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I don't think I am a typical person with typical expenses, but the pandemic had virtually no effect on me or on my expenses. Roughly 60% of my expenses are the bills and 40% food and every day living expenses.
The cost of properties etc. are available for everyone on internet.
Do you live in Spain ?

I too have not experienced any change in my expenditure as a result of covid

I am not typical.  I last filled my car’s petrol tank last February.  It is still about half full.

The biggest and most notable problem is the UK to EU exchange rate so very difficult to make accurate comparisons. Also we have no children, own our home and grow fruit and veg.

Due to Covid we do go out less both for leisure and shopping. We do not eat out very much at anytime but when we do, perhaps 3/4 times a month we usually have a menu, approx 8Euros for a 3 course meal and a drink (pp).

Around 50 euros per month fuel, 60 euros for car insurance and tax, IBA 23 euros  Electric depends on the season as we rely on air con for cooling and heating, say 100 Euros/mnth. Food varies between 200 and 400 E, cheaper to shop in the market when we get chance. As a retired chef I do like to buy good quality fresh food.

Water, difficult as we have to rely on tanker delivery every 4/5 weeks, 70 euros plus bottle water for drinking.

We allow approximately 100 euros for garden and house maintenance.

As a guide it s possible to live  on 1000 per month depending on how extravigent you are and how many visitors you get.

Hello everyone,

Thank you for sharing the information with us, it was very informative. 

Cheers,

Cheryl

I'm with everyone else. No great changes in general.

Petrol and diesel simply follow market trends so it was really cheap when the quarantine was most stringent.

Electric, in the controlled market, has reached its highest price ever but that was more to do with the damage caused by storm Filomena rather than any pandemic effect. More people buy their electric in the free market though and I presume that hasn't been affected.

The cinemas are a disaster area. People were, unreasonably, concerned about catching the disease in an enclosed space (no outbreaks have been traced to cinemas) so audience numbers plummeted. As a consequence the filmmakers who had invested millions in their new film decided not to release it when the box office was so low. The lack of new releases added to the vicious circle and the audiences dropped further. The biggest chains, Cinesa and Yelmo, have now closed nearly all their non Madrid cinemas. They say the closure is temporary but the pandemic acquired Netflix habit and the concurrent release of (is it Warner) films to the streaming platforms will probably do for all but the strongest cinemas. On the specific question it's dead easy to get a cinema seat for around 5€ given that there are all sorts of offers for "members", on certain days, for internet purchases and what not.

The theatres are collapsing too. In fact the damage to cultural activity - museums, theatres, music concerts  seems to be very deep. Even if restaurants go bust because of the pandemic you can be sure that more bars, cafes and restaurants will spring up in their place but if the disease destroys a small theatre that was teetering on the edge, a local cinema, the non municipal museums etc. they may be gone forever.

We are a retired couple living in Valencia.  COVID has not affected our living expenses.  If anything, it has reduced them as we are not travelling now.  We are renting a 100m3 flat at 1.150€, which is a bit on the high side, but we were aware of that when we rented.  We will probably be moving later this year to a larger flat, and I expect our rent will be between 1.100€ - 1.300€.  Water is about 35€ per month and electricity is about 110€ but we are a fully electric flat and generously use the AirCon and heat.  Food is about 400€.  Our Internet at home is 25€ and our two cellphones are 30€ per month combined.   We have Sanitas health insurance which is 300€ per month for the both of us combined.   Because of COVID we are not eating out at restaurants, going to gyms, etc.  Other than household "stuff" we buy for our flat, maybe 100€ per month, we're really not spending any money.  I guess that's both good and bad!

The biggest expense we DON'T have so far is travel.  I'm hoping that will change sometime soon!

Hi there Cheryl,

a bit of info from up here in Galicia:

What is the price of a property rental in Spain? What about buying a property?

Highly variable depending on the region, whether city, small town or countryside, seaside or inland.  We pay €529 per month for a 70 square metre detached beach house with a sizable garden. 

I would never consider buying in Spain because I consider the associated costs extortionate.

> How much does petrol cost or how much does it cost to use the various public transport services?

Variable.  At the beginning of the COVID thing it really nose-dived, but has since risen again (although not to former prices) and stabilised a bit.  I think I am paying about €1.40 a litre for premium diesel.  Local bus services are very cheap.

> How much do you spend on average on your weekly groceries in Spain? Have you noticed a change in the price of staple foodstuff?

For a couple with two hungry labradors, in the order of €200 a week.  No change due to COVID.

> What is the price of your health insurance? How much does seeing a general practitioner or specialist cost?

We don't have health insurance.  If necessary we use a private clinic and pay.  A GP consultation is about €35.

> How much are your children's school fees? What about the cost of childcare?

Not applicable.

> How much do you spend on your regular bills (water, electricity, mobile phone package, internet subscription etc.) on a monthly basis?

Electricity is highly variable between summer and winter.  Summer it can be as low as €40 a month.  We do not have central heating only electric radiators.  Our most recent electric bill after an awful period of crap weather was €124 for a month.  Water is pretty cheap at about €15 a month.

> What budget do you set aside for your leisure activities in Spain? What is the price of a cinema or concert ticket? How much does a subscription to a gym cost?

We don't do paid leisure activities (in my case apart from the pub).  Last time I was at the gym (pre-COVID) they were charging about €45 a month.

Cheers!  Hope it helps!