Nancy - at CountdowntoMexico.com, is a frequent contributor here at BoomersToMexico. On the subject of rentals in Mazatlan, she mentions Jen’s new house in Mazatlan. It’s a beautiful, large place that is very affordable compared to Chapala. Check out Jen’s blog, MexScape to see pictures of it. Go to ‘Photo Gallery/Our New House’.And while you’re there, check out the pics of ‘Bike Week’. Les is from Milwaukee, where they make Harleys. Bikes are her kind of stuff, but only if they make that low throaty sound.
Nancy also suggests getting the rental price in pesos, not dollars. Good idea.
Ultimately, lifestyle will make the choice for us, but it’s nice to see what’s affordable in Mazatlan.
I hope you aren’t offended by my talking about money, but money is one of the reasons Les and I are heading South.
I’m a photographer and an overall creative kind of guy, so I’ve been looking for some ways to make a little extra money while Les and I are in Mexico. Every so often I invent some utilitraian device that makes my life a little easier. Les and I are trying to learn how to produce the last two items I came up with, a sock-like case to protect a pocket camera from scratches and dust, and a device to keep iPod ear buds from getting so tangled. It’s easy to make something for myself – it doesn’t have to be a finished product, something else to make it to sell. Hopefully, we’ll be able to sell some of these items on eBay and make a little extra cash. They really are quite handy. I’ll post some pictures when the finished products are ready.
I got my yearly Social Security statement a few days ago. Retiring at 62 (this August) I’ll get something like $1150. Les is already getting around $1375, so between us, we should be getting around $2500/month. That sounds pretty good. If the cost of living in Mexico is a conservative half of what it is in the States, and many say it’s more like a third, the we should have the equivalent of $60K to live on. That’s fantastic! We sure couldn’t get by on only $30K in the States.
But the numbers can be deceiving. We have debts back here in the States, car loans, credit cards, etc., and they have to be paid in US Dollars. So, for every dollar we have to pay in the States, we effectively lose two dollars of income in Mexico. I’m trying to get those debt payments down before we go.
Les and I have been talking it over, and don’t really feel certain that the Chapala area is where we want to first settle down. Neither of us was very impressed with it – though we did visit it at what might have been the worst time of the year, weatherwise, it was April and very dry, the rains hadn’t come yet to make it beautiful.
So we’re thinking we should make a run down the pacific coast, and see what that has to offer. Mazatlan, The Riviera Nayarit. That area might be a little cheaper than the Chapala area, and both of us have always liked the ocean.
The guidebooks say that the pacific towns get ’swealteringly hot and humid’ in the summer, but we’ll see what that’s like. Heck, I live in Texas. It may not get to 90 degrees and 90% humidity – but 105 and 70-80% might be even worse. Besides, I lived in Hawaii for two years, where it’s hot and humid in the summer, and on a desert island off the coast of Africa. It wasn’t humid – but it was HOT!
So I might take a run down the coast in August and see what it’s like at it’s hottest. Then we can make a decision between the two. We’re on a budget, so cost might make a difference.
Pretty exciting, huh??? we’re going down to the Dallas Records Building, forking over our $71 (cash only please, no checks or money orders), showing proof that we’re over 18 (they could just look at us you know) and getting the papers to make it all legal.
We haven’t posted in a while. This doesn’t mean we aren’t still working on the move to Mexico. We are. However life keeps moving forward at an amazing speed. We are continuing to read our books, visit all the wonderful and relevant websites regarding others who have moved or are planning to move to Mexico. One of the wonderful things about this whole experience is the realization we are not alone. Others have dreamed of it. Some have actually done it. How wonderfully encouraging and life sustaining to know the path we tread is filled with like souls making and planning to make the same journey! It will happen. Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: “I am with you kid. Let’s go.” ~Maya Angelou
We just got a comment on the post ‘Rental Prices in San Miguel’. Cheryl, who lives right here in Dallas, wrote to say that she and her husband bought a lot in San Miguel and plan to build on it and move there in 5 years. She writes ‘Go to “Falling in Love with San Miguel” which is a forum for people interested in San Miguel. Quite frequently, there are a lot of casas and casitas posted for rent and they are cheap!’
Sounds like a great resource, and Les and I are grateful for it. We don’t have the time or money to make an extra trip to Mexico just now – it’s going to take 2 more trips just to move – 1 to rent a place, the second to actually move. But we’ll be checking out San Miguel when we get to Mexico. It’s great to know there are some affordable places.
Check out Cheryl’s complete comment under ‘Where to move’.
Les and I are moving in 4 months now! Time is moving quickly, and there is a lot to be done. We’ve got friends and family to visit back in Wisconsin. We’ve got a small wedding. There are forms and changes of name and new passports and all sorts of paperwork to be done. We have to divest ourself of all this stuff we’re not taking to Mexico. We have to find a way to get what we are keeping down to Mexico. We have to take a trip to Chapala to rent a place, then come back to Dallas to get the stuff ready to ship. I have to get some social security income coming in. It just seems like a whole bunch to do. All that in addition to trying to get some work to come in here in Dallas so we’ll have the money for all this.
Les and I don’t have a cushion of money to fall back on. We just have a few thousand dollars in savings, plus some money I borrowed at an extremely low interest rate. Basically, we’ll be living on our Social Security income. So I’ve been looking for ways to supplement that income. We’re pretty sure that Les can earn an income doing something down there, but for me, a photographer who doesn’t speak Spanish, the options look a little more limited. So I’ve been inventing simple little home-made products that maybe we can sell on eBay, all sorts of other stuff.
Which leads me to say this: THIS WHOLE MOVE THING CAN BE PRETTY STRESSFUL!!! even 4 months out. I’d advise anyone who is doing this, and especially so quickly, or on the cheap, to make sure they spend some extra time de-compressing and realizing that it will all work out and someday, God willing, they’ll be in Mexico!! Now if only I can take my own medicine!
Salvador Dali wrote: “I believe that the moment is near when by a procedure of active paranoiac thought, it will be possible to systematize confusion and contribute to the total discrediting of the world of reality.”
That quote gives validity to, at least, my confusion – as I can’t speak for David. Here’s the point – we know we are moving to Mexico. We know when we are moving to Mexico – October 2009. We actually know, for the most part, where we are moving…at least initially… the Lake Chapala area. And, here’s what we don’t know…exactly, where we are moving and how we are making said move. I’m the type of person who “flies by the seat of my pants”. I love the unplanned and revel in the unexpected. Obviously, or maybe not so much, I have done minimal research about this move to Mexico. Without the research I already know it is something I want to do….live my life with David in Mexico. Thank goodness for this blog as we are getting great input into what others have done to make the actual move – with furniture – over the border. It is wonderful to have this blog and the ability to talk with others who have gone before us! We’re moving…ready or not!! Viva Mexico!!!
I just mentioned Ken Luboff’s excellent ‘Living Abroad in Mexico’ – where he names some of his favorite restaurants, hotels, B&B’s, and ex-pats he knows around the country. And of course there is Mexperience.com. A website chockful of information. Now Nancy, at CountdowntoMexico (see the blogroll on the left) has mentioned another one to us: The Expat Community Blog (see the blogroll again). It’s not just for ex-pats living in Mexico, or from the US, but for ex-pats from anywhere living most anywhere. There’s a great Mexico section where you can post questions for other ex-pats to answer. And a list of the blogs of other ex-pats in Mexico. A great resource, and a fun way to meet people as well.
