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Perfect summary! And . . . you have made me want to move. :-)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lusitano_
Housing?
Tell me where? Can you live off 400-500 dollars in NYC for a 3 bedroom apartment that may be 1200 sq feet?
I don't own a car because I don't need one... I pay 30 bucks per month to have subway, bus and railway ... I can go pretty much everywhere.
It takes me much less time... Believe me I've had a car, but ended up selling it because usually I'd take 10 minutes to reach a destination and 30 minutes to find a freaking parking spot! So I just sold it instead of having a depreciating asset of thousands of dollars, paying insurance and circulation fees unnecessary to just make some miles on the weekends.
With subway or buses it takes me much less time ... I have subway right out of my doorstep and it takes me everywhere.
Country side? Take the train! (Yes our railroads cover the whole country pretty much) Why would you need to take a freaking car... it takes you less time! And if in some rare occasion I need a car, I'll rent it... which costs 10 bucks a day to rent one for christs sake! Or if I go out of the country just use the airport, and pay 30 dollars or so to go to some other place like London, Amsterdam, Barcelona or some other... I can get an AIRTICKET for 25 dollars to Paris!
Sure we pay in taxes for education and healthcare... although I would say that the ones paying it are not the ones making less.
A person whose salary is 1500 per month NET, its TOTAL taxes I figure to be around 3400 euros per YEAR.
Tell me where in the world with 3400 in US can you get healthcare, higher education at a university?
If you come here and want to live like an American you'll spend way less...
I think I'm pretty knowledgeable on these things... since I live in this country, I've lived in United States as well and my wife is American so I know how much cheaper things are here in a numerous amount of things...
Just this summer my wife and I, spent while here 4000 dollars together during 2.5 months... this with gasoline, hotels, eating out like everyother day for fancy dinners, eating out for lunch... touristic tours, accomodation ... Food... etc ...sure I gained like 20 lbs of weight unwillingly but hey I was hosting her around so it was all good.
I've had several american friends visiting me and they all laugh how cheaper it is ... Tell me next time you eat 2 pounds of seafood in a restaraunt for 7 bucks...
Ok enough... i have to go to pay my tuition now of 600 dollars for the whole year
And don't forget this is living in the capital you can cut costs much more living in the suburbs for much less... for example my coworker he rents out a house for 250 out of the suburbs of Lisbon. Which is like 11 km away ... He gets the bus, which I thought it would take him a lot of time to get to the financial center in Lisbon, but to my surprise it takes him almost as much time as I take by walking from my house to the office (I live like 0.5 miles away so I walk it takes me 10 min) while he takes the bus
These threads about moving to other countries and 'living like kings for very little money' ... regularly populate the 'Retirement Forum.' Still, I'm not aware of any country in the world that is having a problem with too many "American immigrants."
Yet, people in all of these touted 'low cost kingship countries' are standing in line to get into the U.S.. That, in itself, speaks volumes to the practical reality and downsides of 'the wonderful advantages' of moving the other direction.
CAN one move elsewhere, learn a new language, adapt to a new culture, bypass American amenities and spend less money on food, rent, taxes and transportation?? Possibly ... but, will one then be able to afford to come back and re-integrate into the U.S. --- if one discovers that there is more to life than 'frugal living' in the backwoods of some third-world country?
-- Those who are unable to take advantages of American opportunities to comfortably survive in the U.S. ... are likely to find similar difficulties with fewer opportunities and a wide range of social/cultural obstacles elsewhere.
As I have mentioned many times in different posts it is not necessary for a person to live in a far away country when Mexico is just to the south of the US. Granted things are not the best down south while here in Rosarito you would never know or hear of any problems. About 14,000 Americans live in this area and many cross the border during the week to work in the San Diego area. US money earned will go a lot farther down here then paying the higher home and Rent costs in SD.
Got a new neighbor a couple of weeks ago from stateside. They rented for a low sum after living here in another place...better home and ocean view.
Best part is in not needing any Visa from the border to Ensenada which is considered a FREE VISA ZONE.
Depending on location a 1-3 hr drive will bring you to the border and across into the US.....really simple
As I have mentioned many times in different posts it is not necessary for a person to live in a far away country when Mexico is just to the south of the US. Granted things are not the best down south while here in Rosarito you would never know or hear of any problems. About 14,000 Americans live in this area and many cross the border during the week to work in the San Diego area. US money earned will go a lot farther down here then paying the higher home and Rent costs in SD.
Got a new neighbor a couple of weeks ago from stateside. They rented for a low sum after living here in another place...better home and ocean view.
Best part is in not needing any Visa from the border to Ensenada which is considered a FREE VISA ZONE.
Depending on location a 1-3 hr drive will bring you to the border and across into the US.....really simple
You are comparing living in Mexico to one of the most expensive cities in the United States.
I have several friends who have condos in the Tucson area and in Baja and they don't agree that the costs for similar quality housing and the related lifestyle is much cheaper in MEXICO.
I guess that if you "live like the locals", you might experience a little savings BUT how many people are really looking for that??
"Live like the locals" is questionable statement as we do not live that way at all.
Where in the US East or West coast can you build a 1450 sq ft home with avg 60-70 degrees temp all yr round... all that with a beautiful ocean view for $40K including the lot.....I did.... Amenities the same as the US and more.
I'm in Baja and my electricity comes from Calif/Nevada.....answer that one while being cheaper to boot.
Grocery chain store (part US owned) along with the same groceries as you buy in the US.
As for the Condo part, sure, we have those here with the US conclave of neighbors and they pay the HIGH price similar to what would be available in the US.....know that for a fact as a friend built a place in one of those places for $40K on LEASED land with a monthly 5 yr lease while NOT owning the lot his house sits on while I own my lot....huge difference.
In 21 yrs in Mexico I have lived for a lot less money then many in the US.......and I am not pro Mexico just being honest and showing reality.
Steve gives great perspective in regards to Mexico.....it should also be mentioned that if you move it may be too expensive to move back to the USA later on!
A girl I know went on a mission trip to Costa Rica (land of the cheap hookers, cheap living, cheap beer, great fishing/surfing etc) and was stunned to find it wasn't really that cheap! She told me milk was like $7 a gallon, the "cheap" housing was long gone due to all the Americans creating demand (forcing prices higher). Several of the people she met said they were looking for cheaper places to move to.....
In 21 yrs in Mexico I have lived for a lot less money than many in the US.......and I am not pro Mexico just being honest and showing reality.
I think this illustrates the fact that you can always beat the system in any country to some degree, but you have to take the time and really research what you are doing. Just as many Americans complain about high costs here, other Americans with similar income in the same metro area will say they're doing fine. It's all about expectations, research, and thoughtful planning. The people who are bad at thoughtful and detailed research and planning don't do well financially in any country.
I'm planning on retiring to a cheaper cost of living country when it's time for me to finally do so. Another factor is climate change. Look at what has been happening in the past few years each winter, something is horribly, horribly wrong and some experts even think in a few decades most of America could resemble an arctic wasteland for about 9 months out of the year.
As for the weather all a person has to do is type in the City/Country or the Zip code and plenty of info will show.
San Ysidro Calif Zip 92173 weather is almost the same as here in Rosarito Mexico.
I am 29 miles south of the border and did my research before investing. On another note in the past two different couples from the west coast came down here based upon my info and answering their questions honestly.
Just the other day met a young lady from Liberia.....been here for over five years and is very happy.
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but hey I was hosting her around so it was all good.
