Ashling: I chose to move to Spain on my friend’s recommendation and have never regretted my decision for even a single day. Spain is a wonderful country with a rich culture, magnificent food and a welcoming population. 

There’s also a huge number of people who need to improve their English, so there’s plenty of work for a TEFL teacher.

In my experience, teachers’ salaries in Spain are enough to get by, but not to save massively.

But with the correct care in deploying resources and monthly spend, it’s possible to set some funds aside for leaner times. 

However, if your main priority is saving money, you’re better off staying at home and seeking higher-paying work.

Most schools pay between €12 and €20 an hour. Usually, the most a teacher will work in an academy is 20 hours a week, so that’s a salary of between €960 and €1,600 a month. 

Read more: Teach English in Spain—Salaries

The biggest expense is going to be rent, which varies hugely between cities and small towns.  

In Barcelona, a shared apartment averages €500 a month, while in a seaside holiday town such as Peniscola in Castellon, it’s about €250 a month.

There’s not much difference between utilities bills from cities to towns — water, wifi, phone, electricity, and gas will still be around €30 a month.

Small-town life for the win

As a strategy, choosing to live in a small town will have a massive impact on the quality of your life, as we can see with simple maths. 

• Rent is less.
• Transport is less of an expense, as you can walk to most places. 

Additional savings tips that work everywhere:

• Choose the local market for fresh produce to save money on groceries.
• Buy second-hand clothes. 
• Bargain hunt — I recently bought a summer dress at H&M for €3. 

Read more: How To Work & Live In Spain As A Foreigner

In Barcelona, a studio apartment for one or two people costs from about €900 to €1,200 a month. So if you’re earning around the same, it will be unaffordable. 

Choose apartment sharing or staying with a host family to reduce the cost of rent. 

However, living with a host family has many drawbacks and offers limited opportunities for a social life, which is why flat sharing is understandably more popular.

A shared room in Barcelona is around €500 a month. 

If you choose to live in a small town as I do, a studio apartment costs around €500 a month, while a shared room can be secured for between €260 and €350, depending on amenities such as a swimming pool. 

To reduce how much of your income you spend on rent, choose a small town rather than a big city.

There are ways to stretch a teacher’s salary from the beginning to the end of the month. 

✅   Shop around for your mobile phone charges.

Prices vary considerably between providers. 

✅ Split costs where you can. 

In my household, we have broadband and mobile for €44 a month. This is for two people, so sharing more would reduce the amount.

✅ Research utility providers. 

Water charges are around €45 for three months, and electricity around €25 a month. This is true for most utilities, but it’s worth doing in-depth research on the best value providers before settling. 

✅ Use a travel pass. 

In Barcelona, the cheapest way to get around is the 30-day unlimited travel pass called T-usual, which costs just €22 and covers buses, metro, trams, and more. 

✅ Use a bicycle. 

But even that low cost can’t beat a bicycle. A second-hand model can be sourced online (you shouldn’t pay more than €150), and it’s a great budgeting strategy! It eliminates transport costs while improving fitness and removes the need for monthly gym fees. 

✅Choose bars with free tapas and start a kitty. 

Another simple money-saving strategy is the kitty. 

This is a very popular way to manage the money on a night out with friends. Everybody contributes a set amount, say €20, at the beginning of the night and then one person takes charge of the kitty and pays for everything. 

This means you’re less likely to overspend, and everybody pays their fair share. If your teachers’ circle is open to this way of funding nights out, it can be a significant help to stretch those pennies.

If you choose bars that offer free tapas, you can eat and drink to your heart’s content! 

✅ Find budget supermarkets. 

Identify the cheapest supermarket. Prices vary considerably from one to another. (Mercadona is usually the most expensive.)

I would recommend Lidl but not Aldi, as it’s far more reliable—the quality in Aldi in Ireland is not matched in Spain.  

✅ Look out for ‘best before’ dates. 

All supermarkets reduce prices as the ‘best before’ dates approach. Seeking these out can offer more savings.

✅ Shop at municipal markets.

If you have a municipal market in your town or neighbourhood, it’s worth queuing at the most popular stalls for your fresh meat, fish and, of course, fruit and vegetables. You’ll make considerable savings. 

✅ Get your meat and fish prepped for free.

Your butcher or fishmonger will be happy to fillet or prepare your meat and fish whichever way you ask at no extra cost!

Read more: 8 Simple Money-Saving Hacks All Travelling Teachers Should Know

Try cooking

Spain is a wonderful country for fresh produce, so becoming a keen amateur cook will help you save money. 

Batch cooking and bringing your Tupperware to work is very popular and helps you save a considerable amount. 

Eat out

Eating out is inexpensive – a menu del dia, which includes three courses, wine and bread, will cost between €12 and €20 in Barcelona and fill you up for the day. 

Socialise at aperitivo times

Another option is to have an aperitivo (a light drink and small snacks) out and then have your home-cooked lunch at school before you start your afternoon session. 

The aperitivo is very popular. Especially in Madrid, it offers a cheap way to eat since a free tapa comes with every drink. Not all places in Spain follow this tradition, but it’s well worth seeking out bars that do.

Aperitivo times are typically before lunch (1–2 pm) and before dinner (8–9 pm).

Share an apartment

Staying with a family seems attractive, but in my experience, there are significant restraints on your social life. 

A far better strategy to save money is to share an apartment with like-minded individuals. 

Word of mouth is by far the most effective way to find a place, but if this isn’t possible for you, then social media is a good second option.

Go home for the summer

This is a very popular strategy, especially for Irish and English teachers. 

Most teaching work disappears in Spain over July and August, and student numbers triple in schools in Ireland and the UK in the same period. So this can be an excellent strategy for EFL teachers.

Read more: Requirements And Hiring Process To Become An ALT In Spain

It’s also an answer to the quandary of 10-month rentals in tourist towns, as well as an escape from overcrowding and soaring temperatures.

Offering private classes in addition to your 20 hours at school is a good way to earn extra cash during the school term. 

You can charge from €15 to €30 an hour, depending on your experience and skills in finding work. 

This is extra income and not to be relied on for monthly expenses, as it comes and goes with little notice and is generally short-lived.

I would recommend associating yourself with a school or an in-company service, as searching for work alone is tricky. 

Normally, this type of work dries up in summer or during some holidays, but you can come across the odd poor soul who has failed school exams and needs to repeat. 

Read more: Teaching English As A Private TEFL Tutor

Living and working in Spain can offer great joys and a wonderful quality of life. However, salaries are low compared to other EU countries, and expenses are ever-growing. 

Remember, summer work is scarce, so budgeting for the full year is essential. With clever resource management and some saving strategies, it’s possible to live a full and happy life as an EFL teacher in Spain. 

I’d suggest that Spain is an experience to be lived rather than a thriving economy in which to save. If you’re trying to pay off debts, I think it would be a struggle, and you’d be better off teaching in another country with higher wages. 

Spain is all about love, not money.

Which sounds just fantastic, if you ask us!