# Ave yearly spending



## 5 year plan (Jan 26, 2012)

Can anyone provide an estimate of how much they spend in a year to live in Baja Sur.

Seemd to be the hardest thing to get my hands around.

Preferably the total cost for a married couple. Not lookig for "it depends on your life style" just actual costs for any kind of life style

Thanks


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

Hi, welcome-

Use the SEARCH feature and you will find several threads about cost, cost of living, health care and such in general. This is not to discourage you from asking for responses, but you may find a lot of information is already here.

Good luck.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

5 year plan said:


> Can anyone provide an estimate of how much they spend in a year to live in Baja Sur.
> 
> Seemd to be the hardest thing to get my hands around.
> 
> ...


I don't live in Baja Sur and I am not a couple, just one person. I spent $122,000 mxn last year plus a small amount of dollars for travel and expenses outside of Mexico. I don't really see where that number is going to be very useful to anyone else however.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

It is very difficult to get your hands around something like that because it varies so wildly based on the person. I know people who insist that they need minimum $45,000 USD per year to live here in Mexico and I know a fellow who gets by on well under $10,000 USD from his pension. I have met people with a budget of well over $100,000 USD who wouldn't feel comfortable living on less even though I doubt they would insist that they _need_ that much to survive.

We ( a couple) are somewhere between those extremes and have an annual budget of about $18,000 and we don't feel hamstrung but we do have to watch our expenditures.

I would recommend you do what I did -- make several trips to the area scouting home prices/rents (better to rent at first), food and utility costs, medical expenses and an estimate of the costs of your hobbies and interests. Then you can calculate more accurately what _you_ need to live the way you wish to. So far my pre-calculations have been pretty spot-on.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

Not that this helps, because I am not there yet, but I hear that in the area where we are settling one can live a economical middle class life for about $30K USD. Like the previous poster said, it depends on your lifestyle. We, as retirees, are simplifying, two cars to one car, smaller house, more home cooking. One thing I will mention is that we have been told that Mexico is a CASH society - and that is another thing we like.

Like I say all of the above is worthless, but may help you.

(PS - last summer I tried to get a survey going about this - five people responded - and like they say, it was all different - but in no way did it seem a lot of money is needed.)


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## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

My 2011 costs as a single homeowner in La Paz, Baja California Sur were 194,105.64 pesos (about $15K USD at the current exchange rate). Includes everything spent in Mexico. Doesn't include the two highest ticket items in my budget, which are paid in dollars: health insurance and trips to the US that are necessary for family reasons. Maybe about 14,000 pesos of my Mexico costs are trip-related (dog boarding, driver service to Los Cabos airport). 

Like others, I don't really see how this will help you. It really **is** all about lifestyle and priorities.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I failed to mention in my post that we are not homeowners. We still rent so about $4,800 USD of our annual expenses are for rent. The other 13-14 K is for all other living expenses.

Like makaloco says, this information is borderline useless beyond giving you an idea of what someone else (not you) could live on. 

While still living in the US, I became a frugal living nut and have carried that philosophy over to our life Mexico... _most of the time_ my fiancee is in agreement with that. 

14K USD, outside of rent, may be pretty tight for many couples.

I track monthly/annual expenses in dollars because that is the currency in which I manage my portfolio. Week to week I tend to think in pesos. If the exchange rate is favorable to the dollar, I can relax my belt a bit. If it is not so good I have to tighten up again.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Since we are adding context to our costs...
As I said earlier I lived on $122,000 mxn or $9400 usd last year. I am one person although I have lots and lots of house guests. I own the house, but maintenance costs are near what rent would be. I rarely eat in restaurants or drink in bars, maybe once or twice a month. No pool, A/C, or heat. I have quite a few expenses in the US as well, but I keep separate books for dollars and pesos so it is easy to separate the costs. Everything I need or use in Mexico is paid in pesos and included in the total. Tickets to other countries and expenses outside of Mexico are not included.


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## PieGrande (Nov 16, 2008)

What I tell men on the boards I moderate is to find locals with the same income you have and observe how they live. To get by on that income, you will need to live pretty much as they live. IF they have a car of a certain quality, you also can have one. If they eat out, you can. If they have cable TV, you can. If they take vacations to Acapulco, you also can. If they have household help, you also can.

If people with your income, use public transportation, you also must. If they wear the same clothes for years, you also must. Ditto for other items.

We had one man on a board who called us liars when we told how much it cost to live. He had gone to a supermarket and priced things like smoked salmon, and they were horribly expensive. Of course.

Those who live cheaply in Mexico are those who adapt to the local lifestyle and diet. IF you want expensive things that must be imported, such as smoked salmon, you will be paying more in Mexico.

Let me also add if you do not intend to adapt to the culture, it is better you don't come to Mexico. Your days here will be numbered. Also, if you can't make friends and be content in the culture, the savings are not worth living in a forever foreign nation.

You can live very cheaply in small town USA. Small towns in Georgia; Iowa; Nebraska; and Oklahoma.

Some years ago, I showed the book at the time Choose Mexico, with a subtitle mentioning $600 a month to live in Mexico (a very long time ago). He told his mother about it, and she called him an idiot. She was living in a small rural town in the Midwest, and her total income was less than $600 at the time.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

PieGrande said:


> What I tell men on the boards I moderate is to find locals with the same income you have and observe how they live.


So you moderate boards open only to men?


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Just look at the visa requirements for a resident and that will put you on the lower end of the scale. Now that I'm a home owner I can live on much less and am saving money. I live in farmland so watermellon 10 pesos from neighbors, mangos free in season, 4 peso tacos down the street, don't need to heat water in the summer, don't use air, taxes 200 pesos, water and garbage 1000 pesos


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## PieGrande (Nov 16, 2008)

Isla Verde said:


> So you moderate boards open only to men?


Yes, as strange as it sounds, we can do that. Just as women have their special needs and can have their own places to discuss things in freedom, so can men. Does that bother you?


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

PieGrande said:


> Yes, as strange as it sounds, we can do that. Just as women have their special needs and can have their own places to discuss things in freedom, so can men. Does that bother you?


No, it doesn't bother me. I was just surprised to know that such boards exist.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

PieGrande said:


> Yes, as strange as it sounds, we can do that. Just as women have their special needs and can have their own places to discuss things in freedom, so can men. Does that bother you?


HIJACK ALERT:
As a man, I have never heard about this Male Only web subculture. Is there a specific site for men in Mexico?
:focus:


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## PieGrande (Nov 16, 2008)

*Other boards*

I do not know if there is a man only board for Mexico. If you would like one, find proboards, and start one. Free with advertising, and up and running in 15 minutes. Ditto for sewing fans; pet lovers; left handed camel drivers; people living in Monterrey; etc. There are other sources of free boards if you seek them.

I am in my turn surprised that anyone would be surprised that some men might want men only boards, since there are a very large number of women only, and African American only; gay only; etc. An interesting viewpoint. Learn something every day. I must wonder if we have become so PC that we have forgotten that freedom of association is part of our constitutional freedoms. And, as I have said and will say again, humans are all different and have different needs and wants. If this board does not suit you for any reason, feel free to start your own board for people like yourself. It is the American way. You may not have many readers; that is also the American way.

Those who have a desire or need for a man only board can find them very quickly. Since this is political in nature, and this board is not political, I don't want to expand on this topic. This is off topic anyway, but I did respond to a question.


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