Last updated on July 28th, 2019 at 08:51 am
What is your idea of living well? Would you like to spend less money to live better than you are living right now?
The idea behind the Expat Experiment is to find places where we can live well for less than living at home in Canada. Researching and learning first-hand traveling, we know places where we can do that and want to share some of our findings.
We use different resources to learn about basic costs in the countries that we consider visiting. Cost of living and easy, cheap accessibility are the major determining factors for where we chose to travel. Using resources like PriceOfTravel.com, Numbeo.com and different expat forums has helped us choose countries that best fit our budget, although both can be subjective.
We spent two months in southern Spain and were stunned how affordable it was to live well there. We knew it would be cheaper than costs in Canada but were surprised to learn how cheap costs were compared to other countries we visited like Colombia, Ecuador and Romania.
We lived like locals in a small community called Fuente Mar between the towns of Vera and Garrucha for eight weeks. Here is our experience with costs, culture, and the major money-saving elements that helped us live better for less two months on the coast in southern Spain.
Average Living costs in Spain were the Cheapest of all the countries we've visited!
Traveling like we do, staying in accommodations with kitchens we eat at home a lot to save money. Shopping for groceries in Garrucha, Spain was so much fun. Our grocery bills were the cheapest they have been, on average (for the items we like to buy) 263% cheaper than in Canada! There was no problem finding the things we love to eat, including gluten free options for me which hasn't been our experience anywhere else we have visited.
In Colombia and Romania, we struggled to find certain items or found some things we wanted so expensive we couldn't justify spending the money to buy them. We didn't have any problems finding items we needed for agreeable prices in Garrucha.
There, we shopped for food at two places, local outdoor markets, and a large modern grocery store (Mercadona). Here is a breakdown of our average costs for common grocery items, and total costs for food bought including local outdoor markets:
At the grocery store in Garrucha, the total cost for all food, wine, and beer bought weekly\monthly at grocery stores was $54.50 USD weekly\$218 USD monthly. $218 USD monthly for a family of three!
Costs of basic individual items in USD:
Milk (1 Litre)- $0.75
Cheese (500 Grams)- $2.85
Eggs- (carton of 12 large)- $1.48
Bread (fresh baked 500 Grams)- $0.90
Chicken breasts (boneless, skinless), (1 Kg)- $6.48
Apples (1Kg)- $1.69
Oranges (1 Kg)- $1.35
Tomato (1 Kg)- $1.85
Potato (1 Kg)- $0.94
Bottle of Wine- $1.97
Domestic beer- (0.5 Litre bottle)- $0.60
Costs for items bought at the open air market in Garrucha were even cheaper than prices for the same items at the grocery store. Items we bought at the market were all fresh and would have cost a premium at home in Canada. Our weekly/monthly cost at the market was $ 36.74 weekly\ $146.96 monthly.
Costs of fresh local specialty items at the Garrucha Market:
Cherries (1 Kg)- $2.19
Broccoli (1 Kg)- $1.97
Olives (500 Grams)- $2.25
Cheese (Manchego), (1 Kg)- $9.87
Cheese (Gouda), (1 Kg)- $7.68
Cured meats and sausage (1 Kg)- Average $4.39
The Mercadona grocery store we shopped at in Garrucha was like the grocery store we shopped at back home. It had everything we needed, but prices were less than half for most items compared to the Safeway in Canada. There wasn't a high concentration of chain businesses in both Garrucha and Vera, but we didn't have trouble locating locally owned places to buy items we wanted or needed.
Our total cost for grocery and market items including beer, wine, and specialty items was $365 USD monthly.
Food costs were so affordable in Spain we ate out more than we usually would. Vera and Garrucha are popular tourist destinations and most restaurants offered specials for tapas and drinks to entice visitors to eat and drink at their establishments.
The specials were so reasonable, even the tapas bars in prime locations along the beach we had our pick of places that agreed with our modest budget. We like to find restaurants outside the tourist zones. Doing so saves us money and helps us make more meaningful local connections.
We found two great tapas bars a few blocks off the beach with even better prices than the restaurants along the beach and the size and quality of tapas was bigger and better as well! The service and prices were so good we visited those tapas bars two times weekly. The cost for six tapas, a basket of bread, a bucket of six mini beers, 3 glasses of wine, a coke, and a pastry came to a whopping $18.65 USD! We did eat at other restaurants in Garrucha, Vera and close to Fuente Mar as well.
Average restaurant Costs in USD:
Inexpensive Restaraunt (Tapas and drinks for three)- $11.00- $18.00
Meal for three in a mid to upper-class restaurant (three courses and a bottle of house wine)- $55.00
We enjoyed eating out two to three times weekly spending $272 USD monthly.
Accommodation is where we saved on living costs in Spain the most
There is a variety of apartments and villas for rent in and around Garrucha. The cost for Vacation rentals and long term leases range from reasonable to incredibly cheap.
Apartments for long term rent in Garrucha (near the beach)- You can find one bedroom furnished apartments for $355.00 per month, and two bedroom penthouses for $465.00 per month.
A lot of long term lets come furnished or partially furnished as well.
Vacation rentals: villas and apartments (near the beach)- Prices range from $247.00 a week for a fully outfitted 2 bedroom villa (that's $35 a night) to $945 a week for larger 3 bedroom units ( $135 a night).
Our accommodation for the two months we spent in Spain is where we saved the most. Our total rental costs were $0.00!! It cost us absolutely nothing to stay in a lovely gated community with access to two beautiful pools; three short blocks from the beach! How did we do it?
We garnered two months free accommodation doing the one thing that makes travel so affordable for us, housesitting!
Housesitting is a major cost saving element for us and in Spain it made an affordable stay a downright steal! We landed a two-month assignment on HouseSitMatch, it was only the second assignment we had applied for on that platform and we got the job.
If we had rented a vacation villa in the same style and community it would have cost us $3120.00 for two months accommodation. Not having to pay rent for accommodation was a huge saving for us!
The average living costs in Spain were definitely right for our budget, but money isn't everything, safety, culture, and how tourists are received are just as important to us.
We speak very little Spanish, which is shameful because we have spent almost an entire year in Spanish-speaking countries! The community, Fuente Mar was a mix of Irish expats, Spanish residents and vacationers from all over the world. There were many English speaking people in the community and in the restaurants and businesses closest to Fuente Mar.
Alternatively, we encountered very few English speaking people when we went to Garrucha and Vera. That wasn't a problem because locals were genuinely friendly and interested in tourists. At the tapas bars and stores we frequented owners and shopkeepers welcomed us like the owners of our favorite places back home.
We didn't rent a car because everything we needed was within walking distance. We felt very safe walking along the beach and in town, even at night. I went outside the community to the store or to walk with the dogs we were petsitting on my own at night and in the early morning and never felt at risk as a woman.
The bottom line on living costs in Spain
Living costs in Spain were the cheapest of all the places we've visited. Costs for food and accommodation were cheaper than Colombia, Ecuador, and Romania. We loved everything about the culture, the people, and the location (close to the sea). We spent $1495USD for all of our food, transportation (not including flights), entertainment, and accommodation ($0.00 thanks to housesitting). That makes our average cost per day $24.91 for a family of three!
Comparably, we spent six months with free accommodation house sitting in Panama and our average cost per day there was $41.12. Spain was 55% cheaper than Panama for us, and over 100% cheaper than Colombia, Ecuador, and Romania because of the accommodation costs in those countries. The most interesting thing is, if we had paid for a long-term lease in Garrucha we would have spent $2244 ($37.40 per day), Spain is still cheaper than Panama. Spain stunned us with how affordable it was.
Where have you visited that costs were amazingly affordable? Please feel free to share your findings in the comments.
If you're interested in saving money on travel, house sitting is a great solution! Check out the benefits house sitting and start saving on travel for your next vacation.
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Deborah
We are in Spain now, 3 weeks and already our food bill is $500usd . We are housesitting also so haven’t had to buy much in the way of spices.
We are in Madrid and now Malaga and always try to shop at Aldi if there is one nearby.
Tracey
That’s pretty good Deb, $23 a day. Especially for Madrid, We found Madrid to be more expensive than Garrucha, the city we shopped in most during our stay.
Gary Potts
Great article! My wife and I are staying for 8 weeks at Apartamentos Torrelaguna, right next door to Fuentamar. We absolutely love this area and are looking to buy a holiday home here some time this year, hence the longer visit. Like you, we love the slow pace of life here, the friendliness of the locals, the low cost of living etc. etc. And the bars, restaurants and shops around the square at Las Buganvillas are great and all within walking distance. This area is a little gem so we better keep it to ourselves, we don’t want it over run with tourists and expats!
Thanks again for a very enjoyable review.
Jim
Great article. Found it by Googling, “why is food and drink so cheap in Spain”. We just finished a week there on Holiday and felt guilty at how cheap it was. It seems the only expensive places are when you eat in the hotel or if the menu is in more than two languages.
When we read this, “The cost for six tapas, a basket of bread, a bucket of six mini beers, 3 glasses of wine, a coke, and a pastry came to a whopping $18.65 USD!” I said to my wife, “$18.65 would get you two drinks and a dirty look in Chicago!” 😉
Again, great article. Thanks
Nikki
Thank you for the imformation, we are moving to spain in a few weeks.we will check out this town and see if it suits us ?
Sophie
I always think of Asia and Eastern Europe when I think of cheap living costs – I’d never thought Spain could be this cheap!
Tracey
We were surprised as well Sophie, very pleasantly surprised.
RaW | Ramble and Wander
Spain has been expensive for me but I guess it’s mostly due to my travel style – I usually travel last minute. Have been wondering a lot about house-sitting, by the way. Would love to try it out one day.
Tracey
Free accommodation makes all the difference! You should try house sitting, think of all of the money you could save.
Megan | Traveling Nine to Fiver
I never thought it would be this cheap to live in Spain. That is awesome! Glad you all had another great adventure.
Mags
Articles like this make me upset about how much I’m paying to live in America! I could definitely get behind living better for cheaper!
Tracey
I can understand you being upset! Being from Canada I can totally relate. I want to move to Spain now:)
Michela of Rocky Travel Blog
I knew that the cost of living in South Spain is low, but I would have never thought it could be so cheap…you mention around 25 Dollars/day! Well if you housesit then you can keep the costs very low. South Spain and Portugal are also great places for Europeans (especially pensioners) to relocate over the winter months, when living costs are too high in cold countries.
zof
Great, It’s not only cheap, but also fresh, healthy and yummy. have you been to Portugal? I feel like the cost there is similar. Fantastic region to be.
Tracey
Haven’t made it to Portugal yet but it’s high on the list of places to see in 2016 for us!
Laura
We’ve been doing some research lately too on where to live to make our money stretch in retirement. I was not aware that Spain could be so affordable. We went to Spain as tourists in the wine region, so I wasn’t really thinking about it from an affordability perspective. Thanks for doing this research and passing it along. It’s helpful!
Tracey
I’m glad you find the article helpful! I love sharing great news when it comes to travel costs.
Claudia
Wow. I am shocked. I had no idea it could be so cheap there. Italy is way more expensive than that. I hear you on having a hard time to find ingredients in Colombia. I was desperate for a home cooked meal once and spent a fortune to make pasta and some meatballs!
Fiona @ London-Unattached
It’s not just the low cost of living but it’s also the wonderful quality of the food you can buy – both to cook at home and to eat out. I love spain, especially the less touristy bits
Kemkem
I’m not surprised the costs were so much cheaper than lots of places. We are about 15km outside of Seville center and our costs are like 20% of our cost in Houston and even less than in Malta. I will check that site out as we are about to start searching for house sitters.. 🙂
Tracey
We want to visit Seville next time we visit Spain! Kemkem, HouseSitMatch has the best customer service for both house sitters and homeowners of any other housesitting platform we belong to. If you’ve never had a housesitter before the personal service will the make process easy and comfortable.
Kemkem
I will! Let me know next time you guys are over our way. We are planning on going back to the U.S for about a month in November and will be on searching on there.. Cheers..
Tracey
I will let you know KemKem! We are working on a potential sit in Vera Playa in December so we might be able to help you out too if you need. Check out our house sitting calendar under the “Hire Us” tab here on the blog. Let’s stay in touch!
Joseph
Good work on living costs, and I agree in general with all said but I’d rather say that only represents communities and small towns in southern Spain. North and regular cities are way more expensive.
Tracey
Hey Joseph! We spent a short time in Madrid and know rental prices are really expensive. We did find geocery prices and local restaurants off the tourist track to be very inexpensive though.