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Old 02-28-2018, 04:35 PM
 
1,802 posts, read 1,233,511 times
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Ok, whatever.

If Mexico is so great, why do you follow up with US doctors?

Just admit you can’t afford your desired lifestyle in the US. No shame there . Most people can’t.
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Old 02-28-2018, 06:23 PM
 
Location: Washington state
6,988 posts, read 4,848,051 times
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I'm living on about $1200 a month from SSDI. I just qualified for that last June after a 4 1/2 year battle. I got a good bit of money from the back pay and I'm using that to try and buy some land somewhere, with utilities on it. Once I do that, I'll live in my car till I can afford to put a nice trailer or manufactured house on the land, and then live in my car until I can afford to hook up utilities. I may be too old to enjoy it by then, but hey, I tried! LOL

The goal is to owe for nothing but taxes, utilities, and food (although the purchase of a new vehicle seems to be ominously close). I do have enough to buy a place in a trailer park and I could afford the space rent - for now. So the temptation to live there is really strong. But I've seen rent go up and up and up. I'm not putting myself in a position where the land I live on either gets sold or the rent gets so high I can't live there any more.

I realize taxes may eventually go beyond what I can pay as well, although at first they may be less than the rent I'm paying here. If they get to the point where I can't pay them anymore, I may sell my property, buy a camper, and travel. I may end up dying on the road.

Meantime I'm still living in subsidized housing paying about $400 a month now, but hopefully for only about 6 more months. I get a whopping $15 a month in food stamps and I have Medicare. I still shop very carefully for food (I spend anywhere from $100 to $200 a month) and I'm trying to save about $500 a month while I can. Car is paid off and insurance is only about $28 a month. I don't have to pay any utilities except for my computer.

I do need to get some clothes, shoes, slacks, socks, stuff like that, but I keep putting if off because I hate shopping for clothes, plus I don't want to spend any money. So I look like a ragtag whenever I go out and I get treated like it, too. It's my own fault for not dressing up a little, but it still hurts. Maybe next month I can get a friend to put the proverbial pitchfork in my back to get me out to shop a little.
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Old 02-28-2018, 06:41 PM
 
Location: Cushing OK
14,539 posts, read 21,207,511 times
Reputation: 16939
Quote:
Originally Posted by cebuan View Post
Not a problem. There are plenty of nice, liveable cities in the flyover states where you can easily find a comfortable, safe, well managed 2-br apartment for under $1,000 a month. Choose a location where you can walk to a supermarket, and use public transport for other essentials, and you won't need a car.

Learn to cook, every recipe is demonstrated on Youtube. Two people, if they rarely order or eat out and bypass convenience foods, can eat well on on $300 a month, and with care, can cut that to $200.

I'm assuming, on the retirement forum, that you have medicar and don't need transport of presentable clothing for a job. So buy clothes and appliances and furniture at thrift shops.

So that ought to leave you with 1000 for rent, 200 for utilities, 300 for food, and you have 500 to spare on a car or vacation or whatever.
This is especially true of smaller towns. Housing is dirt cheap. The house I picked out before discussing it with family (who were very happy about things) was purchased for 13k. It had a little work before I could move in, but the rest has been done bit by bit. If I wasn't using it to store stuff I'm not using, I'd have two bedrooms.

I'm not really like the locals, but I really do like the laid back approach most people have. 'Hurry' is an unknown word. It bugged me a bit but now I am fine with it too. I could never have found it in socal or some of the other places I liked. But after all the drama with my ex, quiet and chilled is just fine.

We have three hospitals and I picked the newest. When I cut my hand my nephew came to get me and I went into Emergency. The doctor wrapped it and sent me home. I owed 6 dollars but the state paid it. As for the finger, its still treating me with an, um, 'interesting' number of sensations. Beware of slicing things with wet knife handles.

My food budget is about 150 to 200plus, almost all ordered so I don't have to get a ride there. I have a way to get a ride to the store but right now am avoiding people until the flu has left. I also have a good supply of unused dinner so its less than that, but I like to have a just in case.

I've also got used to the slow pace of living here, nobody in a hurry, and while I'd really enjoy the cultural variety in socal, and old friends and favorite places, I'd very much miss the not in a hurry I have here.

I get around half the amount and with the lower cost because of where I live, I manage fine with money for some extras.
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Old 02-28-2018, 08:31 PM
 
37,494 posts, read 45,798,776 times
Reputation: 56996
Quote:
Originally Posted by BushyEyeBrows View Post
MY heart has been weak since childhood. I hardly ate food due to a constant upset stomach. Bone thin.
Rough up-bringing. I can stop and start my heart at will. Haven't done it since high school but am confident it's still easy. Always wanted that ability in case it got so bad I could depart at will.
Huh??

Quote:
Originally Posted by BushyEyeBrows View Post
We'll likely go fast like most cyclists. Hopefully. It's a major incentive to keep up the exercise not that it is any effort anyhow. We enjoy it. Natural endorphins keeps the mind and body happier than it would've been otherwise. Same with continue to work for as long as possible, doing something, anything at least p/t. At least for me.
Where on earth are you getting this from?
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Old 02-28-2018, 08:39 PM
 
3,975 posts, read 8,139,914 times
Reputation: 4071
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140 View Post
My mother-in-law made it from age 76-95 on just $800/month SS until she passed in 2014. After a year wait she got into subsidized senior housing, a nice apartment. Then we had to help out when she first went into assisted living at 83 and had applied for medicaid but took several weeks to be approved. She had only $50/month left to spend, so we helped with some things like over the counter meds, but the state paid the provider the difference between her $750 SS and the $3,000/month fee. They also took care of medical bills and prescriptions. Having done a lot of the work, I can tell you that getting onto medicaid at least here, is a huge project. Hers was probably easier because she had no home and very little in the bank so proving need was easier. They check bank records 5 years back to make sure no one is hiding the money or gifting it to qualify. Every year you have to go through another round of paperwork to keep the benefit.
They even made my sister cash in her life insurance policies she had with my sister, me and her other God children as beneficiaries and they argued about the money used for a pre-paid funeral.
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Old 02-28-2018, 09:02 PM
 
13,395 posts, read 13,457,370 times
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All this talk of subsidized housing. It's funny no one is calling it Section 8.
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Old 02-28-2018, 09:35 PM
 
5,730 posts, read 10,107,084 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BushyEyeBrows View Post
.


just curious but for those living on 2k or under per mo- what is the cost for medical?
food? housing?
is home paid off? any auto costs? thank you

I'm neither married, nor elderly. But I budget $1,925\month.


Last month I exceeded that budget by $260.
Due to car repairs and ~$360 I spent on lumber to build Beehives.
Most months I come in $100-$300 under.

$301 is my mortgage
Just shy of $550 is bills (inclusive of mortgage)

My primary health care is the VA, I also have Tricare and use it when the VA doesn't fit.

I do have a vehicle (a couple actually. One I just use to tow, but this backup allows me not to worry so much about repairs, timely replacement etc.)

I budget $300\month for repair and replacement outside this budget, although I typically manage to do repairs within it. (If I was older replacement would be less of an issue.)

Food I budget $200, but often don't spend it. I'm sure the garden, picking fruit and canning help. As does buying on sales (last time I bought (very good) bacon I bought 15lbs and sliced it myself. $1.35\lb + the cost of vacuum seal bags for the freezer.)
I also butcher some of my own meat etc

I could easily come in under $1,500 and could manage under $1k if necessary, but I save a significant % of my income and are no need to pinch further.
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Old 02-28-2018, 10:15 PM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,813 posts, read 32,382,398 times
Reputation: 38573
Who knows what will happen that far in the future, but there are ways to work around some restrictions. Some couples even divorce to be able to get benefits, then they just keep living together. I found this article as an example:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/..._n_287094.html

Mentioned in the article is a lawyer saying you can spend down money, etc.

If you were to divorce, I wonder if you would then both be eligible for Medi-Cal?

And if you ended up with a bunch of medical bills, you can always file bankruptcy. And if you end up poor, unless things change, there is subsidized housing.

I live on about $900/month. I have Section 8 housing in a subsidized senior place, and my rent is 32% of my income - about $300. After I pay for electricity, insurance (auto, renters), internet and rent, I have about $500 left. I live simply and I get by. I am on Medi-Cal with no co-pays, so my healthcare, for now, is free. I do okay, but it's hard to save for emergencies. It seems like every time I get ahead by $500 or so, I get an unexpected bill for $500 LOL. Just spent $400 on my truck. I need to buy an air conditioner, which is $400 that I hope to be able to buy before it gets hot - that is, if there is no other emergency before then. I'm always praying my dog doesn't get sick. I use the foodbank to augment groceries I buy. I use the library. I eat at home.

Bottom line, though, is if you don't go out much, at least for anything that isn't free, you can do okay on very little.

Anyway, I think you should talk to an attorney who understand elder law, and/or trusts, etc. Seems to me there should be lots of ways around any problems.
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Old 02-28-2018, 11:28 PM
 
Location: Tucson/Nogales
23,143 posts, read 28,910,546 times
Reputation: 32494
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cabound1 View Post
Ok, whatever.

If Mexico is so great, why do you follow up with US doctors?

Just admit you can’t afford your desired lifestyle in the US. No shame there . Most people can’t.
Mexico is certainly not the bargain lifestyle that most people think it is. Stop and browse through a big grocery chain in Mexico sometimes, and you'll wonder what people can even afford to eat down there, with their low incomes. I've browsed through the grocery chains in Tijuana, and it doesn't surprise me that those with Passports go across the border to San Diego to buy cheaper groceries at Wal-Mart. And, while at it, check out a Wal-Mart in Mexico, with prices higher for the same goods at a Wal-Mart in the U.S.

Mexico's low fertility rate, 2.2, and falling, will increasingly make Mexico less and less of bargain over the years, as Mexico faces an increasing aging population.

As far as medical care in Mexico, I wish we had the same medical care in this country.
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Old 02-28-2018, 11:34 PM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,813 posts, read 32,382,398 times
Reputation: 38573
Quote:
Originally Posted by tijlover View Post
Mexico is certainly not the bargain lifestyle that most people think it is. Stop and browse through a big grocery chain in Mexico sometimes, and you'll wonder what people can even afford to eat down there, with their low incomes. I've browsed through the grocery chains in Tijuana, and it doesn't surprise me that those with Passports go across the border to San Diego to buy cheaper groceries at Wal-Mart. And, while at it, check out a Wal-Mart in Mexico, with prices higher for the same goods at a Wal-Mart in the U.S.

Mexico's low fertility rate, 2.2, and falling, will increasingly make Mexico less and less of bargain over the years, as Mexico faces an increasing aging population.

As far as medical care in Mexico, I wish we had the same medical care in this country.
Yeah, and sales tax in Mexico is about 16%, and they tax everything. I tried moving there and made it a year. It's a lot more expensive than people think - if you want to basically still live like an American. And by that I mean having running water (even if you can't drink it) and electricity and cable and internet. It's all expensive.
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