To sell up and move to Spain ?

[MijasMaddie]

Hi MN’s!

I’ve nc! So in a nutshell.. I’ve got two DC (sons) 8yrs and 10yrs. DH is 13 years older than me. (I’m mid thirties he’s late 40s)

He works in financial sales and I’m a small business owner (pet care/boarding).

We have a home in a lovely place on the outskirts of London. BUT we are struggling to live!

My DH has unfortunately been out of work/made redundant SO many times! We’ve been together 13 years and it seems every 2/3 years he is out of work.

A couple of years ago he had to ‘leave’ instead of being pushed and was out of work nearly a whole year! This has put us in such a bad financial situation.

We now pay the mortgage and the bills but we have hardly anything to live on. The mortgage and outgoings are huge.

Credit cards maxed out. I’m in touch with debt companies etc only so much can be done!

Life is a hamster wheel and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul etc..

AIBU to sell up and move to Spain? We attended Spanish lessons (myself, DH, DC) but stopped a couple of years ago! So we are no way fluent!

I have no money nor does DH but we have money in our home. After selling our home we could have enough to buy a three bed apartment in Southern Spain (ideally Calahonda area).

DH is saying he’ll have to stay here and rent a room outskirts of London to work his job in the city etc.

I could get rid of my debts and this misarable life but I will also have burnt all bridges to ever be able to come back.

My youngest is 8 and a young sweet 8. He’d be happy and make friends anywhere. But my eldest is 10 going on Kevin the Teenager! I’d have to put them through Spanish state school (also thinking of doing Cambridge p/t home school modules) if he hated it then he’ll hate me!!

Pros - I’d have the debts and financial burdens weighing me down gone. I’d be living in a sunny climate.
I am qualified in beauty industry, massage, animal pet training care..

Cons- what if it all goes wrong?

I’ve wanted to move to Southern Spain since 2013. I love it there. I fully appreciate living there is different to a holiday.

Only other option is to sell this house and rent there for a year (?)

Are kids that are about to turn 9 and 11 too old to be put in a Spanish state school?

I cannot go on like this 😑 too over drawn too broke. Don’t know how I’ll afford food for this week!

The thought of selling up and being able to buy a spacious penthouse in Spain has never been so tempting.

Ps. I have experience in beauty, make up, massage in case you wondered what I’d do over there. Also a very experienced animal carer.

• also Brexit is a factor but as it stands I know I can still go there ...

Please give me some advice (shake some sense into me!) thank you! X

Would you not have problems with Brexit, my friends parents are saying they'll probably be made to move back.

We’ve been to Tenerife 20 times in the last 7 years and it’s sad to see how many businesses have been and gone in that time and honestly the place is booming.
If you can’t make it work with round the clock good weather and the amount of foot fall los Cris and las Americas has then I just can’t see you making it where there’s a cut off season in Spain

But surely you would still have to pay out for your DH’s room, which won’t be cheap on London, as well as flights to visit his family? Or are you splitting up?

I don’t really see how moving half the family to Spain without a proper plan would be helpful financially.

Golon- how did you get your NIE ?

The Spanish government have been quite clear that British citizens legally resident (so signed into the list of EU residents in Spain by proving income and health cover) in Spain at the date of Brexit will be allowed to stay on the same terms. The UK government have not said whether they will continue to fund the reciprocal health agreement for those that currently have it ( and not everyone can get that anyway after the rules changed in 2014) so that may be problematic for some.
The Spanish government are equally clear that post Brexit British citizens wishing to emigrate to Spain will be third- country applicants and will gave go through the far more stringent visa application process (which had to be renewed every few years).

Why wouldn’t you just move somewhere cheaper in the U.K. where he can continue to work in financial sales? No need to continue to fund a second home in London, and much less upheaval.

You keep saying no to elsewhere in the UK, but it could be the most reliable way to achieve your dream.

Sell your house, pay off your debts, move to somewhere that you can afford a house with no mortgage. There are many, many small towns in the UK that have great cafe culture, family friendly etc etc.
Then you & DH gets jobs. Given that his is so unreliable that it has landed you in debt (jobs are meant to GIVE you money, not the other way round) then even shelf stacking in a supermarket would be better. But if you have no mortgage, even low paid jobs would give you a better standard of living, more free time and less stress. You can then go to Spain just about every year (maybe even twice a year). Find out more about it, build up contacts, enjoy the sunshine, make friends etc, and then make a planned, successful move rather than a desperate rush that could end in disaster.

Hernione - because it’s my absolute dream to live there. I think about it every day. So many British people live there. I don’t want to live or move anywhere in the UK. Don’t want to live to have regrets. Thank you everyone again

Kickass- thank you.

sorry Mijas but your dream is to live in the place that you think it is not the reality of what it is. and you are always going to be disappointed. either if you stay here or if you leave here.

How can you say that you don't want to live to have regrets when you say also you think about it every day. what a waste of your life to be dreaming about something but not actually looking at the reality of it!

it was always my dream to run my own business and to live in the middle of nowhere. I saved up to afford it because it takes a lot of money to start out on your own. Plus I did lots of research so could be ready to understand what living in the middle of nowhere really meant.

sorry but you are just coming across as not actually having a clue about the practicalities of it all and whats more you don't want to know the truth of what you are planning.

If its your dream, work for it. Set yourself a target of 2 years. move out of London live in the cheapest place you can work every job and every hour sent to save up enough money. in the meantime, learn the language, get the bits of paper, do the research. make it happen.

Propertywoes- truely in awe of you paying off so much of your debt-any pointers when I have no spare cash after bills and mounting credit card repayments?

Mummymeister- thank you for your advice/opinions.

As for saying it sounds like I ‘dont have a clue’ I never said I had the answer etc! Hence why I’m on here in the first place

I understand OP. It sounds like you're a dreamer and an eternal optimist and I am too! The reality is though that dreams take money - often way more than you expect. To set up abroad and have a chance of making a go of it you need money and you need time to get on your feet without having to worry about paying the bills.

Social media is full of people showing what a wonderful life they have - but what you don't see is the reality - which may be that someone else is bankrolling them, that they have savings, an inheritance, or that the photos of sangria on the beach are actually just 1% of their life. That the rest is working like a dog seven days a week during tourist season and then a winter of shivering in a cold flat because they can't afford to put the heating on.

It's good that you came on here and had your eyes opened. How much worse would it have been to discover all this stuff AFTER you burned all your bridges in the UK and moved?

You're not ready. If it's your absolute dream; you need to work towards being able to meet the income requirements and your husband being able to move with you. You need to learn Spanish.

You could move somewhere cheaper in the UK to save enough to go, and in the next few years become fluent in Spanish and save a lot, or you can try and make cutbacks from where you are... but anything that involves London, whether for you or just your husband, will be expensive. And while Spain is lovely and I will move back once DPs parents are well, it's absolutely where I feel at home; it is miserable when you have no money, can't speak the language and can't find work. You'll just move all your problems with you.

Thank you June and Anchor. I will this advice on board. Sensible advice and not flippant like me

OP, the only way to make it work is to become really fluent in the language and figure out whether you actually like the Spanish culture and way of life. Because if you don’t... I’ve been in France for 15 years for work. There are many things I love here, other things boil my piss, and without the language i’d be lost - how do you cope with hospitals / tax returns / parent-teacher meetings? Don’t burn your bridges.

@MijasMaddie I came here with a job offer to teach English. I don't teach any more. Without that job offer (and a contract to show it was real) I'd have needed to show enough money to live off and private healthcare.

I've found that some people who work in the tourist parts of Spain/Canaries speak several languages eg English, Dutch, German, Swedish etc
Suggest a check your income & out goings, is there anything that you can reduce ?
Can one of you get a second job or expand your existing business ?
There are places commutable to London with cheaper property, look on rightmove

Thank you Lovea.

A friend lives there and she sells some cosmetics online and does some life coaching online. No mention of what her H does etc! (I wouldn’t ask!) but I know her selling some lipsticks doesn’t pay for the huge home and kids in private school!

Another couple I’m friendly with do MLM but on a HUGE scale (recruited a huge team in the UK) this affords them to live in a beautiful home big private pool and they are what they call ‘time rich’. They rescue dogs etc.

Then I’ve got a couple I know who moved out there 10 years ago. Understand was easier then before Brexit! They rent in a nice urbanisation and she started out by working in a beauty salon and her H rented out properties.

All of these people didn’t speak Spanish and not ‘professionals’ in any sense of the word.

They all say ‘just do it’!

That’s why I thought I’d come on here! I know MN don’t tell people what they ‘want to here’ and can be brutally honest.

Where does the money come from. There is no luxury home from rescuing dogs. That's teenage fantasy no nonsense.

It's madness, esecially if you don't even speak the language, it means you don't even really know what Spain is like, just a weird little brit enclave. You should focus on moving elsewhere in the UK where you'd be better of and holidaying in Spain as much as possible.

Another couple I’m friendly with do MLM but on a HUGE scale

The Costas used to have plenty of bank robbers on a gap yah. Clearly the area is going downhill.

Bellini- multi level marketing. I did say! I know you don’t get a luxury home from rescuing dogs! Jeez.

You are just fantasising op. Which is fine over a glass of wine or whatever but how are your kids going to manage if you rip them away from everything they know?

OP, myself and my OH had a dream that was very different from yours but we achieved it in stages. I wouldn't give up on the dream of moving to Spain but think of it as something you climb a ladder to get to, rather than jumping into. Take time to research living there and think of it as something you will do in three to five years, once you have all your ducks in a row and can give yourself the best chance of making a success of it. You keep ruling it out but if you moved to a cheaper part of the UK, you could make your life a lot easier in the short term while preparing for the Spanish move. I don't think that is to be sniffed at! I do agree with you, life at the moment sounds miserable. You can change it all tomorrow in the UK and set targets for the Spanish move. I think that would cheer you all right up, take a lot of pressure off and give you something to look forward to.