Wise words indeed from crikey…

I’ve said it before and I will say it again

It’s not about where you live

It’s how you live where you live.

You to enter the Spanish economy now?

Four of you?!

Why not a different country? Lots of stw’ers took coke/pills or smoked too.

One of the advantages of moving to an ex-pat “Ghetto” is access to an easier market for work. They all know each other, although there’s quite a few less of ’em out there with spare cash anymore.

That said, I have a few family members out there (retired) and they upped and moved with enough capital to see ’em out with money left over. Seemed to be a few folk in that situation, I’m sure some are struggling, but some are still comfy.

One of the key indicators are how much quieter the restaurants are.

I wouldn’t go near a bar as a business venture. Not unless you enjoy working ridiculous hours for a risky venture and quite probably poor income. Unless you absolutely nail it and stand head and shoulders above all the rest in some manner. But you’d still work ridiculous hours. I’d only do it if I knew I had a service to provide for a low Capitol risk, AND the market was there with some pre-existing entry points. Eg; Uncle (raging Tory) Rodders just had his villa repainted, don’t remember the exact costs but it was several thousand pounds. Another example is airport transfers, some ex pats still have plenty of trips away and visitors flying about. Small mini bus, combined with TEFL work perhaps. No idea what complications there are with legalities there though. Cleaned any pools lately? How’s you’re olive grove tending skills?

Wise words indeed from crikey…

Plus one, best post on the thread.

Going out on a limb and reaading into your home life a little more than you are lettting on.

#1 Son is in and out of Care and mixing with all the other loosers who hes met who use

#2 Son is growing up waaaaay to fast and is following his brothers footsteps

Your wife is probably distraught and not strong enough to cope or deal with 2 wild teenage boys

You have to work away so cannot rule the house or impliment any rule or consequences for their actions.

Moving to Spain wont work. Moving to Skye might be a better idea. However , this is only going to be an issue for 2 or 3 years isn’t it.

This isnt going to happen instantly , in reality it will be next year. Your boys might turn round and flatly refuse to go. When you get to where you end they might hate you with a passion ( if they come with you )

How about getting a day job in the the area and trying to do your best to look after your boys . Which county are you in?

Find a job that lets you work from home? Maybe your wife could up her hours to make up any income shortfall? So you might have to take an income drop, but with no relocation costs or exposure to stupide EU mentlity , the ‘manana’ mentality , (Jesus Christ on a Donkey no wonder their economy is foooked if the firefighters are working 1 in 3 weeks on full pay )

This however does not remove your 2 from the chav gangstar culture which is actually the root of the problem . remove those 2 and you and your wife could tick along very happily for the next 10 years till retirement then get an allotment .

No help at really , sorry .

Ahem

http://www.hspc.co.uk/details.asp?id=45599

Ok, not exciting. But you get a van 🙂

I was on a course last year a talking to an ex fireman he was saying a few people at his old station have moved to Spain and commuted weekly from Spain.

Last time I went down to the costa del sol a lot of xpat bars were going bust, the place looking run down and your average Guiri business is not having a great time. I think that would be a nightmare…

As for employment figures… Largely meaningless really; almost every Spaniard I know is working for cash, even surgeons, doctors, accountants all want to be paid in cash.. Generally no local goes on the system if they don’t have to and estimates put 40% of the economic turnover here (in andalucia) as black economy. Im not saying there isn’t a problem here, but you just cant tout facts and figures around because they don’t include 40% of the picture.

I moved here in 2007. Me and the missus have had 2 kids here and we have started and grown a business. There are downsides like anywhere but on balance its been a good thing.

Plus side –
Climate
Lifestyle (depends where you live and what you do of course)
Cheap to live
Good infrastructure
Friendly laid back locals
Loads of biking, surfing, windsurfing and oudoor stuff
Low population density
Opportunities to start small businesses
Low violent crime and general yobbery
No youth gang culture

Downside –
Corruption
High taxes*
Drug/people trafficking / undercurrent of international organised crime.
Limited employment for young people (same as anywhere)

*Some times you also have to pay other people’s

Read most (not all) of the replies, but why don’t you try and relocate somewhere in the UK, there must another station you could transfer to with enough distance from where you are now? You say that your lads are desperate to get away from these scrotes and get sorted, surely they could do voluntary work in the new location which would help focus them on positive things and hopefully help them forget about their past lifestyle. Obviously my ideas are very simplified but you get the idea?

Reading through, a few people mention high SS costs in Spain. Which on the face of it is true at 380 PCM, earning or not. But on the other side of that coin its tax deductible and there are many benefits to being an “autonomo”. I just bought a new van and got a 13,000 euro discount, many places run discount schemes for the self employed – you just have to ask. The health care is very good and if you are married the healthcare is transferable to your partner and any dependants. 380 is a bit of a bargain really.

I’m thinking out loud, so please don’t take any of this as criticism, but it does sound like you are in a situation that you really want to simply run away from.

I’m aware of the issues with your son, but I can’t see that opting to move abroad will help; it looks like a massive gamble that might just about, possibly, with the wind behind you, and an awful lot of luck, turn out to be slightly better than the situation you are in at present.
i dont take it as criticism at all, im grateful to hear all viewpoints. there may be an element of truth to ‘running away’ but the bottom line i spose is i think we do need to change something. if thats running away then so be it. hard to know what to do for the best.
after listening to all the advice on spain, it does seem to show thats maybe not the best idea.
my lad did stay in thailand for a while with family, and was far better there, thats why i sort of thought that may be an answer, somewhere with no chav culture to get sucked into.

You should go over to britishexpats.com and do a search for firefighter etc, see where (if anywhere) there are jobs going.

will do, thanks.

Going out on a limb and reaading into your home life a little more than you are lettting on.

#1 Son is in and out of Care and mixing with all the other loosers who hes met who use

#2 Son is growing up waaaaay to fast and is following his brothers footsteps

Your wife is probably distraught and not strong enough to cope or deal with 2 wild teenage boys

You have to work away so cannot rule the house or impliment any rule or consequences for their actions.
thats pretty much spot on, although my wifes a lot stronger now than she was. she still needs more support from me at home tho.
and as has been mentioned, its how you live your life that matters, i understand that, and yes, its only 2 or 3 years more before hopefully them bad boys have flitted 🙂 its just that if we are going to change something for us two, then also look at helping the lads too?

i mentioned spain initially as it was just our first thought, and thanks to your advice, and sort of as expected, its not looking a viable option.
moving over here? yep, we’d do that definitely, if it was best option. its finding another vocation thatd be tricky (im 48), as there are probably only 4 different stations i could transfer to, none in nice areas, so itd be back to square one really.
which, sort of brings the thread back round to looking at the title again……..if im not going to up sticks and move abroad and to a totally different lifestyle, then i spose im just like many others over here looking for a new job :-/
i was just interested hear if there were any decent options and experiences from you all. i know some people would be scared to sell up and take a chance. we would gladly take that calculated gamble, and if we heard of a good opportunity to make our lives better we’d go for it.

thanks to you all, i havent caught up on all the answers yet, just gonna go through them now. i appreciate the input.

One option is the commute from Spain to work.Keep your place in the U.K to rent out and rent in Spain-about 600 euros a month will get you a 3 bed with pool.You will have to keep away from the brit bars though as they do draw the undesirables and drugs are easily available especially on the coast.A couple of friends here have kids who have joined the Gibraltar regiment and it has sorted them out!