My name is Mora and I’ve been driving around Mexico for the last 5 months with my two dogs. Until now! We are staying put in Patzcuaro for a few months to take a break from traveling, and enjoy the area. This is enabling me to answer a question that I’ve been wondering abou,t for years really. And that is: Can you live on less than $1500USD per month in Mexico? You may have the same question if you’re thinking about relocating to Mexico!

Moving around Mexico has been fun and I’m already looking forward to doing it again after this break! I’m loving exploring and discovering different areas in the country. I feel very lucky that I’m able to do this, and I’ve had great experiences along the way!

However, there are benefits to staying in one place. For one, you get a more real sense of living in a place, the environment, the cities and towns close by, the weather, and the people. Visiting a place for a week is fun, but it takes longer to really get to know a region.

Another thing is that planning took quite a bit of my time; exploring places online, deciding where to go, booking rentals. I love doing this stuff! And I’ve been doing it for years, whenever I’ve traveled anywhere. But to travel continuously for 5 months… It was time for a break from all that planning.

A third thing is that the cost of living while stationary, versus traveling every 1-4 weeks, changes quite a bit. And that’s what I’m here to tell you about this week!  If you saw last week’s video, you’ll know that I did an assessment of my cost of living and traveling, for each month as I’ve been in Mexico. Now that I’ve been near Patzcuaro, Michoacan for 4 weeks, I can determine what the difference is, moneywize, of staying in one place.

There are so many different areas you could choose to live in Mexico! It’s a large country with a very diverse terrain and almost every climate you could imagine. From jungles to deserts, mountains to beaches, it would take a lifetime to explore the whole country.

Just so, different regions in Mexico have a different economic environment, some being more expensive to live in than others.  

I have heard it said by some lately that Mexico is more expensive to live now than the United States. I’m sure if you compared Puerto Vallarta to a small town in Kentucky that would be correct. But I’m from California and Oregon, and the cost of living there is very high.

I’ve noticed variations in the costs of rental accommodations in different areas in Mexico, areas that are more tourised and popular naturally have a higher price. Supply and demand.

But the income of many Mexican people is not keeping up with these increasing prices, just like in many areas of the United States.  That’s why it’s important for immigrants to assess the regions they might like, with a view towards the economic conditions of the area.

I hear recommended the same few places in Mexico for immigrating expats, over and over, and I understand why. There is a comfort in arriving in a new country having heard many recommendations for the city or town, from many who have already made the jump and can tell you about it. There most certainly will be more English speakers in these popular cities, and there may even be a social circle ready for you to jump into. But The price for this can be high.

Areas that have more Canadian and US expats are known to be more expensive than other parts of Mexico. We all know some of the reasons for this so I won’t go over it, but suffice it to say, the more of the familiar comforts of an expat population you need, the more you will pay.  There may be exceptions to that, I don’t know. But overwhelming evidence suggests that that is the rule.

The labor market is strong in the US and everyone from general laborers, to nurses, to engineers make more money there than they do here. There are many Mexicans who work in the US and send money back to their families in Mexico. These are called “remittances” and Remittances from the U.S. to Mexico reached a record $55.9 billion in 2022 (according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas).

So the dollar can go farther in Mexico and that’s one of the reasons for remittances, and one of the reasons many immigrants and expats decide on relocating to Mexico.

A recent look (not a scientific study) at prices for a two bedroom apartment in popular parts of Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta revealed and average of $1550 for PV and $1700 for MC

Conversely, I’ve heard from people living in smaller towns in other parts of the country that are not so famous, where they pay $300 for a two bedroom apartment. So there is a great variation depending on location.

As for myself, I fell for the view and the sound of the wind in the trees (and the fireflies!) here at our new house, so I didn’t choose the most inexpensive rental I could find, here near Patzcuaro in Michoacan. But I’m very happy with it!

It’s a two bedroom one bath casita on the owner’s property, and comes with that beautiful view, a (more or less) once a week house cleaner, gardener, and internet. It’s outside of town so not for everybody, but it has lots of yard space and is a 25 minute drive to central Patzcuaro.

This is my first long term rental in Mexico and I have no doubt that there are less expensive ways to live here. But everyone chooses the right place for them, and I’m happy about my monthly expenses now, compared to my expenses moving around all the time.

I do pay my utilities independent of the rent, for the first time since I’ve been in Mexico. I have a very nice landlady who gives me some of the bills through her, like the electricity. She gets the bill for the whole property and we split it: two thirds for them and one third for me.  I was interested to see how much it would cost for these utilities, and if it would increase the price of the rental by a little, or a lot.

The Bottom Line!

Rent (internet included)  $500 USD (10,000P)

House cleaning/gardening $75 (1,500P)

Gas for cooking and baking $25 (500P)

Electric $6 (114P)

Drinking Water  $10 (200P)

Phone  $17 USD

Trash  $5 (100P)

Gasoline  $50 (1,000P)

Groceries (including costco and dog food/supplies) $182 (3,645P)

Restaurants/tours/entertainment $65 (1290P)

Incidentals, a gift for a friend, household products, cleaner, laundry det, etc.. $22 (436P)

$957 total expenses for August

If you watched my last video on expenses while traveling, you can see that expenses staying in one place are much less!  This is primarily because of a stable and less expensive long term rental. I’m still spending around the same amount for things like groceries, eating out, and cell service, but the cost of short term rentals on airbnb was elevating my budget in ways I didn’t like!  I guess that’s why so many property owners around the world have converted their rentals to vacation rentals. It brings in much more money!

My landlady is very nice and she and her husband seem like they want me to stay here long term. Because of this I have suspicions that she may be rounding down my part of the bill, to cost me less. I don’t know this for a fact but I wouldn’t be surprised.  I can’t believe it’s so low. I paid more for drinking water.

Also, the gas bill for the house is an estimate. It costs $1500 pesos to fill the tank and I’m told the tank may last me 3 months so the costs above are an estimate.

For gasoline, like I said I live about 25 minutes outside Patzcuaro. I tend to leave the property 2-3 times per week to go to Patz or Morelia, or explore a village I haven’t seen yet. This is ending up to be less gas usage than traveling across the country (who knew?)!

So, I’ve finally satisfied my longing to know: Can you live on $1500 per month in Mexico??  For years I’ve been wondering about this, and now I know for sure. If you’re me, living here, right now, you can live for less than that. Way less.

Please remember we all have different lifestyles and there’s no way for me to say if YOU can live in Mexico for this amount of money. Consider your own needs and lifestyle and how you spend money. There really is nothing else like getting your feet on the ground and testing it out for yourself.

Also, like I mentioned in my last video, the exchange rate for the currency you have to spend makes a difference. This is Mexico. You pay your bills in Pesos. So if the exchange rate is good, or bad, it could mean some difference in your monthly costs. Back in April when the US dollar was not as strong, the $18,758 pesos I spent this month would have been the equivalent of about $1,103. Now that the dollar is at about 20p for one dollar, the amount is about $939 (but I also paid my cell service in USD, that’s why the number is slightly different).

There are things I pay for that I didn’t include in this report, like personal health insurance, car maintenance, subscriptions etc. that you may or may not have if you’re living in Mexico.

I hope these insights help you as you consider your own move to Mexico. It’s an incredible place filled with warmth, wonder, and possibilities. Thank you for joining me on this journey, and I’d love to hear your thoughts or answer any questions in the comments. ¡Hasta luego and best of luck on your adventure!