How to manage money as a liveaboard

[Sea Devil]

I managed on Nationwide debit and credit cards for 12 years as a liveaboard in Spain, and would caution against opening a Spanish bank account on two grounds.
Firstly, their charges are high and they have a nasty habit of debiting first and asking questions second.
Secondly, if you only have UK bank accounts it reinforces your undoubted claim that you are a British and not Spanish resident.
The advice to maintain a UK address is very sound - it removes all sorts of complications.

Also you need an NIE identification card from Spanish Police National.
I lived aboard for years around the world and never had a problem with a bunch of credit/debit cards - as someone said earlier some countries prefer visa and some mastercard so at a minimum you need one of each...

 

[nortada]

One tip is if you move to different countries buy a local sim card thy are cheap and the calls are much cheaper.

Another tip.

If your UK provider is Three, you will be able to use your UK allowances up to 20GB per month in 71 countries, on your existing contract at no extra expense.

With the result that many I know no longer use their local sims and contracts.

 

[vyv_cox]

Another tip.

If your UK provider is Three, you will be able to use your UK allowances up to 20GB per month in 71 countries, on your existing contract at no extra expense.

With the result that many I know no longer use their local sims and contracts.

I now have 100 Gb per month from Vodafone, all of it useable in Greece. So I shall not be using my Greek Cosmote mifi this year other than in a few remote anchorages where their coverage is better. Although as these are mostly near Turkey it may be that I can use their strong signal as Turkey is in Vodafone's roam free area.

 

[Graham376]

I now have 100 Gb per month from Vodafone, all of it useable in Greece. So I shall not be using my Greek Cosmote mifi this year other than in a few remote anchorages where their coverage is better. Although as these are mostly near Turkey it may be that I can use their strong signal as Turkey is in Vodafone's roam free area.

Do you have a link to this plan? Best I can find is 50gb for £30/m. http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mob...&hardwareSkuItemId=sku200003&_requestid=17617

 

[vyv_cox]

Do you have a link to this plan? Best I can find is 50gb for £30/m. http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mob...&hardwareSkuItemId=sku200003&_requestid=17617

Somebody reported a couple of days ago that the offer had finished. I dropped lucky, took Jill's phone to the Vodafone shop for an upgrade and mentioned that I thought I was paying over the odds. The offer was current at the time.

 

[laika]

Somebody reported a couple of days ago that the offer had finished.

Ended March 31st apparently. Vodafone do this thing of putting up your bill in April even if they're still selling the plan you just bought to new customers for the original price. So last year I got a new plan at £25/month in february and in April it was £25.90 despite them still advertising it for £25. This year I decided to wait til april at which point the deal vyv got had just ended...

 

[nortada]

Three is offering unlimited data for £24 pm or 100GB for £20 pm, in the UK but this data limit drops back to 20GB pm when out of country.

 

[Graham376]

Three is offering unlimited data for £24 pm or 100GB for £20 pm, in the UK but this data limit drops back to 20GB pm when out of country.

Looks like I'll stay with Voda Portugal, €24.99 p.c.m for 30gb but can suspend without payment for 3 months p.a. Also have PAYG Meo for up the river where Voda doesn't work.

 

[colind3782]

Also you need an NIE identification card from Spanish Police National.
I lived aboard for years around the world and never had a problem with a bunch of credit/debit cards - as someone said earlier some countries prefer visa and some mastercard so at a minimum you need one of each...

Not all Spanish banks require an NIE. I have had an account with Banco Sabadell for 8 years and the didn't require an NIE, in fact they market their accounts to expats.

 

[Sea Devil]

Not all Spanish banks require an NIE. I have had an account with Banco Sabadell for 8 years and the didn't require an NIE, in fact they market their accounts to expats.

Well done. I am amazed. Bet they asked for your passport. I have only been here 7 years and found the NIE is needed for everything but then I am a resident. Started with Caixa - brilliant English web site and customer service but eye watering charges. m in process of changing to Bankinter... English site good but charges very very low

 

[colind3782]

Well done. I am amazed. Bet they asked for your passport. I have only been here 7 years and found the NIE is needed for everything but then I am a resident. Started with Caixa - brilliant English web site and customer service but eye watering charges. m in process of changing to Bankinter... English site good but charges very very low

Yes to the passport of course, I wouldn't expect anything else. Sabadell also have an English website and multilingual staff in our local branch. The charging system is a bit vague but usually works out to about €30/quarter.

 

[Sea Devil]

Yes to the passport of course, I wouldn't expect anything else. Sabadell also have an English website and multilingual staff in our local branch. The charging system is a bit vague but usually works out to about €30/quarter.

My Bankinter account is free provided I transfer 650€ a month into it otherwise it is 40€ a year... Mind you its not just Spanish banking that is a minefield. I am closing my Barclays International account because they want to charge 20£ a month if I do not keep a minimum of 25,000 on deposit.. So its not just the Spanish... The French want to charge 12€ a month to insure a debit card against fraud!

 

[colind3782]

My Bankinter account is free provided I transfer 650€ a month into it otherwise it is 40€ a year... Mind you its not just Spanish banking that is a minefield. I am closing my Barclays International account because they want to charge 20£ a month if I do not keep a minimum of 25,000 on deposit.. So its not just the Spanish... The French want to charge 12€ a month to insure a debit card against fraud!

We have got used to free banking in the UK over the last years but, internationally, it's rare and almost exclusive to the UK.

 

[crashtack]

BancoCTT in Portugal is completely free. It's part of the Post Office. Absolutely no charges at all, even for the card. I used to be with CGD and was paying over £120 a year in charges. No longer.......

 

[Graham376]

BancoCTT in Portugal is completely free. It's part of the Post Office. Absolutely no charges at all, even for the card. I used to be with CGD and was paying over £120 a year in charges. No longer.......

Thanks for that, I'll look at changing when we get back.

 

[BigJoe]

The forum classic regarding liveaboard expenditure is……………
Take half us much clothes as you think you will need, and twice as much money
One of the best ways, we found to manage our liveaboard budget is an excel spreadsheet.
We brake it down into months and list more or less everything we spend, including boat maintenance, flights home, marina fees, clothes, eating out, insurance, diesel, food and alcohol Etc.
We feel seeing what we spend, helps deal with impulse buys, we also plan next years spend, based on what we are spending at the moment.

 

[Mikedefieslife]

Absolutely a UK address is needed. I was once on holiday touring Morocco. I only had a small mailbox which got filled with junk mail (despite the notice). A letter from one of my banks was returned as the mailbox was full. The bank promptly started to close the account.

It's a shame RM don't have service like in Switzerland and Finland where for a fee the national mail carrier will scan your incoming mail and email it to you. Instead you need to find a relative to do this, and if they are anything like my dear mother, don't know how to use the scanner.

A bit of a heads up for those with a Revolut account. I would advise against using it as your main card, and not to keep large sums of money on the card. The company has been in a bit of bother recently over their money laundering safegaurds, which on it's own is nothing, but they've also had bad press over working practices, and few other small issues. Additionally, it's a prepay card so you've no FSCS protection. Yes they have a banking license from Lithuania, which likely couldn't afford to pay out should the worst ever happen. Remember Icesave?

Anyhow. I don't mean to scaremonger. I use the account all the time for transfers. It's brilliant for that, but I don't keep money there any longer than I have to.

I would recommend a Halifax Clarity card, great for spending aboard and you get Section 75 protection.

For normal day to day spending, I would recommend a debit card. Either a specialist Euro account or a digital only bank. My personal choice is Starling (they also offer a Euro account). Again there's fee free withdrawals and POS spending all over the world, and unlike Monzo there's no monthly limits.

I would also keep a traditional account as a backup, but you can't beat the digital offerings for easy of use and communication when abroad, especially if things go wrong.

Finally. I would add a family member you have absolute trust in, as a second credit card holder. That way they can order things on your behalf and help out if you get into a jam. Kind of the same thinking with having digital and paper copies of your important documents, and leaving some with a trusted person. Of course you can go the whole hog and give someone Power of Attorney, but it's overkill if just staying in Europe.

Edit: Whilst I'm at it I might as well include a link to an article I wrote that perhaps has a few cards in that you might not have heard of. https://moneysavinganswers.com/travel/the-best-travel-credit-and-debit-cards-for-foreign-currency/

 

[Gallant Spirit]

I use a transferwise card it is one card that is multi currency and acts as a local card in each country so no ATM fees
and the card itself is free, great exchange rates as well.

 

[crashtack]

I use a transferwise card it is one card that is multi currency and acts as a local card in each country so no ATM fees
and the card itself is free, great exchange rates as well.

Transfer wise is very good indeed, I use it to transferwise(!!) money to my Portuguese bank account and it's generally here within about 20 minutes, I really like them. WeSwap and Revolut are also ok but not FSA Regulated, so dont put in more than you can afford to lose!!!!!

 

[differentroads]

Sorry to come back on an old(ish) thread but my experience of the past year:
1) Starling Bank is the dogs nadgers. Instant notification of every transaction, no conversion charges. No charges at all, in fact. Works everywhere, all the time.
2) always withdraw money from ATMs and pay by card in Euros, not in Sterling. The conversion rates at point of sale are very bad
3) I've only had cards cloned in the UK so far, but paying by cash to minimise card transactions is wise to reduce the risk. Or get tech savvy so you can wave your watch at a till and they just say gracias. I stopped wearing a watch or caring about the time a year ago though.
4) reconcile your budget and spending once a month. We were doing that this evening over a glass of wine. We had dozens of adjustments to make to get our new lifestyle in line with our income. And reviewing spending with your partner is important because it can be a cause of serious strife. Ask me how I know. No, better not.
5) Eat out three streets back from the marina, beach, tourist attraction, etc. Learn to eat what the locals eat and from the menu del dia (rabbit today, I haven't eaten rabbit for nearly 50 years! 3 courses and a beer for 12€). Shop where the locals shop, from big supermarket chains to tiny butchers, bakers and greengrocers.
6) use ATMs with an eye on what they charge. We use Google maps to track down Caixa Bank machines because they don't charge transaction fees. In the village nearest where we are now I just got charged 4€ to take out 60€ at the only ATM around. That soon adds up.
7) Keep a UK address. Our banking and most of our other finances are all online. But changing anything without a UK address becomes a problem and, anyway, you might want to stay on a GP's list, etc.