Moving Abroad Isn’t Cheap

How much money we have spent on our move to Spain so far — and we’re not even there yet

Rocco Pendola
City Life

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Source: Author / Valencia, Spain

There are plenty of places around the world you can move to on a budget. Or if you’re looking to pay the least amount of tax and social security possible.

However, if you’re basing your decision primarily or only on costs, there’s a chance you might end up unhappy with your choice. Or, at least, less happy than you might have been had you selected another locale. Particularly if, like me, a major impetus to move in the first place is to live a truly urban lifestyle.

That is, urbanity not the way we half ass it in the United States where, ultimately, we organize most everything around the car. But a truly pedestrian-focused urban environment with loads of public space and an unofficial, if not legislated bias against automobile use.

My wife and I are moving to Spain in January because we want to live life in a truly urban setting — in the day-to-day — at a cost we can afford. We’re not looking for an extended vacation or amusement park. Spain will be home — we think — for all the right reasons.

While our cost of living will end up lower in Spain on day one and likely stay that way, making the move isn’t cheap.

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