Cuéntamo Blog

How Much It Costs to Move Out in Spain: What You Pay Day One and What You Pay Every Month

October 13, 2026

You search for how much it costs to move out and find ranges that don’t match each other: one blog says 900 euros a month is fine, another talks about 1,800, a forum thread tells its own particular story as if it were the rule. None of the figures quite fits, because they’re actually mixing up two different questions.

One is how much you need saved before you sign: the deposit, the first month, connecting the utilities, the bare minimum of furniture if the flat is empty. The other is how much it’ll cost you every month from then on: rent, utilities, food, transport, insurance. Two questions, two answers, and hardly anyone separates them. Here are both, one at a time, with the numbers of Irene, who is moving into a flat on her own for €850 a month. (Irene is made up; the numbers are round so you can follow the maths. Yours depend on your city and your flat.)

Mandatory e-invoicing for freelancers in Spain: the deadline is now official (October 2028)

October 12, 2026

You have been issuing invoices as PDFs and sending them by email for years. Your client receives them, archives them, and that is that. The system works. And it is about to change: before 6 October 2028, if you invoice other businesses or professionals in Spain, you will have to do it in structured electronic format.

Invoicing a client in the United States (or outside the EU): neither «exempt» nor «no VAT, end of story»

October 9, 2026

You have a client in the United States, Canada or the UK and it’s time to issue the invoice. The usual doubt arrives: do I charge VAT? And the second one, the one that ends badly: what do I write where the VAT would go? Two categorical answers circulate in forums, and both are wrong. One says the transaction is «exempt». The other says that outside the EU «no VAT applies, ever».

Sick Leave as a Freelancer in Spain (2026): What You Get Paid and What You Keep Paying

October 7, 2026

You get ill, the doctor signs you off, and the first thing you search for is how much you’ll be paid. It’s the incomplete question. The one that decides whether you get through the sick leave without going under is different: how much keeps leaving your account while you’re paid that.

The 'don't touch' account: add deliberate friction to your savings

October 6, 2026

You have a savings fund, you know you’re not supposed to touch it, and you touch it anyway. Not because you lack discipline: because it’s two taps away, in the same app where you check your everyday account balance. Any Friday-night craving finds that money with zero effort.

The tip: make withdrawing it cost something

The fix isn’t more willpower, it’s less convenience. Put deliberate friction between you and that money, so there’s a real obstacle between the impulse and the transfer, not just a good intention. Three levels, from least to most friction:

How Much a Family of 4 Spends Per Month in Spain: the Official INE Figure (and Why Yours Is Different)

October 6, 2026

You search for how much a family of four spends per month, and you find everything except a reliable answer: one forum says 2,200 euros, a blog says 3,200, an expat real-estate site gives a figure built for a different cost of living. None of them cite a source, and the numbers that repeat the most look like they came out of a bar conversation.

There is an official figure. Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) publishes it every year with a survey built exactly for this, and almost nobody uses it because it’s buried in a technical table. It won’t hand you your number as-is either, though: a national average isn’t your figure, and this article covers why, plus how to work out your own.

Got box 110 of the Spanish VAT return wrong? How to fix it since 2024 (no more complementaria or rectificación)

October 4, 2026

You filed this quarter’s modelo 303, and two weeks later you realise box 110 –the VAT-to-offset balance you were carrying forward– wasn’t the right one. You put in too much, too little, or forgot it entirely. You search for how to fix it and find articles talking about filing a “complementaria” or asking for a “rectificación”, and you’re not sure which one applies to you.

You requested your Q4 VAT refund in Spain: how long the Tax Agency has to pay, and what happens if it's late

October 3, 2026

Spain's Two-Month Rule: You Sold at a Loss and Bought Back. Can You Deduct It?

October 2, 2026

You sell some shares at a loss to offset gains elsewhere, and a week later (because you still believe in the company, or because of an automatic order) you buy again. It is one of the most common situations in any portfolio, and the question that comes with it is rarely «what does the rule say?» but «does it apply to what I hold?»

The short answer: it depends on what you sold, where it is listed and what you bought back. And one starting idea worth keeping: the rule does not take the loss away from you. It stops you from deducting it now; you get it back later. That is why this article is organised by what you hold, not by the order of the legal text.

The envelope method, in digital form

October 1, 2026

You have €750 free to spend this month, according to your account. But that figure is a useful lie: mixed in there is Saturday’s dinner out, the clothes you need for the season change, and your sister’s birthday present. If you spend €400 going out in the first two weeks, you don’t notice until it’s time to buy the present and there’s nothing left. The overall number never warns you in time.