What is the cost of living and employment like just now in Tenerife?

[jgray]

Hi all.

We have just booked our one way flights to come over in November. Just wondering what everyone thinks the cost of living is like just now. Also if anybody has a vacancy in there business then let us know. My husband and i are open to any job as we really want this move to work. We live in the UK and it is dire. Not expecting Tenerife to be miles better. But my view is better to be warm and skint than Freezing and skint. :laugh:. Let me know your views

[Angusjim]

Hi all.

We have just booked our one way flights to come over in November. Just wondering what everyone thinks the cost of living is like just now. Also if anybody has a vacancy in there business then let us know. My husband and i are open to any job as we really want this move to work. We live in the UK and it is dire. Not expecting Tenerife to be miles better. But my view is better to be warm and skint than Freezing and skint. :laugh:. Let me know your views

Unemployment is around 30% in Tenerife so unless you have some sought after skills or speak / write Spanish or want to work for around 5 euoros an hour I would think twice. There are many people & posts on here that would disagree with the much used statement about "better to be warm and skint". Don't know what you mean by dire in the UK I don't think you will find Tenerife to be the promised land.

[jgray]

Thanks for replying. In the Uk we can not get a Council House as they are to busy housing immegrants than people who were born here. My husband does not have a job and we are just not settled. Not saying Tenerife will be miles better but i am willing to work at anything as we are getting nowhere in the Uk. We are paying a fortune to live here as we are in a private rented house and this is a lot more expensive and you stil have your bills on top of that. The rental prices are much better in Tenerife and your bills can be included. I have researched into this and i know the wages are not alot but the cost of living is less. So it balances it self out.

[golf birdie]

Hi all.
But my view is better to be warm and skint than Freezing and skint. :laugh:. Let me know your views

sun shines in Africa yet not many are happy being warm and skint there.

[jgray]

A bit different. So why if it so bad in Tenerife do so many people move every year.

[Angusjim]

A bit different. So why if it so bad in Tenerife do so many people move every year.

You could also ask why have so many people who really love Tenerife had to leave recently.

[junglejim]

To have wages , you have to have a job / under 25yrs unemployment is around 54%,average unemployment is 24.8% /this is only going to get worse as austerity cuts in Spain bite / by Summer Spain is likely to be in Bailout Territory .
There is no dole if you haven't been working - health cover is the same , housing isn´t as cheap as you think -sorry but that´s the blunt truth !
Yes it´s nice and sunny and lot´s of good social life - but it costs !
Deposits for rental , retentions on wages ,social money you will need a fair amount of start up money to come over with as well as get home money!
Be very careful!

[golf birdie]

A bit different. So why if it so bad in Tenerife do so many people move every year.

ask yourself another question, if Britain is so bad why do people beg to get in year on year, hide in backs of lorries of containers. You say you have researched Tenerife so really you don't need anyone telling you how bad it is. Only yesterday I was talking to a couple who are sending their 20 year old to the UK as here it is just pointless for him and he speaks 4 different languages. He really does not want to be a PR for peanuts.

[jgray]

Thanks for all your comments. I know it wont be easy but i think we have to try. We have nothing to loose. I know people come here every year and that is why it is hard for Scottish people to survive. You get pushed out all the time.

[Suej]

Thanks for replying. In the Uk we can not get a Council House as they are to busy housing immegrants than people who were born here. My husband does not have a job and we are just not settled. Not saying Tenerife will be miles better but i am willing to work at anything as we are getting nowhere in the Uk. We are paying a fortune to live here as we are in a private rented house and this is a lot more expensive and you stil have your bills on top of that. The rental prices are much better in Tenerife and your bills can be included. I have researched into this and i know the wages are not alot but the cost of living is less. So it balances it self out.

I think you need to research more on how things are in Tenerife "right now" I believe more are leaving the Island than arriving here! Renting a house here may be cheaper but your wages would reflect that! Food bills are definitely on par with the UK. You should come over for 3 months and rent a place, see if you can find work and bring at least a few thousand to keep you going, you won't live on any less than a 1000/1200€ a month IMO.

[bonitatime]

It is not easy but if you are prepared to work hard and speak Spanish there are jobs to be found. Timmylish doesnt comment on Job/living threads any more but if you go back over the forum his comments are insightful
My youngest found a Job with a contract 2 days after she started looking. It is not the greatest Job and she probably wont want to do it for ever but there are jobs out there.
As to food costs I am usually horrified when I read what people spend on food. But I am cheap like that

[jgray]

Thanks Sue.

We are coming over for 6 months to begin with. I do have a job selling Avon to begin with so that will bring a little income. I know it is going to be hard. But we know the area in the south so i am sure everything will work out. If not at least we tried. People can be so negative. Do you realise the cost of tking the kids out as it is normally raining. It will cost at least £60 for a day out. My kids like to be outside so that is not expensive at all.

[golf birdie]

if you have kids you really do have to sit down and think long and hard about ''THEIR'' future. Tenerife does not offer much in the way of careers. It may be great whilst young but that does not last, before you know it they need to start earning and they won't do that here. I earn a very good wage for Tenerife standards and how some live on the wages I hear about is beyond me as I could not live 2 weeks on what some get in 6 weeks. It just does not make sense to try and grind it out day after day just to be able to say, ''at least the sun shines''.

[junglejim]

Thanks Sue.

We are coming over for 6 months to begin with. I do have a job selling Avon to begin with so that will bring a little income. I know it is going to be hard. But we know the area in the south so i am sure everything will work out. If not at least we tried. People can be so negative. Do you realise the cost of tking the kids out as it is normally raining. It will cost at least £60 for a day out. My kids like to be outside so that is not expensive at all.
I´m not being trying to be negative , just realistic- the fact you have kids only compounds the difficulties - schooling, healthcare , size of apartment . the ages of your kids in relation to schooling has to be important -state or private (expensive!)- I´m sure others here can advise you on costs and differences .
I really hope you make it but your plan must have an escape contingency for the sake of your family and sanity !

[Suej]

Thanks Sue.

We are coming over for 6 months to begin with. I do have a job selling Avon to begin with so that will bring a little income. I know it is going to be hard. But we know the area in the south so i am sure everything will work out. If not at least we tried. People can be so negative. Do you realise the cost of tking the kids out as it is normally raining. It will cost at least £60 for a day out. My kids like to be outside so that is not expensive at all.

I didn't realise you had kiddies I put a figure of 1000/1200€ per month for a couple so that figure would need to be increased considerably! The word negative has been used a lot in this type of thread and maybe it is but better to be informed of the facts, There's no way of dressing it up to look any better I'm afraid. I hope that whatever decision you come to it's the right one and wish you shed loads of luck!

[golf birdie]

Thanks Sue.

Do you realise the cost of tking the kids out as it is normally raining. It will cost at least £60 for a day out. My kids like to be outside so that is not expensive at all.

thing have really changed over the years. Growing up, we were never in the house no matter what the weather and it cost nothing to kick a ball around or make rope swings. The weather never even came into our thoughts, just get out and play. Playstations have a lot to answer for IMO.

[warbey]

There honestly must be something You know that We dont.

[Gemma28]

Hi Jgray,

I packed my bag and went to Tenerife two and a half years ago. I have mixed feelings about living in Tenerife. I am not sure how much worse things have got in the last year as I am living in England at the moment (had to come back to England for family reasons).

Tenerife is a great place, when I arrived in Tenerife I got a job the day I stepped off the plane. A reasonable good job too. I made enough money to get by and loved living in the sunshine. On the other side of things, I have also had jobs where I have worked 12 hour shifts (through the night 7pm to 7am) for 30 euros! Thats 2.50 an hour. I still remember how I felt that night, I felt like a joke, completely mugged off because I knew I had to put up and shut up as I had no contract and that I had to be grateful for the 2.50 an hour. It is a hard slog in Tenerife but some people fight through it and come out the other side. I know some people that make a good living there. There is no security in Tenerife, you can be working one day thinking everything is great and get a phone call the next day saying you have been sacked.

I would love to move back to Tenerife, I hope one day I will. I read a post by Young Golfer a few months back that said something along the lines of "to live in Tenerife you need an income from outside of Tenerife". It made me think differently about things. I now have a child and would not want to be in some of the positions financially I have been in in Tenerife knowing he was relying on me.

I wish you and your family luck for the move. Tenerife can be a very unsecure place to be financially. There will be a lot to sort out when you get there so you may need a few months to find your feet so take as much money as you can.

[tracy hampshire]

i have been here 3 years, & yes it is a lovely place & way of life , i woked for the first 2 years & luckily for me on a contract, eaning 600 euros a month for 6, 10 hour shirfts, i now get the equivalent to dole which is onlt 340 euros a month, i luckily have some money that has been left to me in the uk, so i am making ends meet , but have moved to a small local town so the money will streach further, so to be honest i will give it a while longer & then maybe move on if things don´t improve for us, would i do it all again yes, i was single & came to be with my boyfiend, we have been happy & got maried here, would i have done it with kids probably not, as for the cost of living, me & my OH scraped by on the 600 a month with him doing the odd day cash in hand, that was living in a small studio, 340 a month all included, living off stews that could be made cheaply or sandwiches sat on the beach, all very well if you only have yourselves to think about, google a company called country cousins, if one of you could still work a few months at a time in the uk, i spoke to a couple from a small village is spain & they said alot of people they know work for them, and the money is very good, anyway what ever you decide the very best of luck to you x

[amanda]

have you got any savings by the sound of it no as your husband has no job not being unkind think about the move there is no work here and you still have to pay rent and eat do you speak spanish there are thousands of spanish people out of work here to who speak english spanish french german who cant get jobs think about it not fun with no money here

[Suej]

Another thing the OP needs to look into is the cost of State medical care...if you don't pay into the system you are not entitled to anything!