Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

plumpmouse

Another website to look at is www.totalfrance.com

Good luck, we are in the same position, really keen to move to France, but just making sure we do it "right".

We are taking our time and researching everything.

Hope it works out well for you

samja1

thanks.
amgoing to check those 2 sites out now. Have looked at 'frenchentre' which was useful but a bit out of date 'aparntly'.

samja1

droopsnout

Good luck, plumpmouse. We left Lancashire, too ... It was just about worth it.

droopsnout

Francophile wrote: »

Our next door neighbour is originally from Paris and cannot get work locally as she is classed as what we would term here in Ireland as a blow in.

Hehe!

Round here, Parisians are the last to be considered!

A local farmer, growing plums, goes round his trees at picking time. He takes the largest plum from each tree and eats it.

"Ça, c'est pas pour les Parisiens!"

lesandflynny

anybody on here based in the USA?

Cheers

tw0906blue

Hey guys, these posts have been fascinating as me and my other half are planning to sell up here, buy somewhere like a flat to rent out (a UK bolt hole) and then visit Spain for 6 months to a year, renting there and getting to know the Spanish and their culture. I take on board that we need to learn Spanish - and have the Michel Thomas cd, so will now get into it, spurred on by your comments.
We plan to go to the SW, Saville / Granada / Cordoba area. Amny advice or inside knowledge of rental prices? We have my husbands early pension of £24k and we are turning 51 this summer. We are both in good health and getting very excited but also nervous as our plans start to come together.

seven-day-weekend

Hi, welcome to the forum!

I don't know about rental prices as I have never rented, but Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba are all beautiful cities.

We had a wonderful long weekend in Cordoba on a house exchange, it is one of those cities where you go 'oooh!' and 'aaah!' every time you turn a corner. Whatever you do, visit the Mezquita-Catedral, it is the most wonderful building I have ever been in - not just its architecture, which is stunning, but also by the sense of the holy that permeates its walls.

My own piece of advice (learned from experience, thankfully not mine!) is don't believe anything until you have it in writing (and if you're buying a place, don't buy anything you can't see).

Also, and this IS from my own experience, don't even attempt to import a British car, it is an expensive nightmare!

Good luck, and keep us posted!

seven-day-weekend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezquita

Couldn't resist posting this link about the Mezquita!

http://www.fallingrain.com/world/SP/51/Yegen.html

Hey! and would you believe, this is about my little village!:beer:

And just found some more information - the photograph marked 'tinao' is the top of my little lane - my house is near the bottom!
http://www.alpujarra-direct.com/enren/homepages/yegen.html

oh....must have a lie down.

tw0906blue

Hey thanks Seven Day weekend! A quick response indeed. My OH is out at work - doing some consultancy type fill in, which swells the coffers :j And I can't wait to show him this thread or your links. Your "lane" looks wonderful. What a view.

We don't plan to buy as we want to travel around, 6 - 12 months then move on...well that's the plan, but who knows what the future holds. But thanks for your tips, we will certainly remember them.

We had hoped to bring our car, but maybe we won't after all. Do you know if we could bring it as tourists? We don't plan to buy and stay perminently in Spain so maybe we can get around the system somehow? You know, drive it through France? As you can tell, we have as yet to think seriously about all these problems.

I think we are going to have to be more prepared than we are. We are currently decorating to sell up and buy something that we can rent out more easily, and that has taken all our energies so far. But we are almost finished and once we get the house on the market it will be a really big step forward. Until we do that it is all still a bit of a pipe dream. :rolleyes:

How long have you been in Spain? and how is the language coming along?

:beer:

Limeycat

When my parents first moved out to Spain, just over 2 years ago, they drove out there in their UK car, and had a nightmare with LOADS of attention from the Spanish police, the Guardia Civil. They had some really nasty incidents, which were quite distressing for them, particularly since they were upset anyway following a burglary soon after they moved into their new home.

Essentially, they felt that the UK number plate was like a red flag to any cop having a bad day, or wanting to prove a point. They got pulled in and berated several times, having not committed any offences (there are frequently roadside checks in their area, near to Alicante).

They were accused of illegally importing a vehicle, and were threatened that it would be impounded immediately. This was within the first couple of weeks of their arrival. I believe you can drive a on UK number plate for 6 months after arrival, then the vehicle has to be officially imported and registered in Spain, but the GC weren't at all interested in this - it took days of upset for my parents before it was sorted out.

My mum has pretty good basic Spanish, but my dad almost none at all - despite this the police just wouldn't speak with my mum, they simply waved her away, making it pretty darn clear that they weren't going to speak to a mere woman! In the end, they had to employ an interpreter, since mum was getting nowhere. All in all, they had a pretty horrendous introduction to life in Spain, despite having been there many times previously - they'd really done their research and weren't naive about the difference in culture, but this was all way beyond the pale.

Anyway, back to the point: I guess what I'm saying is that driving a UK vehicle in Spain may not be straightforward! In my parents experience, it was a magnet for all kinds of hassle - not just with police, by the way, they also reckon they experienced more aggressive driving and abuse from other road users. Since they bought a Spanish registered car (which was always their intention!), they've had no problems at all.

I'm happy to say that they love their life and have no regrets about moving out there, despite the rocky start!