# So far in Mexico.



## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

It's great so far. Drove for 6 days total with a 3 day stop in Mazatlan on day 5 of driving.
Border crossing was was quick and easy like a sleepy small town. NOGALES crossing late morning.
I Was hoping to squeeze by on $1200 a month and now i don't see how i can keep from getting fat and lazy on a secluded beach with $700 a month, and that includes budgeted gas money for the car i haven't needed to drive all week. I may have a good chunk of change left over from the gas money portion of the $700 after already dropping down from $1200. Glad i brought my spare portable air conditioner, and i may only need it for November only -and again in April. 

So i went to buy a mini washing machine brand new for $128. It washes and rinses but needs some manual wringing out of excess wettness. And the sun is just always enough to hang dry clothes.
I am simple and all free time, so a few extra chores are ok with me. 
I decided not to bring my bicycle and ended up in a town where every one seems to ride bicycles and park them like cars and cars have to find somewhere else to park.
WOW! me dice.... I can always repent and come next time a renewed disciple ready with my bicycle to follow in the way of the bicycle town.
No doubt there will be a next time here where it turned out twice as nice. Drove through Sinaloa to get here, past all the armed military convoys and not once did i skip a heart beat or short of breath. Thats a lot from a guy who gets short of breath and mild panic attacks in long hallways or closed phone booths. I don't go to concerts or mass gatherings for the same reason. But the drive through Sinaloa was very nice.

Mexico has been easy(except the first "Tope" leaving Nogales border town- i thought i totaled my car but was just a major ding on a protective brace on the underbody) Mexico, just plain "twice as nice". 
Spent extended time in more than a handfull of countries over the years, avoiding return to Mexico thinking it was more expensive and too this or that. It has all that the other places were missing and has all that the other places offer and better. Can drive my car to Mexico and stay 6 months. So nice to have a car even though i hardly drive it. I take it a few blocks every week to buy big 5gallon jugs of purified water, and maybe drive once a month to the city to walmart. 

Mexico offers a lot more for sure.


----------



## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

What a great trip!! People on a budget are pleasantly surprised that travel expenses (except for gas) are so much cheaper in Mexico, especially with dollar=21 pesos, and the prices almost always have IVA built in. Safe, clean, comfortable hotels for 400 pesos, 600-700 if you care to splurge. Last time we stayed at a budget chain in California, the room was 85 dollars after sales and lodging taxes. Restaurants pretty reasonable too, even better is grubbing at the local market. And as for your car, if you have a breakdown or hit a clandestine tope too fast, a mechanic's labor will be closer to 100 _pesos_ (rather than dollars) per hour.
What part of Mazatlán did you stay in? I like Olas Altas, in the old tourist quarter near downtown, specifically that big hotel on the Centenario that's about 120 years old. The Zona Dorada is a little too touristy, over-budget, and we can live fine without Burger King and Señor Frog's. 
Bummer about not taking your bike. If you've got room in your vehicle (disassembled, they don't take much) you can pick up a cheapie at WalMart, same price as NOB, or get a used beater in any local bike shop.
re: inspections in Sinaloa. Southbound it's rare and minimal, but going back they can be irritating at best and dangerous at worst. More than a few folks have fallen victim to corrupt cops using planted drugs to extort payment. Be very aware.
You planned well because here on the Pacific Coast, we're just getting into the best weather of the year. Have a great rest of your trip---and watch out for those chi***dos topes.


----------



## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

Not sure where i was in Mazatlan but it was a hotel 2 buildings back from the beach front road. That was 450 pesos a night in a room with a private kitchen and dining with full size fridge and dining table for 3. 
I think somewhere in between the golden zone and the old town side. enjoyed the sushi place around the corner on the main beach front.
I liked Mazatlan. Stayed 3 days, but i rather live away from cities and drive in just to indulge for a day in what i like in the cities.
I saw the north bound check points along sinaloa. Makes sense being thats the route towards the US$. 
Had my oil changed here in a small town, after the 2800 miles driven to get here.
The right SAE rate of oil and the filter. Bought the oil and filter and took it to a mechanic who charged 70 peso to change the oil and lift the car to look under to see all was ok. 520peso in total oil change costs. 
Didn't have to go to the city like i thought. I know how to do things on my car but i don't have tools and had extensive servicing before i came anyway. Don't mind paying 100 peso to get some help should i need it.
I was happy with the detail job a guy did on my car in a mall parking lot. My car was a bug splatter mess after 5 days driving 8 hours a day. He even restored my yellow stained headlights that never washed off no matter how hard i tried with soap. It would have cost $50 minimum to do just headlight restoration in USA. 
He did the whole car while i was in the mall. I thought 600peso was a lot for a 2 hour parking lot job but i gave it to him because i looked for help with my headlights in USA with no luck. I haf been long looking for it. 30 bucks in Mazatlan. 
He Even shined the black on the tires. Looks better than when i bought the 15 year old car 2 years ago.
Home cooking makes a huge difference in expenses and i like it with my heaps of free time. My rental provides the cooking gas and electricity as well as basic furnishings. No AC but brought my own. And its still very cheap. Clean rustic studio apartment with all i need at a basic level. I brought all i need to make it even better. Almost felt sorry for the lady offering so cheap but i will be glad to hand over some extra pesos if she ever mentions high electric bill or something. She has several rentals and makes good income for the area anyway.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Orfin said:


> … Almost felt sorry for the lady offering so cheap but i will be glad to hand over some extra pesos if she ever mentions high electric bill or something. She has several rentals and makes good income for the area anyway.


You might want to be careful with or check on the electricity consumption of your portable A/C. Electricity rates are very progressive in Mexico. It is pretty cheap if you don't use much, but anything over a threshold can be very expensive. You and your landlord could get big surprise.

I spend a day in Mazatlan once a year. I was there this past weekend. I like it more than any of the other big beach towns like Puerto Vallarta or Cancun. The only thing I don't like about it is the big separation between the Zona Dorado at the north end of the Malecon and the old Centro part of town at the south end.


----------



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Agreed - you want to avoid DAC. I don't know how a landlord with several rentals handles that. If there is a bright spot - CFE has much higher thresholds for those living on the coasts than those of us living up in the mountains.

Tarifa DAC

We are in zone 1. 250 kwh/month is easy to consume if you have a pool. Fortunately we have panels...


----------



## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

She has an electric hot plate in the kitchen and i don't use it. Those hot plates run the same or more than an good sized AC.
I had a situation in Nicaragua where i rented a room in a house with 2 other estranjeros. They rented the master room with AC to me. Then they went to visit in US and returned with a hot plate. The first month of the hot plate was when i had cut back the most on AC. By at least half. But the bill came in higher than even my highest AC use month. They naturally said i had to pay the difference which wasn't much even with the same system of threshold pricing tiers. 
I explained i was expecting a lower bill from lowest use since i had been there. So i read the AC use specs and saw 1300 watts. Their compact little hot plate read out at 1500 watts and i had a huge window AC at 1300watts. They had no idea their little tortilla toasting was costing more in watts than the tortillas or AC did. Not once did they offer a tortilla but they sent me the tortilla toaster bill&#55357;&#56834;. So i broke out the wattage experience and showed them the device specs compared to the AC they blamed it on.
My AC here now is around 820 watts or max 1000 watts.
Its not as hot here as Nicaragua was and i use the timer at 1 hour only. 3-4 times a day on hot days. I see the weather forecast showing lots of no AC days through the winter. 
Anyway, the useage threshold pricing tier wasn't so bad in Nicaragua where gas prices are also high. 
I suspect i will go over her usual bill but thats because i have a 400 watt washing machine and 280 watt music workstation. 
So 820+400+280 is right at 1500 watts. The same as the hot plate which i don't use. 
The 400 watt washer gets used 1hour at 400 watt hours twice a week. The AC may see less than 3 hours a day as december cool climate rolls in. And the music rig is a 2 hour a day thing on an active day. 
I would say i am closer to the same as a 1500 watt hour hot plate used 3 times a day. 
I am paying around half the rent price i budgeted for. So i think with the hundreds of US$ in savings a month, i would be happy to hand over an extra $25 or more for electricity.

I went through the useage threshold system before in Nicaragua ,where fuel and energy resources are slim compared to Mexico. It was still just a matter of $20 extra with a 1500watt hot plate involved. I checked the wattage on all my devices and kept a good sense of useage then and now.
Goes back to my years installing my own solar and battery power as sole supply to my home. Had to count watts and ration use, not to make the bill, but to make it through the night with any power left at all.


----------



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

A few points : this DAC thing is an averaged in sort of thing. I suppose - if the person prior to you was very abusive - you may inherit that. For us - the first year, when we rented, the house was empty perhaps a year or so before, The same is true of the house we bought - but we could easily see we were headed towards DAC.

CFE will come out and give you a free energy survey.

I have always assumed that it was the coffee maker that consumes the most energy.


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

In most homes, the refrigerator is the largest consumer of electricity. That assumes all other things are turned off when not in use, and that there is no pool or fountain pump, etc. 
Hint: Make the coffee and put it in an insulated carafe, instead of leaving the coffeemaker turned on.


----------



## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

RVGRINGO said:


> In most homes, the refrigerator is the largest consumer of electricity.


It can be, depending on how frequently it's being opened. If we're gone for two weeks or less we leave it plugged in because under that condition electricity usage is minimal. OTOH, when we've got a full house of 25 or so around Christmas or Easter (complete with folks pitching tents in the yard), the bill goes way up. When the mob arrives we learned to keep the huge ice chest filled with beer, refrescos, agua de coco and a half bar of ice to reduce opening the refrigerator. Still, CFE doesn't ding us for nearly as much as using the A/C in a hot humid August, always a consideration in the coastal lowlands.


----------



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> In most homes, the refrigerator is the largest consumer of electricity.


In my case, it seems to be my tiny R2D2 space heater, which increases my electricity bill. Luckily, I only use it in the winter, though this year winter began in October!


----------



## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

Isla Verde said:


> In my case, it seems to be my tiny R2D2 space heater, which increases my electricity bill. Luckily, I only use it in the winter, though this year winter began in October!


Electricity use is largely dependent on region and climate, and it can get nippy in CDMX, anywhere with altitude really, especially in the winter. Our problem in the coastal lowlands is quite the opposite. Here it dips to 15C on the "coldest" nights of January, and that's when the natives put on their heavy jacket over a two sweaters and make like they're in Saskatchewan. Then we suffer through a 24/7 sauna in August--at least those who don't plan a summer vacation to somewhere more tolerable.


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

An electric space heater! Unthinkable, so I didn‘t even think of it.
In Mexico, electric appliances that generate heat are real culprits. It is much more economical to cook with gas, than to use crockpots, slow cookers, electric frying pans, electric grilles, toaster ovens, etc. The only exception we made was a simple toaster and the microwave. Everything else was done on, or in the gas stove. Our space heater was a radiant propane heater, connected to the main propane tank for the house. When remodeling, we added extra gas outlets in the a few rooms, but only ever used the one in the living room on cool evenings.


----------



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> An electric space heater! Unthinkable, so I didn‘t even think of it.


My apartment is teeny-tiny, so it doesn't take much power to heat it up in cold weather. In the past, using my space heater has increased my electricity bill about $100 a month.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> My apartment is teeny-tiny, so it doesn't take much power to heat it up in cold weather. In the past, using my space heater has increased my electricity bill about $100 a month.


I assume that is $100 mxn, not $100 usd.


----------



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> I assume that is $100 mxn, not $100 usd.


Of course, it's pesos. Why would I quote prices in US dollars if I'm living in Mexico?


----------



## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

i spoke with Duena about my little washing machine addition on top of my airconditioner and music rig. 
She said she will take the electric hotplate back. Its there for when the gas runs out with lags between fillups. I don't mind eating out for a few days if that happens. 

Anyway she is not worried about it and is hoping i buy some of her property some day(maybe years down the road but no plans this year or the next 2).
Shes got quite a few rentals and some open land but not enough money to get them all in rentable shape. She definitley reaches out to a good enough pool of renters to fill them if the rentals were all in shape. 
Weather dropped down to a comfy 82f degrees today and no AC needed. I think i will not be needing it again until April. 
I brought a tiny electric heater that can heat a whole room and has thermostat setting. I doubt i will need it, so it stays in the car ,but polar vortex is a gamble these days and can catch you farther south than you expected these days where people don't invest in cold weather clothes or housing.
I had an issue in Hawaii with slight frost during a polar vortex. Also India region of the world had one when it dropped to 55f degrees, some people died from lack of clothes and adequate shelter. People that lived almost naked because it was always too hot all through their living memory. They had never experienced anything close to 55f degrees.
I also brought a huge/thick comforter blanket for the nights where it can sometimes get down to sweater weather even on the beach. 68f degrees is enough to make a thick comforter blanket worthwhile and i see that in Yahoo weather forecast over the next 10days. It will be alright, prepared..

Today was such a great feeling day. Still having a great experience here.


----------



## Altima (Dec 20, 2016)

I am loving all the great info here in this post!! 
We are in the planning stages still, and this forum has been very informative. Haven't thought of using gas appliances versus electric until reading this post!!
I am adjusting our list to bring to Mexico.
I think that I should hang onto my knitting needles still...LOL.


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Note:
Virtually all clothes dryers in Mexico are gas. In the USA, they are 220V electric, which is not likely to be available in your Mexican laundry room & would certainly make your meter spin if it were available.


----------



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

We have a gas dryer in our 20 year old house. The laundry room is just off the kitchen and there is no vent for the dryer out the roof (yet anyway). So we purchased a small external box which is filled with water and the dryer exhaust is directed into the water. That works somewhat - but it is good that there is an external door - with a screen - in the room as well. For some reason the alacranes love to hang out in the laundry room.

We have a stove in the kitchen which has both gas and electric burners. When we lose power - which is too often to be honest - it is good to know we can still cook in the kitchen - without resorting to the bbq grill outside.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Gatos said:


> We have a gas dryer in our 20 year old house. The laundry room is just off the kitchen and there is no vent for the dryer out the roof (yet anyway). So we purchased a small external box which is filled with water and the dryer exhaust is directed into the water. That works somewhat - but it is good that there is an external door - with a screen - in the room as well. For some reason the alacranes love to hang out in the laundry room.
> 
> We have a stove in the kitchen which has both gas and electric burners. When we lose power - which is too often to be honest - it is good to know we can still cook in the kitchen - without resorting to the bbq grill outside.


I had never heard of exhausting a dryer vent into water so I looked for discussions of it. I found one guy who does not recommend it. Dryer vent do's and don'ts.

My concern initially was the back pressure it creates on the dryer blower but he doesn't mention that.


----------



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> I had never heard of exhausting a dryer vent into water so I looked for discussions of it. I found one guy who does not recommend it. Dryer vent do's and don'ts.
> 
> My concern initially was the back pressure it creates on the dryer blower but he doesn't mention that.


The gizmo we are using looks identical to this :
http://www.dulley.com/art/c648-4.jpg

It was probably the Maytag repairman who visited the house for the washer who suggested our using this. These devices are readily available...


----------



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Gatos said:


> The gizmo we are using looks identical to this :
> http://www.dulley.com/art/c648-4.jpg
> 
> It was probably the Maytag repairman who visited the house for the washer who suggested our using this. These devices are readily available...


But as I mentioned - the outside door is ALWAYS open when we run the dryer.


----------



## Orfin (Sep 26, 2016)

Hang drying out back has been working great for me after a month of using the washing machine. I brought tough rope with me for such things.
Seems winter months is the dry season around here.
I can only recall 4 days of rain in the last 36 days.
Also looked up the annual climate chart for the area and it confirms that winter months are the dry season.
I am just here for the winter.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Orfin said:


> Hang drying out back has been working great for me after a month of using the washing machine. I brought tough rope with me for such things.
> Seems winter months is the dry season around here.
> I can only recall 4 days of rain in the last 36 days.
> Also looked up the annual climate chart for the area and it confirms that winter months are the dry season.
> I am just here for the winter.


Even during the rainy season there is plenty of sun to dry clothes. It generally only rains for an hour or two in the afternoon. You just have to pay attention to the sky and take your clothes in if it is threatening to rain.


----------

