What's the cost of living in Tenerife?

[rodders wolves]

we are thinking of moving out to tenerife to live and buy a 1 bedroom apartment within a complex we are middleaged and wanted to no what the monthly costs are for taking out medical insurance and does that include dentistry or is that another seperate insurance, cost of english satellite tv and internet access and average electricity bills or do you pay a monthly fixed rate if you property is within a complex....thanks for any help you can give us :tiphat:

[CIM]

Electricity varies on usage. Same with water.

What you need to check are community fees and derramas (extraordinary monthly payments in addition to community fees levied when a community spends more money on retiling a pool, adding elevators or if there is a big community debt to pay off for example.) These can make a huge difference to your outgoings. For example I have a 2 bed townhouse with 10€ a month community fees. I also have a 2 bed apartment with 450€ a month community fees!

You can take out an annual dentist care policy, I think my wife pays about 80€ per year.
Medical varies with age/sex smoker/non-smoker etc. I think my wife's is about 80€ a month or so and she is 39 if that gives you an idea.
A lot of people return to the UK for any serious medical issues.

I sell property here (see signature below) so feel free to get in touch if you want some help / advice.

[Fivepence]

we are thinking of moving out to tenerife to live and buy a 1 bedroom apartment within a complex we are middleaged and wanted to no what the monthly costs are for taking out medical insurance and does that include dentistry or is that another seperate insurance, cost of english satellite tv and internet access and average electricity bills or do you pay a monthly fixed rate if you property is within a complex....thanks for any help you can give us :tiphat:

:welcome: to the forum RW.

Lots of info here. http://www.tenerifeforum.org/tenerife-forum/forumdisplay.php?92-Relocating-to-or-from-Tenerife

:goodluck:

[ezzy]

Welcome :-)

Plenty of information within the forum if you have a scout around :)

If buying, I would assume you'd have to subscribe for Internet, I think I read it was around 40 euros a month but don't quote hee hee

Best of luck p

[rodders wolves]

so you could be stung with these extra costs the derramas it was the wifes wanting to buy a property where i was looking for long term rentals then maybe would long term rentals be better as a lot have a set monthly fee with bills included
Electricity varies on usage. Same with water.

What you need to check are community fees and derramas (extraordinary monthly payments in addition to community fees levied when a community spends more money on retiling a pool, adding elevators or if there is a big community debt to pay off for example.) These can make a huge difference to your outgoings. For example I have a 2 bed townhouse with 10€ a month community fees. I also have a 2 bed apartment with 450€ a month community fees!

You can take out an annual dentist care policy, I think my wife pays about 80€ per year.
Medical varies with age/sex smoker/non-smoker etc. I think my wife's is about 80€ a month or so and she is 39 if that gives you an idea.
A lot of people return to the UK for any serious medical issues.

I sell property here (see signature below) so feel free to get in touch if you want some help / advice.

[honda]

Welcome to the forum :welcome:
Cost of living is cheaper here than in the UK. Would look to buy instead of rent if you are sure you want to stay here. Fees and bills are still cheaper than renting.
Make sure you find a resident community with money. Some have drained their pools and have no work done for their up-keep, as they are short of cash.
Estate agents will tell you all you need to know. There are some good ones on here.
As CIM told you in earlier post. Just ask.
Good luck :goodluck:

[CIM]

The derramas can be checked before buying as can the community fees. Always a good idea to get them checked before signing a contract.
There are also a lot of naff properties on the market which I wouldn't touch with a bargepole. Broken down, bankrupt communities or full of downmarket long let rental apartments - not the type of places you want to spend your time relaxing in. Some of the prices can be very tempting but at the end of the day you often get what you pay for so do your homework. Theres lots of good complexes with solid communities so make sure its one of them if you do buy anywhere.

I delisted a lot of the bank stuff I used to list after checking out some of the communities - I´d rather not sell them to people as you´d have to lie or hope they dont ask about certain aspects of some complexes in order to get a sale so I don't bother with them.

Renting vs buying over the long term? Up to the individual really. 20 years of rental can add up to a lot though (100,000€ plus) and it´s close to the bottom of the market with some very good bargains dotted around.

[doingok]

Hi welcome RW

We think the food prices are just the same as the UK unless you shop at M&S,but if you like a drink then this is the only thing we think that is cheaper than the uk except cigs i.e cost of living we pay 37 euros month(uk £24) for our internet,electric is around the 30 to 40 euros month
As been said ask a lot of question if you are going to buy and knock on some doors in the place you are interested in and get the word from the horses mouth as they say,if you have a pool and so forth in a complex then you will pay for it by fees and make sure to check the fees as again its been said make sure it has plenty of money as you will lose out or have to pick up the short fall.

Learn by others mistakes

P.S look in to rent to buy then you can make sure its right for you.

[CIM]

As been said ask a lot of question if you are going to buy and knock on some doors in the place you are interested in and get the word from the horses mouth as they say

Better still, just ask on here. I doubt theres many places about where there are no forum members living or have lived recently.

I was in London over New Year and I honestly think Tenerife is a hell of a lot cheaper across the board. Thought the same last year when I was in the UK in the North.
Electric has gone up a lot recently. Petrol is still cheaper than the UK and running a car overall seems a fair bit cheaper.

[rasputin]

CM sent you a pm...thanks

[CIM]

Havent had anything from you - can you email me?
info@TenerifeEstateAgents.net

Cheers.

[Redips]

Hi welcome RW

We think the food prices are just the same as the UK unless you shop at M&S,but if you like a drink then this is the only thing we think that is cheaper than the uk except cigs i.e cost of living we pay 37 euros month(uk £24) for our internet,electric is around the 30 to 40 euros month
As been said ask a lot of question if you are going to buy and knock on some doors in the place you are interested in and get the word from the horses mouth as they say,if you have a pool and so forth in a complex then you will pay for it by fees and make sure to check the fees as again its been said make sure it has plenty of money as you will lose out or have to pick up the short fall.

Learn by others mistakes

P.S look in to rent to buy then you can make sure its right for you.

Hello,
One area where you gain in Tenerife is heating (or lack of heating) my anual heating and hot water costs around £3000. with electricity at further £200 a quarter.
Food I find is at least 20% more expensive in the UK with prices here rising all the time.
Other big differences include Council tax, motoring, bus fares, taxi fares, meals out,

I will have to sit down and post my list of differences to see what other forum members think.

[doingok]

I come from the northeast of England where prices are a lot cheaper than London so the cost are a lot lower to,food is about the same yes bill's are cheaper here but we where only paying £50 a month to heat our 2 bedroom flat which is bigger than what we have now.car's here are a lot more expensive to buy or you get a less for your money here and insurance is a little cheaper here but not much less,plus you do not have buy water to drink in the uk we spend 5 euros a week just on water plus you still have to pay water rates so that's 240 euros a year just on drinking water alone,yes petrol is cheaper than the uk.

[Tickey]

Fill your 8 liter bottles up from the water bowser that comes down from the hills for 60c

Get a mobile hairdresser (much cheaper than uk)

One spends little on clothes here because of the weather

There are many ways to save :wink2:

[Redips]

Like the comment on clothes savings due to the climate. Where I am in the UK its cold enough for two pair of shoe laces.

[rodders wolves]

thanks for the information you have given it has been a great help to us, at present we are actualy over in gran canaria but are coming over to tenerife in april to look at properties for 10 days then again later for a month to maybe look again if nothing found the first time

[TF1]

If you try to live a "UK life" here, with UK TV, food, etc, it can be expensive. If you look at what your Canarian neighbors spend on, and learn from that, you won't go far wrong. Now is a good time to buy property, it's s buyer's market and you'll find plenty of options. Don't be afraid to make a very low offer if you see something you fancy, you might be pleasantly surprised! Good luck ;-)

[doingok]

TF1 i do not shop in Iceland and i eat canarian and still find it the same price as home plus 8ltr for water 60cents? the cheapest i have found is 80 cent please share.

[rodders wolves]

yes i can understand that especially with the food but i would have to have some english tv
If you try to live a "UK life" here, with UK TV, food, etc, it can be expensive. If you look at what your Canarian neighbors spend on, and learn from that, you won't go far wrong. Now is a good time to buy property, it's s buyer's market and you'll find plenty of options. Don't be afraid to make a very low offer if you see something you fancy, you might be pleasantly surprised! Good luck ;-)

[CIM]

English tv can be had for very little money...
Once you are over here, there are lots of options from free to low amounts per month and some "one off" type deals you can try.

We have lived on peanuts here when we first came over, we rented the cheapest place we could be find in a nice area and hardly spent anything. We got by just fine. We dont have to do that anymore and nor would I want to but I know its possible.

It just depends on your personal tastes and preferences. You´ll spend what you want to spend basically and I think there are fewer things here that you have to spend money on (heating costs being a good example.)

[TF1]

TF1 i do not shop in Iceland and i eat canarian and still find it the same price as home plus 8ltr for water 60cents? the cheapest i have found is 80 cent please share.

Doingok, without knowing your intimate dietary habits, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to respond, but I never suggested any comparison between UK and Spanish food prices; I just stated that trying to live with UK habits in Spain is generally more expensive.
We get our water from the delivery lorries, it works out approx 50c/8litres if you haggle a little and get a week's supply in one go. And if we're passing Vilaflor or some of the other high altitude areas, it's always wise to carry a few containers, as there are several public taps where you can refill.
Many Canarians manage to feed a family on what would seem an impossibly low monthly amount, so as per my original advice, ask your neighbors where the cheapest sources are.
Rodders, you could always try the Spanish TDT before going for English TV, you'll find that most channels can be switched to English language for movies, etc.

[rodders wolves]

that seems like a good idea to rent maybe long term first to give us time to look around to no certain areas better and have a small budget to start off with first but eventualy the wife would like to work even though i no there are difficulties with getting work and but there is no immediate hurry for that
English tv can be had for very little money...
Once you are over here, there are lots of options from free to low amounts per month and some "one off" type deals you can try.

We have lived on peanuts here when we first came over, we rented the cheapest place we could be find in a nice area and hardly spent anything. We got by just fine. We dont have to do that anymore and nor would I want to but I know its possible.

It just depends on your personal tastes and preferences. You´ll spend what you want to spend basically and I think there are fewer things here that you have to spend money on (heating costs being a good example.)

[ribuck]

Tenerife is cheaper for alcohol, good coffee, bus fares and petrol, plus you don't often need to pay for parking. You don't spend much if anything on heating in winter, and warm-weather clothing is cheap compared to heavy coats and thermal boots.

If you want to buy tins of baked beans, it will cost much more than in the UK. But if you're happy to base your diet around locally-produced foods such as bananas, papaya, local potatoes etc you can eat much more cheaply than in the UK.

If you can develop a taste for gofio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gofio) (toasted flour), you can eat very cheaply indeed. Add it to soups. Add it to stews. Sprinkle it on top of breakfast cereals. Sprinkle it on top of ice cream. Add it to sandwich fillings. Etc. (When I bought a kilo of gofio from the Gofio Shop in Las Canteras, the owner said to me "You want to be strong? You eat gofio" but despite that I only got through half the pack in a month.)

[primrose]

Not a very good advert for living in Tenerife scratting around to find cheap water or haggling to save a few cents and then you use your over priced car to take it home.

[Redips]

I think this all comes down to what you expect when you move to Tenerife.

Some want it to be the same as it was at home with British TV, British style food etc etc

Others seem to want the always on holiday lifestyle.

Whilst at the other end of the scale some would like to adopt the Canarian way of life.

I am not saying that any of these options are wrong or right, it is up to the individuals preference, it can also depend on circumstances, some have to work in order to live whilst others may be retired and have sufficent funds to enjoy thier retirement.

We have tried different options during several visits over the past couple of years, everthing from the all inclusive, to self catering villa rental, by far our most enjoyable for us was our last visit where we stayed in a small villa in Chayofa, we were there for six weeks and were suprised at how well and how healthy we could eat buying local produce, and at a very reasonable cost.

When we do retire to Tenerife we will certainly adopt a more Spanish way of life, with the occasional treat, we enjoy a meal out, a walk along the sea front, people watching, visiting new places, however that will be our choice and may not be to everyones taste.

[TF1]

Not a very good advert for living in Tenerife scratting around to find cheap water or haggling to save a few cents and then you use your over priced car to take it home.

You can buy cheap water from the delivery lorry, put it into the boot of your "overpriced car" using recycled containers, and spend the savings on Dorada. Or you can buy the same quality water, packaged and twice the price to compensate for the disposable plastic, put it into the boot of your "overpriced car" and feel proud to have supported the shareholders of Mercadona.
Seems more like using common sense than "scratting around", but each to their own.

[Tickey]

Thanks for helping to keep the guy with the bowser earn a living TF1 :tiphat:

[Tom & Sharon]

Not a very good advert for living in Tenerife scratting around to find cheap water or haggling to save a few cents and then you use your over priced car to take it home.

Haha............I thought that Primrose! Somebody comes on and asks about living costs in Tenerife, and the next minute you're living on Gofio!

I can't see the point in living here if you can't afford it. After a while living on egg and chips, even if it is sunny will wear thin.

ps. Anybody who buys water, and doesn't just have a water filter fitted is nuts :crazy:

[ribuck]

Somebody comes on and asks about living costs in Tenerife, and the next minute you're living on Gofio!
Heh, in the UK if you want to live cheaply you eat tins of baked beans. In Tenerife if you want to live cheaply you eat anything except tins of baked beans!


ps. Anybody who buys water, and doesn't just have a water filter fitted is nuts :crazy:
Agreed! And in most of the north, and some of the south, the tap water is good enough that you don't need a water filter.

[junglejim]

Not totally convinced that fitting a water filter will suit everyone´s needs as some filters will not remove bacteria,dissolved solids , especially of heavy metals that are prevalent in Tenerife water supply .
Young babies are recommended to use water with these solids below around 200ppm which can only be acheived by further treatment such as Reverse Osmosis , but beware the membranes can suffer from bacterial infection and require cleaning/sterilisation or replacement as their performance tails off .
remember this
http://old.tenerifeforum.com/showthread.php?t=63497&page=3

[rodders wolves]

thanks for all the answers a lot of it has been a great help i look forward to coming over in april and looking at some properties also the forum itself is very helpful on lots of other things as well

[bigbite]

where is the best place to get thing like dentist care policy

[honda]

We all have uk tv (sky) on our complex and the cost is included in the community fees. Also a filtered water machine, 8 ltrs for 50c and you don't have to carry it from the shops.