Spain is one of those countries that few other places on earth can match in terms of beauty. It’s not a surprise that so many people are not only keen to visit it or send parcel to Spain for their friends, but are also interested in living there.
However, many think that Spain is a really expensive country to live in. After all, the beautiful cities, beaches and weather should come with a hefty price tag don’t they?
Well it turns out that’s not true at all. In fact, with a few useful tips you can live in Spain on the cheap side.
In this article we will discuss what aspects you can save on while living in this sunny country.
Starting with the very basics of food
Many experts and even regular people that haved lived there agree that Spain can actually be one of the cheapest places in Western Europe to live in. Yes, even the major cities.
An estimated cost of 17000 – 18500 euros for two persons a year living together can easily be expected if keeping a low spending lifestyle and not counting obvious rental costs.
One way to save plenty of money is of course the food. Everybody needs to eat, so food becomes a huge source of spendings for many. However, a good way to start saving this way is to avoid eating in restaurants on the regular.
Stack up on food from the supermarket, and you will begin your money saving journey from there. Since Spain has such a fortunate climate, most food items here are homegrown including vegetables, meat, fish and so on.
This results in much lower costs than on import items.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t let yourself have some fun once in a while. Even more high class restaurants can offer good deals for lunch and dinner. In Spain, special lunch offers are referred to as “menu of the day”.
For just around 15 euros you can find a full course meal that consists of a cold dish like salad or vegetables, the main course with meat or fish, a beverage of choice and dessert.
Drinks to choose from and groceries
Another industry in which Spain is famous is of course it’s variety of beverages. If you fancy visiting a bar on an occasion, usually the prices for a pint of beer hover around 1,5 to 2 euros. Often you’ll find an even better deal with a pint of beer and so called tapas (a small meal to eat next to the beer) and all of this for a price of around 6 euros.
Like we mentioned before, Spain grows the majority of its produce on its own land, which negates the need for imported goods. As such everything from vegetables, fruits, meats and fish are usually homegrown.
Unless you specifically look for something exotic to put on your table, you wouldn’t be spending much on your groceries at all. Expect a weekly grocery bill to be hovering around just the 100 euro mark.
Living and accommodation prices
Obviously, accommodation is usually the most expensive item on our budget. Regardless of whether you live in a house or flat, this thing is by far the heftiest in our monthly spendings. The good news here is that you don’t really have to break the bank when it comes to living in Spain.
400 euros is usually the average rental price for a flat of a single room. This is cheap in itself, but if you’re living as a couple together, naturally that price shaves off even more. For those that are saving their money and are planning to buy an entire flat for themselves, the prices hover around 80000 euros for a single room apartment, which is also quite cheap.
Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that flats are your typical European ones, so if you’re trying to settle down in Spain while coming from a different continent like Asia or America, you might find it weird that the apartments are smaller than you’re used to.
This is typical to not only Spain, but other European nations in mind, so explore your options for rental in terms of space as well.
All in all
In this article, we’ve talked about what the approximate spendings in Spain are. Despite opinions saying otherwise, the cost of living here is fairly reasonable and is possible even for students with a lower income rating.
Prepared with the help of ecoparcel.eu.
