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monoloco
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6667
Registered: 7-13-2009
Location: Pescadero BCS
Member Is Offline
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If Mexico didn't have problems, it would probably look like that in Baja.
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rhintransit
Super Nomad
Posts: 1588
Registered: 9-4-2006
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DavidE
Here's some more crap to keep things in perspective...Calif...
Cheap(est)
Bananas .45 pound
tomatoes .88 pound
avacadoes 1.75 each
oranges .59 pound
Driving in carpool lane violation 388 minimum
75 in a 65 188 minimum
coin op air or water gas station .50
car wash exterior 8.00
internet cafe 7.00 / hr.
minimum license plates 73.00
cheapest car insurance 300
Burger combo fast food king size 8.83
this sucks, I want to go home! Just as soon as my medical eqpt arrives I am the hell out of here and I mean f-a-s-t.
A stupid marine battery at costco now costs almost eighty dollars. Big Lots and other retailers have gone to hell. Prices are stupid.
%^&*!$#@%!!!!! |
well, I'm up in the USA/Arizona for my annual summer escape from the heat. cheap electricity and air conditioning everywhere PRICELESS!
okay, as to the rest, I cannot stop marveling how CHEAP everything is.
food/veggies, hitting whatever various big food store chains, Safeway, Basha's, Fryes, and, wow oh wow Trader Joe's, Walmart, Target, etc, always
yields really fresh, really great condition produce... huge variety, glorious variety, great quality!!! take my money please!
driving in car pool lane violation, speeding violation...zero cost if you don't break traffic laws, always a good recommendation in any country. not
breaking law in Constitucion BCS 200-600 pesos.
tire air at my home owner's place...free. tire air at Safeway with a fillup...free
exterior carwash yesterday at a car 'spa' (la te dah) 4.99
license plate for my new car, okay, 240 bucks. can't speak to 'cheapest' but it was only 40 bucks on my old GEO in January.
car insurance. 500/yr on the new one, full and plus options. liability only on the GEO, 220/yr. belief that I may actually get some satisfaction if
I do have a claim PRICELESS. (try totaling a car in Mexico with Mexican insurance, I have...)
Burger King kid's meal, plenty for me, 2.33.
better yet, hit Costco, great hotdog and endless soda, 1.49.
tons of places where I can lunch for under 5 bucks.
sales EVERYWHERE on almost everything. many items huge discount, I've been stocking up at 50-75% off general stuff I need. fantastic thrift stores.
and on and on and on.
internet FREE at local library. not to mention other library services.
we left out airfares...RT Phoenix-Baltimore 280. RT Los Angeles-Loreto 400-650.
everyone has their own cost illustrations from wherever they live. this is Phoenix.
bottom line, I can live cheaper in the USA. much cheaper. MUCH much cheaper.
cheap is not why I live in Baja, though it was when I began coming to Mexico 15 years ago. that cheapness enabled me to first work seasonally then to
retire at 55 on a modest budget. it's not cheap, or even comparable, anymore. cheap is not why I'm living there now.
the migration dance has always been complicated and stressful. having been involved in the Loreto immigration mess/clean up, I can vouch for problems
most of you have never experienced but I have every belief and experience that it is getting better.
that's not why I'm considering leaving Baja. but that's another thread.
reality\'s never been of much use out here...
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mtgoat666
Select Nomad
Posts: 19932
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: Hot n spicy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajafam
sure, goat, but at what cost?
Can I watch my hubby get into a stranger's car in the middle of the night to go get beer and expect him to return alive?? I'm going to go with no.
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why does your husband get into a strangers car in the middle of the night to go get beer? 
whenever I need a beer at 3 AM I always go out on my street and hitchhike 
However, my neighbors have started talking about me as the drunk who hitchhikes at 3 AM 
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bajafam
Senior Nomad
Posts: 654
Registered: 9-6-2009
Location: Northeast AZ, Bahia Asuncion, BCS :)
Member Is Offline
Mood: DLTBGYD
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Well, it was a one time thing...beer was necessary and there was only one guy with a car. But, the good news, he did return...alive and with beer.
Wouldn't have happened in LA, I don't think.
rhin ~ cheap electricity in Phoenix?! Umm, when I was living there it cost me $300 a month to air condition a 400 sq foot studio. My aunt and uncle
have a bill upwards of $500 in the summer. That's not cheap to me.
And, sure you can eat off the dollar menu in a fast food joint, but what are you eating? I'd rather have a plate of fresh sashimi at the Tide Pool for
$50 pesos any day!!
[Edited on 9-12-2010 by bajafam]
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durrelllrobert
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7393
Registered: 11-22-2007
Location: Punta Banda BC
Member Is Offline
Mood: thriving in Baja
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Monthly Operating Costs for home in Hemet,CA (2003 prices)
1. Property Taxes ($5064/yr)
$422
2. Gas and Electric (even pay)
$350
3. Water/Sewer
. $325
4. Phone/ Internet
. $89
5. Cable TV (100 channels)
.. $98
6. View of Neighbors backyard
big minus
7. Traffic noise in street
big minus
8. 110 degree summer/ 30 degree winter. big minus
Total
$1,284
Monthly Operating Costs for home in Punt Banda, BC (2010)
1. Land Rent ($1500/yr)
.$125
2. Gas and Electric
a. CFE ($1600MN-2 month)
. $62
b. Z propane (1500 lt/yr = 11,400MN))
. $73
3. Pila Water
$30
4. Phone/ Internet (573MN)
$44
5. Direct TV (200 channels)
$69
6. Million $ view of bay and island
Priceless
7. Watching cruise ships coming in
. Priceless
8. 72 degree summer/ 40 degree winter
Priceless
Total
$ 403
Bob Durrell
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4459
Registered: 3-11-2004
Location: South of the broder
Member Is Offline
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Having lived in Baja almost full time for the past 15 years, I have a couple thoughts on this subject. (By almost full time I mean taking a month or
so vacation NOB each year till the last couple.) As some of you know, I'm in San Felipe.
All of you Baja vacationers and week-enders will have a much different take on all this, I'm sure.
Spending my time on a deserted beach, fishing, shell collecting or ? is great - for a while. But I can't stand over a couple of days of all that
excitement.
The first few months of actually living in Baja is much like the vacation times, checking out all the local restaurants, gathering up tons of sea
shells, exploring your new world, both the sea and the desert. But some point along the line, we decide that we don't want to go out every night,
just fix dinner and say home with TV or internet or a book. But the local stores don't have many of the things we've enjoyed over the years. OK we'll
have what's available and that's good. Then one evening we think, "It would be nice to go out to a movie wouldn't it?" But the nearest theater is
120 miles away so that's out.
The car needs a new battery, so check out the autopartes stores. $60-80 bucks US and the locals tell me they last a year, maybe two. Boy, Costco
sure would be good with their 3 year replacement warranty. But that's only in the USA.
My only point is the difference between living in and visiting a place. I remember when Nomads were complaining about the road paving going on and
Shari said that the locals really wanted it - it would make their necessary trips to GN or other places so much easier and faster. Many of the
changes are making locals happy, while disappointing the visitors.
Now these same things apply to many places in the USA alos. I am now living part time in New Mexico in a town that believes it was a great thing when
Wal-Mart opened last year. Saving drives of 65 to 75 miles to visit Wal-Mart in the next town. A movie - the old 40s era theater has shows 3 nights
a week - not any choice of pictures. Their are doctors and clinics in town, but the hospitals of choice are 75 to 120 miles away. Really working on
getting a good hospital here. And halve the population is saying "No changes or development" and the other half is wanting new industries, jobs for
the locals etc.
So my take on all this - It's great to have open space and places to get away when you want to, but it's also great to have conveniences and choices
for our daily living.
The cost of living in NM is higher than Baja, but not by a really big margin. Of course, living in a growing city is always higher. But as someone
already pointed out, it's not all about cost, it's about how we feel about a place that counts. Today I'm glad to have both worlds.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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sancho
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2524
Registered: 10-6-2004
Location: OC So Cal
Member Is Offline
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Old Guys, rocking chairs? Throw in
an afternoon siesta and I'm in
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rhintransit
Super Nomad
Posts: 1588
Registered: 9-4-2006
Location: Loreto
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | rhin ~ cheap electricity in Phoenix?! Umm, when I was living there it cost me $300 a month to air condition a 400 sq foot studio. My aunt and uncle
have a bill upwards of $500 in the summer. That's not cheap to me.
And, sure you can eat off the dollar menu in a fast food joint, but what are you eating? I'd rather have a plate of fresh sashimi at the Tide Pool for
$50 pesos any day!!
[Edited on 9-12-2010 by bajafam] |
1350 sq ft house, central air. when I'm home my electricity bill is never more than 80-90/month for summer months. how well was your studio
insulated? how big is you aunt's house/how cold does she keep it? all is so individual...like 350 bucks a month in Hemut, CA. wow1
I agree I'd rather have fresh sashimi anyday! yum. but in Loreto I can't get that for anywhere near that price...
and, yes, Morgaine, absolutely, I just spend more when I'm up in the states. all in preparation to go back down to Baja...
[Edited on 9-12-2010 by rhintransit]
[Edited on 9-12-2010 by rhintransit]
reality\'s never been of much use out here...
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Member Is Offline
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1. Property Taxes ($5064/yr)
$422
2. Gas and Electric (even pay)
$350
3. Water/Sewer
. $325
Per month cost:
Holy moly Bob that's really high. Considering your property taxes you must have bought when the housing prices went up, really up. My gas and electric
is about $1,500/yr and my water is about $200/yr ($10/mo winter and $30/mo summer) and sewer is part of my property tax bill but can't be too high
since my property tax bill is only $1,800 for the year.
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k-rico
Super Nomad
Posts: 2079
Registered: 7-10-2008
Location: Playas de Tijuana
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by morgaine7
| Quote: | Originally posted by rhintransit
sales EVERYWHERE on almost everything. many items huge discount, I've been stocking up at 50-75% off general stuff I need. fantastic thrift stores.
and on and on and on. |
Don't you just buy more, though? When I visit the US, there is so much stuff
in my face all the time that I end up buying stuff I don't need, just because it's there. I'll spend more in two weeks than I would here in
months. (Luckily, my trips are infrequent and by plane, so I'm constrained by my suitcase.) And if looking for something in particular there, I get so
tired from running around and being overwhelmed by too many choices that I often end up buying the next whatever-it-is that seems okay and reasonably
priced, just so I can stop shopping.
I agree that US thrift stores are great, especially for clothing and shoes, which are generally overpriced here and rarely fit me. For nearly
everything else, I prefer shopping here. I don't want more, less expensive stuff. I want fewer choices and less time spent shopping.
Kate |
Glad to hear I'm not the only one that experiences this. Since I can leave my house in playas and be across the border in 20 minutes with my Sentri
pass I used to drive to the US regularly to pick up my mail (mostly magazines). Invariably I'd go to Walmart and/or Home Depot for a couple of items
and end up spending $100 or more.
No more, I haven't driven across the border in 6 months. I moved my mailbox to San Ysidro, a short walk from the border. I now park on the Mexico side
and walk across. Saving hundreds every month. I stop in a grocery store once-in-awhile to buy sweet or bread and butter pickles though. They're
impossible to find in TJ and I gotta have 'em.
Anybody know where I can buy them in TJ or Rosarito?
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by k-rico
Anybody know where I can buy them in TJ or Rosarito? |
Wht don't you make your own??
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k-rico
Super Nomad
Posts: 2079
Registered: 7-10-2008
Location: Playas de Tijuana
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by k-rico
Anybody know where I can buy them in TJ or Rosarito? |
Wht don't you make your own?? |
Hmmmm, not a bad idea. I could make some pickled eggs too! YUM.
I also get the Joneses for potato salad but they only sell russetts here. They make a lousy salad. Need red or white ones. None here.
And try to find good sausages.
I tell ya, living in Mexico is tough!
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by k-rico
And try to find good sausages.
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Make those too. Cabelas sells all of the necessary equipment.
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