If you live like a typical Mexican couple, you can live fairly cheaply. Try to live like you do in the states, and you'll go through plenty of money. Only a few things are noticeably cheaper here, and some things- clothing, shoes and electronics- seem to cost more than they do back home. We spend less than we would in the U.S., mainly by not having a car (taxis are cheap, here). We also take advantage of the much cheaper, high quality health care available here. It is my impression that fruits and vegetables cost less in the supermarket than they do in the states. Perhaps others can think of some other things which cost less here. There is one last thing, and it should not be minimized: living here, we escape the pressure to do as everyone else does (in the states), meaning we can be content with less opulent housing, without any stigma attaching to our choice, and here no one finds it particularly odd that we choose to live without a car. __________________
V - I'm glad you brought up the car issue. People often try to talk me into buying a car, but for about 250 - 300 pesos a week ($20 USD), I get by just fine with taxis. (and I use taxis to get to work every morning, plus to run all my errands) That seems like even less than what most would pay for gas on a weekly basis, not to mention actually BUYING the car, maintaining it and paying the yearly "tenencia". Beachgurl - This might be TMI, but once we're married, my fiance and I will be spending about $1,000 USD a month, give or take, and that's considering that we go out a lot. (That includes rent, cable, utilities, internet, meals, outings and transportation.) If you're willing to spend a few hundred dollars more, you can rent a very nice house! If you can spend twice that much, you'll be living fat and happy. Hope that gives you an idea.
Gringation, I need to talk with you and your future husband about how to handle my money better! Your numbers, $1,000 per month and $2,000 per month, may represent the difference between living like a Mexican couple, and living a U.S. standard, if your careful, but we still spend even more than that! (Perhaps that's why we're verging on "fat" but happy.)
Here goes... my unscientific, unofficial, probably wrong and incomplete, price of living summary for all interested newcomers.... As was said, if you want and expect US middle-class or better standards of living expect to spend more than it would cost in the States to maintain that lifestyle. On the other hand, if you're less picky a "decent" place can be rented for 5,000 pesos monthly fairly easily in the "good" parts of town. Rent can be had for much less if you're Mexican or fluent enough to pass as one and don't mind living in the less affluent "not good" areas West of Lopez Portillo Ave. Food costs to eat out most meals will be the same as the States for the most part so long as you avoid the high priced Hotel Zone places. Of' course if you only eat at taco stands it will be less. Eating at home should be less assuming that you don't buy high-dollar imported foodstuffs or prime cut USDA steaks and lobster every night. Things are higher and/or about the same as US prices for groceries, save fruits and vegetables which are generally noticeably less. Figure what you spend per person and expect to spend about the same here and go from there. Drinks are cheaper than the US so long as you avoid HotelZone places. La Taberna is a favorite of mine since they have many "2x1" cocktail drinks for the price most places charge for 1. Electronics are between %30 and %150 percent higher than US prices depending on what you're looking for. My new "cheap" laptop for example, was around $600 usd in the states.. in Cancun a similarly equipped laptop (if you can find one with the new i3 processor) is closer to $1400 as of a few weeks ago at Liverpool. Gas is around $2.80ish per gallon. Car tax is high for new vehicles but is little to nothing for vehicles more than 10 years old.. and imported vehicles only pay the permit sticker price plus initial deposit.... and 100 pesos to a transito every third day. :wuerg011:Liability insurance can be had for around $200 per year for most cars, don't know about full coverage prices since nobody has full coverage around here. (and most have none at all) Buses and taxis are cheap compared to the States as was pointed out already, there really are enough taxis that you could go without a car fairly easily. (I did for several years) Electricity is cheap if you have no A/C or big appliances, if you want to air condition your whole house on the other hand expect to pay upwards of 25 cents per KW when the bill comes. Below a certain (unreasonably low) quota and the price is more like 5-7 cents per KW. This has been discussed search for "CFE". Utilities like water are too cheap to mention, garbage pickup (when they feel like doing it) is free. Your drinking water will most likely be by the containers therefore is a separate expense. (5 gal jug of purified water is about $2, $5 deposit for first jug) V has a big thread on the IMSS heath insurance plan that anyone living here working or above a certain age can sign up for. "IMSS" is the term to look for. Private hospitals can range from affordable to unbelievably expensive depending on where and why you go. Places that cater to tourists generally squeeze every bit out of patients, although there are conflicting reports on those matters. Personally I wouldn't go to any of the the "big" fancy hospitals unless you have insurance that you KNOW will directly pay them, otherwise you might find yourself bleeding to death in the lobby.... the search of said insurance companies is always ongoing. Most that offer coverage to expats expect you to have a million dollars in cash in your pocket to pay the hospital with and then they might reimburse you later. Utilities like Internet, phone, and television are less here but what you receive is considerably less. "Broadband Internet" speeds for example are among the slowest in the civilized world topping out at 4mb IF you can get that speed where you are and you will pay thru the nose for it. (Some scattered reports are that some existing TelMex customers have received upgrades to that speed recently at apparently no extra cost, but thats unconfirmed so far as I know and requesting that speed will cost you.) HDTV requires high dollar packages with limited channels and phone calls tend to be on the expensive side although they have come down considerably in the last year or two. Most of us use VOIP phones to make our calls back home. Most everyone has prepaid cell phones service here which is around 10 cents a minute locally to other cell phones (after your phone has been active for a year, until then its more like 40 cents!) and a little more to land lines. Telcel is the biggest carrier. I'm sure I've forgotten a few things but that should give you some idea what to expect.
V - Our rent on a modest but decent house near Paseos Cancun is going to be $4500 pesos a month. Our weekly budget is $1500 pesos a week ($6,000 a month, give or take). That's 10,500 pesos total a month, plus we always go over by around 1000 - 3000 pesos on extras (vet visits, maybe a weekend trip, occasional clothes shopping, etc). So maybe 13,500 pesos a month tops, which is a little over 1000 dollars. That's how we do it. It's enough money for us to go out for lunch/dinner/movies a few times a week. Here are some pics of the house we'll be renting, so people can get an idea of what $4,500 can get you (not amazing by any means, but it has potential): Renting a House in Cancun: Show it to Me! « Gringation's Blog Life - I hadn't realized gas is so expensive! That's it, I'm sticking with taxis forever haha.
Or you can live like me... a cave woman, and spend next to nothing. I don't go out to eat, EVER!!!! I don't go on weekend trips, and I haven't been out shopping since I moved here in October. My rent is 3500 pesos, which is highway robbery since it's a studio apt and Ginga has a house for 1000 pesos more. BULLSH*T!!!!! My electric was 303 pesos the last 61 days and that was with running the AC (mind you studio apt). But we do eat well, so rent and food shopping are our main and really only expenses. I only take buses, as all the buses in my neighborhood take me EVERYWHERE I need to go. So all of that is no more then 7000 pesos a month for two ppl (less then $600 amonth) and I am happier then my too expensive life in Philly. I have had some recent exposure to the private medical offerings here, and without insurance, and trying to keep in mind it's cheaper then the US, I have been taken away by the prices. In one week I spent more on Dr visists then my total monthly budget. THAT is crazy!!!!
Cost of living It's nice to have posters who will give us the low down on what it costs them to live here. Gringation has been here five years, speaks Spanish, has found work (and a soon to be husband! Congratulations!), and is satisfied with and can take advantage of the standards that middle class, Mexican people enjoy. Housing is modest (but, where isn't it, when compared with the 3,000+ sq ft homes that have become typical in the U.S.), but most middle class Mexican families can afford a car and enjoy lots of family outings, and occasional visits to restaurants. Add a little extra income, and they can travel, as well. If they are enrolled in IMSS, they can have their medical care needs met with 100% free coverage at a modest but adequate level, in most cases. Many foreigners have come here, adapted themselves to the local environment, and enjoyed a lengthy and satisfying life in Mexico, without feeling the need to "keep up with the Jones's" as they might, back home.
I lived several different places when I was in Cancun: Reg. 103, large studio apartment $1,800 pesos/month (right on the Rta. 1 bus line); another in Reg. 103, very small, dark, lots of bugs, flushed toilet with a bucket $400 pesos/month; Tierra Maya (way, way out on the outskirts) $1,200 pesos/month for a small 2-story, 1 bedroom apartment; Vista Hermosa (kind of close to Santa Fe) $3,500- this was by far the nicest, and it was on the bus line; 2 bedroom apartment behind Paseo Cancun $4,000 pesos/month (with a nightmare of a landlady, NOTHING included, and obnoxious neighbors who had a concert on their roof (no, I'm not kidding), keeping me and my 4 month-old baby awake until around 4:30 AM. We pretty much never ate out, either, with the exception of tortas de cochinita on Sunday mornings and the occasional hamburguesa or tacos in the evening. Food IS cheap, and especially so if you have some nice neighbors with fruit trees who are willing to share some with you V- I agree, depending on what line of work you're in, you can do quite well (I know several people who work in timeshare and have done very well for themselves). But in general, I never got the feeling that I was trying to compete with anyone. Generally, medicine is a lot cheaper in Mexico than the U.S.. I had my first child in Merida, in a private hospital with a private doc (C-section), and it cost me a total of $11,000 pesos. I was admitted to Quirurgica del Sur in Cancun for a kidney stone, and my treatment, tests, and night in the hospital totaled less than $4,000 pesos. Crazy. My friend had to go to the ER here in the states recently for an infection, she wasn't admitted, she saw the doctor for about 3 minutes, and she got a bill in the mail for $1,500, and her infection STILL hasn't gone away (it's been over a month). A 3D prenatal ultrasound in Mexico costs $250 pesos, in the US it's $250 dollars. The low(er) cost of living is just one of the benefits, but what's really great is the laid back pace of life.
Limejello: Ah, yes, the bucket-flush toilet. I know it well haha (With such wimpy plumbing around here sometimes, I often feel like I'd prefer the bucket-flush toilet.)
lol yes! Sucks when you have to flush multiple times to get a stupid single sheet of toilet paper to go! Don't get me started on not having a seat on pretty much any toilet... (another thing I had to get used to: transporting my own toilet seat from one apartment to another).
