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05-16-2011, 06:53 PM
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#21
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,155
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy
Why not rent forever? If you must own real estate, keep some (managed) property or an REIT back home. Do not be an absentee landlord. (Voice of experience.)
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Or a even a landlord.
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05-16-2011, 11:19 PM
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#22
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Thousand Oaks
Posts: 1,111
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mexico
Hi, the city is Guadalajara, 2nd largest city in Mexico, and centrally located. I live downtown and not in Chapala or Ajijic which are very popular for ex pats and about 60 min from downtown. It is elevated, so the climate is dry and mostly "spring like" year around. It does get hot at times- mostly April and May- but never humid which was important factor.
Cost of living here is very low because it's not a tourist town and also no need for AC or heat. A fine dinner with a bottle of red is about $40/$50 pp. The food is very good but not great. There is culture such as an opera house, decent music ( blues, jazz..) and art. It's also a University town with lot of energy and things to do including proximity to beaches, magic pueblas, etc.. The people in Mexico are extremely friendly & it is safe.
Negatives would be traffic, graffiti, a lot of people, food ( very good but not world class), somewhat dirty in places ( so is Boston btw), and you really need to know Spanish, at least in city itself.
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thanks for the reply to my query.
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05-22-2011, 06:58 AM
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#23
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 197
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mexico
A fine dinner with a bottle of red is about $40/$50 pp. The food is very good but not great.
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Yeah, but that's for eating out American, gringo style. I personally enjoy eating where locals hangout including bars.
Rule of thumb is that if you are not in a place with lots of gringos, you are much better off. I personally preferred not to be around gringos in Mexico except if I chooses to. It's much easier on the pocket book.
__________________
The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead! – General George S. Patton
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05-22-2011, 07:39 AM
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#24
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49
Posts: 7,677
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandhog
Yeah, but that's for eating out American, gringo style. I personally enjoy eating where locals hangout including bars.
...
It's much easier on the pocket book.
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Actually, the restaurants make much of their money from Mexican tourists as well. Mostly Guadalajara and the city.
There are not many truly cheap restaurants. There are restaurants that serve cheap food but that is different than serving bargains. A shrimp dinner may cost 225 pesos in a top tier restaurant and 160 pesos in a bargain restaurant.
You might also buy a cheaper wine for 180 pesos that costs 60 pesos in Costco. In the high end restaurant, you will pay 280 pesos for a wine that sells in the store for 95 pesos.
__________________
For the fun of it...Keith
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05-22-2011, 08:03 AM
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#25
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 197
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kcowan
Actually, the restaurants make much of their money from Mexican tourists as well. Mostly Guadalajara and the city.
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I eat from street vendors like the locals.
Anywhere there are tourists, both domestic and foreign prices going to be higher. That's the reason tourists cities like NY, Boston, SF, DC... cost more for the resident. Unless, you go deep into the city shielded from those damn tourists.
__________________
The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead! – General George S. Patton
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05-23-2011, 07:56 AM
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#26
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49
Posts: 7,677
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandhog
I eat from street vendors like the locals. .
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One of my favorites in Marisma Fish Tacos, where they are 15 pesos each, 24 for shrimp fajitas. Great value. But lots of tourists eat there too. Just not the one week wonders.
__________________
For the fun of it...Keith
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05-23-2011, 09:58 AM
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#27
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8,368
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandhog
I eat from street vendors like the locals.
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Spent one winter parked on the beach in the Baja.....ate quite a few fish tacos from vendors.....had other gringos ask if I wasn't concerned about 'health side effects'.....told them it has always seemed to me that it's the picky, fussy people, who won't eat this and won't eat that, that are forever getting sick........one needs to build up immunity and the only way to do that is through exposure.
__________________
"Exit, pursued by a bear."
The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare
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05-24-2011, 10:42 AM
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#28
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49
Posts: 7,677
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo2
....one needs to build up immunity and the only way to do that is through exposure.
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Amen to that!
__________________
For the fun of it...Keith
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05-24-2011, 11:10 AM
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#29
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Mexico
Posts: 43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandhog
Yeah, but that's for eating out American, gringo style. I personally enjoy eating where locals hangout including bars.
Rule of thumb is that if you are not in a place with lots of gringos, you are much better off. I personally preferred not to be around gringos in Mexico except if I chooses to. It's much easier on the pocket book.
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Agree with everyone's comments. The above price isn't a gringo price as I have rarely seen Americans in the neighborhood or restaurant. However, it is on the expensive side for Mexico. The Vacio ( argentinian style steak) which is dry aged and spectacular is about $16, whereas in Boston, that would be an easy $40. The wine is also a 2007 argentinian which is pricey, but also great. But to the points above, if you prefer local food or want to spend less, you can eat very well for much, much less. That $40 dinner is about a once every other week for me.
The main point is regardless of your particular food tastes or budget, there are a lot of options, and you can not compare cost of living in Latin America to USA. If I have the choice, I don't see myself ever moving back.
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05-25-2011, 05:36 AM
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#30
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 197
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mexico
The main point is regardless of your particular food tastes or budget, there are a lot of options, and you can not compare cost of living in Latin America to USA. If I have the choice, I don't see myself ever moving back.
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And who can blame you!
When I ER, I intend to live mostly abroad where dollar goes farther. I still have my hunting cabin where property taxes are less than a grand where I can return from time to time when I visit ungrateful kids and future grand kids. I'm thinking in South America myself. If all South Americas do as Ecuador and make US$ national currency, it would be fantastic.
__________________
The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead! – General George S. Patton
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05-25-2011, 05:40 AM
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#31
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 197
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo2
Spent one winter parked on the beach in the Baja.....ate quite a few fish tacos from vendors.....had other gringos ask if I wasn't concerned about 'health side effects'.....told them it has always seemed to me that it's the picky, fussy people, who won't eat this and won't eat that, that are forever getting sick........one needs to build up immunity and the only way to do that is through exposure.
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Exactly! You don't see local folks getting sick. I admitted that sometimes I do get the unwanted runs but it only last first couple days until my system get readjusted to climate and everything else. Otherwise, I couldn't think of better place to spend money and get more than money's worth.
__________________
The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead! – General George S. Patton
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05-25-2011, 08:17 AM
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#32
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
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Belize does. So does Turks and Caicos. I liked Belize. I would not want to have a major medical emergency there, however.
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
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05-25-2011, 08:34 AM
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#33
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8,368
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy
I liked Belize. I would not want to have a major medical emergency there, however.
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LOL...or even a minor one........circa 1992 the driver of the vehicle I was in rolled it off the road and down a dip.....it ended upside down, and we ended up at the Belize City Hospital.
Chickens running around, kidney shaped pans containing festering blood next to the drinking water fountain........and the men's outside toilet, well, suffice to say another one of the accident 'participants' and I used the (yuk yuk) 'facilities' without actually entering the structure.
(From the look and smell of it this was not an uncommon practice.)
__________________
"Exit, pursued by a bear."
The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare
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