Cost of living. 2021

Darling,  for 80 years my eyes and ears have rarely missed a trick  

Windtaker,

You seem quite generous in your criticism of people you obviously don't know - is that just because they don't agree with you?

You talk imply you know me, you say..."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"...

There's a few errors here ....I'm not a pensioner - I run my own business in the UK, don't smoke, hardly drink, not a Spanish resident, nor ever likely to be and when I do drink alcohol I prefer a good quality brandy, or perhaps the occasional G & T.  Not sure I'm quite the Andy Capp character you seem to wish to depict!  

Mmmm...there's a very true expression...when the debate is lost, then slander becomes the tool of the loser. 

Acer how can someone like yourself say that it's cheaper to live in Spain .. when you don't live in Spain full time..you are the same as me your a holiday home owner that works in the UK and goes over to Spain with a pocket full of holiday money to spend ..so on face value goods will appear to be cheaper in Spain ..but when you are a holiday home owner like myself that spends 6 months of the year in Spain ..and has 3 close friends that also do the same ..that have come to the same conclusion as my self that Spain especially the Costa's is a expensive place to live if you are on a limited fixed income...you previous post seem to imply that you lived full time in Spain and you are the person to take advice from on living expenses in Spain one of your previous posts claimed that you couldn't think of one thing that was cheaper in the UK...  and only now are you admitting to being a holiday home owner ..my previous post did not portray you as a Andy Cap ..but more like someone that is still wearing rose colored classes ...my options are honest my my attitude towards Spain is ...I only visit the place for the sunshine and it is what it is over the last 16 year's I have lost count of the people that have move over to Spain and only lasted around 6 months it's like listening to a Brocken record when you hear them saying things like this is the life and I will never go back to the UK ..and then 6 weeks later they disappear off the face of the earth.

Wow! 

Thanks a lot for all the comments. A lot of great information. 

Been on a small trip and have not dropped by to see if I got some comments regarding prices. 

Thanks for the helpful information, and regarding where I am from, Finland - still a part of the Schengen area - wondering if I am going to divide my time about 49%/51% between Spain and Finland. The Apartment is in Alicante city - in the Florida neighborhood, so I will not need a car or a donkey for transport. :)

The building is old, so will probably need to use some electricity.

Well, Escapethesnow, Hope you have a great life alternating between the two countries. We have Finnish neighbours and they definitely find it much cheaper here than in Finland. Some of the comparisons they make with prices between Finland and Spain are quite remarkable. 

Sorry the thread came down to British/Spain comparison when you only asked for the cost of living in Spain.

And @windtalker. My husband thinks you are either a/ living on a different planet b/spend half your life in Spain but only buy British products or c/are shopping in totally the wrong places..

Firstly, there is no £140 a month council tax to pay. Ours is about €20 a month which is a vast difference. We do live here full time, and loving it I may add, and find it a lot, not a bit but a lot, cheaper to exist. 

Do you exist on only British stuff? Ready meals, stuff from Tesco or Iceland etc? 

Pork and chicken are much cheaper here but we don't use the processed stuff. For example, a kilo joint of pork loin at 4.35 gave us 4 pork steaks, a bag of pork cubes for Greek style kebabs and another for Magra. Magra is a type of stew with onions and tomatoes and lots of spices and is delicious. So 6 substantial meals for just over 4 euro is pretty good. We went to the market on Sunday. A large bag of big tomatoes at a euro, and was almost 2kg worth, at a euro, a big box of colliflower florettes at a euro which I blanched and froze and got 8 packs out of it. 

You are on about bread. Where the heck do you buy it and what type? If it's the British stuff at Brit shops then, yes, it is expensive. A large (and I mean getting 20 thick slices) of sourdough bread at Aldi is 1.79. a family loaf of integral (brown) or bog standard white at any of the supermarkets cost 97 cents. 3 large french sticks for a euro. Beef is cheaper than UK. Carrefour had topside beef (they call it redondo) at 8.70 a kilo and we got two Sunday joints and a pack of steak for stroganoff or curry out of an 8 euro joint. Fillet steak at AlCampo today was 13.75 a kilo.

Now, wine. You have this thing about non branded stuff. So? A bottle of Rioja at under 2 euro (I take it your £4.75 in UK at a pub was for a glass as the last time we were in a pub in UK it was over 20 quid for a bottle. I quite like Cava at the moment and, at €1.80 a bottle, is a bit cheaper than the 5 quid a bottle for Prosecco in UK.

Now, I'm a nasty smoker (I know, ex nurse and should know better) but hubby isn't. JPS long are the equivalent of £3.75 a pack instead of 10 quid in UK. And they give me a free bottle of Smirnoff when I buy 3 cartons and have 14 bottles of the stuff which I haven't paid a penny for. 

Petrol and diesel is cheaper if you have a car. Yes, second hand cars are expensive which is a pain when you're buying but great when you're selling. We had a Ford, 3 years old, when we first got here which cost €7,800 (about 5 thousand quid) but sold it two years later and got €7;500 in PX.

Your were also on about sausages. I take it you mean British sausages like Richmond or other rubbish like that. Have you tried Spanish sausages like Longaniza? Far cheaper and much better without all the cereal. We also have 3 British butchers near us (two in our town and one in the town next to us) which make their own British sausages and have them aroun €6 a kilo. I defy you to get any of that quality for cheaper in UK. Bacon. Gone off Brit bacon which is 20% water but our local store has Danish back bacon at €7.20 a kilo (about £6.50) which is cheaper than Tesco.

Eating out? Let's see. 6 of us went to a Chinese restaurant the othe night. Starters of large spring rolls or soup or salad with a main course (2 with large lemon chicken platters, 2 with chicken, beef and sizzling veg and two with crispy duck and orange sauce) followed by a choice of ice cream or creme flans and a bottle of wine between 2 or a large beer. Bill was €36 and I have the receipt if you want to see it.

No, we don't buy baked beans or ready meals. 

I do the cooking but hubby pays the bills. The food here is far better quality without all the added water, the taste and so on. I reckon the food we have is much better and hubby reckons the cost is half what we were paying in UK. He's a beer drinker and Amstel at 69 cents a 500ml can or, our local pub which has just increased the cost of a pint to €2.50, much better value.

Maybe stop shopping for British stuff when you are here and embrace the local stuff. 

Now, the couple just two doors away only have UK pensions but live very well on that and eat out a couple of times a week an run a car. We, on the other hand, are quite lucky in having other pensions coming in so are quite well off, certainly more so than we'd be in UK.  Utility bills are cheaper, shopping bills are cheaper, all outgoings are cheaper. 

Can't see where you're coming from unless you expect a tin of beans here to be the same price in UK. Broaden your horizons, go to other shops and try some far superior items or, at least, try some different shops because it sounds like you're getting ripped off somewhere along the line. I do feel a bit sorry for those I see shopping in the Brit places when it's so much cheapef if you are prepared to make a bit of and effort.

And a place that charged you €12 just to listen to music? Really? The only place near us that has live entertainment an charges €12 gives you a 3 course meal and a bottle of wine for that. Stop getting ripped off.

From earlier posts by windtalker believe his properties are on urbanisation this could be the reason he believes as he does. Nearest urbanisation to us Camposol caters for the Brits and holiday maker, as is the norm, and prices high with 70% of food products from UK.

In truth any non resident in Spain, even those spening alternate 6 weeks here,  wouldn't get a true picture of true cost of living which where food is concerned is MUCH cheaper. So totally agree with you mariedav.

Yes Floella..I did have a Villa on Camposol for 14 year's...but due to my age and getting older by the day and the maintenance of the large detached 3 bed 3 bathroom property with a 10 X 4 MTR pool it was just to big for me we sold it ...we now have a 2 bed villa on  on a gated community on a small urb in Los Balconies Costa Blanca 3 minutes to the beach we just pay a community fee of €190 per year ...this gives us access to the community gardens and swimming pool although the upkeep of the property is cheaper the food that we buy in Consum / Dial a pre and so forth remains the same price as Camposol.

• Family of four estimated monthly costs are 2,931.21€ without rent.
• A single person estimated monthly costs are 804.33€ without rent.
• Cost of living in Finland is, on average, 34.80% higher than in Spain.
• Rent in Finland is, on average, 19.96% higher than in Spain.

As we Londoners are won't to say " what has a 3 bed, 3 bath, 4x10 m pool have to do with the price of bread " ??

Windtaker, again you are guessing, wrongly.  You really should not try to "pigeon-hole" everyone.

I've owned a property in Spain since the 1980's.  I'm my own boss, so my time in Spain varies, this year I've been stuck in the UK, it'll probably be 3 months or so.  Last year it was 10 months in Spain - more than enough time to know the current food prices accurately. 

Like many things, you find that prices are affected by wage costs, which are generally far less in Spain than UK - and Finland!  (I know as my sister in law is Finish).
 

Floella I was referring to the up keep of a large 3 bed 3 bathroom Villa with swimming ... although this is not a loaf of bread we are referring to ..it does give some idea of what the cost of living in Spain came to for me as a holiday home owner..pool maintenance and security €4,800per year/IBI €560 per year + electricity and water meter standing charges /rubbish tax / none resident Tax / house insurance.

Agan thanks for all the help.

The closest shop is Dia, it is not very big, but has reasonable prices. If I walk a bit further there is a Mercadona and there are a lot more options.  Most meals will probably be made at home, so great information mariedav :) How many gas "bombones" are used when the cooking is done on a gas stove? One a month?

I just looked at the grocery shops web pages, and I think I can try to make a budget with the products I usually buy. But as they say "when in Rome...." so I was thinking that it is probably smart to make food like the locals and choose fruit and vegetables that are in season.

Has anyone found a web page with easy and traditional budget meals that is popular and easy to make in Spain? 

Just bought the apartment before the pandemic, and every time I have been to Spain I have been living like a tourist - hence the struggle to figure out the budgets. 

Since the Apartment is in a normal working class neighborhood - it should be possible to get reasonable prices for both food and other necessities. Again thanks. By the way, have anyone found web pages with real people, living like the locals sharing their budgets? 

Acer I take it you didn't bother to inform the Spanish government that you had spent 10 months out of the year in Spain while still running a business in the UK ..I am sure you are aware of the fact that if you spend more than 183 Days in Spain that you should have paid tax on your UK earnings and world wide assets..to the Spanish tax man just saying ..but if I was you I wouldn't say anymore ...or if you insist on staying illegally you should invest in a lead helmet so the radar doesn't pick you up nod nod wink wink and all that..

Now what was that you said about the cost of living in Spain being cheap.

ESCAPEtheSNOW,  I am VERY cost conscious and Mercadona is my favourite supermarket and believe it to be the  cheapest over all.    Plus quality is 2nd to none because of the volume of shoppers.

Yesterday's prices in Mercadona

6 large frozen LARGE chicken legs for less than €4 will make 12 meals for 1 person. So big my husband and I have half each. And we are big eaters. 

Kilo beef/ pork mince €5.19 will make 8 thick burgers and some over for 2 portions of spaghetti bolognase.                         Burgers buns 79cents  for 4.   Packet of dry spaghetti 76cents .  Tin toms ( large)  0.87 cents   Bag of white large grain rice 0.75 cents. 5 kilo bag of pastry flour €1.35

Pancetta ( pork belly) 4 thick slices for about €2.30.  ( slightly cheaper if you buy an unsliced side of Pancetta....easy to cut using kitchen scissors ) Bacon €1.84 for 6 thin rashers

Tray 24 large eggs € 2.95 =  8x3 egg omelette.

Cheapest  cheese are actually English cheddar €2.20  and Brie/ Camenbert €1.00

So  for €20 + cost of fresh/ frozen veggies one can eat a balanced main meal  for a MONTH for 1 person.

Bet windtalker cannot beat those prices in UK. LOL

Butter €1.25,   sliced white 0.95 cents. Mermelada 0.93 cents. Jam €1.55   Carton milk 75 cents ( buy outer of 6 is cheaper ) 

Obviously one wouldn't want to eat the same things month than in and month out but if you avoid beef and lamb from a supermarket you will find you can stick more or less to this budget . Also use markets for fresh veg.

12 small cans Steinburg sin alcohol €3.24

Hope this helps 

Floella..sorry I have taken so long getting back ...the reason for this was down to taking a long time to finish my dinosaur chicken leg ...

It's true. As windtalker proves yet agsin......Sarcasm IS the lowest form............of wit .

Enjoy your day

Floella..I haven't got the time to list all the prices on hear..but you can do a price check on the big UK supermarkets on the net with all the goods you listed..and you will see for yourself that food in supermarkets in the UK is  much cheaper than Spanish supermarkets by far thing's like spaghetti is only 35p / big tin of beans 27p big tin of tomato's 29p / jar of jam 42p/ big jar of beatroot 710 grams 42p large branded loaf £1 if you buy the same size none branded loaf it's 42p. 550 grams of strong branded cheddar £2 the list goes on and on  ...I was in our local Spanish market the other week and the price of 2 peppers was 84cents in  Asda UK same size 3 peppers 60 pence.

Believing in quality over quantity my preferred shops for groceries in UK were Waitrose and M&S  In Spain Mercadona. Appreciate many think differently. That is their prerogative.  But have just done a quick scan to compare and Spain is cheaper by a mile.

However, OP was requesting info on SPANISH price structure so fail to understand  why are you constantly bring UK into the equation.

Quite frankly, darling, no one who is  resident here gives a damn.

Floella ..as Dad's Army use to say ..(they don't like it up them)... enjoy that mega size chicken leg.. Waitrose / M&S are not Supermarkets LOL..

Food prices are only a part of the cost of living. You also need to consider food banks, state benefits like Bereavement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Jobseeker’s Allowance, State Pension, Widowed Parent’s Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Bereavement support payment, Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Disability Living Allowance, free TV licence for over-75s, Guardian’s Allowance, Housing Benefit, Income Support, Maternity Allowance, Pension Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Severe Disablement Allowance, Universal Credit, War Widow’s Pension, Winter Fuel Payments and Christmas Bonus, Working Tax Credit, Free healthcare for All, Free Bus Pass.