Living abroad tips and hints for money savers

seven-day-weekend

Welcome to the forum clearmydebts and I hope things work out for you.

You will stand much more chance of finding work if you can speak Spanish (and/or presumably Catalan in Barcelona).

I think it is a good idea to keep your flat in the UK, we still have our house.

Welcome once again!

clearmydebts

Thanks Seven-day-weekend,

It's great to get such a warm welcome and so soon after I posted as well! We have been learning Spanish for the last 3 years and it is at an okay standard. We have been lazy lately but it is hard to get motivated when there is not target date in sight! I think when we do move over we will do a month language course as well to brush up on our skills. We are also thinking we might rent out a flat next year for a month (out of season) and see what it is like to live there for a month. We were in Barcelona last year and stayed in an apartment and we went to a market to get food for dinner. We made ourselves speak only in Spanish and managed to negotiate the right ingredients! it gave us a bit of a lift as we knew then at least we would be able to eat, f nothing else! I know that there is a lot more to it and I certainly wouldn't be able to sort out electricity, water etc but I suppose we have to start somewhere!

Re: Catalan. The plan is to learn the basics before we go over and then to start learning Catalan when the Spanish is fluent. Easier said than done, but I am an optimist!

droopsnout

Hi, clearmydebts, and welcome.

Just wanted to wish you good luck in achieving your plans.

If I had to give just one piece of advice, it would be to do a dummy run, i.e. go and live in your chosen location for, say, three months. Better still, do it in winter, when the place is necessarily at its worst. Experience the extremes.

Most of all, have fun!

clearmydebts

Thanks Droopsnout,

I think the dummy run bit is a great piece of advice. We will defo manage a month in Oct 2009 but we can look into seeing if we can extend it a bit longer. I agree about the winter bit as well!

sundin13

Hi all, and hope you don't mind me asking a few questions. I've just looked at this thread for the first time as my parents are considering making a move to Spain from the US at the age of 75 - in order to be nearer grandkids etc. They're both British expats, so have UK pensions and passports.

Firstly, while I personally would rather move to somewhere more 'spanish', I think they are too old to make a serious effort with the language, so would be looking for what I believe you refer to as an 'urbanisation'? Can anyone give me some names of places I can look up for them - Spain is a pretty big place and they wouldn't want to be in an awful drunken touristy place, but nor would they want to be a million miles away from shops/hospital/beach etc.
Secondly, regarding the 'dummy run' idea. How does one go about a, say, three month rental of a property over the winter? Everywhere I look seems to show weekly prices, and they seem to be holiday villa prices rather than rental residence prices.

Thanks everyone, and great thread by the way. I'm only 35 and I'm thinking about retiring already :-)

S13

seven-day-weekend

Hello Sundin

It really depends how much money you have!

My village is quite traditional and Spanish-speaking but down on the Costas (Costa del Sol, Costa Tropical, Costa Almeria) you will get plenty of expats of all nationalities, most of whom either are English or who speak English.

I would not buy in Spain at the moment, the market is collapsing, but long-term rentals are pretty cheap. I'm afraid I can't offer you any names because I've never rented, but try ringing up some of the agents who sell properties and they will be able to help I'm sure.

Here's one near me that does rentals, it is inland , I'm sure they will be able to help if you speak to them, they are British.

http://www.sunshine-property.com/

donny-gal

Hi Sundin

I have a place over in Spain in the Torreveija/Orihuela area, very much an ex pat area, loads of "old folks" you can get away with only minimal Spanish (Hello/Goodbye, Please/Thank You) and many do. Many thing organised for retireees, due to the large numbers of them around. While sales of houses have slowed down, things are still selling round us, it is just if folk expect to make the large profits they used to make they are "miffed". We have had our place almost 6 years, and would probably get just around what we paid for it in Euros, but would gain around 20% on the £ value due to its weakness atm. That is also another reason for the sales slump, though we are finding, Scandinavians, Dutch, French, Belgiums are popping into part of the hole of the British. I would also recommend renting first as there are many areas, maybe just do a couple of weeks rent to come out and look around. It can get a bit lively in August but where I am is always very quiet. We are close enough to local amenities so we can walk to them, but far enough away not to be disturbed. This is the Costa Blanca, and is cheaper than the Costa del Sol, but not the cheapest.
DG

Merrywidow

Hi donny-gal, how are you coping with all this rain. I have decided on a different part of Spain for my October trip. I am going to have a look at Galicia and in particular O Grove in Pontivedra. I adore fish and shellfish and O Grove has a 10 day fish and Shellfish fiesta. Getting there and back is proving a head ache - the Costas it aint! The back of beyond would be a better description. Good old National Express coaches/ Eurolines, do a London to Pontivedra door to door service for £150 return. Decided my lazy bones would love that. No airports and trains and lugging a suitcase around. It takes a good 35 hours but it saves me having to pay for a hotel en route for the other choices. I am beginning to feel like a pioneer, but I think it will be an adventure. When are you heading back? I hear the sun is shining there which is more than you can say for here. Will report on the trip. Janet

droopsnout

Good on yer, Merrywidow!

seven-day-weekend

Hi Merrywidow, have a good time in Galicia - it is very beautiful and very green - but that is because it has three times the rainfall of Manchester!

We were going to relocate there once, because it is so beautiful, but in the end we decided my husband couldn't stand the rain and neither of us wanted to learn Gallego.

Beautiful coastal coves though, like Norwegian fjords. And they call it Gaelic Spain (hence GALicia) as it was settled by the same people that went to Scotland and Ireland and they still play the bagpipes.

Hey, I feel a SKI-ing trip coming on!

I too would prefer to take the coach than fly. Have a nice time!