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Bajagypsy
Super Nomad
Posts: 1416
Registered: 8-31-2006
Location: Bahía Asuncion BCS
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Mood: Living the dream
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How Cheaply do you think you could live in baja?
Just thought this would be fun to see how far everyone could par there living expenses. Take the poll and then say what you could do or not do with
out!!
[Edited on 4-13-2007 by Bajagypsy]
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Capt. George
Super Nomad
Posts: 2129
Registered: 8-21-2003
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my biggest expense is shade for my giant head!
\"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men\" Plato
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Bajagypsy
Super Nomad
Posts: 1416
Registered: 8-31-2006
Location: Bahía Asuncion BCS
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Mood: Living the dream
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All I need is my dogs, my kids and my hubby, a tent and we are good to go!!!
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Fred
Senior Nomad
Posts: 500
Registered: 3-15-2007
Location: Las Vegas
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Mood: Laid Back
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With $600 a month one can live ok in Baja/Mexico. Prices have skyrocked in places like Los Barriles. I drive a 79 VW Westfalia and can do whatever
the moment brings. Some days you just have "hole up" on a beach with just the roar of the Pacific and a cold beer. Damnnnnnnnnnnnnn
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Corky1
Nomad
Posts: 416
Registered: 11-22-2003
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Dependes on how often I can get someone to go dirt bike riding with me!!! 
Corky
 
\"Keep The Rubberside Down\" |
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vandenberg
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5118
Registered: 6-21-2005
Location: Nopolo
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Mood: mellow
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Thought to bring up the average a bit, so voted for over $3000.00. ( I wish  :lol But it sure has become a lot more expensive here since the upscale Loreto
Bay " Ghetto ",( like my friends call it ) went up.
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Marie-Rose
Senior Nomad
Posts: 894
Registered: 10-2-2003
Location: Victoria, B.C. and Todos Santos
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Mood: Worried...
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Certainly could live alot cheaper if we did not own property and also feel a duty to support many local fundraising projects! That being said, if one
prepares their own food, limits restaurants (many pricey eating establishments for gringo's in TS), live more like the locals...no problema. I think
it would be safe to say that if you can live frugally or within a budget in Canada..., you can do the same here much easier.
Remember, when in Mexico, yes may be no and no may be
maybe!
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Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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We don't eat out much. With the prices at Costco, Soriana's, CCC we get by nicely on just our SS (about $2400 per mo). We don't spend much on gas
(except boat gas) and in the tropics we don't buy a lot of clothes. We can still splurge now and then on shrimp, good wine, fresh leg of lamb, etc.
Back in Vegas we would be living at The Mission, standing in the soup line, flipping off the Ricos in their fancy cars.
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John M
Super Nomad
Posts: 1922
Registered: 9-3-2003
Location: California High Desert
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Would this be with maintaining a home in the US?
The cost - I am supposing those responding are doing so with personal experiences.
I'd think we'd feel the need to at least have someplace north of the border to call "home."
So the cost of a place south of the border - either purchase, build, or rent/lease would be nice to know.
John M
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zforbes
Nomad
Posts: 334
Registered: 4-11-2005
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Mood: Living the dream
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A pure guess for me...
But based on what other posters have offered here and there about Baja costs, and having lived fairly frugally and simply most of my life, I think I
will have sufficient retirement income to live comfortably in Baja. Maintain an additional residence in the states? Not clear. Maybe if the Baja thing
doesn't work out as planned, I can go back to the states and live with my kids 
(Just kidding Zac; I'll check out the Y.) 
Oh yes, what I could not do without: a garden with food and flowers, a place to bathe comfortably, simple food, a good dog for companionship,
sufficient light to read, a few toys (including a computer, a camera & books), my sewing machine and regular visits for hair care (and nails would
be nice). I'm in the process of unloading years of belongings with Baja in mind, and it feels good!
[Edited on 4-13-2007 by zforbes]
\"You cannot prevent the birds of sadness from passing over your head, but you can prevent them from nesting in your hair.\"
Swedish proverb
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fishbuck
Banned
Posts: 5318
Registered: 8-31-2006
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A more subjective question could not be asked.
It depends on if you want to live like a poor Mexican or not.
I don't think it's alot cheaper than the US.
Gas and food are about the same.
Housing may be a little cheaper.
I voted 1000-2000 but that's shoestring. To live there and have a decent home and do things I would plan 3000+.
I'm planing on about 4500/month retirement and that should support a boat, small plane, decent truck and a house on the water and maybe a Mexican
girlfriend or two.
[Edited on 4-14-2007 by fishbuck]
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." J. A. Shedd.
A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. – Albert Einstein
"Life's a Beach... and then you Fly!" Fishbuck
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tripledigitken
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4848
Registered: 9-27-2006
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| Quote: | Originally posted by fishbuck
A more subjective question could not be asked.
I depends on if you want to live like a poor Mexican or not.
I don't think it's alot cheaper than the US.
Gas and food are about the same.
Housing may be a little cheaper.
I voted 1000-2000 but that's shoestring. To live there and have a decent home and do things I would plan 3000+.
I'm planing on about 4500/month retirement and that should support a boat, small plane, decent truck and a house on the water and maybe a Mexican
girlfriend or two. |
Fishbuck,
That's one hell of a lifestyle on $4,500. 
But with $.59 Pacifico's you just might make it.
[Edited on 4-13-2007 by tripledigitken]
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Packoderm
Super Nomad
Posts: 2116
Registered: 11-7-2002
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I imagine it could be pretty cheap if you don't get too fancy. You could rent a plywood casita in the hills on the Eastern outskirts Ensenada on the
right hand side of Highway 3 where it branches off as you travel toward San Felipe. You would have to walk up the hill because there are no roads
that go up there - only walkways. You could buy rice and beans in bulk and buy wheat flour to make tortillas. Maybe it would be possible to buy some
vegetables, but they would have to be local and in season. You would have to pay for propane in order to boil your water so that you don't get
dysentery. Buying a second hand pot might be a worth it because cooking using a hubcap for a pot gets to be a hassle after awhile. If you are up for
the long hike/bicycle ride, it is possible to catch some small rock fish along the shore, and if you catch enough of them you can have yourself a meal
loaded with protein. Beer would bust the budget, and growing your own smoke is risky, so you would have to look at the positives of sobriety. You
might be surprised how cheaply you can live in the above fashion.
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fishbuck
Banned
Posts: 5318
Registered: 8-31-2006
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by tripledigitken
| Quote: | Originally posted by fishbuck
A more subjective question could not be asked.
I depends on if you want to live like a poor Mexican or not.
I don't think it's alot cheaper than the US.
Gas and food are about the same.
Housing may be a little cheaper.
I voted 1000-2000 but that's shoestring. To live there and have a decent home and do things I would plan 3000+.
I'm planing on about 4500/month retirement and that should support a boat, small plane, decent truck and a house on the water and maybe a Mexican
girlfriend or two. |
Fishbuck,
That's one hell of a lifestyle on $4,500.
But with $.59 Pacifico's you just might make it.
[Edited on 4-13-2007 by tripledigitken] |
Well, I forgot to mention that I won't be retiring for at least 10 years. I already bought the land and will acquire the the toys while I'm still
working. I should start phase one of my house within a couple of years. That's going to be a 2 car garage with an attached studio apartment. The Casa
Grande will have to wait.
My goal is to leave jeep and a boat in my garage and fly down in a rental plane once a month until can do it full time.
Now it's just an empty lot and a guy with a dream.
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." J. A. Shedd.
A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. – Albert Einstein
"Life's a Beach... and then you Fly!" Fishbuck
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Member Is Offline
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["a Mexican girlfriend or two."]
That alone could cost you a lot. Girls can be very very expensive.
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vandenberg
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5118
Registered: 6-21-2005
Location: Nopolo
Member Is Offline
Mood: mellow
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| Quote: | Originally posted by fishbuck
A more subjective question could not be asked.
I depends on if you want to live like a poor Mexican or not.
I don't think it's alot cheaper than the US.
Gas and food are about the same.
Housing may be a little cheaper.
I voted 1000-2000 but that's shoestring. To live there and have a decent home and do things I would plan 3000+.
I'm planing on about 4500/month retirement and that should support a boat, small plane, decent truck and a house on the water and maybe a Mexican
girlfriend or two. |
Ten years from now, you probably have to put those Mexican girls to work to make ends meet.
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
Member Is Offline
Mood: wait and see
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A timely subject indeed! Much of the reason I went for this job in Yuma and moved from North Carolina was the idea of retiring in Baja. lately I've
been a bit discouraged by rising prices and have thought maybe about less "touristy" places on the mainland.
The other day, just to kill time, I used my calculator and discovered that Cinco de Mayo this year marks my "Screw You Day",i.e.; the point at which
my accumulated vacation days coincide with the workdays remaining before my 62nd birthday when theoretically I could say shove it and still have
income untill SSA at 75% plus pension plans would kick in and I would have about half my current take-home coming in.
I probably won't do it just yet. In spite of many frustrations, I don't really hate my job and my life here on the border ain't all that bad. But,
it's nice to know I CAN say "screw you" anytime now. I'd kinda like to stick around awhile to see if political changes make a difference later on (a
subject better suited to off-topic) But, if I get really peeed, I think I could sell out and live in reasonable comfort, minus the current $110/mo I
pay Time-Warner for this connection of course.
This has probably been discussed in other threads, but I would like to hear opinions as to the best US banks with Mexican banking ties for receiving
direct deposit SSA & other pension checks while living down there.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9010
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
Member Is Offline
Mood: Inquisitive
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| Quote: | Originally posted by fishbuck
A more subjective question could not be asked.
It depends on if you want to live like a poor Mexican or not.
I don't think it's alot cheaper than the US.
Gas and food are about the same.
Housing may be a little cheaper.
I voted 1000-2000 but that's shoestring. To live there and have a decent home and do things I would plan 3000+.
I'm planing on about 4500/month retirement and that should support a boat, small plane, decent truck and a house on the water and maybe a Mexican
girlfriend or two.
[Edited on 4-14-2007 by fishbuck] |
You've got a good plan, but it's almost impossible to predict the value of 4500.00 in 10 years. But, your income might keep pace with the cost of
living so it might still work. I like a man with a plan.
Hey, if the world economy gets that much worse, Mexican girlfriends will probably be a relative bargain, compared to the cost of avgas and boat gas.
Some have pointed out that you could bare-bones it for about the same price in the US or Mexico. The difference is that you would llikely be in a high
crime area in the US for about the same dinero.
Or, you'd be in Baker, CA.
Looks like I'll be trying it within months, although not necessarily Baja. Probably the mainland which is considerably cheaper.
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Paula
Super Nomad
Posts: 2219
Registered: 1-5-2006
Location: Loreto
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Hi Gypsy,
I don't think you'll be needing to figure in expenses for "girlfriends"
I'm not sure how many kids will be living here with you, or their ages. I'm not figuring in any costs of education or school supplies because our
kids were out of the house before we came down. We live in Loreto, and cost of living is rising rapidly here. With all of that in mind I come up
with the following:
1. rent--600. per month-- if you get in on the grapevine and are prepared for a bare bones home
2. electricity--100. our largest monthly bill considering air cond. and winter use of ocasional oil radiators
3. propane-- 30. stove, water heater, and barbeque
4. phone and "high-speed" internet--100. we have 4 adult children in the states, and I like to talk to them
5. food and drink-- 450. fish, a bit of local beef, veggies, staples, occasional tacos out.
6. miscellaneous-- 200. stuff I forgot, like dry cleaning (see Nellie's
blog on another thread-- or don't!)
So, all of that adds up to well under 1500 per month if you can really live minimally. Don and I don't live on this budget, but I can see how you
could if you are happy with a very basic lifestyle, which it seems from your posts that you are. I am low end on rent I think, but generous on food
and utilities. Of course cost of living increases aren't predictable, and the place you choose may cost considerably more, or less. Do you have a
boat? I didn't allow for gas for car or boat, but my $1500 figure allows for a monthly commercial panga fishing trip if you choose, or gas for the
vehicle. Bycycling around Loreto is a nice option and saves gas.
My numbers are USD. I was puzzled in some of the above as to whehter posters meant pesos or dollars!
edit-- I added drink to food, and boosted the figure by $50 per month. I get the impression that you guys aren't teetotalers
[Edited on 4-14-2007 by Paula]
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reefrocket
Nomad
Posts: 224
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: Idaho
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Paula---$50!!!! thats only a fifth of Hornitos and less than 2 beers a day!!!!!
No phone
No internet
$80 for air ($5/tank) per month
$80 gas (exploring) per month
Probably $500 repairs per year
as much free camping as possible
$50 per year fmT
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