# USA Florida family considering a move to Mexico- need info please



## stokesfamily (Jun 29, 2012)

Currently family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children) 
US citizens, living in Florida,\
considering a move to Mexico. Wondering about the school situation for our children as well as 
cost of living there...

We are between a lower middle class and 
upper lower class if that makes any sense.

Seeking suggestions for safe areas please. Prefer living close to the coast, but are truly afraid it will be too expensive.



Any tips/ideas/suggestions?

thanks for reading.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

stokesfamily said:


> Currently family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children)
> US citizens, living in Florida,\
> considering a move to Mexico. Wondering about the school situation for our children as well as
> cost of living there...
> ...


The coast can be as cheap as anyplace else if you stay away from the popular tourist areas. Small towns along the coast can be very reasonable. The coast can be hot and humid half the year but maybe you are used to that in Florida.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

I wonder why you are considering a move to Mexico. The kind of motivation you have will have a lot to do with how successful a momentous move like this will be for you and your family.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

What will you do for income. You'll need to show an income of about $2500 a month for a family of 4


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## ExpatPumpkin (May 30, 2010)

How are you planning to support yourself? Do you speak Spanish?


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## dpebbles (Oct 28, 2011)

stokesfamily said:


> Currently family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children)
> US citizens, living in Florida,\
> considering a move to Mexico. Wondering about the school situation for our children as well as
> cost of living there...
> ...


We don't live near the coast but where we live it is very expensive. I pay a lot for groceries, over double what I did in the states. Clothing is also very expensive here and of poor quality for children. We do however live in the nicest area of our city...but I wouldn't really feel safe living anywhere else. 
We looked into schooling and for us, private school would be the only option. It is very expensive to send a child to a good private school down here....but the schools are amazing. We of course are only here for an assignment for my husband's job...so I'm not coming at it from an opinion from someone who is actually looking to live here permanently. and also, it is a MUST to know the language...for both you and your children. I cannot tell you how hard life is here if you do not.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

dpebbles said:


> We don't live near the coast but where we live it is very expensive. I pay a lot for groceries, over double what I did in the states.


Wow, that's not true where I live, in a nice but not posh neighborhood in Mexico City. Even buying most of my food in the local supermarket, I pay much less for food than I did in the States, especially for things like fruit, vegetables, dairy products and even meat and chicken.


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## cuylers5746 (Mar 19, 2012)

*Food costs in Mexico*



dpebbles said:


> We don't live near the coast but where we live it is very expensive. I pay a lot for groceries, over double what I did in the states. Clothing is also very expensive here and of poor quality for children. We do however live in the nicest area of our city...but I wouldn't really feel safe living anywhere else.
> We looked into schooling and for us, private school would be the only option. It is very expensive to send a child to a good private school down here....but the schools are amazing. We of course are only here for an assignment for my husband's job...so I'm not coming at it from an opinion from someone who is actually looking to live here permanently. and also, it is a MUST to know the language...for both you and your children. I cannot tell you how hard life is here if you do not.


We live in a Capital City in the interior of Mexico, and I can say generally speaking when including all kinds of food, vegetables, fruits, meats, condiments your cost of food (if you know the right SuperMercados) to go to is 50% of what it is in the states.

My wife & I are in our middle 60's and very active LESS than $200.00 USD equiv. per month for food and we eat very well.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

dpebbles said:


> We don't live near the coast but where we live it is very expensive. I pay a lot for groceries, over double what I did in the states. ...


I too find it hard to understand how you can spend more for food in Mexico than in the US. What kind of places are you buying food: mercados, big box stores, specialty shops? And what kinds of food?


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## dpebbles (Oct 28, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> I too find it hard to understand how you can spend more for food in Mexico than in the US. What kind of places are you buying food: mercados, big box stores, specialty shops? And what kinds of food?


I shop at Superama, Soriana, Costco and Walmart. Same type of food we ate back home...meat, veggies etc...all the other expats here have told me the same thing. I used coupons and only shopped the sales back home and was able to feed a family of 7 very cheap. I have to shop much more frequently here as things go bad very fast compared to back home. Again, this is just my experience. Back home I could get cereal dirt cheap when using coupons and sales...and milk could regularly be bought on sale. Not so here...I have 5 children so my experience compared to that of an older couple living alone would be very different.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> I too find it hard to understand how you can spend more for food in Mexico than in the US. What kind of places are you buying food: mercados, big box stores, specialty shops? And what kinds of food?


Imported food can cost a lot more in Mexico than in the States.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

dpebbles said:


> I have to shop much more frequently here as things go bad very fast compared to back home.


Really? I find that things like fruits and vegetables and eggs are much fresher here and generally of better quality and last longer than comparable products I bought in the States.


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## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> Wow, that's not true where I live, in a nice but not posh neighborhood in Mexico City. Even buying most of my food in the local supermarket, I pay much less for food than I did in the States, especially for things like fruit, vegetables, dairy products and even meat and chicken.


Yeah. Me too. I calculated that on average we save 38% a month on groceries living in Mexico and the meat and produce is fresher than the best market in the US....granted you must know where and when to shop for produce here. This is with a family of 5.

How does someone pay double?


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## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

dpebbles said:


> I shop at Superama, Soriana, Costco and Walmart. Same type of food we ate back home...meat, veggies etc...all the other expats here have told me the same thing. I used coupons and only shopped the sales back home and was able to feed a family of 7 very cheap. I have to shop much more frequently here as things go bad very fast compared to back home. Again, this is just my experience. Back home I could get cereal dirt cheap when using coupons and sales...and milk could regularly be bought on sale. Not so here...I have 5 children so my experience compared to that of an older couple living alone would be very different.


I understand that. I have 3 children and I am comparing Apples to Apples (no pun) from the US to Mexico. We never used coupons in the US, just bought stuff on sale. But we are still saving 38% a month on groceries and that includes snack foods as well.


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## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> Really? I find that things like fruits and vegetables and eggs are much fresher here and generally of better quality and last longer than comparable products I bought in the States.


hahahaha. This tells me that if pebbles is speaking the truth, then thats not a bad thing. I don't want my meats and produce injected with preservatives to make them last 4 months. 

Buy fresh what you can eat in a week. Canned and boxed stuff in Mexico lasts the same as in the US. Check the date.

I still don't understand how they don't refrigerate the eggs here. {mind blown}...but I like it and the eggs taste better. Strange new world


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

conorkilleen said:


> I still don't understand how they don't refrigerate the eggs here. {mind blown}...but I like it and the eggs taste better. Strange new world


The longer I'm here, the less strange it seems . . .


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

dpebbles said:


> I shop at Superama, Soriana, Costco and Walmart. Same type of food we ate back home...meat, veggies etc...all the other expats here have told me the same thing. I used coupons and only shopped the sales back home and was able to feed a family of 7 very cheap. I have to shop much more frequently here as things go bad very fast compared to back home. Again, this is just my experience. Back home I could get cereal dirt cheap when using coupons and sales...and milk could regularly be bought on sale. Not so here...I have 5 children so my experience compared to that of an older couple living alone would be very different.


The last thing I would want to do is to cause you to feel badly.

But why, when you have the marvelous opportunity to immerse yourselves in the foods of an entirely different culture, to buy food from the people who grow it, why buy it at a grocery store, and stick to the boring American food that you are used to?


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## dpebbles (Oct 28, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> The last thing I would want to do is to cause you to feel badly.
> 
> But why, when you have the marvelous opportunity to immerse yourselves in the foods of an entirely different culture, to buy food from the people who grow it, why buy it at a grocery store, and stick to the boring American food that you are used to?


I am half Mexican as my father is Mexican born... so I have been raised my whole life (granted it was in the U.S.) with the Mexican culture and food.
Remember though, I am only here for a short period of time ( my husband's expat assignment) and I don't know any other people here who actually shop at the little markets and such to show me where to go...or take me. I do not speak spanish well and I am not familiar with the area. Although my father spoke spanish, he never spoke it much around me and my mother and certainly never felt it was important to teach me. Now that I am older I am amazed of his thinking and actually quite angry...how much easier my stay here would have been had I been fluent in the language! 
I guess it seems expensive to me because I did use coupons back home...I paid very little for things such as diapers, shampoos, toilet paper, cleaning products, snacks, etc.... I would stockpile and never paid full price for anything. Here, I go to the store and buy what I need, what we like...no matter the price. There are just certain brands we prefer...I've tried to substitute, it's just not the same. I have to pay more and get the ridiculously priced Tide...tried the Ace...doesn't clean the kid's clothes well enough. I pay for the over-priced imported capri suns...the kids LOVE them. We've tried other things, trust me...but the kids don't like any of it and it goes to waste. 
I do find a few things are less expensive here ...and today I did in fact, run up to the little market down from our house and paid 54 pesos for 3 cokes, 2 bags of chips and a container of icecream! Very cheap, indeed.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Eh, I don't have little ones any more. But my POV on Capri Sun is that I never cared if the kids liked it or not, I refused to buy overpriced sugar water. We rarely if ever had soda in the house, either. We made Kool Aid or drank water.

Keep in mind that many of the people here on this forum were not fluent in Spanish when they arrived in MX, but they communicated with vendors by smiles and gestures. I've done the same in Italy, when visiting my daughter.

There is an aspect of overwhelm in transplanting a large family, I understand. You have another whole year, though, and now you have the experience of many others on this forum to guide you.

I'd be willing to bet that if you asked for suggestions for good places to shop in your vicinity, you'd be flooded with suggestions!


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

*Eggs*



conorkilleen said:


> hahahaha. This tells me that if pebbles is speaking the truth, then thats not a bad thing. I don't want my meats and produce injected with preservatives to make them last 4 months.
> 
> Buy fresh what you can eat in a week. Canned and boxed stuff in Mexico lasts the same as in the US. Check the date.
> 
> I still don't understand how they don't refrigerate the eggs here. {mind blown}...but I like it and the eggs taste better. Strange new world


In the US the FDA has always been telling egg produces to wash off the natural air tight protective coating where the hen poop is but in Mexico the egg producers do not and no refrigeration is needed here. That is why you will occasionally see a streak mark on eggs.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> I too find it hard to understand how you can spend more for food in Mexico than in the US. What kind of places are you buying food: mercados, big box stores, specialty shops? And what kinds of food?


Another thing to be considered is a couple of years ago in San Diego milk was 2 for $4.75 [+ - ] everywhere and beef was a lot less expensive than previously but these large differences only lasted from the onset of the recession in about 2008 until about a year or so ago and everything is now very expensive again. Lowest price on milk about $3 a gallon and sirloin steaks about $6 a pound etc.
A large papaya costs $6 now in SD and a pound of good tomatoes is about $3 or even close to $4 now.

A sale is still good but the above items rarely get down very low anymore. Beef, pork, fish and chicken compared to SLP or Mexicali at example, Soriana, is always about 50% more at anywhere not on sale in San Diego at a comparable supermarket.

The weekly street markets sell sometimes better or fresher produce at about the same or slightly more in SD usually, sometimes less depending so it is not reliable and priced seasonally but they have it all. Good deal on strawberries in season where they are local just like in Mexico etc.


If she hasn't been shopping for food in a couple of years in the US I would suspect she would be shocked now.


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## Guest (Jun 30, 2012)

Just some hints on how to cut your grocery bills:

Most supermarkets (Comercial Mexicana, Soriana, Chedraui, Bodega Aurrera) have big monthly or weekly sales that are great deals, like 3 for 2, but on one specific day or weekend only. Bodega Aurrera is the warehouse form of Wal-Mart, and where Blue Collar Juan and his family usually shop every weekend. Bodega Aurrera tends to have better prices on most groceries but they will not have many imported goods. Comercial Mexicana locally sells many clothes that are US Target store brands, but at a higher price than Target in the US. Soriana has much more imported brands and selection, but at a higher price.

*You can cut and paste the following on an online translator for English:*

Here's the webpage for Comercial Mexicana with their monthly promotions ("promociones" tab):
La Comer

Here is Soriana's webpage with their current promotions:
Soriana - Promociones Fin de Semana MERCADO

The supermarkets also have customer loyalty programs. Comercial Mexicana has their "Orange Money" - click the "monedero naranja" tab on their homepage here: La Comer

Soriana has Electronic money - here is that webpage:
Soriana - Puntos del Aprecio

Both add up to savings for you. Chances are that someone at these stores will speak enough English to explain the program to you, and get you a card. It adds up.
---------------------------

-In most cities of any size in MX, there will be grocery wholesale houses (usually a big concrete block or sheet metal building with *"ABARROTES"* (= Groceries) in letters 2' tall as their signs out front) where all of the little local shops come to buy their goods for resale. Here anyone can buy cases of 1 liter milk or juices (12 boxes), trays of 30 eggs, cleaning and paper goods, etc at discounted prices. Same stuff, only much cheaper (usually 10-25% less) than any of the supermarkets or WalMart. They will sell individual items, or with a case discount.

- as far as local detergents not working for you, it may be the hard water effect. Try adding a bit more detergent than you would "back home" with soft water and you may be pleased with the results.

-if you drink a lot of soft drinks, then instead of buying individual 12 oz cans for 6.5 pesos, buy the 3 liter bottles for 22 pesos, and get a glass (60% savings).

Ask your Mexican neighbors, or an expat friend's MX housekeeper for advice about who has the best deals on groceries and when they happen. Sorry, but to me asking your new expat friends (who are in the same boat) for shopping advice is kind of like asking a blind person for directions (no offense intended to blind people ).

-


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

GringoCArlos said:


> ---------------------------
> -In most cities of any size in MX, there will be grocery wholesale houses (usually a big concrete block or sheet metal building with *"ABARROTES"* (= Groceries) in letters 2' tall as their signs out front) where all of the little local shops come to buy their goods for resale. Here anyone can buy cases of 1 liter milk or juices (12 boxes), trays of 30 eggs, cleaning and paper goods, etc at discounted prices. Same stuff, only much cheaper (usually 10-25% less) than any of the supermarkets or WalMart.
> -


Last year I discovered a produce/abarrotes supply district in SLP that is 4 large square blocks of connecting truck height wholesales with large and small spaces that will sell anyone anything from the many stocks of items at big discounts. It is such a busy place you can spends all day walking around getting to know the prices that the small tiendas pay for all the stuff they are picking up there, daily prices are all marked on cardboard hanging from the ceilings. No Sabritas and Pespsi Cola outlets etc. but almost everything else you see in the tiendas. The candy wholesale district is in another area but they have a few small ones there. Some places sell many things and run around on forklifts and those 5 foot square produce boxes onto the trucks or pallets with stacks of those white large plastic bags, I forgot their name, but have other places that sell smaller quantities. Deliveries are from trucks that are from SLP and a few close by states.


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## Belizegirl (Oct 21, 2010)

Looking forward to hearing from the OP. 

Regarding the cost of shopping for food, personally, I spend considerably less here, and I live in Playa Del Carmen.

Private schools are not expensive, compared to what you would pay in Canada or the US. 

We all have our budget and have an idea of what we can afford. It is difficult to offer suggestions when we do not know what the OP can afford.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

AlanMexicali said:


> Last year I discovered a produce/abarrotes supply district in SLP that is 4 large square blocks of connecting truck height wholesales with large and small spaces that will sell anyone anything from the many stocks of items at big discounts. It is such a busy place you can spends all day walking around getting to know the prices that the small tiendas pay for all the stuff they are picking up there, daily prices are all marked on cardboard hanging from the ceilings. No Sabritas and Pespsi Cola outlets etc. but almost everything else you see in the tiendas. The candy wholesale district is in another area but they have a few small ones there. Some places sell many things and run around on forklifts and those 5 foot square produce boxes onto the trucks or pallets with stacks of those white large plastic bags, I forgot their name, but have other places that sell smaller quantities. Deliveries are from trucks that are from SLP and a few close by states.


Most cities in Mexico have an "Abastos", a huge wholesale market. They sell to individuals as well as to restaurants, abarrotes, street venders and others. The main focus is usually produce, but all the ones I have seen include other products as well. The market described by Alan sounds like an Abastos.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

I am jumping up and down for joy with all these recommendations for places to buy staples.

I got in the habit of shopping for bargains when my kids were little, and, even now, once I realized how cheap, for example, toilet paper is at Aldi, I can't imagine buying it anywhere else in the US, or anywhere else in the world it's found. It's headquartered in Germany, so that's a lot of territory.


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## pappabee (Jun 22, 2010)

dpebbles said:


> I shop at Superama, Soriana, Costco and Walmart. Same type of food we ate back home...meat, veggies etc...all the other expats here have told me the same thing. I used coupons and only shopped the sales back home and was able to feed a family of 7 very cheap. I have to shop much more frequently here as things go bad very fast compared to back home. Again, this is just my experience. Back home I could get cereal dirt cheap when using coupons and sales...and milk could regularly be bought on sale. Not so here...I have 5 children so my experience compared to that of an older couple living alone would be very different.


It is very possible to spend a lot of money for groceries in Mexico if you want to eat the same things that you did in the states. If you want to purchase only those items that you are used to using from the states. That's not the way to live cost effectively here. You must shop like a native. I pay $.84 US per doz for fresh eggs. $.18 US for a head of lettuce and $1.25 US for a kilo of avocados. (that's 2.2 Lbs). The eggs were in the chicken yesterday, the lettuce was on the ground this morning and the avocados were picked within 10 hours or so. 

Like I have said before, if you want to live like you did in the states then it will cost you but you can live very comfortably here if you do your shopping like a native. You are correct that in Mexico (or any other country where almost everything that you eat is fresh) you must shop more frequently and, since they do not use much artificial preservatives things do go bad quickly. Again, if you want imported product you will pay for it. If you purchase local product you will find that it is much less costly and just as good. 

My wife and I spend less than 50% here as to what we spent in the states and we are eating much better. Much healthier with less red meat and more chicken.

:clap2:


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

pappabee said:


> It is very possible to spend a lot of money for groceries in Mexico if you want to eat the same things that you did in the states. If you want to purchase only those items that you are used to using from the states. That's not the way to live cost effectively here. You must shop like a native. I pay $.84 US per doz for fresh eggs. $.18 US for a head of lettuce and $1.25 US for a kilo of avocados. (that's 2.2 Lbs). The eggs were in the chicken yesterday, the lettuce was on the ground this morning and the avocados were picked within 10 hours or so.
> 
> Like I have said before, if you want to live like you did in the states then it will cost you but you can live very comfortably here if you do your shopping like a native. You are correct that in Mexico (or any other country where almost everything that you eat is fresh) you must shop more frequently and, since they do not use much artificial preservatives things do go bad quickly. Again, if you want imported product you will pay for it. If you purchase local product you will find that it is much less costly and just as good.
> 
> ...


The other side of that equation is that, absent the highly processed foods that we get used to eating in the US, you and your kids will find yourselves healthier, happier and more alert. 

I guarantee that the kids will rebel, at first. We crave the foods that we're used to eating. A friend calls that "our bodies are like spoiled kids--they want what they want."

But I also guarantee that your kids will grow to love the flavor of fresh, unprocessed foods, and eventually will NOT miss the junk. 

When my guys were young, they would, from time to time, beg me to buy white bread. I remember my daughter, the oldest, told her brothers with disgust, "Don't bother. She won't buy it. And eventually, you won't even like white bread!"

Of course they got the white bread at school. But she had gotten the taste for chewy, flavorful whole grains.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> When my guys were young, they would, from time to time, beg me to buy white bread. I remember my daughter, the oldest, told her brothers with disgust, "Don't bother. She won't buy it. And eventually, you won't even like white bread!"
> 
> Of course they got the white bread at school. But she had gotten the taste for chewy, flavorful whole grains.


I've always been grateful to my Jewish mother for never buying Wonder bread and its ilk for us. Instead we had rye bread, pumperknickel and bagels and a good firm sandwich bread with lots of egg in it Never the tasteless, sustance-less, white substitute for the real thing!


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## pappabee (Jun 22, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> I've always been grateful to my Jewish mother for never buying Wonder bread and its ilk for us. Instead we had rye bread, pumperknickel and bagels and a good firm sandwich bread with lots of egg in it Never the tasteless, sustance-less, white substitute for the real thing!



My mother used to call that "Cotton bread"

But it does make great eggs in a basket (rocky mountain toast).:eyebrows:


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

pappabee said:


> My mother used to call that "Cotton bread"
> 
> But it does make great eggs in a basket (rocky mountain toast).:eyebrows:


What's that?


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## Sunchamama (Jul 1, 2012)

Hands down to Mexico for the freshest fruit and veggies ever. I've lived in the DR for over a year and the produced is half dead in the grocery store, tripled in price. Even the local markets have wilted veggies. I love the fresh meat and fish available in mexico too.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Isla Verde said:


> What's that?


Not sure if I'm correct, d/t the smilie that accompanied the comment, but to me, eggs in a basket means putting a piece of bread, with a hole torn out of the middle in a frying pan. You break an egg into the hole, and fry it, and the bread, together.

Not my favorite meal. The bread is soft on one side, greasy/toasted on the other.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> Not sure if I'm correct, d/t the smilie that accompanied the comment, but to me, eggs in a basket means putting a piece of bread, with a hole torn out of the middle in a frying pan. You break an egg into the hole, and fry it, and the bread, together.
> 
> Not my favorite meal. The bread is soft on one side, greasy/toasted on the other.


I think I'll pass too especially now that my doctor has put me on a diet to lower my cholesterol.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

My first thought was that it had something to do with "Rocky Mountain Oysters" (especially with the eggs/huevos reference and the little carita/smiley). I googled it and it does seem to be just what Mickisue describes.

Where was my head at?


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

You know, this thread went into thread drift almost immediately and I don't think we have helped the OP very much.

My thought is that if they (the OP) could jump back into the conversation with some more specifics on their situation and what they are hoping to find in Mexico, maybe folks could give some helpful suggestions/advice.


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## Guest (Jul 2, 2012)

To the OP, schooling would be a big part of your plan. There are lower cost bilingual schools available, but the majority of classes would be taught in Spanish, with some English thrown in. These types of schools will probably run US$100-$200 per month per kid. 

A good bilingual school where the majority of classes are taught in English with a few classes in Spanish mixed in costs more - probably in the US$200-$400 range per month per kid. 

You will need to have a residency visa in order to register your children in any school in MX.

If you are looking for coastal living, you could investigate the Yucatan, and there is good information on a website about Yucatan Living. There is some good 2008 info on schools in Merida there - at least it would give you a start and contact info.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

circle110 said:


> You know, this thread went into thread drift almost immediately and I don't think we have helped the OP very much.
> 
> My thought is that if they (the OP) could jump back into the conversation with some more specifics on their situation and what they are hoping to find in Mexico, maybe folks could give some helpful suggestions/advice.


They posted essentially the same query about moving to Mexico and Maui, and haven't been back to comment on either thread. I think we are posting for our own amusement until we get some indication they are following the threads.


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## edgeee (Jun 21, 2012)

isn't that what we always do?


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## Mr. P Mosh (Mar 14, 2012)

TundraGreen said:


> Most cities in Mexico have an "Abastos", a huge wholesale market. They sell to individuals as well as to restaurants, abarrotes, street venders and others. The main focus is usually produce, but all the ones I have seen include other products as well. The market described by Alan sounds like an Abastos.


Yup, that's a _mercado de abastos_.

I dunno if there are H-E-B down there (I think their Mexican franchise is mostly Monterrey-based) but of all the supermarkets in Mexico they have the best promotions hands down (I love the combo-loco stuff), also they have the fresher food. In Monterrey we don't have Chedraui nor Comercial Mexicana but my ranking would sort of be H-E-B > Soriana - Bodega Aurrera > Wal-Mart


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## dpebbles (Oct 28, 2011)

Mr. P Mosh said:


> Yup, that's a _mercado de abastos_.
> 
> I dunno if there are H-E-B down there (I think their Mexican franchise is mostly Monterrey-based) but of all the supermarkets in Mexico they have the best promotions hands down (I love the combo-loco stuff), also they have the fresher food. In Monterrey we don't have Chedraui nor Comercial Mexicana but my ranking would sort of be H-E-B > Soriana - Bodega Aurrera > Wal-Mart


There is an HEB in Leon...but the traffic in Leon is a nightmare and takes forever just to get down there. Costco in Leon is at least right when you first enter into the city ( from Irapuato) so a lot faster to get to.


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