Monday Money #181 A Week in Spain is cheap living, but a huge rise to cost of living at home.

I spent last week in Spain and am pleased to admit that despite me being abroad I actually spent pretty much the same as I would have done in the UK! It was a very cheap holiday abroad with super sunny five days out of six.

I have just added up my spending diary and the total on the holiday, ALL in, including flights, airport parking, accommodation, food, drinks came to £630. Love this cost for a warm week abroad escaping the winter blues. Everything felt cheaper in Spain, but particularly the food and drinks. We went to several bars where drinks were just £2/£2.50 each! The Tapas food places we found were amazing with plates costing just £3 each. We hired bikes for three days, just £24. We were very lucky to also have a friend who lent us their apartment for a bargain price for the week.

But back at home Cost of Living Goes up A lot

I was still working last week, replying to emails, providing quotes for papers etc. And one thing I looked into was how much my essential spends had increased by recently. I added it up, my essential bills have increased by £105 a month! Each one I have negotiated has ended up costing more. We are all going to feel the squeeze this year.

My energy bill has gone up to £165 from £102. My mortgage goes up from £1236 to £1266 and my broadband and mobile goes up from £60 to £70 per month. Income protection insurance goes up by £2. This is all with me finding the best deal possible, but alas interest rate rises have impacted my mortgage going up, and those energy bills, we just can’t escape the prices rises. For both I am staying with my existing providers. Santander for my mortgage where my re-mortgage took all of five minutes to sort out, and no complex income checks as I’m staying with the same bank.

My energy remains with Octopus, we are being advised to stick with our existing energy companies at the moment as there are no better deals to switch to. But £165 a month, ouch, I will be doing all I can to use less energy.

The Mirror Cost of Living Expert

Did you see that I am on the panel of Cost of Living Experts in The Mirror? Such an honour to be included amongst this team of experts. I will be covering family finance and I can’t wait to share the articles and Facebook content with you! Check out the introduction article.

Secrets to Saving Live in Birmingham

Next week sees me head up to Birmingham for the Secrets to Saving LIVE event with Jordon Cox. An actual real life event with real life people. I cannot wait to share my story and all my money saving tips. There are still tickets available, FREE, grab them here.

Podcast – Mental Health & Life Insurance

Listen to this podcast that I recorded with Kathryn Knowles about the mental health impact of having life insurance and what triggered the essential purchase of this product for me. We also talk about income protection insurance. Our usual honesty and relatable experience is demonstrated. Well worth a listen.