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| Morning in paradise |
As expats who moved to
Isla Mujeres a few years ago, we were definitely not prepared or well-informed on what to expect with regard to the cost of living in Mexico. All that we had heard was that
electricity was very expensive.
We could deal with that by building our home using energy-efficient methods, but we really needed a few comforts such as air
conditioning, an ice-maker, and a wine fridge. You get the idea.
We
budgeted our money and figured out approximately how much longer we
were going to be around, then tried to live well and die broke!
(Sorry, kids.)
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| Typical monthly water bill, in pesos |
A few of our
anticipated expenses fooled us: the cost of our property taxes is
$66.00 a year, electricity averages around $75.00 a
month, water and sewer about $9.00 per month, wine and beer ….
let's just say a whole lot less than Canada.
We have also discovered
the Mexican seniors' card, available to residents over the age of
sixty. There are discounts galore for movies, museums, parks, buses,
and some air travel. Heck, even the passenger fares on the ferries
are half price. Health care is also available, and the cost per year is
an affordable $400.00 for the most expensive category: very
old.
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| 2012 delivery of a new refrigerator |
On the other hand, the
ongoing maintenance of our home is more expensive.
It's best if you are a little handy and can do the small repairs yourself. Everything metal
or electronic takes a beating from the salt in the air.
As you may know from previous blog posts, we have had to purchase, in the last seven years, three refrigerators, two dishwashers, and countless microwaves.
It's
the cost of living on the Caribbean coast.
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| Neighbourhood day at the movies VIP Cancun |
For entertainment besides frequenting our favourite bar,
the Soggy Peso, we can go to Cancun to see first-run movies (in
English) at the VIP theatre for about $8.00. The VIP has
waiters who will bring you food and drinks, even sushi, to your
individual La-Z-Boy recliner. It's a great way to feel totally
spoiled.
So after living here for a bit, our budgeting went out the window. We have decided we can live to a ripe old age, have lots of fun, and maybe, just maybe, have some left over at the end.
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| Sunset - March 2015 |
The bonus is that we live in
a very healthy environment. Our stress is way down. The food is
fresh and tasty. And best of all, the humidity seems to make wrinkles
disappear.
Yup, it's working for
us. Great country, great people, great fun.
Que tengan lindo día
Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas (Today was Lawrie's turn to write!)
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2 comments:
Love it! Gonna start packing!
Good idea! Cheers L
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