Live and Invest Overseas Budget for Mexico

Mexico, San Cristobal de las Casas and Morelia

San Cristobal de las Casas is not your typical Mexican resort or quaint tourist development: this is a high altitude, high attitude, intact colonial city dating from its founding in 1528. The city proper is set in a lush green valley amid the sometimes fog-shrouded mountains of Chiapas state, at 7,000-plus feet. Come winter, the corn fields are cemeteries of brown and barren stalks, and planted wherever a space exists or can be created. What would be a meadow or pasture anywhere else in the world is given over to maize, the staple crop of the people.

This is a city in love with color and tradition, music and art. The occasional overcast skies due to the mountainous setting are offset by walls of scarlet, indigo, and titanium yellow. The Mayan ladies wear incandescent shawls and the traffic lights, half-sized, well placed and visible, flash in ruby-red letters.

Highlights of summer include week-long jazz festivals, featuring international groups. Symphony orchestras play here in the winter and itinerant lecturers are constantly passing through town. Ticket prices? Less than a box of popcorn in Phoenix. The hotels? Stay in a 16th-century one-story mansion for the price of a night at the Holiday Inn. The colors? Beyond any artist's palette and probably inspired by the Mayans.

An excellent close-in posada is US$25 a night. Rates go up in August to snag the Europeans, but, if you feel like bargaining, cash speaks loudly. Expect a comfortable bed for two, a nice bath with hot water, no phone but a television. You'll find a bar and a restaurant a few steps away.

The city has several medical offices and the rates are low: US$2.50 for a quick check-up, double that for a night house call. There aren't many lawyer's offices. A local real estate broker explained: "We don't have a need for many lawyers here."

Even in the historical district, prices are reasonable—in both sales and rentals. To give you some idea, a three-bedroom home (unfurnished), with two and a half baths, a two-car garage, and views rents for US$450 a month.

A rancho, outside of town, on acreage, with three bedrooms and two baths, rents for US$500 a month. Commercial buildings in town rent for US$500 a month. Meanwhile, colonial-style homes in town start at around US$64,000 (with two bedrooms and two baths).

Have a look at the budget our far-flung correspondents have put together for our readers. You'll be surprised how affordable San Cristobal de las Casas really is...

San Cristobal Monthly Budget

Apartment or House Rental

Apartment or House Ownership

Car Ownership

By Michael Paladin

Situated beneath the southern end of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range and nestled in the Guayangareo Valley, near Lake Cuitzeo, Morelia is a hill town—more than 6,000 feet above sea level. The town, solidly laid-out from the get-go, still slopes gently along with its hills from the original town plan and today's historical center.

In a way, it's a walk back through time. Horses are still a mode of travel and vendors still sell freshly-killed chickens and orchids, even dirt from the back of a donkey. Yet, it's also firmly established in the 21st century, with Internet cafés, even a Wal-Mart supplying the convenience and ease of modern-day life.

The region's name of Michoacan derives from the Nahuatl terms michin (fish), hua (those who have) and can (place). All together the word means "fishermen's place." Not surprising, then, that fish is often the best thing on the menu. Whitefish is a particular favorite. Other local meals include traditional bean soup and chamarro (pork rubbed with chili and cooked in a clay pot).

While the cost of living is certainly lower than the U.S., Jenifer Rose makes a good point when she warned me that life in Mexico is not nearly as cheap as some guides indicate. "It's just different. There is a huge tendency for enthusiastic expats to act like real estate agents when it comes to reporting living expenses, and they tend to under-report. That said, services—whether it's medical care or household help— are much less costly here than in the U.S. Electronics are more expensive."

If you are reading this, you can probably afford a good life in Mexico. It's a matter of perception. The secret behind "living like a king" is in the quality of life you can command when you move from a country like the States to one like Mexico. When you consider that the average wage in Mexico is 53 pesos (US$4) a day, it's no big surprise that household help is extremely affordable. (One person told me her 25-year-old maid comes once a week for five to six hours for 180 pesos, US$15.) Frankly, this is what makes "the good life" even better...when you can suddenly afford the luxuries of a maid, gardener, driver, nanny...a full staff...life gets pretty cushiony.

And prices balance out. Paper products, Internet access, gasoline, even some books may be more expensive in Morelia than home, but pharmaceuticals, medical care, utilities, and food, for example, are less expensive. You'll find good prices at Morelia's open-air markets, although most of the fruit and vegetables come from the big markets in the nearby town of Zamora, where you'll find the lowest prices. You can find everything from CDs to clothes— leather for less than US$100—even some food you've never seen before. Construction costs are also low: about 5,500 pesos (US$456) per square meter of construction using standard-quality materials. For a more detailed break-down of the monthly expenses, see the budget below:

Morelia Monthly Budget

Apartment or House Rental

Apartment or House Ownership

By Kathleen Peddicord