As us Brits are suffering with the Pound:EURO exchange rate (down around 8%) I was thinking about some money saving tips ? my suggestions are below ? please feel free to post others!
ZERO COMMISION STERLING TRANSFERS:
I pay a UK sterling cheque into my Spanish Caja Murcia account made payable to myself and they credit my account with commercial exchange rate euros and do NOT charge any commission on the cheque. The funds are cleared in around 10 working days.
Check you bank charges and query anything you don?t understand ? I did this recently and saved 84? per annum ? every little helps!
CHEAPER FOOD SHOPPING
Try the supermarket DIA and get one of their club members cards. After a while when you are paying they will give you discount vouchers which are frequently for good savings on items that you want to buy!
ANNUAL CAR TAX CHANGES
Now based on pollution levels so if you are changing your car you might want to bear this in mind.
CAR INSURANCE
In Spain you seem to get renewed automatically with the same insurance company who might not be the best deal next time around. Make sure you get other quotes in good time to change to a different company if you find a better one.
BUY CHEAPER PETROL/DIESEL
EROSKI AND CARREFOUR are selling cheaper than Cepsa etc (in our area anyway)
PAY GENERAL TAXES ON TIME
You will save the fines! For Alicante region go to SUMA office and set-up direct debit payments (or this can be done online).
INCOME TAXES
Investigate whether you will pay less income tax in Spain. If so transfer to the Spanish system. You may need advice from a good gestoria.
If you are a resident you should be doing this anyway!
Any more????
