Job Discussion Forums

[Leon30]

Hi all.

Firstly, I am not enquiring about WORKING in Madrid.

By the end of this year I will have saved enough money teaching in S.Korea to be able to live in either Lisbon or Madrid (both places I've visited and really liked the feel of) for one year NOT working and following my own pursuits.

I'm pretty clued up on prices for Lisbon.

What I'd like to ask is - if I rented my own studio apartment in the less expensive part of Madrid, how much would the average price be in Euros. Also how much would I figure in for utility bills? I do not want to share an apt.

Lisbon, I can get a studio for around 400 Euros a month and bills and food / travell are pretty reasonable (compared to London, where I'm from.)

If I lived reasonably frugally - do you think I'd be able to get by on 8,000 Euros for one year?

I'm a UK citizen, so I guess I could supplement with one or two hours an evening teaching to cover the studio and then live off of my savings for the rest if need be.

Secondly, should Madrid prove to be a lot more costly than I'm anticipating - what other places in Spain would you consider - taking into mind my budget. I'd like to be somewhere where I can meet friends (Spanish or expats) eat well and a city or large town that at least has a cosmopolitan feel to it, with some social life going on.... not somewhere where I'd feel too 'away from it all.' I've been to valencia, but found the city very sterile and dull by comparison to Madrid. Also not somewhere that's a haven for British holiday makers... Was also consiedering Zakynthos in Greece, as I love the place, but the language is much harder for me to learn than Spanish...

Thanks in advance for any useful replies.

Cheers

[Moore]

The cheapest studio flat will cost you 600 euros a month. If your budget is 8000 a year then that only leaves you small change.

Have a look at this website to get an idea of the sort of prices in Madrid...

http://madrid.loquo.com/english/cat/300

...your alternative of course is to rent a room in a small flat: you can get a nice room for 400, a very nice one for 450, sharing with one other person often (and Spanish go away a lot on the weekends).

There is a ton of work going in the evenings here in Madrid, and you can easily get 16 euros an hour from academies and 20+ an hour from privates, so adding 500 income a month to your budget (though obviously there is really not much going in July/August/September)

[Johannesbjorck]

I've found an apartment in central Madrid for 500 �/Month.