(Not) Cost of Living in Mexico

Why I don't write about cost of living, yet here I am writing about it

Photo by Zan on Unsplash

"Mexico is cheap". So say many visitors from the U.S. and Canada. Except Mexico isn't cheap for the people living and earning wages here.

"Mexico is cheap" is a sort of trope meant to invite foreigners to come to Mexico because it is inexpensive. However, I don't believe that coming to Mexico to improve one's buying power should be the primary motivation for foreigners coming to Mexico. I believe - and I know this is just my opinion and there are other opinions and none are right or wrong and that's fine - that foreigners should consider coming to Mexico because the culture, people, physical environment, and history are compelling them to do so. Cost of living is of course a factor - money, after all, makes the world go around, as Liza Minnelli might say (er, sing).

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Those of us fortunate enough to be earning U.S. and Canadian dollars do find, in Mexico, an overall lower cost of living. There are exceptions: name-brand clothes and electronics tend to be more expensive in Mexico than in the U.S. or Canada. But housing, utilities, health care, pet care, and food costs are lower - sometimes by a significant amount. But for Mexican nationals who earn in pesos, the cost of living is, well, not cheap. It is a struggle, just like it's a struggle for many workers north of the border. Add to that the fact that foreigners, when they are heavily concentrated in an area of Mexico, tend to drive prices up (gentrification due to immigration is a complicated and contentious subject; one day (sigh) I might write about it), the cost of living for Mexicans in those areas can exceed what they can afford.

For those reasons, I don't like to get too celebratory about the cost of living in Mexico; it is all relative, and I don't want to ignore that relativism by claiming that Mexico is "cheap" or "inexpensive".

Place and Time

Comparing the cost of living of "Mexico" to anywhere is fraught: the cost of living varies greatly depending where in Mexico one is sourcing prices. The cost of living in Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, and Los Cabos is drastically different from the cost of living in Xalapa, Guadalajara, or Morelia. Furthermore, prices change constantly. And rapidly, especially in these inflationary days. Talking about the cost of living is a local and an evergreen conversation: I don't want to fill my time updating figures that are likely to change from place to place, and with every passing month (yes, I'm lazy).

Shut Up Mike You Big Hypocrite

You've got a point - I do write about relative costs within Mexico - especially when it relates to transportation, as in: it is less expensive to take a bus than rent a car. And I do note that things are inexpensive when so noting might direct the reader toward a worthwhile alternative - again, like taking a first class bus rather than a rental car or a flight; or shopping at a local mercado rather than a chain grocery store.

So if that is hypocrisy, I'll own it 🫠.

Am I Capable of Writing a Newsletter Without Making a Godfather Reference?

No.

I realize that there are people out there making a living trying to entice foreigners to move to Mexico either full or part time. And that one of the selling points that some of these folks use is that foreigners can access a better life in Mexico, because in Mexico a better life is more affordable for foreigners bringing foreign dollars. And like Don Corleone, it doesn't make any difference to me what a person does for a living.

So I am not throwing a wet-blanket judgement over this strategy. And yes, if one is from the U.S. or Canada, there is a logic in trying to remove oneself from the runaway profit-taking in those places; being able to afford quality healthcare, food and shelter is a real issue for many people north of the border, and I do not discount it.

But let's approach the conversation about affordability with caution, with an awareness that affordability may not mean what you think it means. Wow, a Princess Bride reference to boot? I'm on a roll...