Hi everyone, I’ve been a lurker on this forum for a while and noticed many of you are curious about the monthly expenses after moving here through the property investment program. Our family of three got our residency cards late last year and have settled in a small town near Barcelona. Today, I’m going to break down our monthly living expenses in Spain to give you all a clear idea. These are our actual figures, but of course, spending habits vary from person to person, so just take this as a reference!
First up are the fixed expenses—the bills we have to pay every month without fail. Since we own our home, we don’t have the pressure of rent, but property tax and community fees are unavoidable. The IBI (property tax) is paid annually, which we average out to about €80 per month. The community fee is €50 per month and covers the cleaning and maintenance of common areas. Then there are the utility bills like electricity, water, gas, and internet. Electricity is definitely the biggest expense, especially in winter with the heating on, it can easily exceed €150 a month. Water and gas are relatively cheaper, totaling around €50. For internet, we have a package that costs €50 a month, and the speed is quite good.
Daily Living Expenses
Food & Shopping
This part really depends on your lifestyle. We mostly cook at home and do a big grocery run at Mercadona once a week for meat, eggs, dairy, vegetables, and fruits. Our monthly food bill comes to about €500-€600. The quality of ingredients in Spain is excellent and prices are fair, so cooking at home is incredibly cost-effective. Occasionally, we go out for a ‘menú del día’ (set lunch menu), which costs only €12-€15 per person and is great value for money. For occasional shopping like clothes and daily necessities, the cost can vary, but we budget around €200 per month for this.
Transportation & Communication
We bought a second-hand car for getting around, as public transport in our small town isn’t as convenient as in big cities. The main costs of running a car are insurance, fuel, and maintenance. If you live in a big city, you can easily rely on public transport, and a monthly pass is much more economical. Our mobile phone bills for two people total €50, which includes calls and plenty of data, so we no longer have to worry about running out of data at the end of the month.
Estimated Monthly Expense Table
Here’s a summary in a table to make it clearer:
| Item | Monthly Cost | Notes |
|---|
| Community Fees | 50 | |
| Property Tax (IBI) | 80 | Paid annually, this is the monthly average |
| Utilities (Water, Gas, Elec.) | 200 | Higher with winter heating |
| Internet & Mobile | 100 | Home internet + 2 mobile plans |
| Groceries | 600 | Mainly supermarket shopping |
| Transportation | 150 | Monthly average for fuel & insurance |
| Shopping/Entertainment | 200 | Flexible spending |
| Total | 1380 | Excludes insurance and school fees |
Finally, there are two other significant ‘flexible’ expenses: health insurance and our child’s education. Because we are on the Golden Visa, we are required to have private health insurance. For our family of three, the annual premium is about €1,800, which averages out to €150 per month. For our child’s education, we chose a public school, which is free. We only need to pay for textbooks and school lunches, which comes to a little over €100 a month. If you opt for a private or international school, the fees are much higher, as ten to twenty thousand euros a year is common, significantly impacting the overall [cost of living in Spain]. So, excluding insurance and education, our family of three’s basic monthly living expenses are around €1,400. Adding in insurance and miscellaneous fees for the public school, it comes to about €1,700. I hope this breakdown is helpful to everyone!
