“Let’s Eat!” El Cheapo Mexico

Daily Life in Mexico

Domestic help who: cooks, cleans, washes and irons clothes is paid sixty five dollars a week. It is affordable help and greatly enhances the enjoyment of additional free time.

You live in Mexico because the quality of life is better. However, a major contribution to that quality of life is that you can afford a little decadence and are able to avoid household chores Viva Mexico and Viva the good life!

Housing and medical costs in Mexico, are a third of those in the United States. Recently, this economic advantage translates into quality of life benefits.

If you were living in the U. S., on Social Security benefits alone, you would be eating dog food like so many older American. Here in Mexico, you have a darn decent life style on $700.00 a month.

A 2,000 square foot house with a great view of the city and bay, would cost approximately $150.00 a year for property taxes. The same home in the States would cost thousands of dollars a year. Property taxes force many seniors in the U. S. to be uprooted from a home they have enjoyed for decades before retirement.

A burgeoning market of U. S. citizens, traveling to Mexico for quality medical care at a savings of 50 to 70 percent of what they would pay in the U. S.

Medical and dental specialists in Baja Norte, on average, estimate that U. S. patients represent 30% of their total practice.

A substantial medical insurance savings. Medical Insurance premiums in Mexico for a full coverage with a small deductible and a choice of providers is about 1/3 the cost of an HMO, without the choice advantage in California.

Your quality of life owes a lot to economics in addition you would enjoy the Mexican culture.

A large tourism sector for Baja California are the thousands of U.S. citizens who travel here every month to take advantage of elective surgeries and or medical treatments at savings of up to 75%. U.S. and Canadian citizens, who live in Baja California, quickly learn that they can receive better medical and dental care from private practitioners here compared to what they received when living in the States. House calls, twenty four hour emergency care and a doctor who spends time explaining treatment options often shocks foreign patients accustomed to indifferent and "too busy to talk" practitioners at home.

Another benefit of being treated in Mexico is that some very effective medical modalities exist here but are not approved for use in the United States.

Affordable Decadence

Some comparisons: Premium dark roasted coffee (Starbuck quality) from the local roaster is $4.50 a pound, cigars are 65 cents a piece which cost three to five dollars in the states. Spanish brandy is $6.00 a fifth in the duty free store and Bohemia or Negra Modelo beer (selling for $7.00 a six pack in the U.S.) is priced at $4.50.

Let’s Eat! El Cheapo Mexico

You can buy a kilo (2+lbs.) of fresh shrimp for $16.00 dlls. You can eat lunch in a family restaurant, serving comida corrida (meal of the day), for thirty five pesos or $3.50 dlls. Tortillerias sell freshly made tortillas for 80 cents a kilo. Fresh rolls (birotes), that rival those made in Paris or San Francisco, cost 25 cents each and can be found in bakeries all over Mexico. Mexican dessert pastries, that will satisfy any gourmet family's sweet tooth about $2.00 a bag. Along with savings on your food bill you would have the added advantage of buying affordable abalone, lobster, mussels and clams fresh from local fishermen. In addition, door to door vendors offer wonderful selections of home made cheeses, deserts and olives.

Mexican Border Towns Similar to U.S. Border Towns

Close to the border, Baja California has adopted much of Southern California's culture. A frontier culture that mixes: language, styles of dress, music and a perspective that is influenced by both Mexican and U.S. values. Although influenced by cross border experiences, "Fronteriza" is a distinct culture, neither Mexican nor American. This synergy of influences is producing new and unique music, theatre, literature and art.

Baja California is culturally easy for U.S. folks, especially Southern Californians whose parents brought them here as children to fish, surf or just enjoy the "kick back" Baja, beach oriented lifestyle. Baja California is one of the last places on earth where Abalone still survive off her Pacific Coast. The Sea of Cortez is the only inland sea that is surrounded by the territory of a single nation Jacques Cousteau called the Sea of Cortez the world's aquarium. It is home to a multitude of endangered sea life including the protected 300 pound Totuaba, considered by game fisherman to be the most precious and exciting of catches.

Baja's beauty is made up of mostly pristine: desert, mountains and beaches.

The Sophistication of Mexico’s Economy

In the last few years American Banks like Citbank and Bank of America and and other international banks like HSBC and Scotia bank have been buying the large Mexican Banks, Investments Comanies like GE Capital, Zell group, Hines and Black Creek Capital which develops sites for Walmart, Costco and Home Depot are all investing heavily in the Mexican Real Estate market, private investors like Warren Buffet are also investing in Mexican Real Estate.

Telmex has pored a substantial percentage of its capital reserves into improving technological infrastructure.

Telmex equipment capabilities have been steadily improving, most impressively over the last five years. Within the last 2 to 3 years we have begun to enjoy truly modern telephone service: fiber optics, reasonably quick installation of service (days instead of years), and a multitude of service options: call holding, voice mail and the fast internet.

Less than a year before long distance competition entered the market, Telmex dramatically cut long distance rates.

Nothing is less notable than the seemingly overnight success and sophistication of the Mexican entertainment industry which is now a worldwide media and talent colossus. The demand for Mexican produced media products has been greatly enhanced by a thousand fold growth of Spanish Radio and Television in the United States over the last ten years. This 30 million plus, Spanish speaking audience want to hear news and entertainment from Mexico.

Televisa, the one time TV monopoly, now has real competition for viewers. Mexican Tele Novelas, for example always popular in other markets, are now enjoying their highest demand throughout the world.

The sophistication of the music industry in Mexico is particularly reflected in the recent boom of Rock en Espanol. Rhythm and Blues, Caribbean, local Mexican folk music, hip hop, and even rap can be found in the Rock en Espanol. Rock music in Mexico is no longer the corny plastic imitation of rockabilly and blue eyed soul it was a decade ago. The quality of musicianship and creativity of Rock en Espanol has attracted international record producers who see the size and interest for this product internationally. 

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