I have talked with several recent expatriates who are surprised at the daily cost of living in Mazatlan. It is not expensive by any standard to live here, but it is also not cheap. It's easy to be fooled into thinking Mexico is cheap, especially with the proliferation of travel books out there like "Mexico for $18 a Day". It is possible to live here for $18 a day, but you are probably not going to like it.
I have a cousin who lived in Mexico for a scant $500US a month. He lived in a hut on a remote beach with a few meager possessions: a hammock, a blanket, a pot, a pan, a few plates, cups, and forks, a change of clothes, and that's about it. He didn't even have walls. He fished for his meals. Honestly, most of his budget was beer money. While that may be a great, carefree adventure for a 20-year-old, it's not the way most of us want to live.
So, how much does it cost to live here? It really depends on what you buy and where you shop. Anything with a plug is going to cost more than in the US, especially recreational electronics like TVs, computers, and cameras. Some of the price difference can be mitigated by shopping in the right places, but when I had to replace my digital camera, I ordered it in the US and had a friend bring it down to me. A bottom-of-the-line, basic, point-and-shoot Sony camera was around $4,000MXN at Sam's Club.
Appliances are similarly expensive. A small refrigerator goes for about $8,500MXN. A washing machine at a large retailer will sell for $6,800MXN. I was in the high-end department store in town and saw a Kitchenaid stand mixer for $7,500MXN. That is a very extreme example, but, generally, you can plan on paying 40%-100% more for electrical items here.
Mass produced goods are also a little more expensive here. As you can imagine, this category covers a lot of ground. If you want to go to a store and buy furniture, clothes, shoes, a hammer, body wash, or curtains, it's going to cost you. The price of convenience foods can make you choke. A Healthy Choice frozen dinner will cost you about $70MXN.
Don't lose heart though. A lot of stuff is cheaper. You can go out and have a lovely dinner for the same price as the Healthy Choice frozen meal. Beer is cheap. In fact, at most places a Coke, a bottle of water, and a bottle of beer are all the same price. Quality entertainment like the live music or a folkloric ballet is very inexpensive.
If you actually cook, eating can be extremely inexpensive. When we were getting ready for our party a few days ago, we ran down to our local fruiteria for a few things. We got 3 bell peppers, 3 avocados, 9 jalapeños, 2 heads of garlic the size of your fist, 16 limes, 4 onions, a carrot, 4 cucumbers, 10 tomatoes, a tube of chorizo, and refried beans for $63MXN; that's about $6US. If you look at the recipe section, you'll see that we eat pretty well, and we spend less than $400MXN a week on food.
Shoes and clothes about killed me when we got here. They are very expensive. I thought we were going to be one of those couples that made annual trips back to the US just to go shopping. But once I got outside my comfort zone and really looked around, I found out the secret. If you want to go to a store and buy off the rack, it is pricey. But if you want to go to a seamstress and have your clothes custom made, clothes will cost you about the same as going to a store like Walmart in the US. You can have household items like curtains made inexpensively as well.
I was looking for sandals and couldn't find a decent pair for less than $300MXN until I walked into a small shop downtown. When I say small, I mean less than 8 feet wide. I got a great pair of all-leather, hand-made sandals for $60MXN.
Once you discover the possibilities of having things custom made, you can really save some money. I looked at a cheap, straw purse in Walmart for $200MXN. I had a leather purse that will last me for years to come custom made for $300MXN. We had a beautiful, solid wood desk hand built for Chuck for $6,000MXN, the same price as the pressboard, assemble-it-yourself desks in the stores.
The cost of labor is much cheaper here, so the cost of services is greatly reduced. A doctor's visit will cost about $200MXN. A Maid will run you about $150MXN a day. A one-hour massage is about $200MXN. Having your car detailed is about $60MXN.
Reduced labor costs also means it is feasible to have your things repaired when they malfunction. When your refrigerator, floor fan, or camera is broken, you don't throw it away. You call one of the many qualified repairmen in the city. For the first time in our lives, it is makes more economic sense to have Chuck's favorite boots resoled rather than buy a new pair.
Can you live here cheap? Yes. Would you want to? Probably not. But you can live much better here for less money - as long as you know what to buy and where to shop.
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|71.8.126.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s wglock - Huh??What is the conversion rate? How do I convert the MXN to US so that I get a better idea of what you are talking about. Also, that fish is HUGE!
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jennifer - Huh??Right now, we are getting about 10.83 pesos to the dollar, so $100MXN = $9.25USD,
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|75.87.149.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s abrihet - Job Opportunities in Mazatlanhello there,
i greatly enjoyed reading your story, thank you a million for taking the time to share this across the world! I am very curious if you can tell me, what were your job opportunities while living in mazatlan? were you able to find something that similarly matched your income in european or american states? lastly, were you able to find a good paying job because of skilled experience? thank you for your time and consideration in answering my questions!
A
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferIn my experience, the only job choices for foreigners are to sell time share or open your own business. We opened our own business. And no, the fees we charge do not match what we could charge in the States, but they do allow us to live a middle class life here.
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|131.191.25.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s Susan PierceWe just bought a house in Mazatlan and are looking for a good seamstress for curtains. Can you recommend someone?
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferThere is a good place to have curtains made at Luis Zuniga and Carvajal.
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|69.137.120.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s TJ - Can you provide info about Mazatlan?Hello,
My husband and I are thinking about retiring to Mazatlan. ANY info you would provide about the cost of living, housing, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Also are you still as pleased about Mazatlan as you were when you first moved there?
Hope to hear from you soon, and thank you in advance!
TJ and Mike
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferHi TJ and Mike,
There is a lot of information in various places on this site about the cost of different things in Mazatlan, but without a more specific question, I can't even begin to answer. I recommend you post your question in the forum.
And yes, we are absolutely as happy here as we were when we moved.
Jennifer
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|70.223.194.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s Joyce Hammer - Living and Retirely FrugallyJennifer, If two retirees wished to live in a quiet safe area, cook most meals, buy locally, and enjoy our retirement. I am very curious. /thank You
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferHi Joyce,
I think that maybe part of your question got cut off. Can you ask it again?
Jennifer
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|67.170.108.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s Kathy - Cost of LivingHi Jennifer,
My husband and I are considering a move to Matzatlan in 22 months and are wondering about apartment cost. We met Americans there who are living in apartments for $600.00 US per month but I'm curious what $600.00 buys you. We loved the old part of town, do you have any ideas on where we should look and what a typical rent fee would be?
Thank you.
Kathy Anthony
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferHi Kathy,
Rents vary a lot depending on where you want to live and if you are looking for a furnished place and how furnished you want it. You can get a two bedroom apartment fully furnished for $500-$700 in centro. If you want an ocean view, you will pay another $200-$300 a month for that. An unfurnished place (which can mean no stove, cabinets, water heater, or lighting fixtures) can be had for $150-$500. We are paying about $350 for our place. It is unfurnished, but came with stuff like cabinets and water heater. We bought our stove.
Go over to www.noroeste.com.mx and have a look in the classifieds. That will give you a pretty good idea. Also, you will have a better selection of places and the rents will be better if you look in the summer.
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferYes. It is. As long as you don't plan on becoming a police officer or dealing drugs.
The efforts at controlling the drug trade have caused an increase in violence in the state of Sinaloa and in Mazatlan, but most of that violence is the result of rivalry in the illegal drug business or is aimed at those trying to control it.
There have been a lot of exaggerated rumors lately, and a rash of people reporting partial information about incidents, making things seem scarier here than they are.
No Americans or expatriates from other countries have been killed or even injured as a result of violence perpetrated by the drug cartels.
My husband and I do not feel any less safe here than we did back in Texas. We do not feel any less safe now than we did when we moved here three years ago.
The same common sense rules apply here as anywhere else: don't wander around late at night alone; don't wear flashy jewelry or flash around large sums of money; be aware of your surroundings; stay away from late night discos and other places where drug or extreme alcohol use is likely.
We feel perfectly safe as Americans in Mazatlan.
You may also want to check out The Truth About Mexico.
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|67.158.42.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s Jana - Family of 4Hi Jennifer,
My husband and I have had a long term goal (8 years ago) to move to Mexico and have decided that Mazatlan is the place for us and our 2 daughters (ages 2 & 5). We recently have been offered a great opportunity to expedite our goal to move to Mazatlan within a year. We live simply in the sense that we cook all of our meals and eat very healthy & nutritious, we enjoy walking/going to the beach, architecture, cultural events, (basically, we enjoy the ways and customs of our surroundings for free
). Do you think that $2500 is a comfortable amount to live on for a family of 4? Rent/Mortgage does not need to be included in that budget. We are not concerned with the cost of education right now for our little ones.
Thank you for your feedback.
Sincerely,
Trish
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|SAdministrator |m-d-Y H:i:s jenniferHi Trish,
If education costs are not a factor, you eat mostly at home, and rent doesn't need to be included in that budget, it is unlikely that you will be able to spend $2500 a month unless you like to shop - a lot.
An expensive ticket for a cultural event at the Angela Peralta is $500MXN, with most tickets in the $80-$200MXN range. The beach is free. Walking and looking at architecture is free.
You can join the public health system here for less than $1,000 US for your entire family for a year. Car insurance runs us about $300 US per year. If you don't have central AC and run it all the time, your electric bills will likely be less that $150 US per month, in many cases, significantly less. Water (from the city) runs about $5 US per month. Water (for drinking) may run another $20 US per month. Your monthly groceries can run from $100 US per month (shopping at the little tiendas and mercados to $600 per month (Mega, Walmart, etc.) Phone, internet, and cable will run about another $100 for the highest speed class of service available.
From there your expenses may include a maid or gardener or nanny as you wish.
Of course, some expenses will depend on the part of town where you choose to live.
Jennifer
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|174.26.206.xxx |m-d-Y H:i:s Judy - Living in MazatlanWe have been going to Mazatlan for approximately 20 years and have seen a lot of development and changes over that time. We also have a large number of friends who live there permanently or at least half of the year, who say that their costs have escalated.
I find groceries, particularly meat to be expensive. When we were there in November, chicken was close to $8 kg, while I am paying about $1.70 pound in the U.S. When we went through customs the agent asked if it wasn't cheaper to buy it when we got there, til I showed her our price which would have been $3.74 kg. I saved all my receipts and checked them against prices in the states, and except for some bakery items at Mega, everything was equal to or more expensive than I would have paid at home. Milk was double what I pay at home, as well as the price of cheese and other dairy products. Consider that most of the people earn about .50/per hour, who live there, unless they are professionals or work for U.S. companies in management positions.
As far as eating out, restaurant meals are equal to what we pay here for a meal and at some of the upper end places, a meal for two can easily run up to $100 and more. Hamburgers in restaurants run about $5--even Burger King was higher than in the U.S.
Utilities are somewhat cheaper. Electricity is subsidized by the government from June through October at 50% off, otherwise few could afford to cool their homes. We have a friend whose air conditioning bill, to cool only their bedroom was about $90 a month during the humid summer season.
I met so many U.S. and Canadian citizens in the store who said, "I thought things were supposed to be cheap here."
We had entertained the thought of moving there when we retired, but after spending a month there and REALLY checking things out, we realized that a two or three month vacation would be the most we would be willing to do based on costs as they presently exist. We were poolside at the Costa de Oro visiting friends, and the cost of a can of Coke was $2.50. Parking a motorhome for a month in a park runs $450/month on up. Anyone who is considering living in Mexico needs to spend some time before committing to a move, to determine whether they would have to compromise their lifestyle and still be happy. We will continue to vacation in Mazatlan, and it is our favorite city in Mexico, but it is not eutopia by any stretch of the imagination.
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