# Working in Guadalajara



## rohitbv (Dec 1, 2008)

Hello Friends,

I work for a IT company in India and this company has setup their office in Guadalajara, Mexico. They are asking me to work there for 1 or 2 years. I know a lot about their culture and life styles and i like it. I even love the Mexican Food and of course the tequila. Now before i accept this offer i need to know how much money do we need every month to live in Guadalajara. 

Initially i am planning to travel alone then later on i will get my wife (No kids) I want to know the monthly living cost for 2 people. 

*I am not looking for a high and costly living style*. But a decent life like other working professionals do. 

Please let me know the average money i need per month to live here. This will help me to plan my trip and stay accordingly. 

Thanks for all you help.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Those are very difficult questions to answer because we all live differently. However, you can probably plan on $500-$1000 US Dollars to rent a nice home or apartment in a desirable area of the city. How you divide your food bill between cooking at home and eating out can make a big difference, so I won't even try to estimate that, other than to say that we spend anywhere from $300 to $700 each month. You will need to budget about $30 each month for propane, for cooking, and about the same amount for electricity. If you have a maid and/or a gardener, they will cost about $3 per hour. Of course, there are transportation, entertainment, clothing and other costs that only you can estimate, from your own experience, and they should be little different in Guadalajara. You will not need heating or air conditioning in Guadalajara's climate; a big plus. You may also consider traveling together because the costs won't be much different for temporary lodgings and you should enjoy the experience as a couple. Guadalajara is a beautiful city with many parks, upscale malls, theaters, movie complexes, etc. We are at Chapala, just to the south and worth a weekend visit to the lake shore attractions; easily done by bus or car.
Welcome to the forum and perhaps a Guadalajara resident will respond in more detail, especially if you can tell us what part of the city you will work, or the name of your company and their Guadalajara address.


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## rohitbv (Dec 1, 2008)

RVGRINGO Thank you very much for your quick reply. 

I will be working in the World Trade Center. Guadalajara, Jalisco. I will be cooking at home most of the times and eat out only 4-5 days a month. 

If the public transport is good then i will not buy a car. 
I wanted to know approximately how many US$ do i need for the whole month. I will be looking for a fully furnished house as i will not be bringing while moving.

By any chance if you are keeping track of your expenses, let me know whats your expenditure per month.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

OK. I've chosen October/November. Amounts are in US Dollars:
360/689 Groceries
182/111 Dining out
57/42 Entertainment
52/83 Automobile expenses
35/32 Clothing
10/10 Electricity
62/53 Telephone (2 lines) and DSL
15/26 Gifts
25/114 Household products & maintenance
60/51 Personal care (permanent, hair cut, etc)
15/5 Newspapers, magazines
100/192 Medications (we're old retirees), some of which will be reimbursed, eventually.
35/0 Dentist (cleaning)
83/64 Maid (4 days/month) varies with exchange rate for pesos.
83/64 Gardener (4 days/month) "
36/36 Auto insurance


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## verdeva (Sep 18, 2008)

Like RV said, it's difficult to say how much one "needs" as everyones "needs" are different. For two people, living in a small, but decent home here in Jocotepec (a county town of about 30-35,000 people,) including the cost of maintaining a vehicle, health insurance and averaging the strange expenses that come up every once in while, we spend about $2,000US a month. We could spend as little as $1,000 (for two people) by economizing in areas or easily double that amount if we choose a more luxurious lifestyle. We have several ****** friends that live in the Ajijic area that spend as much on their home (rent, electricity, gas, etc.) as we do for EVERYTHING. I believe if we were living in Guadalajara at the same level as here our cost would rise by $500US-$750US a month.
Tiene un bueno dia,
VerdeVa


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## rohitbv (Dec 1, 2008)

RVGRINGO, Thanks a lot for sharing you expense detail. i will have to add another 700$ - 1000$ for the house rent. 

So my understanding is 2000-2500 US$ will be sufficient for a family. I will have to add the tax component on this. I will find out the tax polices there.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Yes, we own our home, so there is no rent in that list. However, the IVA sales tax is included in all of those figures. If one earns no income in Mexico, there are no other taxes. You will have to look into that with your company.


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## HombreEPGDL (Jan 24, 2008)

*GDL expenses*

I think that $2.000.00 a month is about right to live well in Guadalajara. We own an apt in the Zona Rosa area and rents in the same building can vary from $450.00 to $700.00 depending on size. Eating out at a nice Italian restaurant like La Foccaccia can run around $30.00 without wine and trust me that would be the only meal you would need all day LOL. We cook and only eat out occasionally and then only to mid-priced good restaurants and sometimes just tacos fron the street venders. At Cinemark you can buy a months pass for all the movies you want to see for around $12.00 a month. There are lots of free concerts all over the city almost every weekend. Guadalajara always has something going on for little or no money required. Please ask for any specific information you need--good luck!


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## Hallohallo (Apr 2, 2010)

You'll need from 1000 dollars to 2000 dollars... like HombreEPGDL says there are a lot of fun things to do here and they're free or very cheap.. and you can go to simple mexican restaurants and you can spend like 5 dollars for a full meal (good food but without the fancy stuff like wooden tables or expensive chairs) 

public transportation is good... but the bus drivers aint nice people =P... still you can get to basicly anywhere you want...

Hey there's an italian restauran in Lomas de Zapopan that's very good... the food is actualy made by italians  so you might like to check it out =)


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Are you taking an overseas assignment where you are being moved from say Bangalore to Guadalajara? If so, I would expect that you would be given an allowance for rent and living expenses to set up a 2nd residence. Also expect that your company would calculate and cover all of your excess taxes beyond what you would normally pay on your salary in India. Are you trying to figure out if you can live on the overseas allowances and book your paycheck? Always a good target if you can do it.
I would plan on closer to $2500USD/month so that you have opportunity for positive surprise versus negative.
Overseas assignments are wonderful opportunities and although Mexico doesn't have the length of history of India it is a great place to explore.


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## cookjmex (Aug 12, 2009)

conklinwh said:


> Are you taking an overseas assignment where you are being moved from say Bangalore to Guadalajara? If so, I would expect that you would be given an allowance for rent and living expenses to set up a 2nd residence. Also expect that your company would calculate and cover all of your excess taxes beyond what you would normally pay on your salary in India. Are you trying to figure out if you can live on the overseas allowances and book your paycheck? Always a good target if you can do it.
> I would plan on closer to $2500USD/month so that you have opportunity for positive surprise versus negative.
> Overseas assignments are wonderful opportunities and although Mexico doesn't have the length of history of India it is a great place to explore.


Be advised that Mexico's Olmec civilization, with beautiful art and architecture and a written language was contemporaneous with the ancient Egyptians. Mexico's history didn't start with the Spaniards.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Actually I am into history but admit that I misplaced the Olmec to their decline in 900BC versus the 1st settlements in 1500BC. This does get them within about 500 years of the 1st major civilizations in India and China.


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## cookjmex (Aug 12, 2009)

My wife and I recently took a tour with Caravan Tours through southern Mexico to visit many of the major pre-hispanic ruins, including Teotihuacan, the Olmec artifacts in La Venta, and Mayan Palenque, Uxmal, and Chichen Itza. Quite a mind-blower to see it first-hand, even though I was fairly familiar with the history.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

You are right, I've done Chichen-Itza as well as Tzintzuntzan and we plan to do Monte Alban and Mitla next week on a trip to Oaxaca. I was very surprised that Monte Alban predates Teotihuacan by some 200 years. This is getting off the subject and we could be deleted but I do love history and exploring ruins. When I lived in BeiJing my Chinese friends couldn't understand my fascination with Chinese history. My answer was that I was force fed 350 years of US history for 11 of 12 school years so the opportunity to study 5000 years of recorded history was like walking into a candy store.


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## cookjmex (Aug 12, 2009)

Mea culpa to the Moderator!

We seem to share an interest. I publish a photo journal blog about our adventures in Mexico and here is the section on ruins we have visited, both pre-hispanic and colonial: Jim & Carole's Mexico Adventure: ruins You may need to cut and paste this to your URL address line.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I think it is OK to study history while working in Guadalajara. However, if I get time, I'll try to create a new thread on history.


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