You will have to face expenses any place you choose to retire – but, if you choose a place like Mexico, you can do it with a smile on your face!

Hope you have all had an enjoyable and filling - Thanksgiving Day!  How could it be almost Christmas already??

Someone put the brakes on!

Time is just going entirely too fast!!We had almost everyone show up for Thanksgiving, and just so I didn’t have to do everything on “The” day, I made a huge homemade lasagna a few days in advance.  Dick and I also cooked a turkey with dressing, and we also did that a couple of days prior – then, on Thanksgiving day, we simply sliced the turkey up, presented the lasagna, and enjoyed… much easier!  I also made Chris’s favorite cranberry relish and everyone’s favorite – baklava! 

Condo in Mexico

So, now, tonight, it’s time to come up with a new article.  It’s always a question as to just what I’m going to write about – I really seem never to know - until I sit down at the computer and just start typing.  

Think tonight, I’ll touch on costs – after all, isn’t that possibly the top concern for all of us?  Whether we’re trying to live only on Social Security and make that stretch over all the necessities, or living on $500,000 and making that stretch over lots of debts and expectatons… we all should strive to make the most of what we have.  Dick and I hit a lot closer to the first group, but I do think making the pennies stretch is a great thing to do – after all, “waste not, want not!” 

If you are moving to Mexico and plan to buy a home there, you will be concerned with the everyday expenses, things like taxes, utilities, etc.  If you are planning on putting the profits from selling your home into an investment and renting in Mexico, you will still face utilities.   

Just enough garden to enjoy

And, either way, you will probably also want or need some paid help once in a while, so, here we go:   

For help around the house, if you want or need it, that is usually based on the hours that are worked – you can count on about $2 U.S. an hour – but many times, $4 a day is all that’s required. At times, if the help does something extra, you can add a few more pesos, and if they have been with you a long time, that has a bit of a bearing also on their wages.  

If you are a good shopper/bargainer and follow my advise of not living and acting as a big-time American – you can find quite acceptable rentals for around $200 a month.  Flash your diamond ring, or fancy watch, and the price for the same place may be $600 a month – of course, location is a variable too.    

Let’s base our figures on a home valued at $150,000 in Mexico.  A good average to count-on amount for taxes (city, state and federal) is approximately $200 U.S., per year.  This does vary around the country, and can be lower or higher, but will not vary a lot.  (currency exchange rate)

For two people, in a modest home in Mexico, you should plan on about $30 to $50 a month for electricity – year round.  Of course, this also will vary slightly, depending on where you live – whether you need or want to run the a.c. a lot or not, and other variables – but again – this is a good average.   

Propane, to heat your water, will probably run about $20 a month.    

Almost a necessity - the computer

Anyway you look at, when you face the facts, you can live better for less – you can retire in luxury – if you decide to make your new home in Mexico.   

 In my book, Retire In Luxury, I have budgets for before Mexico, and after, for Dick and me.