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If you’re looking for a way to stretch your nest egg, but aren’t anxious to sacrifice essentials like food and medicines, you should take a look at Mexico. Here you can live an upscale lifestyle for the cost of a middle-class life at home. In Mexico you can buy a beachfront condo or a gated private villa for a fraction of what you’d pay north of the border. You can employ a maid or a gardener for $3-4 an hour. You can eat out at a nice restaurant with a glass of wine for $12 or less. Or get expert dental or other medical work done at a fraction of the cost in the US.
Hospitals and health care providers in Mexico are of excellent quality. Many doctors are educated in the US or Canada. Comprehensive private international health insurance (through a major global provider) costs one-fourth to one half what you might pay in the U.S. Elective surgeries, doctors' visits and common medical procedures cost about one-fourth of what they do in the U.S. If you have a resident visa, you can get full-coverage government health insurance. This IMSS insurance costs about $300 per year for those over 60 and it includes prescription medications.
Car insurance on a $10,000 car: $250 / year.
Property taxes on a $200,000 condo: $225 / year.
Excellent professional haircut: $4.
Rental of a lovely 2 bedroom condo with a pool, on the golf course: $540 / month.
A visit to a medical clinic for emergency care resulting in stitches: $8
These are actual examples of our lifestyle experience here in PV. The list goes on and on. About the only things that are more expensive in Mexico than in the US are imported items.
Below is a realistic sample budget. This is not for life in a shack, but a nice condo with a pool and a view of the ocean or the mountains. Everyone’s personal circumstances will vary. It is entirely possible to live on well under $1,000 a month. Very, very many Mexican families do live comfortably on only a few hundred dollars a month. You may choose a more frugal or a more luxurious lifestyle, but this scenario below represents a very typical middle class lifestyle in Puerto Vallarta.
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Housing (rental of a two-bedroom home)
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$600
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Utilities (electricity, gas, water)
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$95
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Household help (housekeeper and gardener every week)
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$52
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Groceries
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$300
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Maintenance and fuel for one car
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$120
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Entertainment (dining out and other activities)
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$200
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Health care (two people at $280 per year for IMSS insurance, plus $63 per month for private-care incidentals)
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$47
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Incidentals (clothes, household items, etc.)
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$100
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Communication: phone, internet, cable TV
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$90
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Car insurance ($ 13,000 value)
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$28
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Monthly total:
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$1,632
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If you’re growing tired of constantly rising taxes, foul winter weather, spiraling health care costs and a lifestyle that leaves you tired, frustrated and broke at the end of the month, then register for the next Puerto Vallarta Discovery Week. Let us show you how you can start living a comfortable yet affordable life of meaning in a tropical paradise.
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