Cost of Living
The cost of living here at Lakeside depends very much on your lifestyle
of course. Here are some of our fixed costs, and a list of actual expenditures
for a typical week, with notes on some of the items.
Of course, you must allow for the fact that Isabel is a frugal shopper,
she always gets the least expensive items unless there is real quality difference,
and she judges the quality as being worth the extra price. She is also Mexican, so
the 'Gringo Tax' is not applied. ('Gringo Tax' is the illegal but not uncommon
practice of charging more to north of the border visitors. For example, I once bought
a one kilo bag of peanuts in the mercado municipal in Chapala, and was charged
15 pesos. The following week, Isabel bought another one kilo bag {we were expecting
visitors, they were not all for me!} and it cost her 11 pesos from the same vendor.)
Our lifestyle is comfortable, not lavish. Your own experience may be
more or less costly.
NOTE: All prices in Mexican Pesos, divide by 10 for approximate U.S. Dollars
Fixed Expenses
- $3300 / month -- House rent for a small three bedroom, two bath house in San Antonio,
partly furnished (appliances). Has gated parking area for one car and small patio in back.
- $100 / month -- average electicity costs -- billed once every two months. Current bill
(see below) was half normal amount, and we don't know why -- maybe they didn't read the
meter but just estimated.
- $200 / month -- average for bottled gas which runs the stove and water heater.
- $600 / month -- telephone bill, includes $350 for DSL Internet (DSL is available
only in Ajijic and San Antonio at this time)
- $100 / month -- average for gasoline for our two cars -- but we don't drive much. If
we take a day-trip it can add another $100 pesos for the day...
- $230 / month -- cable TV
- Other items, like clothing, cosmetics, bedding, towels, etc. you should expect to pay
about the same as you do in the U.S. or Canada, though you won't need any heavy coats, boots
or other winter gear! Electronic items usually cost about 10 to 25% more here.
Actual Expenditures June 12 - 18, 2005
June 12 - Sunday
- $70 used book, Museo Nacional de Antropologia (c)1999 price tag shows $200 new
- $51 a chicken for dinner, usually about $40, but bought this in a store we haven't
used before and probably won't use again!
- $35 'malt' made without milk or real ice-cream, at Dolphy Chapala -- they used to use
real milk and ice cream for these shakes, but this time it was icy, more like a slurpee.
- $27 'capachino' ice cream and coffee flavor ice like the 'malt' above.
- Note: Isabel's car broke down and we had to leave it on the street in Chapala --
it sat several years without use before she bought it, so the door locks were jammed,
meaning we could't even lock the doors. Sunday night, so we couldn't find a tow truck and
just left it on the main Chapala-Jocotepec road near downtown Chapala (in front of the
old Post Office). Despite sitting over-night unlocked there was nothing missing in the
morning, the battery, spare tire, etc. were all as we left them. While we would not
recommend others do this, it just shows the reputation for crime in Chapala is somewhat
exagerated.
- $11 for two bus fares back to San Antonio Tlyacapan from Chapala
- Note: The following items were bought in the little neighbourhood store by our house,
and so cost more than they might elsewhere:
- $7 for 100 grams Pipian (ground pumpkin seed and spices, used to make a sauce for the chicken).
- $3.50 for 1/2 kilo tortillas.
- $20 for four 1/2 liter Cokes.
- $10 for one kilo of seeds for Isabel's canaries.
Total for day: $234.50
June 13 - Monday
- Note: having burritos from leftovers for dinner, but needed some more things at
local store:
- $10 for one liter of milk
- $5 one onion
- $9 five small tomatoes
- $12 pack of ten flour tortillas
- $200 towing for Isabel's car.
- $1500 deposit (for parts) on cost of having the engine rebuilt, will be $3000 total.
- Had Isabel's car towed to our mechanic's -- because it sat so long without use before
she bought it the rings have seized up, the engine will need to be rebuilt. Seems like there
is always some emergency or unexpected expense to deal with! Despite that, we went to fiesta
at the Plaza in San Antonio, their annual celebration goes from June First to 13th:
- $20 two beers (these cost $5 each in the store -- there is no case discount, one or 20
cost the same per bottle).
- $15 pint of strawberries and cream.
Total for day: $1780.00
June 14 - Tuesday
- Note: We eat out at a restaurant about once per week, this week we
decided to see a movie too:
- $60 movie tickets for 2 (normally $70, discount for first show at 3:30 PM).
- $15 popcorn, it only comes in one size, about a gallon-sized bucket.
- $40 two large soft drinks.
- And then for dinner we tried 60s in Paradise for our first time:
- $65 for a real milk shake, bowl of bean-less chili and half a phily-steak sandwich (about 5 inches long).
- $55 for root-beer float and a cheeseburger.
- $15 tip - we enjoyed the food at this place and recommend it.
Total for day: $250.00
June 15 - Wednesday
- We did our weekly shopping today. First stop, the 'marcado municipal'
in Chapala for vegetables. The vendor Isabel uses most was crowded with shoppers,
so she went to another -- who recognized her as a potential new customer and
probably discounted costs 10% or 20% to entice her to return. Nothing has marked
prices, so it is impossible to tell what individual items cost:
- $39 for:
- 5 medium tomatoes
- 5 poblano peppers for chiles rellenos
- 3 hot chillie peppers
- 1/2 kilo limes
- 2 large onions
- 4 medium carrots
- 4 medium potatoes
- Next we bought a couple items in other stores in Chapala:
- $12 for 1 kilo tamarindo (to make a healthful drink).
- $12 for birdfood for Isabel's canaries.
- $2 tip to the parking helper who watches for traffic and lets you know when it
is safe to back out onto the busy street.
- Then we went to Soriana (a Wal-Mart competitor) for our main shopping:
- $21 for 400 grams cooked chicken wings for a snack.
- The rest of these items and prices are taken from the receipt:
- $18.90 liquid dish soap
- $3.88 for .235 Kilo eggplant
- $18.89 for 1 liter canola oil
- $92.90 for 100 tablets, 500mg vitamin C
- $23.41 for .51 kilo lamb chops
- $2.25 large bundle cilantro
- $14.50 for 5 juice powders @ 2.99 ea. (CLIGHT - each one makes 1.5 liters flavored juice)
- $20.90 gallon of clorox
- $18.98 for 2 boxes of tomato puree 1 kg. ea.
- $1.40 for .165 kilo fresh green beans
- $24.90 small round vanity mirror
- $26.95 kellogg Crusli cereal 450 grams
- $37.90 for 300 grams Knorr chicken bullion (3 mo. supply)
- $25.80 for 3 liters boxed 5% milk
- $11.80 for 4 bars bath soap
- $19.49 for 550 grams apricot (chabacano) marmalade
- $22.55 for 560 grams chopped pork
- $33.07 for 480 grams ground beef
- $18.42 for 290 grams manchego cheese
- $50.94 for 600 grams two rib-eye steaks
- $33.90 for 12 rolls toilet paper
- $4.65 for 500 grams popcorn (un-popped)
- $8.99 liter muriatic acid (cleaner)
- $11.15 for 545 grams tomatillos (small green tomatoes)
- $8.79 for 1 kg dry black beans
- $13.80 for 2 rolls paper towels
- $21.90 for 1 liter blueberry yoghurt
- $20.50 for 1 liter plain yoghurt
- $19.31 TAX
- ($611.96 TOTAL)
- $3 to person who packed the bags -- usually need a couple more pesos for a kid
who helps unload groceries into your car and takes the cart away, but none were
available today...
Total for day: $701.00
June 16 - Thursday
- $595 Phone bill (includes $350 DSL Internet)
- $20 for four 1/2 liter Cokes
Total for day: $615.00
June 17 - Friday
- $109.31 Electric Bill (2 mos., half normal & don't know why)
- $5.50 for 60 milliliters almond oil (cosmetic)
- $5.50 for 60 milliliters olive oil (cosmetic)
Total for day: $120.31
June 18 - Saturday
- $20 four 1/2 liter cokes
- $5 one avacado
- $2 two cucumbers
- $3 for 95 gram packet of Canapinas crackers (like Ritz but less sweet)
Total for day: $30.00
Total for week: $3730.81 ($2030.81 normal expenses and $1700 auto expense)
That's a fairly typical week for us. Some times there are weeks at a time
with no 'unusual' expenses, but that just means something big will hit us soon. This week's
expenses included the phone and electric bills, but not rent or gas. Next week we will have
to pay the other $1500 on the car repair -- compared to the U.S. that is very cheap to have
an engine rebuilt, by the way -- but we have a good, reliable and honest mechanic. I had one
shop charge me $1000 to put a 'new' brake cylander in my car. When it started acting up again
a week later I took it to this mechanic we now use and he showed me how they had repainted
the old one and put in gaskets that soon broke because the real problem wasn't fixed. Then
he went on to put a real new brake cylander in and charged me $500 total for parts and
labor.
Of course most people pay more for housing when they first arrive here, than
the $300 we pay. Realtors do not advertise houses in this price range, they can only be
found by word-of-mouth or perusing the fliers posted around at various locations. There
are plenty of houses in the $700+ range listed by real estate agents. Some are newer than
our house, others larger -- but some are just about the same, perhaps with a newer coat of
paint on the walls. There does not seem to be a direct relationship between price and value
when it comes to rental homes -- shop around!
Those who come down only for a few months each year must expect to pay much
more for rent of course. No owner wants to rent a place for three months and let it sit
vacant for nine months, unless they get a substantial premium over the average rental.
Without the car repair expense and the phone and electric bills, we spent
about $125 U.S. for food, entertainment and normal day to day expenses, or $500 U.S. per
month. Add the $400 to $500 per month from the fixed expenses list, and we can live comfortably
on about $1,000 U.S. per month -- barring emergencies. (I wish I could bar emergencies!)
A figure of $1500 U.S. per month is more realistic, when 'unexpected' expenses are added.
Of course if you want to own your own house or rent a newer or larger house, live a more lavish
lifestyle, or if you have high medical expenses, you would have to expect it to cost more
than that for you.
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