Guanajuato Retirement

[roberb7]

Wade, Nicaragua was my original first choice, but I decided against it because I didn't want to live in a boiling hot place.

Nica should be more economical on a day-to-day basis. However, you should think about how often you'll be travelling outside Nica, because flights out of Mexico City (and probably León, GTO as well) will be less expensive than flights out of Managua.

[DML]

Yes, you can live cheaply here as others say, but it all depends on your frugality and most importantly rent.

I highly suggest you come and visit and stay for awhile...at least a month or two to get a feel for a place and see if it is indeed where you would like to live, be it GTO or anywhere else.

Nicaragua is cheap. Cheaper than Mexico and you can live well on far less. This book is a great resource for living abroad and choosing your country based on many factors (rent prices, food prices, utilities, medical care, visa restrictions, and much much more). Furthermore, lots of expats were interviewed for each of the countries covered:

http://www.cheaplivingabroad.com/

[The Duck]

Nicaragua - I agree with DML. The only spot to hit is Granada [forget Managua and Leon]. Nice for a day or so -maybe a week but it will get small-very small soon and for Costco you go to Managua and then on to Miami.

Ecuador maybe? but the commute for all of C & S. America is to Miami.

[Wade K]

We're looking at the northern cities of Esteli and Matagalpa. They've got enough elevation to be about 10 degrees F cooler than Granada. My wife is from Kansas City and Spirit will start flying directly to Managua from Houston in late May with a connection to KC. For some reason they don't fly from Ft.Lauderdale to K.C..

Obviously Mexico has much better infrastructure than Nicaragua and we'll look forward to enjoying that someday. I've looked at Ecuador and Costa Rica and Panama too but it comes down to costs. My wife has to get home regular to see her kids and my parents, in Florida, are starting to have health issues. Spirit allows us to fly to both places reasonably. I envy y'all for being able to live in GTO now and appreciate the good advice. We've even looked at Colombia but the red tape involved just didn't seem worth it. Thanks DML, I bought that book the first day it came out.

[colleen]

This has gone way beyond price of rent so I don't feel so 'off topic' by saying that anyone can find ways to live within almost any budget. And they can find ways to spend their $ when that's what they want to do. Beyond checking out different cities, now the discussion is about different countries. Before getting serious about rent and food prices (30% more for food than in the US, really?) I think the most important thing is to start to understand how the culture works and how different it is here or anywhere else, from what you are used to in the US. It's easy to see how the US is different in the East, West, South and Midwest. There are places where I could and would never live tho they might be very pretty and the people seem so nice when you are a tourist. The same is true here.

We used to watch House Hunters International. Dont' know what happened to it. In every episode the people looking for a home were doing it because the "locals are so kind, caring, warm and wonderful". It would have been a fun show to follow up in 2 yrs and see how that attitude might have changed. I used to have an English language bookstore here. So many people came in all excited about this new experience and the family they were living with or the landlady. I didn't say anything negative. Sometimes it worked out fine. But it seemed that the most enthusiastic people were so disappointed and moved back to the US when they found out what was really happening. I'm not going into any details. Every culture is different and some we can fit into and some we can't.

[Wade K]

Turned out that "House Hunters International" was phony. Many of the couples weren't even couples, everything was staged for the show. I've lived and worked in several places on the Mexican border, have seen impoverished colonias. Not expecting a lot, but would like a nice atmosphere like Guanajuato appears to have. Going to Nicaragua is just about saving money until SS starts, but I've talked to people living there who seem happy with it. Researching living overseas has been a hobby for close to 20 years and it seems there are fewer places these days that are truly affordable. I hope Guanajuato never becomes a San Miguel, but nicer places seem to always get "discovered" and prices go up accordingly. Maybe an out of the way city in Northern Nicaragua is the answer. A lot of issues there, keeps the expat population low.

[Lisa Andrews]

The locals live here on much less then the budget you are looking at so I think it is definitely doable if you give up the car and the cable and find a cheap place to rent. You can go to the symphony for 80 pesos, there are lots of free shows during cervantes festival and great culture in the centre just to walk around, free stuff all the time. (You could even rent out a spare room if you have one during the festivals to get a bit of extra cash, since everywhere is sold out!) If you are sensible with money and don't want to be going to fancy dinners every week and expensive events then you could live here comfortably and still afford great fresh fruit and veg at the markets.
The only reason I go to leon is because I like their cinema better and they have a bigger selection of gluten free food there and cheap shoes, besides that I buy everything here, if I didn't have a car I would be fine and have more money but I like visiting other towns on my days off which is why I got it, but I know people who don't have them and they are fine.
When in town I can spend very little (but I do work 6 days a week so not much time to spend it), people backpack on budgets of $12/day so it all depends on what you are looking for. I definitely think starting with a short term rental wherever you decide is the best idea, to see what the people are like, get a feel for the place and the area you want to live and what you want to be doing there, takes at least a few months to decide on a place.
Good luck with what you decide, Guanajuato is a beautiful town, with some really nice people!

[WRT]

PM sent with some options. $1700 is lot of money in Mexico!

[DML]

Colleen....I'm with you regarding the food here is 30% more than in the US...seriously? I spend waaaaay less here on food than I do back in the States. BUT I probably buy 90% of my food (produce and meats) at the markets. The other 10% is from the grocery stores and primarily Mega.

YES, Mega is expensive but if you live in Mexico and shop in the markets you will pay the same prices that your middle and lower economic classes pay.

Years ago, when my husband and I lived in Korea (teaching English), some of the American teachers at our school complained of the high price of food at the supermarkets. The prices were high becasue they continued to purchase the same kinds of foods they bought when living in the States. I, however, bought primarily local ingredients (thankfully I knew my way around the kitchen with Asian cuisine) and I never found our food bills very high.

If you live abroad, and try to replicate your life back at home, you will undoubtedly pay higher prices for that. I'm not saying that is right or wrong. To each his own (and I will freely admit I just bout a $60 box of chai tea today) but I spent $300 at Embajadores this weekend on food that will take our family of three through the week.

And Wade K....glad you got the book!

[Wade K]

Thanks everyone! A lot to consider. We'll come down for a look early next year.