Cost of living crisis - how are you all doing?

I find Spain too hot in the summer but November through February in a little apartment would be just fine. Malaga.

Such is life…
That's where my in laws live, just been out to visit them for the 3rd time this year and they really have got the life.

Nip out to one of the local Spanish bars, and it's €4 for a nice glass of wine and a small beer. Obviously the danger is that you don't get drawn into that taking over your lifestyle, as there are a few people that you can tell sit and drink for most od the day, everyday!

I think these days you need to prove you have 'x' amount in the bank in order to get Spanish citizenship.
 
just been out to the costa blanca(villa martin) to visit an old workmate, i went with a current workmate who has a house there as well, the old workmate has retired at 60, got a beautiful house which he has paid in full, he sold his old house for 250k and his new place cost him 150k and it really is stunning , and reckons £1200 a month is plenty to live on, i couldn't believe how cheap things were over there, food and drink were cheap as chips, he's got a car over there and a couple of bikes, and he says its the best decision he's ever made, the weather is pretty good all year round, there's loads of expats and everyone seems to help each other out, spends his days exploring on the bike , doing outside activities and has built up quite a large network of"new friends", its very tempting, cost of living,life style and the health benefits of living in a warm climate without the stresses of day to day work life, think i've got the itch :)
Spend time in Villamartin from time to time. Williow cafe does the best breakfast/Brunch around. Your pal gas it right, I know a huge chunk of people in the same boat as your pal and they love it.
Sadly the drawbridge has been raised and many wanting the same thing can no longer due to Brexit. 90 days is all they are allowed unless you can show you’ve got a good chunk of money in the bank.
Sad seeing so many hopes of a better life in retirement thwarted, but ironically many of those complaining voted for it not knowing the outcome would affect them in this way.
 
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Spend time in Villamartin from time to time. Williow cafe does the best breakfast/Brunch around. Your pal gas it right, I know a huge chunk of people in the same boat as your pal and they love it.
Sadly the drawbridge has been lowered and many wanting the same thing can no longer due to Brexit. 90 days is all they are allowed unless you can show you’ve got a good chunk of money in the bank.
Sad seeing so many hopes of a better life in retirement thwarted, but ironically many of those complaining voted for it not knowing the outcome would affect them in this way.
they did know they just chose not to listen, it was all Project Fear apparently, they had , had enough of experts sadly many ex pats fell into that camp
 
they did know they just chose not to listen, it was all Project Fear apparently, they had , had enough of experts sadly many ex pats fell into that camp
Speaking to many there were definitely a few selfish cunts In among them but others just didn’t grasp what exactly they were giving up.
Ultimately it’s their own faults but yeah, it’s the one moving forward who didn’t vote for the shitshow is where my sympathy lies.
Quality of life on the Costas for many retirees is exceptional and could be done quite easily on a U.K. pension.
Those are the breaks Eh!
 
Anyone after a bargain priced phone for Xmas present can get a Samsung S21FE from currys for £350 and another £100+ cashback for your old phone . So less than £250 for a previously priced £700 phone . Think the deal finishes Tuesday.
 
I'm on 40k and my Mrs is on 22k. We split the bills as a percentage of our income i.e I pay circa 65%. I'm managing to put about £500 a month away which is slowly but surely getting us towards a deposit on our first place. I'm from a low income family with no inheritance, she's from abject poverty.

We've got a big decision this time next year to buy a property, or try our hand abroad where we can do more for our money and have a better quality of life. I'm leaning towards the latter but it would require another sidestep by me into a fully remote role. We are both multilingual so there are a few open doors for us in terms of location.

We go away a fair bit which has shrunk our savings but I'm a firm believer in experiencing things while young, it's opened my eyes massively going to different corners of the world.

We don't drink, smoke and rarely eat out as she's a great cook. We use Tesco delivery service currently which I believe is about £8 a month, she's in charge of that. I find the time saved from shopping around in supermarkets outweighs the increase in delivery cost. However, groceries are definitely our biggest outlay per month.

Rent is £930 which is a killer, but we paid much less previously in worse areas and prefer the security of a nicer area, still have a few shit neighbours though. Ideally I'd have bought by now but I've only been earning good money for around 18 months now. We had the heating on twice last year when gas prices were sky high, I refused to budge. The house is only 5 years old which has slashed our gas and electric bills hugely compared to previous hellholes we've rented.

I've got fuck all to complain about really, hats off to those juggling business at the moment and pushing to make ends meet. My target is to get to a £3k a month income after tax, any more than that and the worklife balance would shift, fuck being senior management in the corporate world. I aim to get some passive income by my 40s by way of 2 or 3 rental properties.

No government is coming to save any of us, I won't ever vote. There's the top 3%, then the 10% of minions who are the face of the show i.e your Rishi Sunaks, 5% big earners, 50% the rest of us working people, 30% ish growing underclass and benefit scroungers. This hasn't been a first world country for a couple of decades now, we've had our time in the sun as a powerful country. Once middle class people are now very much working class.
That's a great, positive attitude mate. Best of luck to you and your missus whatever you decide.
 
Not many do. Especially colleagues, but life would be shit if we all had the same opinions. Watching 40 something men fearful of the boss and watching what they say in work has made me never want to be one of those guys.

Back to cost of living, we had new neighbours move in back in May. Noisy fuckers, I put it down to them both being 20+ stone but they do mad shit at unsociable hours. The bloke is a teacher and presuming the woman works but rarely leaves the house.

He appears to have been off work a few weeks now, see him appearing unwashed at all hours going out in the car. He always comes back with Costa coffee or McDonald's drive thru. An Indian takeaway arrives at least 5 times a week, usually around 11pm when the rest of the street is asleep. They've either got very wealthy parents, or a very successful plus sized onlyfans set up. Surely they're in debt, I hope they fuck off soon.
Sounds like a you're a bit of a nosey bugger.
 
Anyone after a bargain priced phone for Xmas present can get a Samsung S21FE from currys for £350 and another £100+ cashback for your old phone . So less than £250 for a previously priced £700 phone . Think the deal finishes Tuesday.
Thanks for this.
I need a new phone. Was going to wait until after Christmas but might go for this with it being a good price.
Looks like the £100 cashback might be in a gift card though instead of actual discount.
 

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