Living on 1000.euros

Hi Campasol & Roly2,  Firstly you can buy real cream here it is called' NATA' you can get pouring or double!  The artificial cream you talk about is 'CREMA' and is like a custard, made with milk!   You might have fast food where you live but here in proper Spain we have Tapas and other snacks which are considerably more healthy!  We don't see obese children here they are quite a normal weight!  I haven't seen any pot bellied Dad's around here either, yes they are laid back but thats better than being up tight like you seem to be!  They are not in a hurry like people in Britain, 'Manana', is their favourite saying and I do the same now and feel a lot more relaxed than I ever did in UK!  I don't think it's very nice of you to point out my spelling mistake either!!  I have had a better life here in the last 5yrs than I had in the 60yrs I spent in UK and all on less than €1000 a month.

I know about the cream you can buy. I am referring to the thick, white sickly concoction found in many cakes, some look like logs. There are also many celebration cakes made of marshmallow, equally nauseating. Of course there are tapas bars everywhere, but that doesn't mean that the Spanish aren't eating burgers, chips and drinking lots of sugary drinks. I have seen many chubby children, and their chunky mums, dads, grannies.

I stick by what I said about the so called slow pace of life-it's slow alright, but not when there's a Spanish driver involved!

As for feeling more relaxed here, you obvoiusly haven't encountered the many frustrations of ex pats living in Spain.....yet!

Now we are on about Cream... slightly off topic.. see ya!

 You don't need to tell me about cream - I speak Spanish for a start  - but I don't understand why you have addressed your post to Camposol and Roly2?    That would imply I had agreed with him/her - which I did not.   

I am not even certain how many Spaniards you would have living around Camposol??  Are you sure all those fattys are not English????    

Back on point - I have to say again, 1000 euros does not sound a lot to me,   but at least some of it has to do with what you are used to before you move.   And of course what your pension expectations are.   

 Forgot to say - sickly cakes??  Have you looked at a Greggs lately??????????????????????

  I must really visit camposol one day.  Is a passport required to come from Spain?  This place where it is cold for 4 months of the year, where you have to drive miles and miles to get to a shop, where TVs are more expensive than UK, where all the locals scoff Maccy D's and artificial cream, where all the expats (is that Spanish or English expats?) are always frustrated, where utility bills are the most expensive in Europe, where little children and their Dads look like pot-bellied pigs, where there are no decent sized eating apples, where house insurance is double anywhere else, where the markets are more expensive than the shops.

It really is a different world to the one that I exist in.  

Back to the original of living on 1,000 euros a month (in case anyone forgot the original question), I have totted up all my bills, insurance (for car and house), electric/water (we don't use gas), local taxes, car tax, fuel for the car, TV/phone/internet and everything except food.  It comes to slightly over €3,000 a year.  By using a bit of extra petrol, a bit more aircon/heating etc I could push it up to €3,600 a year so that's a nice round sum of €300 a month.  As previously said, no mortgage or rent and that €1,000 a month is great.

Of course, people who moved here when the euro was 60p still look at the prices as if that were still so.  The fact that UK has done pretty badly over the last 10 years is the reason it is so low but expats from Britain sitll look at it as if the prices in Spain have risen so much.  They haven't.  Now the euro is worth 80p it just looks that way.  A washing machine costing €450 back when it was 60p was only £270 which looks good.  Now, at 80p, it is £360 and people say how much it has risen in Spain.  No, it hasn't, it's still that €450.  The same with cars.  Britain had the reputation of being the highest cost in Europe for cars but, because of the failing pound, it no longer is.  My 3 year old car cost me €7,100 or just over £6,000 at the terrible exchange rate we were getting then.  UK prices for the same car were £7,000 at the time (I know because I looked it up) .TVs and computers have come down incredibly in Spain and, if you compare with what we get in a 10 minute radius of us (Media Markt, Carrefour, Miro, Euronics, AlCampo etc) are the same price if not cheaper than Comet or Currys.  White goods are coming down in price, the choice compared to 10 years is incredible.

Sorry, camposol, that these places are not in reach of you without driving vast distances, that the markets we have around here every day are such good value and brilliant quality and so on.  That you picked the wrong place to live (in that little corner of the United Kindom of Spain) is hardly something you can blame on Spain.  

Driving?  Yes, I agree the Spanish are terrible (how can a people that have a 3 hour lunch break suddenly feel like they have to be on the other side of town in 10 minutes?) but the UK standards have fallen terribly over the years.  Road rage, being cut up, being tailgated on motorways by someone on a mobile phone, the lack of indicators and so on is not just a Spanish trait anymore (I saw more of that in a visit to UK in a fortnight than I've seen here in 2 years).  Fuel bills set to rise in UK by between 9 and 14% in December and the average dual fuel bill is set to rise to £1400 a year.  

No, living on €1,000 a month in Spain (without the mortgage/rent) is not only achievable but will give you a good standard of living as well.  Just avoid Iceland.

cant say anymore than i have said re 1000€....but keep the comments coming....im enjoying the reading....good to have a laugh every now and then

 Actually, graeme13, I was just pointing out that people who have a downer on Spain, whether they made the wrong choice, made a mistake and bought in the wrong place, miss family more than they thought they would, don't like the sun (wow! it gets hot in Spain) or whatever reason, suddenly come up with things that are, obviously, ridiculous.  Like the poster who likes ordering things on-line from Waitrose as if you can't do that in Spain (Mercadona, Alcampo, Carrefour and others do exactly the same thing) or the one who said you can go into Carrefour but can't actually buy any food (the butcher's counter, the magnificent fish counter, the vegetable market, the rows upon rows of cheeses, cold meats, the delicatessen counter and so on) or the can't buy a decent sized eating apple (I went to Consum this afternoon, quite a small place, and had a choice of Fuji, Braeburn, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and even Granny Smith's).  4 Red delicious apples (weighing almost a kilo) at 1.10 euros a kilo put the lie to that.  Them they talk about rubbish customer service.  Sorry, but buying a 3 piece sofa set on a Thursday morning at 10.30 and having it delivered at 3 that afternoon puts the lie to that as well.  UK it's "well, about 6 to 8 weeks for delivery".  The ones who say you can't buy organic food in Spain.  Sorry, but organic food is the biggest rip-off to the British public that there has ever been.  Our Carrefour has a huge area for locally produce Valencian fruit and veg which says "Verdaduras Organica".  If they aren't available where you are then you chose the wrong place to live (Next time, do your homework).  Oh, and these organic stuff are only slightly more than others, unlike the 2 or 3 times the price you pay in UK for a con!  

I just wish these threads wouldn't turn into a peeing contest.  Those of you who don't like it, please go home.  

(Oh, as a PS, those custard apples are absolutely delicious if you make them into a sauce or an apple crumble.  Even in Australia, where they originate, they wouldn't think of eating them straight.)

 Everyone has their own experience, but bobaol is certainly more in line with my own experience - though I too chose not to buy in a 'Little England'.     The thing that puzzles me though, if you really can live well on 1000 euros a month - why are Brits returning to the UK - where you absolutely cannot live off £800 a month?    

Bobaol, trust  me, my reply was not directed at your post.....in fact, quite enjoyed it...

Roly2....who knows why they are going, im sure if we could ask it would be a variety of reasons....not just financial....but im sure the bigger percentage these days ....is probably that reason...

 I agree Graeme13 - the reasons will be diverse, but the reality would remain that if you only have 1000e in Spain to live, you will only have £800 in the Uk to live - and I don't think anyone would really ask the question about living well - at best you would talk about survival.   If I had the choice between a good life in Spain and living in poverty in the UK - I would have to hate Spain to return!!

I suppose looking at some of the threads - some people do.... and that is very sad.

yes, it is sad...but im sure Spain has nothing to do with their "hate"....more with themselves for not making it work....

Its not for everyone but with the right mindset....you can make it work...

Well said Graeme.

I also did not remotely feel you were having a go at anyone.

Arguably the best thread despite the odd "diversions" (which are mostly harmless !!).

Cheers,

Harry

People all differ in their outlook.  I, as do, meny ohers on this site

have a positive outlook to life. However some are less blessed

and nomatter where they lived, they would not fit into the environment and

would be not happy unless able to moan about the few short commings

 experienced here in our sunny Spain. 

It's pointless arguing-some of us live in the real Spain, which we actually don't hate, but are realistic about.

Bobaol-don't bother visiting  Camposol-just stay in your little bit of Utopia, where the way of life is stressfree, cheaper, warmer,the people are fitter, all your needs met, and smugly view your bank statements.

By the way my daughter has just informed me that her latest bill for electricity and gas combined,  ( and while central heating used) for three months for a family of four was £162.

 Gas and electricity consumption depends on how much you use.  There are plenty of people in the UK who hardly put the heating on because they cannot afford the bills.   I can only say what I was paying and that was £150 a month - divided into 12 equal payments via direct debit, for both gas and electricity.  I will put my hand up and say I could possibly have made savings - but I like to be comfortable.  What I could not save on, is the £290 each month for 10 months in council tax.  Not unelss I divorce and then I would be entitled to 25 percent off.

I think the point Floella makes is spot on - and now that I think about it, I do know people who had a 5 year plan, and that involved selling up and buying something bigger and better.   Now that this is impossible, people do start to feel trapped, which is never a happy place.

Hello Roly2, sorry I didn't mean to add you in.  SORRY

Hello BOBAOL, I agree with you about avoiding ICELAND but it is the only place I can get British TEA which I buy in bulk from ICELAND when doing an Airport run, I also miss my Mature Chedder Cheese and Jacobs Cheeslets at Christmas, but apart from that when we first came here we used to go regularly but haveing tried the Spanish equivalent of most foods I found British food was sickly sweet or stodgey so stopped going except for tea and Cheese.  Does anyone know of any Spanish cheese biscuits as I can't find any in our area.

 So taking that a step further Tamara, allowing for 500€ for rent 1000€ should do it!