Live like a Lord in Spain

Well said. I have no desire to wine and fine here at home as I feel the cost is immoral. I’m aware that there are massive overhead costs and staff wages to contend with not to mention the energy bills. We live to wine and dine in Spain particularly when the evenings are balmy. Our son in law treated us to a meal and drinks recently, I’m sure it cost him a fortune but he wanted to thank us for everything we’d done for them at that time. ( eg. I sewed name tapes onto both my grandchildren’s new uniforms, hours and hours of work). I genuinely feel that the cost of dining to the older generation seems extortionate but the younger people who hold down good goods don’t seems to notice it at all. I was speaking to a lady who runs two restaurants on the outskirts of Belfast, they are waiting to get a license and meanwhile guests may bring their own refreshments with them. “ I bet they love that” I said to her “ absolutely not” was her reply. “They all want cocktails”. This was in a very working class area so no shortage of cash there clearly.
It’s a funny old world!

£18 for 2 drinks? Can drink like a lord in Wetherspoons for that!!

Is working hard and earning good money then saving for retirement privileged? Everybody could have done the same, it's your choice. We are now reaping the rewards but we saved for it to have a good life later on.

Welshboy wrote:£18 for 2 drinks? Can drink like a lord in Wetherspoons for that!!

Indeed we could, but living in a rural location it would cost about £50 by taxi each way to get to our ‘local’ Wetherspoons.
Very good point though as town centre pubs should be able to offer cheap booze but village pubs are struggling, one of our near village pubs closes at 10pm as will be empty.

Having a drink and some food out in the UK is getting so rediculously priced, we rarely go out at home. At my local a large white and a bottle of Peroni are best part of £15 and main meals start at £15, that's bar meals and not in the restaurant! So a few drinks and a bit of food and you're the wrong side of £100!

We spend close to our 90 day allowance in Spain and eat out just about every day, mainly lunches this time on year and evening meal when the evenings are nicer. Couldn't afford to do that in the UK.

Am I doing something others aren’t? I find the cost of living in Spain very very low compared to the UK. But I also think my UK costs are very low too..
In Spain we eat out 3-4 times a week and for my sins I do the cooking 4-3 times per week, we eat breakfast as brunch out 2-3 times per week the other times it’s home breakfast and a sandwich for lunch.
I shop at different supermarkets for different things. I buy fresh veg and cook from scratch.
A dinner for me is 18.30 ish, consists of a meat and three veg plus a potato option. Followed by fresh fruit salad, grapes, plumb, apple kiwi and natural yogurt. On hot days it’s a salad and meat choice.
Lunch can be anything from a sandwich to crackers and cheese but is quite small
Breakfast revolves around a quality cereal like musli, or scrambled eggs with avocado on toast or smoked salmon on toast. Sometimes it’s a bacon or sausage and tomato omelette.
I check my spending and being good at budgeting I don’t actually spend a lot. I never cook more food than we eat. We never have left overs or throw away food.
I have very little packaging that goes in the bin.
We don’t seem to spend more than €1400 a month living in Spain.
Ok we don’t have a mortgage or rent, and it does not include the suma taxes and insurances, but that covers, electric, gas, water, food and beverages, petrol, and eating out, Shopping in supermarkets and outdoor markets.
It also does not include 2x weekly pool cleaning, weekly key holding security checks and villa cleaning... about €30.00 a week. And I buy my car outright.
Our costs in the UK are around £2000 a month
I just think it’s not at all expensive or is it?

We eat very much like you, both in Spain and the U.K. we very much enjoy eating out regularly while on holiday but I really find eating out at home very pricey. Probably my fault as I only enjoy going to restaurants that appeal to me. We don’t live in Spain so are used to all the huge energy bills. My tumble drier is used most days, the heating is on and off all day long. Not so in Spain. Hence the reason so many people sell up and move there permanently.

I posted a recipe for an Indian curry to show how cheap a curry is to make. People do feel fed up of food that makes them over eat so my next recipe below is for something different, healthy yet very cheap. For 4 people … I think you’ll feel like you are living like a king in Spain with a dinner like this..

First set up your table, a clean white table cloth, 2 knifes 2 forks and a dessert fork. 2 wine glasses per person
3 plates per person is required if possible 2 oblong and one round, if you have no oblongs just use round.

Starter: Ingredients virgin olive oil, black pepper, beetroot cooked, wallnuts, pumpkin seeds, rocket salad leaves, Parmesan cheese.
Simply coat your plate with olive oil, sprinkle black pepper very sparsely, oil not too thick just a wafer thin coating, using a mandolin slice your beetroot very thinly and arrange over the olive oil about 12 slices each person try to spread it out on the plate so it’s not stacked high, in the centre put a hand full of rocket salad leaves, around the edge of the salad leaves a few pumkin seeds then wall nuts, spread a few wall nuts around the plate, shave Parmesan cheese over the food and a splash of olive oil.
Should cost 2.75-3.00 Euro per person, serve with the cheapest white wine in the supermarket. You’ll love it.

Main course 1 large chicken breast per 2 people, cherry tomatoes 3 on the vine each, Sweet potato, carrot, green beans, cured ham. Cream cheese.
Coat chicken in cream cheese, Wrap chicken with cured ham, pack as tight as possible in a ovenproof dish cook in the oven for 45 mins at 200c. slice into slithers you should get 8 per breast, so 4 per person. Gently sautee cherry tomato’s cook sweet potato separately in oven with chicken, boil carrots whole and simmer green beans.
Arrange chicken in center of a very hot plate put cherry tomato on top, arrange all other veg both sides of chicken, leaving the cooked sweet potato til last, quickly fry sweet potato in garlic oil and add to plate.
6.00-8.00 Euro per person. A glass of the same white wine goes well with this too.

Finally A ripe pineapple, a scoop of green apple sorbet and some squirting cream. A juice blender.
peal your pineapple, and again using a mandolin thinly slice it and once you have enough slices about 8 per person chop up the remainder and blend, to get the juice.
Pour an equal amount of the juice on each plate, again arrange the slices of pineapple on the plate, in the middle put a double scoop of sorbet and a few peaks of cream.
About 2.00 to 3.50 Euro per person. a glass of fizz makes this a winner.

Most of this can be prepared in advance. As long as you take care with the mandolin. Chopped fingers and blood spoil this dish.. this is a very low calorie meal that fills you up and is colourful and different. But also goes well with each other.

Jeez! Condescending or what!!
First set up your table, a clean white table cloth, 2 knifes 2 forks and a dessert fork. 2 wine glasses per person
3 plates per person is required if possible 2 oblong and one round, if you have no oblongs just use round