Spain on Sale: "Luxurious Lives" For 1K Monthly If U Know the Tricks

You can live quite a few places in the world for 1k or less. I question the "Luxurious Lives" quote that gets tossed around. Did the author by any chance have any pictures of the places for rent for $300 a month? Publications love to throw around these catchy slogans like "luxury lifestyle", "live like a king", and so on for cheap, but fail to ever show exactly what you get for such a low price. Tend to believe for 1k a month you will pretty much get a basic minimalist lifestyle just about anywhere, and absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The author completely contradicts himself in the article. States they live rich luxurious lives,but yet have to buy unreliable internet access for 15 dollars. States finding a place for 300 dollars is possible, which roughly translated means it's not the norm, and certainly won't be anything very luxurious. They had to stop shopping at a place they enjoyed because it was to expensive. How is any of the above mentioned a luxurious lifestyle? It's a basic simple lifestyle. Why not just advertise it for what it is?

I kind of hated Spain, though I only experienced the Catalonia region.

cccmedia wrote:

It's possible to live as inexpensively now in Granada, Spain, as in the bargain cities of South America, according to a new report on the Gringos Abroad website.

"I know Expats who have been living in Granada for 20 years, and they live rich, luxurious lives in fantastic apartments filled with great food for around $1,000 per month," writes U.S. Expat Nick Hilden, author of the piece.

"They go out every night, go on week-long vacations to the coast and own nice things.  This is, of course, because they're had time to learn all the tricks."

Nick finds entertainment in Granada super-cheap.  So, too, Internet, although connectivity problems mean that paying $15 a month is not buying state-of-the-art web access.

Finding places to live for $300 a month is possible.  The one unexpectedly high cost was winter heating -- up to $200 a month in Nick's upscale apartment.

"Once we learned to stop shopping at Cortes Ingles," Nick and his girlfriend Ashlee were able to live for "an average of $1,500 per month" -- even less sometimes due to their  modest income as freelance writers.
(gringosabroad.com)

Granada is in southern Spain and has a fairly mild climate, except for July and August, when average high temps are in the low 90's F.  December-February lows average in the mid to upper 30's F. It is a one-hour drive from the Mediterranean coast.  The population is about a quarter million, not including the suburbs.
(Wikipedia)

Read the same thing on International Living just yesterday
"European Living at Latin America prices"

j600rr wrote:

You can live quite a few places in the world for 1k or less. I question the "Luxurious Lives" quote that gets tossed around. Did the author by any chance have any pictures of the places for rent for $300 a month? Publications love to throw around these catchy slogans like "luxury lifestyle", "live like a king", and so on for cheap, but fail to ever show exactly what you get for such a low price. Tend to believe for 1k a month you will pretty much get a basic minimalist lifestyle just about anywhere, and absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The author completely contradicts himself in the article. States they live rich luxurious lives,but yet have to buy unreliable internet access for 15 dollars. States finding a place for 300 dollars is possible, which roughly translated means it's not the norm, and certainly won't be anything very luxurious. They had to stop shopping at a place they enjoyed because it was to expensive. How is any of the above mentioned a luxurious lifestyle? It's a basic simple lifestyle. Why not just advertise it for what it is?

So true. No one is "living" on $1,000 a month - anywhere.  They're just "subsisting."

j600rr wrote:

"live like a king"

For a variety of reasons, that phrase seems to be a favorite of blog posts and headlines (and really gets under my skin). I honestly think hyperbole like that is one of the reasons so many "wannabe expats" get obsessed with retiring to a country they've never even visited.

I think a good "reality check" that anyone considering retiring elsewhere for financial reasons should be to consider the "4x" equivalent - at best. In other words, the absolute best cost of living difference (I believe) one could possibly expect from retiring anywhere in the world is to maybe experience living expenses which are 1/4 that of the USA.

For example, even if (a big "if" especially when comparing "apples to apples") living in a given country were to cost 1/4 that of the equivalent lifestyle in the USA, what kind of lifestyle would $2K/month or $24k/year buy?  Multiply that times four and it's the lifestyle equivalent of $96K/year in the United States. Do those fortunate enough to earn $96K/year in the USA "live like kings"? No. They're very comfortable and can afford quite a few luxuries, but they certainly don't "live like kings". In my opinion, no one can live an extravagant lifestyle on anything less than many thousands of dollars per month.

Very good analysis, in my opinion. 

Unfortunately, some people looking at off-shore living for economic reasons are trying to do something that has alluded them back home - living within a budget.  Not only will they learn that they will not be able to live in [fill in the flavor-of-the-day country] in luxury for $1,000 or less a month (even if they leave all their unpaid creditors behind) but that they will need to be more disciplined financially than before because the "safety nets" back home are not there for them, such as walking in an emergency room and receiving free state-of-the-art medical  treatment without insurance or any means to pay for it or going to the local church, senior center or food bank for free food or clothing or even calling on friends and family for assistance.  They may learn the difficult lesson that it's better to be a poor American in the U.S. than a poor American in Ecuador.

For the majority of expats (again, this is only my opinion) with decent to very good means of support (through pensions and decades of disciplined savings and investing), the economics of relocating are an important factor but not the only one.  They could live "comfortably" in their home country but rightfully want a change - hopefully for the better. For these folks, I do believe they can achieve the goal of achieving a higher, more enjoyable standard of living at the same or possibly even lower cost.  While day-to-day living costs (which everyone focuses on) undoubtedly may be lower, more money may need to be reserved for other costs, notably self-funding healthcare costs and airfare and other travel costs (unless you're content to never visit family and friends at home).  Your results may vary depending on the lifestyle you lead and wish to lead.  Nonetheless, the real cost of living savings this group can experience (and I think it can be significant) is more attributable to a realization of what's really important and necessary.  So, a decision is made to go from two cars to one (or none), or from a BMW to a Kia, or from buying every three years to buying a used car based on the decreased use, or buying sensible comfortable clothes instead of pricey designer wear.  You give up your season tickets to the local professional sports team and drop your membership at the country club.  When the nephew or grandson finds themselves in trouble (again) and needing $10,000 you're not there to bail them out or when the local church needs more money to building their third administration building you're not there to pledge support (unless you want to) and it somehow manages to happen without you.  So, I think living a "simpler" life is a great way to achieve a higher standard of living at a lower cost.  This what I've learned from people doing it.

I've noticed that my cost of living in Ecuador varies widely depending on my location and my wife's spending. When we are in Quito our cost of living is about the same as the US. When I am travelling alone I spend about $800 per month, but I tend to revert to my dirty backpacker roots. When I am in NW Ecuador in my own home where I don't have to pay rent, I live on $300 to $500 per month. Food is about $6 per day, power is less than $10 per month, gasoline runs me around $20 per month if all I'm doing is driving from my house to the town (1.7 km) and maybe one longer drive. The big x factor is what/how much I drink. I have a soft spot for the $7 a bottle Frontera aguardiente. By most normal expat's standards this isn't living, this is just surviving. What can I say? After Afghanistan, my standards have been pretty low and I'm happy as a clam to sit on the beach with rice in my belly and a bottle in my hand.

SawMan wrote:

Very good analysis, in my opinion. 

Unfortunately, some people looking at off-shore living for economic reasons are trying to do something that has alluded them back home - living within a budget.  Not only will they learn that they will not be able to live in [fill in the flavor-of-the-day country] in luxury for $1,000 or less a month (even if they leave all their unpaid creditors behind) but that they will need to be more disciplined financially than before because the "safety nets" back home are not there for them, such as walking in an emergency room and receiving free state-of-the-art medical  treatment without insurance or any means to pay for it or going to the local church, senior center or food bank for free food or clothing or even calling on friends and family for assistance.  They may learn the difficult lesson that it's better to be a poor American in the U.S. than a poor American in Ecuador.

For the majority of expats (again, this is only my opinion) with decent to very good means of support (through pensions and decades of disciplined savings and investing), the economics of relocating are an important factor but not the only one.  They could live "comfortably" in their home country but rightfully want a change - hopefully for the better. For these folks, I do believe they can achieve the goal of achieving a higher, more enjoyable standard of living at the same or possibly even lower cost.  While day-to-day living costs (which everyone focuses on) undoubtedly may be lower, more money may need to be reserved for other costs, notably self-funding healthcare costs and airfare and other travel costs (unless you're content to never visit family and friends at home).  Your results may vary depending on the lifestyle you lead and wish to lead.  Nonetheless, the real cost of living savings this group can experience (and I think it can be significant) is more attributable to a realization of what's really important and necessary.  So, a decision is made to go from two cars to one (or none), or from a BMW to a Kia, or from buying every three years to buying a used car based on the decreased use, or buying sensible comfortable clothes instead of pricey designer wear.  You give up your season tickets to the local professional sports team and drop your membership at the country club.  When the nephew or grandson finds themselves in trouble (again) and needing $10,000 you're not there to bail them out or when the local church needs more money to building their third administration building you're not there to pledge support (unless you want to) and it somehow manages to happen without you.  So, I think living a "simpler" life is a great way to achieve a higher standard of living at a lower cost.  This what I've learned from people doing it.

Undoubtedly many miss the "extras" that must be put into the annual budget.
Another big factor is the time, effort, costs and disappointing results in learning a new language after age 60.  There are a lot of books I want to read in retirement, but in English.

jessekimmerling wrote:

I've noticed that my cost of living in Ecuador varies widely depending on my location and my wife's spending. When we are in Quito our cost of living is about the same as the US. When I am travelling alone I spend about $800 per month, but I tend to revert to my dirty backpacker roots. When I am in NW Ecuador in my own home where I don't have to pay rent, I live on $300 to $500 per month. Food is about $6 per day, power is less than $10 per month, gasoline runs me around $20 per month if all I'm doing is driving from my house to the town (1.7 km) and maybe one longer drive. The big x factor is what/how much I drink. I have a soft spot for the $7 a bottle Frontera aguardiente. By most normal expat's standards this isn't living, this is just surviving. What can I say? After Afghanistan, my standards have been pretty low and I'm happy as a clam to sit on the beach with rice in my belly and a bottle in my hand.

I KNOW I could live a lot cheaper without my wife!  Of course, there would be the initial hit of taking all of our assets and dividing by two!     (I added the "laughing smilely" in case she reads this!)

Hey, you posters from Texas -- and others from brutally hot summer venues -- maybe this will be a year when you spend those months in the highlands of Ecuador (68 F.) or on the Mediterranean coast.

This would be the time to start making plans.

Think about it.

cccmedia in Quito




Time and temperature brought to you by Joyeria de Pichincha.
Quito forecast:  68 F

cccmedia wrote:

Granada is in southern Spain and has a fairly mild climate....

Hello again, Texans.

We now have posted climate data on Texas vs. Ecuador for the month of July.

It's at a new Expat.com thread titled "Quito Expats Welcome Texans This Summer." 

To navigate to the new thread, type its first or last four words into the Search Expat.com box that normally appears at the top of this page, and then click on the search icon to the right of said box.

cccmedia in Quito

Where are my (rose-colored) glasses? Without them I must have missed the part when the author of the "Luxurious Lives" piece on Spain told us how to get Spanish residency. Or maybe he has found a "tricky" way to live his luxurious life in the Schengen Zone for more than 90 days at a time. This is so typical of International Living and other expat wanna-be publications. They sell the sizzle and never mention the steak. Without Spanish residency (either some type of temporary or, better yet, permanent), a person carrying a passport NOT from a Schengen Zone country is limited to 90 days in the zone. At that point this person will be required to leave the zone for 90 days before they are allowed to enter any country inside the zone. So, you can't live any type of life, luxurious or pobre, in Spain for more than three months. Unless you can find a way to qualify for residency. The article is misleading at best. Come on expat "freelance" authors...give us information that we can use to help make decisions. Not this crap!

The lyrics to the 1928 song "Big Rock Candy Mountain" seem appropriate for the rose-colored glasses crowd that thinks Paradise on Earth is obtainable if they can just find the right place...trouble is if there ever was a Paradise on Earth as soon as everyone finds out about it, it gets ruined...nowadays there are at least as many people, who believe damn near anything and for whom the phrase "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" doesn't keep them from chasing the dream to their great disappointment.

I think maybe you can get halfway to Paradise but it ain't easy, it takes a lot of work.  Besides, the developers got to Paradise ahead of the rest of us and it now costs too much to live there anyway, it's all high-priced condos and fees.

Also didn't Spain pass a new law a couple of years ago subjecting foreign permanent residents (mainly Brits) to taxation on income and property held outside of Spain? I believe there was then a huge selloff of sunnyside Spanish condos and exodus back to Blighty. And that was just as the Spanish economy unraveled taking many of its first world benefits with it.

OPUS1 wrote:

So, you can't live any type of life, luxurious or pobre, in Spain for more than three months. Unless you can find a way to qualify for residency. The article is misleading at best. Come on expat "freelance" authors...give us information that we can use to help make decisions. Not this crap!

A would-be Expat IS wearing "rose colored glasses" if he or she thinks they can move to a foreign country and stay for more than a few months at their convenience.

Many, if not most, countries worldwide -- and this includes Ecuador -- require that persons seeking residency follow one of the required paths.
Someone seriously seeking residency in a new country should be educating himself on this, not relying on a 500-word website article to explain the arcane Schengen area-rules and the visa law of Spain.

Three points:

1.  Permanent-residency visas ARE obtainable in Spain as a way to get past the 90-day tourist limitations.

2.  Blaming the author of the piece is naïve.  He conceivably may have included Schengen rules and permanent-visa information in his submitted copy, only to have it removed by his editor the Gringos Abroad website for editorial policy reason(s) including space limitations.

3.  Calling the entire article "crap" because you did not like the Schengen-and-visa omission does not elevate the conversation; it degrades it.

cccmedia in Quito

OsageArcher wrote:

you can get halfway to Paradise but it ain't easy, it takes a lot of work.  Besides, the developers got to Paradise ahead of the rest of us and it now costs too much to live there anyway, it's all high-priced condos and fees.

Candy Mountain song:  I like the unexpected reference.

Halfway to Paradise:  Sweet analogy.

"It's all high-priced condos and fees":  Way-over-the-top exaggeration.  Someone who puts in the "work" you mentioned can still find a deal.

It may not be a brand-new "casa" overlooking the Pacific Ocean and-or a fancy golf course offered by a multi-continent developer, but it can be a great home at way below "first-world" pricing.

cccmedia in Quito