Cost of living. 2021

After over one year of not being able to use my apartment in Spain I have some figures of what it cost to have my apartment with no use.

Since my long term plan is to stay in Spain for a long time after I stop working I was wondering if you can help me with some tips and tricks of living a frugal life in Spain. The numbers I have in my budget is not representative for long term living, since I only have been in the apartment as a tourist - so I was wondering if you all could give some advice of what you think one should budget for when living in Spain long term, frugal and living like a local.

The numbers of just having the apartment for one year unused in Euros;

Flat cost community cost: 180

Power 190

Water (and trash) 210

IBI Ayuntamiento Tax 167

Second resident Spanish Tax 87

Security arrangement 100

Inchurance 154

What do you think the numbers would be of full time use for a single person in a flat in Alicante for a full year?

Food? Healthy but frugal?

Utilities? Frugal, slippers and warm clothes in the winter, and ceiling fans in the summer - Not going overboard with the heating and air conditioner. 

Average yearly expenses for replacing the white and brown goods?

Clothing? (do you recomend used stores?)

Phone? (basic 1 GB and some minutes)

Internet? (unlimited GB speed not that important)

Repairs in a flat? (what is sensible to budget for yearly average?)

Other expenses ? What have I missed?

unexpected?

Any recommendations for places to find a realistic budget for a single person that already owns an apartment?

The numbers I seem to find are old, do you have updated numbers for your budgets?

Thanks a lot, I think some realistic numbers would help both me and others making realistic plans... 

Some of your figures are a bit out. First of all, which country are you coming from? Where are you a citizen?

Community charges are what they are. If you are paying 180 a year now it will probably be the same.

Power (electric). This will be a lot more. You can bank on between 60 and 70 euro a month but more if you use aircon in the summer and heating in the winter. Probably budget for around 800 euro a year even on a low power contract. You may not want the aircon or heating but, believe me, you'll need it, especially the heating.

Water and rubbish collection. Probably nearer 300 euro a year. Somewhere around 55 euro a quarter plus 70 ish euro for the rubbish collection.

IBI and non resident  tax would stay about the same for that size property but be aware you would become resident if you spend more than 6 months in a year here. You would then lose the non resident tax but be liable for income tax on your world wide income. Allowances are quite low in Spain.

Food is quite cheap depending on what you want and where you shop. Markets are excellent value for fruit and veg but can be quite seasonal. Chicken and Pork are very cheap, beef and lamb not so much. Eating out can be very reasonable.  Rice, pasta and so on also very reasonable (talking of around 90 cents a kilo of rice). Imported goods are rather on the expensive side but local cereals, as opposed to Kellogs, are very good value (1.5k box of Aldi corn flakes at 1 euro compared to around 3 euro for a smaller pack of Kellogs, for example. Coffee is cheap but not tea.

Clothing depends on where you shop. We have Primark, C&A and loads of hypermarkets which do reasonable prices. Don't spend that much on clothes, to be honest. The heavy stuff is worn so little it doesn't need replacing and shorts and T shirts for a lot of the year can be bought in those places and markets for quite low prices.

We pay 25 euro a month for fibre optic internet. Supposed to get 100Gb but usually only half that. Phone can be got at a pretty low rate if you have the internet and phone package.

In a flat I should imagine the upkeep would not be that much per year. Unless your roof caves in or something and depends if you do the decoration and repairs yourself. Most of our costs go on doing things to the outside of the house which, I guess, wouldn't affect you so much in an apartment.

With no rent or car to run, I reckon 800 euro would be fairly comfortable and there are very many in Spain who keep a family on 1,000 a month so if you could run to 12,000 euro a year as a single person you could live a nice, comfortable life. Public transport is dirt cheap. Probably less than that but less comfortable even for a single person.

Other things would, obviously, depend on your circumstances. House insurance you've mentioned and that seems about right for an apartment. 

Oh, I forgot. What about medical costs? Dental costs? EU citizens can transfer their medical across but only as residents which would bring the income tax back into question.

Whichever, we love it here and find it very good value for money as long as you avoid imported goods which seem to attract a premium. 

If you are from the UK ..it really doesn't matter how cheap you think you can live in Spain ..as the Spanish government are demanding a yearly income of around €25,000 per person€30,000 per couple and you will need a private health insurance policy as well ... apparently if you have been offered a job this job must only be offered to you provided your prospective employer can't find a European Union Citizen to fill the vacancy and the salary on offer must be around €30,000 per annum .. personally I can't why you would want to post how cheap you can live in Spain when you have not factored in the cost of getting out and about things like socializing /eating out and so forth will cost you quite a bit of money ... unless you have got plans on turning into a hermit if I was you I would stop dreaming.

If you are from the UK ..it really doesn't matter how cheap you think you can live in Spain ..as the Spanish government are demanding a yearly income of around €25,000 per person€30,000 per couple and you will need a private health insurance policy as well ... apparently if you have been offered a job this job must only be offered to you provided your prospective employer can't find a European Union Citizen to fill the vacancy and the salary on offer must be around €30,000 per annum .. personally I can't see why you would want to post how cheap you can live in Spain when you have not factored in the cost of getting out and about things like socializing /eating out and so forth will cost you quite a bit of money ... unless you have got plans on turning into a hermit if I was you I would stop dreaming... escape the snow what snow are you referring to as snow is a very rare occurrence these days in the UK..

Hi there

I agree with the other Forum users here. I am a single person and can manage on 1000 é a month. You can check out this website. You can compare UK to Spain in GBP or EUR. Also you can  compare Cities in Spain against  one another

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/

This message was last edited by nigel188 on 25/06/2021.

If you are a holiday home owner like myself and a frequent visitor to Spain then its very easy to do your own cost of living comparison's you can go into any Spanish or UK supermarket on line and cross check prices...what I found is that supermarket food in Spain is either the same price or more expensive than the UK..the only thing I found cheaper was IBI basically know as council tax in the UK ...so to make it easy on yourself when trying to work out what it's going to cost you to get by in Spain .. just take 75% off your UK council tax and add on what ever it cost you to live in the UK and it will work out basically the same as Spain..one of the biggest problems you are going to come up against is socializing / eating out and so forth just like the UK as soon as you walk into a bar or restaurant this will cost you money...who on earth wants to go to Spain and just get by living like a hermit...and let's face it do you really want to move to a foreign country on a extremely tight budget that is only going to get tighter as inevitably prices will rise faster than your UK state pension.

It's not really anybody's business why someone should want to move to a foreign country or how they choose to live their life - but the important issue here is: if the OP is a UK citizen (which they haven't confirmed or otherwise), then moving to Spain on a low income isn't really an option any more. Also important to note that Spain isn't  "demanding" anything new, simply that the UK voted to become a non-EU country and therefore the pre-existing residency requirements for non-EU nationals now apply to Brits. So whilst it may be possible to live on 800-1000€ a month, unless you actually have considerably more than that coming in, legally you're going to have to settle for being a 90 in 180 days tourist.

Of course, if the "snow in Schengen" means the OP is actually an EU citizen,none of this is relevant anyway ;-)  

Windtaker, you made similar comments 10/15 years or so ago - I disagreed then and still do so.  The difference is probably smaller with the exchange rate, but it still very much depends on your choices. 

We eat far more fresh fruit and veg in Spain and buy it at the local warehouse, which is half the supermarket price and often better.  

Good quality meat is massively cheaper in Spain as of course is alcohol.  There's not much I can think of that costs more, particularly if you shop wisely and buy local rather than imports.

Eating out is obviously a lot cheaper in Spain, the UK don't do a menu del dia/noche, plus the fact the cost of a bottle of wine in the UK is often a joke.

Repair and maintenance is generally far less expensive due to the lower wage expectations in Spain.

You might say - electricity, yes the rate per kwh is more in Spain, but our bills are a lot cheaper as we use considerably less.  If you have a well insulated property your heating bill in Spain will be very modest.  Running a large family home in the UK was a real nightmare.

Possibly some medications?   Really struggling now, so how do you back-up your claim?  Is there actually anything cheaper in the UK?

Acer yes lots of things are much cheaper in the UK second hand cars are 50% cheaper in the UK Bacon /sausage fresh meat is much cheaper / eating out in the UK can cost you as little as £10 for 2 main meals in any pub/ a bottle of wine is only £4.50 ..the only thing I can think of that makes you think things are cheaper in Spain is that you never go out and socialize ....

ESCAPEtheSNOW is not responding to where in the Schengen area he or she lives. So it’s all a guessing game. However the UK is not in the Schengen area, so why compare UK to Spain cost of living.
Consumer Prices in Paris are 62.81% higher than in Alicante (without rent).
Consumer Prices Including Rent in Paris are 87.36% higher than in Alicante.
Rent Prices in Paris are 161.02% higher than in Alicante.
Restaurant Prices in Paris are 56.72% higher than in Alicante.
Groceries Prices in Paris are 88.58% higher than in Alicante.
Local Purchasing Power in Paris is 1.14% higher than in Alicante.

Acer long gone are the days in Spain especially on the Costa's ..when you could sit in a bar all-night with half a larger and listen to the live music..I personally know 2 bar owners that watch the tables and have instructed the staff to clear your table if you are not buying a drink ..they will also keep on asking you if you want another drink to force you out ...at the moment our local bar in Los Balconies is charging €12  for a seat at the Barbecue with live music absolutely no standing by the bar without paying the €12 entrance fee...as far as Spanish wages go .. Spain is a extremely expensive place to live on a Spanish wages.

You are quite right windtalker, tourist area’s are not for the skint members anymore. Immigrants with limited or no means thinking of making Spain their new home need to carefully consider where in Spain to live. Inland or in the hills or mountains maybe more suitable for ESCAPEtheSNOW where only a donkey is needed and more reliable than a car. People in these areas are not interested in fibre internet, computers, TV, restaurants and bars. They have no supermarkets and live of the land and home brew.

Windtaker, your list:

UK second hand cars are 50% cheaper in the UK - yes can be true, but they don't seem to last that well

Bacon /sausage fresh meat is much cheaper - ah, you mean "offal tubes" the quality of meat is far better in Spain.

eating out in the UK can cost you as little as £10 for 2 main meals in any pub - isn't that often a micro-wave job?  The menu del dia/noche tends to be a of a far better calibre.

a bottle of wine is only £4.50 - again I believe you are referring to the price in a pub, not a restaurant.

the only thing I can think of that makes you think things are cheaper in Spain is that you never go out and socialize - lol, what a strange and offensive comment to make!  In any event you don't need to be out on the pop every night to be able to compare the prices.

The difference seems to be that you are not comparing "like with like".  I've never actually seen "2 main meals offered for £10 in a UK pub" (not sure I've missed much either), similar thoughts apply to the £4.50 bottle of wine.  But in Spain a €4.50 bottle of wine is likely to be rather good.

This thread has nothing to do with UK prices.

Acer cars don't last any longer in Spain than they do in the UK the majority of Spanish second hand cars for sale are burnt to a crisp and have what we would call in the UK as extremely high mileage...any second hand car that's done 150,000 miles is one step from the scrap yard and this includes the equivalent well over priced Spanish ones ..now I am not going to get into a price war with someone like yourself that's trying to convince himself that Spain is cheaper to buy food in than the UK..so I am not going to go on about the price of a simple chocolate bar / bag of crisps/ tin of beans/ large loaf to name just a few out of the many thousands of products that are atleast 50% cheaper in the UK ...Acer I have owned  a couple of holiday homes in Spain  over the last 16 years I fly back and forth every six weeks throughout the year ...so I can easily do price  comparison on food clothing / cars/ branded Alcohol and so forth...not like yourself that lives full time in Spain ..and only has people like yourself to listen to ..that usually have a fag in one hand and a glass of the cheapest none branded wine they could buy in the other... anyway I really don't have the time to converse with someone like yourself that won't listen to reason..so good day to you as I am going out to our local pub for a 3 coarse Sunday lunch carvery at £12 per person and a pint or two of fosters at £3 per pint ...so enjoy the rest of your day as I am going to enjoy my Sunday back in Great Britain.

 "I am not going to get into a price war..."

Oops! Looks like you just did!!

By pretty much every official measurement, the cost of living is lower in Spain than the UK (though not by much), but of course these by necessity are generalisations &  it's different for every individual, so largely pointless making comparisons.

Enjoy your cheapo Sunday lunch Windy, I do hope the roast isn't too coarse 

We get one post from someone who says he lives in the Schengen area enquiring about the cost of living in Spain. We end up with the fact that you can buy a pint of lager in some Welsh pub for three quid and that it's cheaper in UK because they exist on sausages, bacon and tins of beans.

I wonder why we get so many who post once and never come back, or have I just answered my own question?
As Kavanagh said, this thread has nothing to do with UK prices. The fact you can buy cheap rice and beans in Guatemala or that petrol in the USA is a third of the price of Outer Mongolia is neither here nor there. 

Mariedav..posts like this  get right up my nose.. especially when you get the likes of Acer .. saying  Spain is a cheap place to live as apposed to the UK which is not true ...but good on him if he can live on a UK old age pension in Spain...I think the UK government pension is around €200 per week ..I for one could not live on this amount of money in Spain or the UK..

Oh ! To be as wealthy and knowledgeable, about EVERYTHING, as windtalker

Floella.. haven't heard from you in a long time...just a word of advice keep your eyes and ears wide open ..and only then will you get by in Life.