absolutely shocking

I have changed some sterling at the post office today 300 pounds and only got 315 euros absolutely shocking this must be a nightmare for anyone living off the UK state pension and living in spain how on earth do they afford to manage i will never know.

Rod

www.ournextholiday.co.uk

Simple really, we´re still better off in Spain than the UK. Most things are cheaper here and the sun shines a whole lot more. If you can´t manage on a pension here, you certainly won´t be able to do so in the UK!

I know where I prefer to be.

Irene

Rod...

You were seen off big time, no doubt by commission charges and a special exchange rate.

Your £300 should have got you 341.60€.

Still not as good as a month ago and nowhere near as good as 5 years ago. (366€ and 435€ respectively)

I'd take issue with Irene and Alans comment about it being cheaper over here; this certainly applies to questions like Road Tax and Council Tax. Diesel / Petrol is a little cheaper but electricity is on a par with the UK if not more expensive. Staples like bread and milk are much more expensive here.

Pensions are always hard hit by variations in the exchange rate. When we first moved out here some 5 years ago the exchange rate was good at around 1.45:1 and I didn't at that time receive a UK State Pension. Today with the totally crap exchange rate, our monthly income (which now includes the State Pension of around £650) equates to no more than we were getting 5 years ago! The reduction in the exchange rate over the last 5 years has effectively nullified the value of the State Pension.

Just imagine if a UK resident pensioner was told by HMG that their total pension income could vary by as much as +/- 25% each month...

This is just one reason why the controversial Winter Fuel Payment is so vital to pensioners out here. It goes some way to alleviating the UK governments mishandling of the economy which causes the wild swings in the exchange rate!

Rant over!

fb

FOXBAT

I tend to agree with you on this one i can see both sides mainly because i live in the UK and own a spanish home as well so i can give a balanced view the costs of electric are high in SPAIN the trouble is there is i think a monopoly we use one supplier and i understand thats it ENDESA i havent looked at any other companies i dont know if its possible to get a better deal our main costs are the air con.

I know a weeks shop is about 130 pounds here but when we go over to spain this amount seems to last about 4 days (two people)one thing i think perhaps people can confirm INLAND it may be cheaper to eat and drink i probably would come off the COAST when i do retire

WINE is definately cheaper

Do you ever get fed up off the SUN

Rod

www.ournextholiday.co.uk

Depends where you live/d in the UK. We lived in Windsor and everything was expensive. For us Spain is definitely cheaper.

Irene

I'd take issue with Irene and Alans comment about it being cheaper over here; this certainly applies to questions like Road Tax and Council Tax. Diesel / Petrol is a little cheaper but electricity is on a par with the UK if not more expensive. Staples like bread and milk are much more expensive here.

I agree foxbat.  Spain has become a very expensive country since joining the euro.  Prices overall are around the same as the UK, but salaries are around half the UK equivalent.  The only things I find cheap are cofees (1 euro where we are) and wine/beer in the supermarkets (2 euros for a decent red).  Road tax is cheap as well, as you say.  I don't know how the millions of Spaniards earning 1000 euros or less per month survive.

I have just looked at the price of bread and milk on Sainsburys online website, and I would say that bread looks to be about the same price (unless you go for the basics range) however our small loaf from Mercadona was 460g rather than 400g.  Milk may be a couple of cents more at the current exchange rate, however the price of a bottle of red wine makes up for that!  Fish is cheaper here (and fresher!) as are fruit and vegetables in our local market.  We did a comparison a while back, checking our supermarket bill against the cost of equivalent items in Sainsburys and we were definitely paying less here.  That was NOT including wine, for the cynics amongst you!

Our electricity bills here have actually worked out less than they were in London.  Admittedly we don't have air con: during the hottest months we have had the door onto the balcony wide open and the door leading from the kitchen to the laundry area also open.  If it has been hot and there has been no breeze we have had to put electric fans on to keep it cool.  It does get cold here in winter, so we have used electric fires during the winter months, although when the sun is out (it happens a lot in Spain!) it shines through the balcony doors and heats the living room for us, so we don't usually have fires on until the evening.

Of course during the daytime we can afford to meet friends for coffee (café solo and café cortado for a total of 1.80€) several times a week, which saves on electricity!  I met a friend in London for coffee and was horrified at how much it cost me - I wouldn't be going out as regularly if we still lived there.

We do live inland, which on the whole is a lot cheaper than on the coast.  Menú del día here varies between 7€ for 3 courses and house wine at one of the cheaper bars and 11€ for 3 courses plus salad, bread, a bottle of decent wine, water and coffee at the best restaurants. I believe some places on the coast also do cheap deals for MDD, but some don't include any drinks.

Sue

 I don't know about fish being fresher as in the local Consum supermarket that we use when in Peniscola most of the fish comes from South America. I must admit to being surprised as the fishing fleet goes out everyday and I assumed that the fish would be local! I think that when in Spain you just spend your money on different things but at the end of the day I'm not sure that there would be much difference in the overall cost of living. I say this as someone who only goes to Spain for a week at a time though so what do I know

Sanchez, I still maintain that it depends where you live.

In Windsor, you can´t buy a pint and a glass of wine for less than a tenner. My daughter lives in Birmingham and it´s half the price. If we went out for a meal to an average restaurant in our area, you´d always expect it to cost at least 50 quid. We are not extravagant people I can assure you.

Likewise fresh food. It´s OK if you shop for everything in say Tescos, or Asda, but if you want something a bit different, then it does cost more in the UK than Spain. Also in Spain the fruit and veggies are normally seasonal and have much more taste as well as being cheaper - particularly in the markets. OK, maybe bread and milk might be dearer, but other stuff definitely isn´t, provided we don´t try to continue to live on English food, which we definitely don´t, we are living well and more cheaply.

Additionally, our council tax in England was 150 a month, our gas was 40 and our electricity was 35. No we didn´t live in the Castle, just an ordinary semi. Over here, our SUMA is 125 A YEAR!

We are quids in, without a doubt.

Obviously if people have been in Spain for several years then they will notice the difference because I agree the exchange rate stinks, but we´ve only been here for 18 months and therefore haven´t been used to the better rates.

Irene

Cost of Bills (average per month)

                Spain      UK

Electricity 100€       £80

Gas:          0€          £60

Water:      10€         £30

Totals:      110€       £170 = 193.12€ at today's ex-rate of 1.136

That's a saving of 83.12€ or £73.16 per month for a start!

We were shocked when we looked at how much better off we are living in Spain even now, leave alone almost two years go when we moved, as living costs have gone up in the UK at a higher rate than they have here in Spain.

When it comes to food shopping, we shop around and go to Eroski, Lidl, Maxi Dia and Mercadona on a weekly basis, and go to Carrefour and Alcampo on average once every six weeks to have a look at the sales. The local markets in Sabinillas and Estepona are also great for fresh fruit and veg.

Taking all bills into consideration, judging by personal experiences from the area where we used to live in the UK and the area we now live here in Spain, we are far better off here in Spain than we ever were or indeed could have be in the UK, even though I work longer hours for less money.

And I didn't even mention the cheap booze, the swimming pools, beaches, golf and last, but by no means least, the sunshine.

Yes london is a rip off anyway how anyone manages to live comfortably with a family i will never know the TUBE is mad i love SPAIN for all its problems too

The people are friendly too i am 20 yrs from retiring so perhaps this is the worst the EXCHANGE RATE will be who knows there's no use worrying about IT.

Its 24 degrees and Sunny in Marbella and im out there this weekend its 9 degrees and cloudy out of my office window

One thing i would ask is what is a really good typical INLAND TOWN to visit i here ANTEQUERA is nice

Rod

www.ournextholiday.co.uk

Hi All.Interesting reading the comments regarding which is cheaper living, in Spain or England.WE have lived in the Mazarron area for 5 years and may be because it is not such a tourist place thinks are cheaper here.I was surprised to read Rods coments that 130 pounds only last him 4 days on food for 2 people,what do you eat.There is 2 in our house plus 2 cats and we certainly dont skim on food,we have steaks, pork, chicken ,fish most evenings with agood salad or veg depending on the weather,we have a good meal at lunch time and a  full english breakfast at least twice a week,and the cats will only eat gold cat food,and my husband certainly doesnt eat small portion.We shop in the local main supermarkets and the market for fruit,including all other shopping we probably spent between €70-€75 a week.

And no we never tire of the sun,if it gets to hot you do like the spanish close the shutters have a siesta,and enjoy the lovely evenings,and in this part of Spain there is something going on neally every night most of it free.So I certainly know were I would rather be.Maureen 

Moggy my comarison is not really valid after some thought over my 15 minute lunch ,we are buying what i call holiday food which includes booze suntan creams and stuff like that so just ignore that TECHNOAPE his example is more a kin to the true cost of full time residency it seems

My property is in a very touristy area so a nice meal out is 40 euros for two i guess with wine, back home in Sunny Staffordshire its 50 quid for a nice romantic meal etc in an upmarket place

Mind you you can get a carvery for £3.59 at Brewsters in the village

Muchos Gracias

Rod

www.ournextholiday.co.uk

Reading through these comments, I can understand where you are coming from... Food is dearer in the Tourist areas, much the same as in any country, but if you buy local products instead of imported, then the food bill is still cheaper. Electric is expensive, but then if you consider that it is warmer here for most of the year then average it out, it is not too bad. Last winter, which was particularly bad, I had my heating on 24/7 and my two monthly bill was €350, when I sat down with friends who thought it was rediculous, and worked out what they were paying to burn wood, there was no difference, taking into account their electric bills.

Overall it is still cheaper to live in Spain, despite the currency rate, when I first had to use WEuros I was getting €1.52, and todays rate €1.13, a big difference, but I don't complain because I enjoyed the good times, and although I am sure that we will never see that rate again, it will increase in time.

If you live in rural Spain and integrate, it can be still cheaper, because I quite often find bags of vegetables and fruit left on my doorstep my my Spanish neighbours. Overall it is a lovely place to live.

Yes it isnt all about money its about quality off life i would  much rather be poor and happy than rich and sad

Rod nownext week.

www.ournextholiday.co.uk