One of the main reasons for moving abroad I guess is often the fact that financially the grass looks greener. Teaching fortunately is one of those professions that is in global demand and therefore my United Kingdom teaching qualification has the potential to travel to many countries. My own move however is not driven by financial motives. It is possible to move to the middle east and pick up a large tax free salary with numerous benefits including free accomodation and travel and often a tax free bonus at the end of each year. Our reasons for relocating abroad however are not financially or career motivated and consequently these well paid posts in places we've never yet visited don't currently appeal.

Having watched hours of televised relocation stories I am surprised at how much of a financial gamble many people take, even those who make the same relatively short hop we are making to Spain. The notion of trying to establish a business that I have no experience of in the United Kingdom really seems terrifying and therefore the financial bedrock of our move to Spain is my teaching post. Unfortunately, teaching posts in Spain pay significantly less than the United Kingdom, the job security is not as strong, and the pension benefits are also never going to match up to the public service pension that teachers can currently still enjoy in the Untied Kingdom. In the United Kingdom I am at the upper end of the teachers pay scale and my only possible promotions within education now are to be a deputy or a head teacher. It does seem a strange system that takes the best qualified and most experienced teachers and promotes them out into non-teaching roles. Consequently moving to Alzira in Spain is a good move in that I get to stay in the classroom full time doing the job I trained to do and love.

My job here in the United Kingdom gives me a take home monthly pay of around 2100 pounds. My wife has to work hours around school in order to drop off and collect Emily, our six year old daughter. Sally has been lucky in having understanding and supportive employers who were happy to adapt her working day to this role but clearly such adaptations mean a shorter working day and a smaller financial reward. She currently works as an administrator for a charity providing services to adults with learning disabilities and has a monthly take home pay of around 600 pounds. An initial glance makes this seem like a generous salary that a family can comfortably live off and in many ways this is true. We can afford an annual holiday and usually don't want for much. However a massive proportion of our money does go on the day to day bills and I will provide some examples for later comparison. Water rates cost 70 pounds per month, the mortgage (an interest only with an optional overpayment to clear it within the term) costs 511 pounds per month. Poll tax is currently costing 120 pounds per month, but expect the new bill to put that up by at least ten percent again when it arrives in the next few days. Running two cars as we have to do to maintain two jobs is also an expensive business - petrol alone for my car is currently costing in excess of 100 pounds per month. It's easy to see how 'middle income' earners in the United Kingdom find themselves struggling to make ends meet some months.

The decision on moving to Spain was underlined by the need for me to acquire a teaching post. We knew that it would be at a reduced salary and that Sally would therefore need to start looking for work as soon as we were satisfied that Emily was settled. We anticipated this may take a couple of months. However, when applying for teaching posts I made a point of describing our family situation and asking if there was any possibility of work for my wife. Consequently the school we will be working in from September has offered Sally a post as a teaching assistant as well as employing me as a teacher. Because it is the school that Emily will attend our own working day will naturally fit around her school day meaning the need for just one car and one run each day.

So, what about the Spanish salary? Well, to understand completely the financial picture you need to also take into account the cost of living. Most estimates put the cost of living in Spain at about two thirds that of the United Kingdom but this is a remarkably misleading and negative appraisal for reasons that will become apparant. My take home pay in Spain will be approximately 1400 Euros with Sally earning a take home of about 1000 Euros. Sally has therefore received a real term pay increase and I will have forfeited about 18000 pounds of salary to take the teaching position. The cost of living though is a significant factor in making this affordable. Having spoken to people living in the same region the poll tax recently rose from 24 euros to 27 euros ... per annum. The water rates are currently 3 euros per month. A four bedroomed air conditioned property with its own swimming pool can be rented for 400 euros per month.

The conclusion we have arrived at is heavily influenced by our decision to take on the challenge of living in a new country not as a career move but as a personal move. A move that gives us greater job satisfaction, more time to spend with family and presents new and exciting challenges. It is however supported by the fact that the money we earn in Spain, by current calculations, is enough to live comfortably. Consequently all we need to do to make the move affordable is cover the mortgage back home by renting our property in the United Kingdom. Our three bed semi-detached property on the outskirts of Plymouth will easily cover the mortgage through a guaranteed rental scheme.

The decision to rent the propety in the United Kingdom was made carefully. Whilst some might consider keeping the UK property as a bolt hole shows a lack of commitment to the Spanish relocation it does also provide us with some thinking space before we decide what to do with any equity the sale of the property would release. Coming back to the earlier comment about pension, the sale of the property in the United Kingdom could for example finance a small holiday let in Spain to help fund retirement instead of being ploughed straight into the purchase of a property. All ideas for the future. On balance if you wish to relocate to another country for financial gain then Spain is unlikely to be your destination if you are a teacher. However, if you are happy to accept a smaller salary then the potential to live comfortably is still I believe (we hope!) available. In September we will be able to confirm how the household accounts balance or otherwise.

Other milestones along the way will come at the end of May when we make a family trip to our new home town with the intention of securing a property to let. I will write soon about the practicalities of letting a property in the United Kingdom and describe some of the work we are involved in at the moment in order to secure a letting agreement that meets the mortgage payments in our absence.