
ken_in_dfw
Oct 13, 2008, 7:43 AM
Post #3 of 29
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Re: [JohnBleazard] Retiring on a small budget
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Mary Ann does disclose more details about their budget and their expenses in comments following one of the early posts on her blog. It sounds tight, but do-able. One advantage I see for retirees is that Medicare is right across the border, as Mary Ann says, in Calexico. As long as the law-and-order element stays orderly there, it's probably not a bad setup. Ken Our budget is $1,500 a month - that’s what you need to get a one-year visa (which you really don’t need if you are willing to just cross the border and come back, once every 6 months. In Mexico, no one seems to check, and we could’ve come without a visa. Our first house (two bedrooms) was $350 a month. With our dog and cat it was a bit small, so we moved to a bigger place (1,000SF) for 5,500 pesos a month - splurging for us. Several months ago that was $550, but with the fall in the peso, it comes to $420 a month - a bit steep, but not a budget breaker. We have four bedrooms, two tiled baths (one is huge), a large living-room kitchen, a two-car garage with an automatic garage door, and a walled back yard of 500SF. Central A/C. We love it! Our food bills are less than the US, about $400 a month, gas is about $80 (cheaper here), TV & Internet about $70. Utilities run more when it’s hot, but average out to $150 (last water bill was $4.00) We eat out now and then. A neighbor lady has an outdoor restaurant, where we can get dinner for two for ten bucks. We see American movies in English at the very fancy Cinepolis, which is ten buck FOR TWO. Medicare is right across the border. So we are just barely making it, but life in the US would be nothing like this, at least for us. The pros - Mexico is a cash economy, so no one gives a hoot about a credit crunch. The cons - it gets hot in the summer.
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