she would make sure that I got one of those room. When the booking confirmation came through, I found that I had been upgraded and a free bottle of Cava would be waiting for me as well.

How to Save Money on Your Holiday

Don't be frighten to pick up the phone. It is not the first time I have saved a serious amount of my money by booking by phone. Last year, I managed to get a drinks package included in our MSC cruise. That was not mentioned on the website, but was a special offer for phone bookings. In other words, pick up the phone and give them a call.

Ask questions. There is not harm in asking questions at all. Tell the company it is your first time booking with them, and ask if they have any better deals or rooms for first time bookers. Most of them will tell you if they do. Sometimes you do pay a little bit extra but it could be worth it.

It is not only rooms and booking deals that you want to check out. Don't forget to check out things like meal plans and excursion packages as well. Meal deals are great when it comes to hotels, and they are often more than happy to include breakfast if you book on the day.

Excursion packages can save you a lot of money. Cruise lines tend to offer a lot of excursion packages and two years ago, I got three free excursions when I booked a cruise around the Mediterranean. It sounded like they were anxious to book the last couple of cabins, and I asked what I would get if I booked today. The answer was an excursion package which included Rome.

How to Manage Your Holiday Money

If you are concerned about foreign exchange rates when you travel, you may just want to get yourself a prepaid debit card. There are many different companies which offer prepaid debit cards for overseas travel. Not only do many offer really good exchange rates, but it makes it easier for you to budget when you are on holiday. I have been using them for a few years now, and I think that they are great.

Check out them out online, and you will be surprised how convenient it is to use prepaid debit cards to save money on exchange rates.

So, by all means check out Booking.com,the site does have some good deals, but remember to give the hotel a call as well. Be friendly and nice, and you may be pleasantly surprised. There is after all no harm in comparing prices. I normally check out Booking.com first of all, then I give the hotel a call.

No matter where you are in the world, food is very expensive. Needless to say, we are all trying to save money on food and make the most out of the food that we buy. Most of the time we end up throwing away a lot of food, but we really should try to avoid to do so if we can. If you are serious about saving money on food, one of the first things that you should try to do is to make sure that you use and eat all of the food that you buy. But, sometimes that is easier said than done.

Top Tip One On How to Save Money on Food

The first thing that you should do, is to make sure that you are making the most of any available discounts on food, or bulk buy deasl. It is often cheaper to buy one kilo of carrots or any food, than it is to buy just half of kilo. However, when you only have so much in your wallet, it is all too easy to forget that. Getting value for money is the key, and often you will find that you will have to be at least a little bit savvy to get the best deal. Don't leave your coupons at home.

Top Tip Two On How to Save Money on Food

Planning ahead is one of the best ways to save money on food. Instead of buying your meat requirements every week, you may want to consider buying your basic meat products once a month. That will allow you to make the most out of deals and discounts available in store. For this to work, you want to make sure that you know what you are going to be cooking. There is no point in going out to buy two kilos of chicken breast if you don't know what to deal with them.

When you come home, make sure that you have enough containers or freezer bags available to store your purchases. You need a freezer pen to be able to write on the bag, and perhaps even some sticky labels you can stick on plastic containers before you put them in the fridge. Divide them up in meal size, or consider cooking them all at once.

Top Tip Three On How to Save Money on Food

Cooking ahead, or bulk cooking, is another cook idea. This can work out really well for you if you are a busy person who does not have too much time to spend in the kitchen. Once you have got your ground beef, or minced beef home, make sure that you have all the ingredients to cook your food. Buying store cupboard basic when they are on special offer can save you a small fortune.

Simple family recipes such as Chili con carne and Spaghetti Bolognese are great when cooked a head. You can simply freeze them and defrost them quickly when you fancy either one of them. If you have invested in a slow cooker, you don't need to stand over the food while it cooks. Simply prepare it and put in the slow cooker.

If you enjoy eating chicken, and love to cook Asian recipes such as curries, you can cook that in your slow cooker as well. Don't be afraid to add things like raisins and sultanas to chicken dishes. They really bring out the flavor of chicken.

Still, we do sometimes end up with something in the fridge which seems to be leftover no matter how well we plan our meals. It tends to be snack and breakfast foods, and perhaps even fresh vegetables. So, what do you with that last left over yogurt? Well, why not add it to a cake recipe and treat the family to some home made raspberry yogurt cake. All you do is to replace any water with the yogurt and you will have a delicious cake for you and your family.

When I was enjoying Sunday dinner today, I happened to over hear a conversation about transferring from and to Spain and other countries. The gent was complaining about the cost of foreign currency transfers using his Spanish bank and Paypal. Well, unless you have a very special arrangement with your bank, you are likely to receive poor deals on exchange rates and costs. Paypal is also not really a viable option as it is expensive and the exchange rates are frankly lousy. If you want to transfer money without hassle, and without occurring access charges plus suffer poor deals on exchange rates, you are better of using a company specialising in foreign currency transfers. But, what are the basics of making the most out of foreign currency transfers.

Get Ready to Transfer

Most foreign currency exchange companies work by assessing your personal circumstances. In other words, you need to let them know why you are transferring money. Are you planning a property purchase, payment of an unexpected bill or topping up the funds in your local bank.

You also need to consider if you are going to be transferring funds as a regular activity. It could be that you are going to be living abroad and need to transfer income from a pension or investments on a more frequent basis. This will affect the cost and foreign currency exchange rates.

Are you going to need the funds right away? If you need the money quickly, you will need to have all of the details ready so the transfer can be set up quickly.

The Best Deal

Getting the best deal is important, and you can only get that by doing a little bit of research. Contact your bank and find out what deal they can get for you. Remember to get everything in writing with the banks stamp. Unfortunately banks are not always very good at sticking to their promised deals.

On line services can be great but less reliable. If you choose to go down this route, make sure that you have a contact telephone number and a name of a person. Also, make sure that the company is legal. Companies like Paypal are not really set up to deal with personal on a regular basis, or one off large transfers.

What Should You Do to Make the Most Out of Foreign Currency Transfers?

The best thing that you can do is to talk to a local foreign currency transfer company. Get a few references from other people and make sure that the company is okay. If they have a local office and you can actually speak to an expert, it is probably the best choice for you. Many foreign currency transfer companies have local offices, and the good ones have websites that you help you to set up the transfer. Once you have completed the first transfer, you may even be able to download an App to assist you with further transfers foreign currency transfers.