{"id":2090,"date":"2026-07-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/?p=2090"},"modified":"2026-07-13T08:15:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:15:03","slug":"how-a-young-family-from-letterkenny-cut-their-living-costs-in-half-by-moving-to-a-hill-town-in-tenerife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/how-a-young-family-from-letterkenny-cut-their-living-costs-in-half-by-moving-to-a-hill-town-in-tenerife\/","title":{"rendered":"How a young family from Letterkenny cut their living costs in half by moving to a hill town in Tenerife"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fog rolled over the Donegal<\/strong> hills the morning Orla and Jamie decided they\u2019d had enough<\/strong>. They weren\u2019t chasing palm trees, they were chasing breathing<\/strong> room. Within three months, the couple and their two kids had swapped a semi\u2011detached in Letterkenny<\/strong> for a terraced home high above the Atlantic<\/strong>, on cobbled streets threaded through a Canarian hill town.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think it\u2019s a holiday<\/strong> move,\u201d Jamie said, sipping coffee on a narrow balcony<\/strong> lined with geraniums. \u201cWe didn\u2019t come for cocktails on the beach<\/strong>. We came because the numbers finally made<\/strong> sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Letterkenny arithmetic vs Canary calm<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

In Ireland, their spreadsheet was a monthly anxiety<\/strong> check. In Tenerife\u2019s north, it became a permission<\/strong> slip. Cooler nights, a gentler climate, and prices shaped by local life rather than resorts<\/strong> changed the equation.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n
  • Rent: from about \u20ac1,350<\/strong> for a 3\u2011bed in Letterkenny to about \u20ac800<\/strong> in La Orotava\u2019s old quarter. <\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • Childcare: from roughly \u20ac900<\/strong> for full\u2011time cr\u00e8che to about \u20ac320<\/strong> at a local guarder\u00eda. <\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • Utilities: from around \u20ac280<\/strong> (electricity, heating, bins) to about \u20ac110<\/strong> (no heating, lower use). <\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • Internet\/mobile: from \u20ac75<\/strong> to about \u20ac35<\/strong> for fast fibre and two SIMs<\/strong>. <\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • Groceries: from about \u20ac650<\/strong> to roughly \u20ac500<\/strong>, thanks to markets and seasonal<\/strong> produce. <\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • Transport: from around \u20ac300<\/strong> (fuel, insurance) to roughly \u20ac180<\/strong>, with cheaper petrol and modest insurance<\/strong>. <\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • Eating out: from about \u20ac250<\/strong> to around \u20ac120<\/strong>, as caf\u00e9s price for locals<\/strong>.<\/li>\n

    \n<\/ul>\n

    <\/p>\n

    \u201cAll in, our outgoings fell by almost half<\/strong>,\u201d Orla said. \u201cNot because we live like monks<\/strong>, but because the baseline is simply lighter<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Why a hill town, not a beach resort<\/h2>\n

    <\/p>\n

    The family chose elevation over oceanfront<\/strong>. Up here, trade winds keep days mild<\/strong> and evenings cool enough for a light jumper<\/strong>. Rents loosen the further you drift from the coast<\/strong>, and caf\u00e9s serve wrinkled potatoes and mojo to neighbors<\/strong>, not package\u2011tour brunch to strangers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    They landed in La Orotava<\/strong>, all wooden balconies, stepped lanes, and views that climb toward Teide<\/strong>. \u201cWe wanted a place that breathes workaday<\/strong> life,\u201d Jamie said. \u201cA school bell, a hardware shop<\/strong>, a greengrocer who remembers your name<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    The hill towns run on supermarkets small enough to greet you, markets loud with tomatoes<\/strong>, and festivals that take over the plaza<\/strong> without bankrupting your weekend<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    What everyday life looks like now<\/h2>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Mornings start with clouds snagging on rooftops<\/strong> and the smell of sweet pastries from the corner bakery<\/strong>. Maeve walks to public school with a bright satchel<\/strong>, Finn toddles to guarder\u00eda with a banana and a stubborn<\/strong> grin. Orla logs on to her Irish employer at a wooden desk<\/strong>, fibre humming at 600 Mbps<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    \u201cI used to huddle by a rattling radiator<\/strong>,\u201d she laughed. \u201cNow the windows are open<\/strong>, and the heating bill is just a memory<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Lunch might be chickpeas with spinach, a plate of papas<\/strong>, or a \u20ac1 cortado that tastes like permission<\/strong> to slow down. Afternoons mean homework in two languages<\/strong>, a park laddered with pine needles, or a bus to Puerto de la Cruz<\/strong> for the sea\u2019s rocky pulse<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Evenings are simple: a terrace, a view, and the quiet<\/strong> triumph of not watching the bank balance like a meter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Trade\u2011offs you feel, not just count<\/h2>\n

    <\/p>\n

    The move carried friction<\/strong>. Paperwork took afternoons of patient queues<\/strong>: the NIE number, the padr\u00f3n, and health cover while residency processed<\/strong>. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t hard, just sequential<\/strong>,\u201d Jamie said. \u201cYou learn to bring copies of everything<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Language sits like a friendly hurdle<\/strong> at the edge of every day. The kids soak Spanish like sponges<\/strong>, while their parents stumble, smile, and keep going<\/strong>. \u201cI\u2019ve learned a humility that costs nothing<\/strong>,\u201d Orla said. \u201cAnd a habit of rehearsing my sentences in the stairwell<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    They miss grandparents, of course, and the bogs<\/strong> after rain. Flights are cheaper than nostalgia<\/strong>, but neither erases the ache of a Sunday roast<\/strong> via video call. Sometimes the calima blows dust from the Sahara<\/strong>, and the sky turns tawny like old glass<\/strong>. Sometimes the road curves tighter than your patience<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    But the ledger on the right\u2011hand side\u2014time, space<\/strong>, money\u2014keeps changing how the left\u2011hand side feels<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    How they made the leap in 90 days<\/h2>\n

    <\/p>\n

    They started with a candid budget<\/strong>, three columns wide: current spend, target spend, and \u201cwhat if\u201d ranges<\/strong>. A week\u2019s scouting trip followed, not to the beach<\/strong>, but to neighborhoods, schools, and the market<\/strong> at dawn.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    \u201cRemote work was our keystone<\/strong>,\u201d Orla said. She asked for location flexibility<\/strong>, traded some meeting hours for earlier starts<\/strong>, and kept Irish tax residency advice from a professional<\/strong>. They searched rentals on Idealista, filtered for long\u2011term contracts<\/strong>, and messaged in plain, polite Spanish<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    Once in town, they registered on the padr\u00f3n<\/strong>, applied for their NIE, opened a local account<\/strong>, and set up health coverage\u2014public for the kids<\/strong>, temporary private policies for adults until paperwork cleared<\/strong>. They joined a WhatsApp group for the barrio<\/strong>, learned which bakery sells out by ten<\/strong>, and found a pediatrician whose waiting room has a pirate ship<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    \u201cWe didn\u2019t chase a dream,\u201d Jamie said. \u201cWe built a modest, workable<\/strong> plan, then walked it one step<\/strong> at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    The odd thing, Orla says, is how the savings echo far beyond the spreadsheet<\/strong>. With rent lower and bills tamer<\/strong>, she buys back hours that used to be spent calculating survival<\/strong>. The kids carry two alphabets in their backpacks<\/strong>. Dinner is simpler, laughter longer<\/strong>, and the horizon\u2014mountain, ocean, sky\u2014wide enough to feel like a daily raise<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2140,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2090\/revisions\/2140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}