My experience living throughout Latin America (9 countries over close to 10 years) is this:
-generally, utilities are far more expensive throughout Latin America (phone, electricity, and certain fuel types) when compared with Canada/US;
A: no way around this
-all imported goods from US/Canada found in Latin American stores are so unrealistically high, many are in excess of 4-times the price one is used to paying at home;
A: always, always buy locally made products and food grown/caught in the Latin American country within which you reside
-renting a home in Latin America can be cost-effective if you understand the local market in a geographical/geosocial context (however, this could put you at higher risk of being a victim of random violence/crime); for a foreigner, buying a home and all the legal red-tape involved in Latin America to do so can drain you financially and emotionally;
A: if you want to get involved in a knee-deep quagmire, buy a property in Latin America as a foreigner, however, I'd always recommend renting if you know the local market very well
-vehicle purchase and registration in Latin America for a foreigner can get very complicated and expensive; it may be more feasible for you to bring your own vehicle down on a temporary carnet;
-banking and foreign transaction fees are usually very steep for a foreigner living in Latin America;
A: bring down large sums of cash in the form of ready to convert insured instruments, or research low fee offshore banking institutions that have analog outlets in your target country (this could be risky, these kinds of institutions have no deposit insurance at all)
The results of following my advice in terms of cost-of-living will vary greatly from country-to-country. For example, it could cost you 60% less to reside in Nicaragua when compared with Canada or the US, or it could cost you 15% less to reside in Mexico.
In ending: Relying on local health care could be a gamble. Many Latin American countries have excellent private health care, that could be had for roughly 70% less than US health care. However, you may feel more secure double-insuring (carry foreign medical health insurance from home) and hedge with local private health care; but this could be expensive and defeat the purpose of attempting to lower your cost of living in Latin America...
Anyhow, every country would have to be evaluated on an individual basis (in-country inflation rates calculated monthly, etc).
Good luck to you trying to find the magic bullet! Your mileage and experiences may vary...
A previous post stated that the writer is a disabled US military veteran. Are you aware that the VA has a Foreign Medical Program that reimburses the cost of care for the connected disability? Don't know if this will come through as a link or not, but here's some info: http://www.va.gov/hac/factsheets/fmp/FactSheet01-05.pdf
Moderator's edit: Converted the URL into an active link.
* This post was
edited 06/24/08 05:19am by an administrator/moderator *
We have found Mexico to be much cheaper for our family. We have 4 kids, 14 (in less than a week), 12, 8 and 6. We have been traveling MExico since 2004 and moved here January 1, 2007. I budget $2500USD a month for all expenses, but built into that budget are costs that come up yearly (life insurance, health insurance (I need to drop the US health insurance and get ING), Sirius radio , stuff like that). We generally spend around $1600USD a month. We live on the Caribbean and snorkel daily (but not in the winter when it is too cold - all the snowbirds think it is warm, but they are nutz! , eh Jonna?). We do NOT live an American lifestyle though and cook almost everything from scratch, get our fruits and veggies on Wednesday (during the sales), etc.
In our experience it is very possible as long as you're willing to be frugral and live a non-disposable lifestyle.
Jonna already pointed out that citizenship is not only possible, it is probable. We're all on FM3's and will probably get citizenship if/when it becomes possible (although now that the FM2 is actually required (there was a short time that an FM3 would suffice, I think) it is a more expensive endeavour.
- Kathy
2002 Ford Econoline E350 PSD 7.3L TV.
2005 Ameri-Camp T315QBS.
Harvestmoon brings up a good point that I didn't really cover. It is costing us less to live here than New Mexico but we are also living much "higher on the hog" in terms of our casa and general life style. We have a very large home and pool in a very prime area. We have half time domestic and grounds help to keep it up. We eat out a lot, we vacation at the beach often. We travel a lot, having a great airport 30 minutes from the house in Guad. is a huge benefit to living on the shores of Lake Chapala.
You just can't beat Ajijic for climate, convenience and lifestyle. We could have just as easily located in much more Mexican towns also on the north side of the lake for a lot less than we spent on a luxury home and community. But we view this as our time to enjoy the fruits of our labors.
You CAN live here for maybe half of what it might cost in a higher cost of living area NOB. But there are compromises and changes inherent in that and IMHO one should be fluent in Spanish before located in a community with few expats. We're busy studying Spanish but don't have to have it to live here. For us, it is a matter of respecting the country and its language plusl the fact that speaking Spanish is FUN!
DanHouck wrote: Harvestmoon brings up a good point that I didn't really cover. It is costing us less to live here than New Mexico but we are also living much "higher on the hog" in terms of our casa and general life style. We have a very large home and pool in a very prime area. We have half time domestic and grounds help to keep it up. We eat out a lot, we vacation at the beach often. We travel a lot, having a great airport 30 minutes from the house in Guad. is a huge benefit to living on the shores of Lake Chapala.
You just can't beat Ajijic for climate, convenience and lifestyle. We could have just as easily located in much more Mexican towns also on the north side of the lake for a lot less than we spent on a luxury home and community. But we view this as our time to enjoy the fruits of our labors.
You CAN live here for maybe half of what it might cost in a higher cost of living area NOB. But there are compromises and changes inherent in that and IMHO one should be fluent in Spanish before located in a community with few expats. We're busy studying Spanish but don't have to have it to live here. For us, it is a matter of respecting the country and its language plusl the fact that speaking Spanish is FUN!
Chris & Moisheh, you guys gotta come see us!
Hey Dan, before I got to the last line of the post I was hoping I could be invited to do the gardening . We will be visiting sooner than you think. Of course, we will let you know. Saludos.
, stuff like that). We generally spend around $1600USD a month. We live on the Caribbean and snorkel daily (but not in the winter when it is too cold - all the snowbirds think it is warm, but they are nutz! 
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