would you move to spain with 2 kids, 50K and no secure job?

[pearshape]

myself and dh are thinking of doing the above. He is a self employed decorater and work here has virtually dried up. I am in admin and earn a low wage. We are really struggling here. Would have about 50k left from house sale at current market rates, we have 2 dc's aged and 7. We are SO fed up at the moment. Life is short and we are not enjoying ours at the moment. we have no family and no special friends to consider. The thought of a new start is very appealing but could it ever work? I know the employment situation out there is probably worse than here but would he be able to realistically stay as a self employed decorater? We have visited the country many times and love it. Any advice? Am I being completely delusional??

Depends entirely on where you want to go. I have recently moved back after living there for 8 years. The employment situation isn't brilliant, but it's not crap either IYSWIM.

For long term rentals on the coast (this is Costa del Sol) you will be looking at between ?500 and ?750/month for a 2/3 bed. Further inland in places like Alora, Coin, Alhaurin and Ojen you can likely get a 2/3 bed for between ?400 and ?800 depending on exactly what you want.

There are certainly property companies that would be worth looking at for your DH with regard to maintenance/decorating etc work, although with the right contacts there can be a fair few refurb jobs - both high and low end, again dependent on where you look at.

Cost of living isn't as cheap as people expect. Petrol's cheaper than here, but expect similar electricity/water prices. Gas is not something that is generally mains accessible, apart from in the bigger cities and the odd urbanisation.

Food is very definitely seasonal. Fish and seafood are wonderful, plentiful and much cheaper than here, meat too.

There are places that I would say avoid like the plague, and others that are great for families - good schools, both Spanish and International. Some beaches there are my idea of hell, others 10 miles along the coast are some of the best in Europe.

I could go on and on really, but without knowing your proper wishes can't say much more currently.

no, we dont' speak spanish. dh has been trying to learn himself as we can't afford lessons at the moment. Thank you for the advice, rock. Why did you move back and do you miss it? We'd like to be somewhere fairly near other expats as we think that would probably make it easier to adjust. It would also be nice for the dcs to be close to other english speaking children. I'm worried about how the dcs will fit into spanish school. The eldest one is quite shy and would find it hard starting a new school in this country let alone a non speaking spanish school. Obviously we wouldn't be able to afford the prices of private school in spain. Would you have any idea of what dh could realistically earn? I forgot to say he also has an HGV class 1 licence, would that be any use to him in spain? I am willing to do anything from cleaning/shop work to admin. I was thinking of taking a course in acrylic nails so at least i would have some means of earning money when there.

non english speaking spanish school

I agree with most of what RockStock says, having lived in Spain for 6 years myself. Sorry to put a downer on your dreams but it's not as cheap to live there as you imagine, and you would not have the social security and welfare advantages that you would have in the UK. To make a success of living there permanently one of you really needs to speak Spanish. The recession in Spain has been much worse than here in some areas. If you are in a rut where you are living and have no particular ties, can you move to another part of the UK? Not sure where you are but in the SE in particular decorators never seem short of work! The grass is rarely greener on the other side y'know.

I didn't speak Spanish before we moved there, but was fluent within a year. It's actually pretty easy to learn - most of mine was done by listening to Spanish radio in the car and watching the Spanish news/reading newspapers and then testing it out...

The international schools cost around ?3400-3800 for your age children (per term). The Spanish schools near to where we were are full of English children...The one down the road from me has at least 26 nationalities there and the lessons are conducted in both Spanish and English (depending on the subject). Non-Spanish speaking children that start at these schools are generally near fluent within 3 months, so that won't be an issue at all.

The nails course is a great idea - there are no end of salons up and down the coast, and I know/know of lots of women who do the nails at their homes as well. The prices there are higher than here too.. I think a full set of acrylic nails is between ?40 and ?60, so scope there. Also, there are always jobs going in bars/restaurants through the year and, of course, the many beach clubs up and down the coast, from Elviria - Sotogrande rather than the other way.

I would be cautious of plonking yourself bang in the middle of no one but British expats to be honest. They are hugely insular, the work that goes around is between themselves and it seems (to me) to be quite a hard circle to remove oneself from to venture further. You would be much better off looking in places like San Pedro/Cancelada (west of Marbella) and Elviria, Santa Clara, Ricmar (east of Marbella). You have access to some of the best Spanish (but lots of English speaking) primary and secondary schools in the Malaga region.

With regard to your DH's HGV - I'm afraid I know jack shit about that side of things, but I can't see why he couldn't perhaps work with one of the bigger English firms down there doing that. Decorating work wise, one can expect to pay about ?950-1300 to have your 2/3 bed apartment repainted, so it's up to him what he makes of it. It's certainly worth it IMO and there is work around - I would suggest getting to know smaller property management people (the ones that work on their own mostly) and join up with them to boost contacts.

I actually ended up with my own business, started by simply looking after a couple of places for friends who only came over during holidays and the odd weekend. One minute I had two to look after, 7 months later I was running 35 properties .

We left, well, personal reasons mostly, I miss bits, but I am glad to be back. Very glad! However, we will be to and fro anyway, but now we are enjoying being back in London...