Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Living on an auxiliar's 1,000 monthly stipend

In the auxiliares de conversación program in Madrid, language assistants receive 1,000 euros a month during the nine-month contract (700/month in other regions of Spain).  Is this enough to live on?  Certainly!  I'm going to break it down in just a bit, but first I'd like to touch on a few other financial topics:

School loans

I had just graduated from college before working as an auxiliar de conversación, so I had loans to pay -- and I made monthly loan payments throughout the entire year in Madrid.  If this is your case, I highly recommend paying on your loans while you're in Spain.  To date (one year since finishing my job as an auxiliar), I've already paid back three of my four loans, and this would not have been possible had I deferred them, accruing interest the whole time (scary thought!).

Transfering money to a U.S. account

I could only pay my loans from a U.S. bank account, but in Spain I was getting paid directly to my Spanish bank account.  To not completely drain my U.S. checking account, I would transfer money to my U.S. account using paypal.  I hooked up my BBVA (Spanish bank) account to a new paypal account and I already had a U.S. paypal account connected to my U.S. checking account.  So every now and then I would make personal transfers from my Spanish paypal to my U.S. paypal.  I found that sending 150 euros at a time was the cheapest (1,50 fee).  This is what worked best for my situation.  Most of my money was being spent in Spain, so since I was only sending smaller amounts no more than once a month, this was easy to do.  I didn't have to mess with any wire fees, or worse -- Spanish banks!


Just because the question always seems to come up, a brief note about taxes. The 1,000 or 700/month stipend is considered a grant/scholarship by Spain's Ministry of Education, so it's not taxable in Spain (since it's not considered income). I thought this meant it also wasn't considered income in the USA (and read that several places back when I was an auxiliar), so I didn't list it when I did my U.S. taxes. However, according to this thorough "How to Do Your Taxes as a Language Assistant in Spain," you should list it as some type of income on your state and federal taxes. I'm so obviously not a tax expert, but check out that resource linked to above... and then you'll probably want to get advice from an actual tax expert.

Additional income

I also taught private English lessons every week to supplement my income.  (Want to teach private English classes?  Use this resource to find students!)  You're only (supposed to be) working 16 hours a week as an auxiliar, so there is definitely time to teach some evening or weekend private classes.  I taught four classes a week, three at 16/hr, and one at 15/hr, so I made 63 additional euros a week, around 252/month if no classes were cancelled.

Monthly Budget

Alright, let's break it down.  The italicized items varied each month.

Total monthly income: 1,252 euros
  (1,000 auxiliares + 252 private classes)

Monthly expenses:
Rent: 240
Utilities: 15
Abono (metro/bus pass): 30,50
Loans: 250
Cell phone: 5 - 10
Tournaments/travel: 100 - 200
Groceries: 120
Drinks/Eating out: 75?

Total Expenses: 835,50 - 945,50 euros
Unspent: 306,50 - 416,50 euros


This is a rough estimate -- my tournament costs varied greatly depending on location, mode of transportation, and the tournament fee.  Some months I had more than one tournament, some months none.  I don't have a good idea how much I spent each month eating out or going out for drinks.  Again, I tend to spend less than my peers, but I would still go out with my friends for cañas and tapas.

Many people will notice that my rent was considerably low compared to what most auxiliares will pay (nearly double my rent cost).  If I taught all of my private classes each month, I could pay my rent with just that income, leaving me with a full 1,000 euros after rent.  I lived with two others in an apartment five minutes from one of my schools.  My roommates (a young married couple) didn't want to make any money by renting the third room; they simply wanted to cover 1/3 of their monthly rent.  I chose not to live in the center of Madrid (I lived in Artilleros), and to not look at an apartment unless it was in my price range back when I was apartment hunting.

During 2009-10 when I lived in Madrid, I paid 320/month (internet and utilities included) for an apartment in Salamanca.  Again, I only had two other roommates -- it was a great find.  If you're frugal like me, know it can be done!  Just don't settle during your apartment search, because you'll be paying that rent every month -- it adds up quickly.

I didn't have a smart phone when living in Spain, rather, I had a tarjeta pre-paid "plan". This meant I simply added money to my account whenever it was low, and paid by the minute  and per text. I didn't make phone calls or send texts very often, so my monthly cost was low. If I were to live in Spain again, I would bring a smart phone and get a plan with internet. My friend's internet phone plan in Spain cost 8 euros a month -- data plans are much cheaper than in the states!

From July '12 through September '12 I was supporting myself in Madrid with no income (June is the final month of the auxiliares contract).  Those summer months included a two-week trip to Germany and a two-week trip to France for me.  When I returned to the states at the end of September, I still had over 1,000 euros in my BBVA account.


Are you paying your student loans while working as an auxiliar de conversación?  How does your monthly budget in Spain compare to mine?