Comparing Expenses

Cascais vs Vila Real de Santo Antonio

It has now been a little more than one month since we moved to Vila Real de Santo Antonio. Things are going pretty well. So we thought it might make sense to review what we are spending on “essentials” and how that compares to Cascais. Spoiler alert … things are a bit cheaper here.

Cascais and Vila Real de Santo Antonio

Essentials

Okay, maybe “essentials” is not the right word. We are not going to be focusing solely on the first, physiological, level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. (Can someone explain to me why I still remember Maslow from college when I have forgotten so many other things I learned? If so, please leave a comment or email me. I really want to know! But I digress…) What is important to us may not be important to you. And, of course, there are things like utilities, cellphones, etc. that won’t vary from town to town. But with that caveat, Vamos lá….

Rent

If you have been reading along you know that we used to live in the most expensive part of Portugal, Cascais. There we had a newly renovated, modern, 3-bedroom (T3), 2 bath apartment near the center of town (2 blocks from the “yellow street”). Frankly, we could not find anything comparable in VRSA. We were shown a lovely, brand new, townhouse near the beach in Vila Nova Altura de Cacela which actually was even a bit nicer (in that it had outdoor space). But we decided against it because it wasn’t in town. We wanted to start to get to know people in VRSA and I wanted to be blocks from our construction site rather than have to get there by car. So, again, with caveats, what does it cost:

• Our apartment in Cascais was 2300€/month + utilities;

• The swanky townhouse in Vila Nova Altura de Cacela was 2000€/month + utilities (NB: the owners had wanted to use it as a short term rental and had to be convinced that we could make the math work … monthly rental “off-season” was 1800€/month and during the summer it was 5000€/month)

• Our T3/1.5bath in VRSA is 1100€/month + utilities (it would have been less had we not insisted that the owner install heating/air conditioning)

So, yes, it is much cheaper to rent in VRSA than in Cascais. 1100€ will only get you a nice one-bedroom or possibly a less nice T2/1bath in Cascais.

Eating Out

We have noticed that some of the items at the Mercado are less expensive. But frankly, so far there is also less selection. I will admit, we were spoiled by the Cascais Mercado and I was a bit let down at first when I walked into the local one in VRSA. Some aspects of this one are better. For example, it is open every day but Sunday, while Cascais is limited to 2 days a week. We have also found tuna, and many sea creatures we can’t identify, are far more plentiful here (more on that in a future post). But we now resort to the supermarkets (which are abundant in VRSA) to buy vegetables and fruits we can’t find at the Mercado.

However, one big difference is eating out. We had read in travel magazines about Portugal’s 10€ lunches, but we had to get lucky or be guided by a local to find them in Cascais. Here it is hard to spend more than 10€ for lunch. One day we actually shared an enormous toastie (grilled cheese in the States) and fries, and had 2 Sagres Imperials for 10€ … that makes it a 5€ lunch! Yes, eating out is cheaper here!

On display at the retro-hotel, O Pão, we stay at in Porto

Fuel

Now, this is probably an unfair comparison. While it is possible to live in Algarve without a car, not many immigrants do. And we will admit we lived, happily, in Cascais without a car. But if you are going to own a car, then you have to consider the cost of gas/fuel. It is about 20% cheaper here. In fact, on most days the difference is about 30₵/liter (that’s 1.14€/gallon for our American readers). Of course, you have to drive 10 minutes across the bridge to Spain … but it is worth driving 10km to fill an empty tank. Lots of people do. The last time we filled up, the license plates in the gas station were equally split between Spain and Portugal. It kind of reminded me of that spot in the US where Arizona, California, and Nevada meet. There are gas stations in all three states … literally blocks from one another with wildly different prices. And one wonders why that one guy is actually buying gas in California.

Hoping for birdie….

Golf

And, finally, belonging to a golf club is much cheaper! In Cascais, we were paying about the same amount to belong to Oitavos Dunes as we had paid in the California desert to belong to a club. Yes, Oitavos was once on the list of the 100 Best Courses in the World, and yes it was well maintained. But it was also adjacent to and owned by the resort/hotel on property. So while the service level was pretty high, and the food in the restaurant was excellent … it didn’t “feel” exclusive.

Here we pay about 60% of what we paid in Cascais, the food is also excellent…the service level high…and there is no hotel. We’d like a bit more grass on the fairways, but know that Portugal/Europe is in the midst of a draught. And the greens are in excellent shape, though a bit fast!!!!!

If you want to know the cost of any specific items, don’t be afraid to ask. We will do our best to answer, as we did in this prior post.