# Gulfcoastleaving



## houston7z7oiler (Dec 11, 2014)

Hey everyone I'm new here, and been thinking about moving to Mexico for awhile now. I'm 25 years old and every friend I have is tied down with kids, bit*** wives and jobs they hate and I'm leaving before I never get the chance to. This is all happening quick within a day....maybe 2 most, I need opinions on young, cheap rent, English speaking sorta cities and best bus routes or can I drive my truck there? Please help this is not a joke I'm pulling a leave everything and jump head first into culture shock moment. Last thing I want is to end up somewhere getting shot at just because I'm a ******. I love Mexican culture and history, and Came to the conclusion America is not the place I want to be in the future.........the police state, the media it all just creeps me out I cant even watch TV anymore. If any of you live somewhere like im describing I would definitely pay for info on rooms once I got there, hell any info!!!!


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## houston7z7oiler (Dec 11, 2014)

Mainly a cool cheaper place where $1,000 can last you awhile or atleast long enough to settle in.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Whoa there! Slow down a bit. If you want to live in Mexico, you must first visit a Mexican consulate nearest your home and apply for a residence permit, temporary or permanent. There are financial requirements and they are substantial. If you do qualify by having about $100,000.00 USD in the bank or can show bank statements proving a sufficient monthly income for the past year, you could bring your truck on a temporary residence visa, but not on a permanent residence visa.
If you want to visit Mexico for up to 180 days, and no longer, you can drive your truck into the country for a small fee of around $60.00 USD plus a $200-$400 refundable deposit, plus a small fee for your personal Tourist Permit. You must leave, with the truck, before the 180 days expire.
That is just the beginning. If you have further questions after digesting those requirements, please post them here and you will certainly get responses.
Remember, it is better to be going toward something than to be running from something.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

I was confused by the name of this thread: is the OP planning on leaving the Gulf Coast or living there?


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## Playaboy (Apr 11, 2014)

Put a slide-in camper on your truck, get your 180 day tourist permit, and a 10 year RV TIP and go for it. Now you have a chance to explore. Stay as long as you want or move along when you want.

I would head over to the Yucatan peninsular. There are plenty of people your age on the Riviera Maya. There are also jobs. You are only 4 hours from the Belize border if you need a new tourist permit.

Have fun and good luck


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

Playaboy said:


> ... Most posters are old and can't.


lane:


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## dwwhiteside (Apr 17, 2013)

I am not 100% certain but, "... young, cheap rent, English speaking sorta cities" might be looking for three mutually exclusive things here in Mexico. Can you pick two?


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## houston7z7oiler (Dec 11, 2014)

*Thanks for the replys!*

Sorry for the quick uninformative paragraph early this morning, I'm just already happier then I've been in a long time & on a roll to get a few things finished before my courage turns atrophic! First off I appreciate everyone for your responses, my names Braxton, born & raised in The Woodlands TX, just north of Houston. Looks like I will be trying the 180 days tourist visa first since it's immediate. [Dwwhiteside] - if I had to choose 2 the first being most important to me.......it would be cheap housing/living then younger crowds. Yes I understand how bad some areas in Mexico can be, but I've also come to realize luckily @ my younger age, and as an American that there are worst things in life then dangerous environments......like working your whole life in a cubicle or some job you hate to pay off a home with a white picket fence that will be crumbled & gone with the wind 50 years after your dead, along with all the other material things society told you was worth putting yourself in debt over. Sorry for going philosophical but I want everyone to know that making this change means more to me then just some kid on a wild goose chase. Doing this has been a long time coming. Furthermore for some questions now, I do not have a home to sell off for some huge chunk of $ to cushion my expenses. Ill only have about 3,000 to my name when I do this. I'm determined and need the truth on where I should head and look into on the way exc. exc.


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## HolyMole (Jan 3, 2009)

*GulfCoastLiving/Leaving*



houston7z7oiler said:


> Sorry for the quick uninformative paragraph early this morning, I'm just already happier then I've been in a long time & on a roll to get a few things finished before my courage turns atrophic! First off I appreciate everyone for your responses, my names Braxton, born & raised in The Woodlands TX, just north of Houston. Looks like I will be trying the 180 days tourist visa first since it's immediate. [Dwwhiteside] - if I had to choose 2 the first being most important to me.......it would be cheap housing/living then younger crowds. Yes I understand how bad some areas in Mexico can be, but I've also come to realize luckily @ my younger age, and as an American that there are worst things in life then dangerous environments......like working your whole life in a cubicle or some job you hate to pay off a home with a white picket fence that will be crumbled & gone with the wind 50 years after your dead, along with all the other material things society told you was worth putting yourself in debt over. Sorry for going philosophical but I want everyone to know that making this change means more to me then just some kid on a wild goose chase. Doing this has been a long time coming. Furthermore for some questions now, I do not have a home to sell off for some huge chunk of $ to cushion my expenses. Ill only have about 3,000 to my name when I do this. I'm determined and need the truth on where I should head and look into on the way exc. exc.


Unless you have some very specific skill, I expect you would find it nearly impossible to obtain work legally - and in the unlikely event that you did, would find the wages extremely difficult to live on. I believe you said you were 25 years old. Hardly old enough to have given such a life-altering change much thought, in my opinion. Not to be too harsh, but it doesn't sound like you've done much research at all on living in Mexico.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Braxton,
How would you possibly make a living? You absolutely cannot work in Mexico with a Tourist Permit. If you did find an employer who would hire you, they would have to be registered with INM (Immigration) and you would have to take their offer back to the USA, with your truck, and apply for a residence visa, as mentioned before. If the offer of a job got you approved, you would have to then return to Mexico and go to the INM office nearest your Mexican residence, with proofs of residence, RFC tax number, etc., etc., all within 30 days of crossing the border. INM would then confirm or deny your residence visa with a lucrative condition allowing you to work at a specific job and place. Any change in that, or in your address would require another visit to INM.
I suggest that your ‘nest egg‘ would not last long enough to even stay more than a couple of months. You do have a lot of homework to do, as you cannot simply change countries on pocket change.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

RVGRINGO said:


> Braxton,
> How would you possibly make a living? You absolutely cannot work in Mexico with a Tourist Permit. If you did find an employer who would hire you, they would have to be registered with INM (Immigration) and you would have to take their offer back to the USA, with your truck, and apply for a residence visa, as mentioned before. If the offer of a job got you approved, you would have to then return to Mexico and go to the INM office nearest your Mexican residence, with proofs of residence, RFC tax number, etc., etc., all within 30 days of crossing the border. INM would then confirm or deny your residence visa with a lucrative condition allowing you to work at a specific job and place. Any change in that, or in your address would require another visit to INM.
> I suggest that your ‘nest egg‘ would not last long enough to even stay more than a couple of months. You do have a lot of homework to do, as you cannot simply change countries on pocket change.


The only qualification I would make to this is that the $3000 mentioned by the Original Poster is currently over $43,000 pesos (the dollar is very strong right now against all currencies). With that kind of a stake, one could live for 6 months in Mexico if one were careful*. At the end of it, he could return to Houston with a much better idea of what Mexico is like and be able to think about whether he wants to try to return for a longer stay under some other conditions.

*Room in a house with shared kitchen and bath, maybe $1500-2000 pesos/month
No car, no insurance, no gas, no health insurance.
Leaves about $5000 pesos/month for utilities, food and entertainment.
For one person, that can be plenty depending on life style.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> The only qualification I would make to this is that the $3000 mentioned by the Original Poster is currently over $43,000 pesos (the dollar is very strong right now against all currencies). With that kind of a stake, one could live for 6 months in Mexico if one were careful*. At the end of it, he could return to Houston with a much better idea of what Mexico is like and be able to think about whether he wants to try to return for a longer stay under some other conditions.
> 
> *Room in a house with shared kitchen and bath, maybe $1500-2000 pesos/month
> No car, no insurance, no gas, no health insurance.
> ...


I just saw that right now the dollar is worth 15.05 pesos, good news for the OP! In his first post, he mentions that he wants to bring his truck with him, so that will add to his daily expenses. If he doesn't speak Spanish, it will be harder for him to find an inexpensive place to live, I would think.


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## houston7z7oiler (Dec 11, 2014)

I won't go broke if I can't find odd jobs for the time being, I forgot to mention I will have around $250 wired/transferred to me however many months I need to get the residence visa. I'm fortunate enough to have a older brother supporting me %100. Please anyone help me with living ideas, regions or first cities I should spend time in? I have pushed back my leaving date for a week to do more studying, :ranger:


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## vantexan (Sep 4, 2011)

houston7z7oiler said:


> I won't go broke if I can't find odd jobs for the time being, I forgot to mention I will have around $250 wired/transferred to me however many months I need to get the residence visa. I'm fortunate enough to have a older brother supporting me %100. Please anyone help me with living ideas, regions or first cities I should spend time in? I have pushed back my leaving date for a week to do more studying, :ranger:


If you're single with little holding you in place you might look into getting into truck driving in the States. You can live out of your truck and save a lot, spending part of the year in Mexico as there are always plenty of truck driving jobs available to come back to. You might want to look at recent threads about corruption and the killing of 43 student protestors. It's easy to buy into the hype about the States but you may be disappointed to find other countries also have serious negative issues. And if you speak very little Spanish your chances of finding work, besides the reasons already given, are minimal. Find work in the States, go to Mexico with enough in your pocket to enjoy yourself, and your experience will be much more positive than watching every penny, possibly putting yourself in dire straits. Good luck!

P.S. You have to have verifiable sources of income such as Social Security or a pension to get a resident visa. Unless you can demonstrate an income of over $1500 a month your only option is to live on tourist permits.


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## Playaboy (Apr 11, 2014)

Tulum, Playa del Carmen are a couple of places with a large younger expat populations and jobs to be had.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> I just saw that right now the dollar is worth 15.05 pesos, good news for the OP! In his first post, he mentions that he wants to bring his truck with him, so that will add to his daily expenses. If he doesn't speak Spanish, it will be harder for him to find an inexpensive place to live, I would think.


You are correct the truck would be an expense. He may not realize he doesn't need it in Mexico, and could save money by leaving it in the US. As far as finding a cheap place, I don't know about DF, but in Gdl, finding a shared room is easy. There are signs on poles about them frequently. I have two US friends who are part-timers in Mexico. They both rent rooms when they come down. Neither speaks Spanish above a minimal level.


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## houston7z7oiler (Dec 11, 2014)

Why don't you need a truck? and whats GDL stand for? what city?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

houston7z7oiler said:


> Why don't you need a truck? and whats GDL stand for? what city?


Gdl is Guadalajara.

If you want to live cheaply in Mexico, you just use buses to get around. Unlike the US, every city has very comprehensive bus service. They go everywhere and are cheap. They are usually old, noisy with lousy suspensions and drivers that can be nuts, but they go everywhere and often so they are convenient for getting places. And between cities there are luxurious new buses that run frequently. So there is really no need for a vehicle with the expense of buying gas and paying for insurance and upkeep.


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