Welcome, everyone. If you’ve ever considered embarking on a journey through Mexico while maintaining a budget, you’re in the right place. In this video, we’ll explore the practical aspects of traveling and living in Mexico from my perspective, a solo traveler who has spent the past five months on the road.

I’ve navigated the diverse landscapes of Mexico, from bustling cities to serene rural areas, all while managing my expenses, and my two dogs. I’ll provide a breakdown of monthly costs, including accommodation, fuel, toll charges, cell service, and food. Also, some hidden costs you may not have thought of. 

Through these experiences, both positive and challenging, I aim to offer a clear picture of what it takes to live and travel in Mexico on a budget.

Monthly Expenses in Mexico: Staying in Patzcuaro VS On the Move

I spent the first 5 months in Mexico moving around every 1-4 weeks. This was great for seeing a lot of areas and towns quickly, which is something I wanted to do. Exploring Mexico was what I was here for.

But, paying for rental accommodation (mostly through Airbnb) by the week is more expensive than a long term rental, almost everywhere. Therefore I’ve done an expense assessment first while I was moving every 1-4 weeks, and now that I’ve got a long term rental and plan to stay at least a few months. That will be part 2.

The other high variability is gas for the car, and tolls. Obviously if I was traveling 4 or 5  hours every week to a new destination, my gas costs would be higher than when I stayed in one place. 

Toll fees varied greatly from $1400 pesos driving Nogales to Mazatlan, to nothing, driving from Sayulita to La Manzanilla.

If you’re interested in estimates for fuel and tolls between two cities I recommend checking out the app TollGuru. Obviously you may take a different route than I have so I’m giving some examples of fuel and toll expenses, but yours may vary.

Now that I’m in one place, I still pay for gas just for driving in between villages and cities I want to see.  I have Mexican auto insurance but I’ve kept this cost out of the equation because it’s static, and not everyone has car expenses, so if you’re carless you can take off gas expenses and think of other kinds of transportation expenses: buses, taxis etc.

Things not included in this expense summary:

Some things I left out of this report because they can vary too much for each person, or you might leave these expenses out entirely. If you choose not to drive yourself, for instance, my car’s registration fees, temporary import permit, and auto insurance won’t apply to you.

I also have left out health insurance, any subscriptions I have, like online newspapers, the cost of my temporary residency visa (I’ll explain that in another video) which you may or may not get, and the cost can vary depending on where you get it. And the vet bills I had in the first month.

Please remember that there are more expenses in life than what I’m talking about. There are shoes and clothing, the dentist, getting a manicure, fine dining if you like that. And emergencies can happen. A medical issue or an accident can wreak havoc on your planned budget.  What I’m talking about is a basic budget for the necessities I had while traveling.

Rental Accommodations

The advantage of short term rentals is that utilities are included most of the time. You don’t need to get a bill for home internet, gas, or electricity. Also, I didn’t buy any cleaning or home products like TP for 5 months. The disadvantage of short term is that they are generally much more expensive than a long term rental, meaning 6 months to a year.

I was happy to stay in a couple of rentals for 4 weeks. This allowed us to settle in, really see a place or town, and meant a greater savings for monthly rent. If you rent an airbnb for a week and then move on to the next, your costs will be greater than if you pay for one place for 4. 

The least I paid for a one week stay was $180 USD. The most I paid was $620 for one week. If you’ve spent any time on airbnb you know that the prices can go way up from there. Taxes and airbnb fees also add up, and if I was ever to go back to one of those rentals I would approach the owner offline.

In most cases I negotiated the price with the owner (not the $180/week, that was low enough). I asked for a discount because I was just one person, and I usually did the booking kind of at the last minute, so the owner knew: if they weren’t getting a booking by this time in their calendar, they were probably going to have an empty house. And in most cases they would rather give a discount than have an empty rental.

I suggest asking “if they would consider” your offer for their “lovely rental” and give them an understanding of what your budget is, so they don’t have to guess. I’d say 85% of the time I got the discount. Once in a while they would counter offer a higher price and I could accept or decline. Very few owners just said no. If you have seen some of my videos, you’ve seen some of the rentals we’ve had. They’ve all been very nice (with one exception).

Of course it helps to have positive reviews about yourself on airbnb, especially with pets coming along. I find that if an owner is too concerned about my dogs I’d rather just not make a deal with them. I have 2 big dogs. Those are the facts. If they are concerned with their size, well, I don’t want to worry them and I’d rather be where people are more relaxed about dogs.  I’ve never had any damages and I try to get as much fur out of the house before we leave as I can. Once in a while an owner will ask for a bigger cleaning fee which I’ve been happy to pay.

Transportation (in my case gas, tolls etc..)

Toll roads in Mexico are generally nice and better than the libre roads. They are considered safer as well. Tolls are relatively expensive, for instance I paid about $1300 pesos in tolls from Nogales, Sonora to Mazatlan. That’s about $77USD. I think it’s worth it and I’m including it, but  your route may be different altogether. So this is what I paid, but depending on where you travel and how far, your expenses will be different.

Going out to eat and entertainment

What you should keep in mind is that we all spend our money differently. I’m pretty frugal and don’t go out to eat a lot. If you like to eat lunch and dinner out 5 days a week you’ll have to figure in those costs. (I’ve had meals as little as $2 USD, and up to about $20. Of course there are more upscale places and higher prices if you like fancy).

I do have dog expenses, not that much, so you can exclude if you have no pets (around $40-50 per month).

I get the feeling there might be better deals to be had than my esim card for cell service, but I’ve not checked that out yet.  Suffice it to say, your expenses might be very different from mine if you have a different lifestyle.

Method of calculation

So what I did was take my expenses each month while I was traveling and averaged them out after the 4 months (Left the first week off, crossing the border, staying in one night hotels mainly, and the last 3 weeks when I’ve been in my long term rental).

Because it varies so much depending on rental accommodations, just know that if you have longer term rentals, you’ll most likely have lower costs for housing. Much lower.

By next week we’ll have been at this new location in Michoacan for a month, so at that point I will have my electric bill and everything else to calculate the total monthly expenses while we’re stationary here, and can let you know what the differences are. I’m pretty sure they are significant!

Considerations

The exchange rate.  When I first got here to Mexico I think the exchange rate USD to Pesos was just under 17. As of today it’s almost 20 pesos for one dollar. This can have a big impact on your budget over time.  If I was to pay 10,000 pesos in April that would have been about $588. Today the same 10,000 pesos are equivalent to about $526. That’s a $62 difference!

Of course, if you have another currency to spend, like the Euro or the Canadian dollar or any one else, there will be a different exchange rate, so keep that in mind.

The cost of living while preparing to make the move was significant for me but there was no choice. I got laid off in January, made the decision to move to Mexico within 2 weeks, and then took almost 2 months to get rid of all my stuff, and prepare to leave. That 2.5 months required all the usual living expenses, but without the job, so if you’re in a similar situation consider the runway time, and if you’ll have an income during that time or not.

Expenses are different depending on your final long term plan. If you’re coming to Mexico for a few months, like on a sabbatical, and then intend to go back to your home country and resume your job, your expenses in the long run will be different from someone who plans to move permanently. These are some expenses you may not have thought of, but I believe are important to consider.

Begpacking

What you don’t want to do is become a “begpacker”(instead of a backpacker) by depleting your funds without a backup plan. Don’t be a traveler who begs for money from locals to complete what is essentially a trip you couldn’t afford to take. To be fair, I have yet to see a begpacker in Mexico, but I don’t want to start now. When there is real poverty and suffering in the world, it’s nauseating to see someone who just flew over sitting in the street asking for money.

 Now, I’m not your mother, but I will throw this in there: You need a cash reserve!

An emergency fund is important for unplanned things like a medical emergency (whether you have medical insurance or not), OR if things haven’t gone the way you hoped and you need to do a re-entry into your old life, get a place to live and a job in your home country, for example. 

I think it is wise to have at least 3 months worth of expenses in an emergency savings account that is readily accessible. I keep mine separate in its own account so it never gets touched unless needed.

Just a final note:

When I was dreaming, and then planning, to move to Mexico, I would watch youtube videos and just wanted to know the bottom line: how much does it cost to live in Mexico?!

I’m on the more frugal side when it comes to living expenses. I don’t get my nails done. I only go out to eat about once a week, and I don’t buy a lot of extras.

When I was younger I was a single teenage mother. Obviously money was in short supply and I was able to talk myself out of buying anything my son and I didn’t need, for years. There was no choice.

Eventually I went on to become a nurse and was fortunate that with this profession I was able to pay my bills in an increasingly unlivable economy (in the States). One of the reasons I’m able to travel now is that my habit of talking myself out of buying things kind of stuck with me. There was a time when I liked to try every new fancy restaurant, so it’s not like I’ve never spent any money. But the general habit of being a saver instead of a spender has helped me through life and has enabled me to be a budget traveler.

So, be honest with yourself as you prepare to travel and understand your own needs and lifestyle.

(Also, it is cheaper, per person, if you’re traveling as a couple. The rental you pay for, split between two people, is the same price for a single traveler most of the time.)

The Bottom Line

All figures are USD unless followed by a P=pesos

I made two large errors in my video (above), leaving out a whole week in Tequisquiapan in early July, and a brief stay in Sayulita, that I also paid for with cash, in April. I paid $500 for the rental in Tequis and $300 for the one in Sayulita. Therefore, I reserve the right to change any of these figures in the future if I find out I’ve forgotten something else 🙂

This means that my highest cost month was April $2118 ($1500 just for rentals)

And my lowest cost month was May $1355 ($1050 rentals)

That brings my monthly average to $1759.I apologize for the mistake.

Incidentals include Sally’s beauty supply, taxis etc..

Costco includes dog food and treats, except for April (no costco)

Phone varies because sometimes I ran through data faster and had to top up

Water cost varies because some rentals supplied drinking water and some didn’t

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April      

Rentals 1200+ 300 

  $170  (2900p)  gas, 

  $154  (2620p) toll

Phone 29

Water 7

Dog food 20

Restaurants 52

Incidentals  8

Groceries 178

Total April $2118 USD

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May

Rentals 1050 

$41 (700p) gas,  

$29 (500p) toll

Phone 17

Water 8

Restaurants 52

Costco 131

Incidental 6

Groceries 21

Total May $1355

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June  

Rentals 1610   

 $42  (750p) gas, 

$39 (710p) toll

Phone 23

Water 6

Restaurants 42

PetCo 12

Costco 105

Incidentals 15 taxi

Groceries 35

Total June $1929 

---

July  

rental 802 + 500  

$44  (800p) gas, 

$10 (176p) toll

Phone 17

Water 4

Restaurants 34

Costco 143

Groceries 33

Doctor and script 46

Total July $1633