The Real Cost of Moving to and Living at Lake Chapala

How did you luck out with five meters? A friend was trying to get a second one put in...with no such luck.

I have 3 meters and my total bill runs usually under $1,000 pesos for each 2 month period. I have 4 TVs, 3 apartment units, 2 copiers and 7 computers plus other misc electronics. Only one TV is an LCD flat screen, the others are old school style but 6 of my 7 computer monitors are LCD.

The house originally had 2. 3 more were installed when a pool and spa were added in the early 90s.

While standing in line this morning at CFE I noticed the electric bill of the little old lady in front of me,
97.00 pesos.

My electricity has been just under 500 pesos for 2 months but I'm by myself. The TV (new Sony) is on all the time when I'm home as is my laptop but no pool here.

I was shocked that my first water bill was 500 pesos higher than my property taxes. I had no idea that having grass - the lawn kind, not the smoking kind as well as 2 bathrooms instead of 1 bathroom raise your water bill. Coming from the Caribbean I probably use less water than anyone down here but it doesn't matter. Still not complaining since it's still so much cheaper than where I came from just different.

Carry, being by yourself...how do you manage to use both bathrooms at the same time?
The logic (here in Mexico) for charging for water totally escapes me...it's NOT the number of bathrooms you have, it's the number of PEOPLE USING the bathroom.
I am happy to pay for the water I actually USE not someone's guestimate...which is why we had the first water meter in San Pancho.

I think that John and many others have forgotten how expensive things are up here. His yearly budget of 31K is less than we pay for realty taxes and health insurance (total) in the Chicago suburbs. You are living dirt cheap!

I agree, mrum. Ferret, I've NEVER used the 2nd bathroom. I could have 6 people living here showering & flushing like crazy but it's just me. Still not complaining though. And old habits die hard. I still conserve water like crazy but my shower now still stays on while bathing instead of turning it off while I lather up & then turning on the water to rinse off. Living on the edge, I guess.

Some places in the Caribbean in condos charge 10 cents a gallon. And that's cistern water. Running out of that & having to buy really costs a bundle. I was lucky. Our place started at 2 cents a gallon up to a certain amount of usage, then 6 cents/gallon up to 10 cents if you were a really heavy user. I never went over the 2 cents usage.

mrum wrote:I think that John and many others have forgotten how expensive things are up here. His yearly budget of 31K is less than we pay for realty taxes and health insurance (total) in the Chicago suburbs. You are living dirt cheap!

You have to remember that there is sh$t, and there is shinola, and John does not know a whole hell of a lot of either.

Carry, you are indeed living on the edge...for shame letting the shower run!
When we lived in San Miguel, we had just a tinaco and the water pressure wasn't enough to get the shampoo out of my hair in a reasonable amount of time. It just made me fume the amount of water I was wasting doing that. So, we hooked up an adapter to the shower and put on six foot length of garden hose with a Truper garden nozzle on the end. Wow, talk about power shower to get the shampoo out but also instant on and instant off to conserve water.
I do draw the line at cold showers though...but they are kinda refreshing when it's 95 degrees out.

I thought my water pressure was OK until I visited a friend in Chula Vista & turned on the kitchen sink. WOW! It almost scared me with the force from that faucet. I really hate cold showers, though even when it's hot outside.

mrum wrote:I think that John and many others have forgotten how expensive things are up here. His yearly budget of 31K is less than we pay for realty taxes and health insurance (total) in the Chicago suburbs. You are living dirt cheap!

What an exxageration!!! How could you pay that much in RE Taxes unless you live in a million $ mansion. RE taxes almost anywhere in the States run between $ 3 K to $ 10 K a year and $ 10 K is extremely high. The average is $ 5K - $ 7 K for RE taxes. Health Insurance, you must be under 65 and footing the whole bill.

Private health insurance in Mexico costs more than Medicare and Supplemental insurance in the US by far and increases 10 - 15% a year.

People think Mexico is cheap. NOT anymore. Many items here offset US costs. One is electricity. It costs no more than $ 5 - $ 6 K more to live in the US. I have figures to prove it.

Mexico's rate of inflation is 5 - 7%. In 5 - 7 years it will cost the same to live in Mexico as it does in the States.

I guess that would depend on where in the States you're talking about but my sister was paying $12 or $14K/year for property taxes in the Midwest.

"Mexico's rate of inflation is 5 - 7%. In 5 - 7 years it will cost the same to live in Mexico as it does in the States"

And the US inflation rate will stay the same or go down?

Carry Bean wrote:I guess that would depend on where in the States you're talking about but my sister was paying $12 or $14K/year for property taxes in the Midwest.

"Mexico's rate of inflation is 5 - 7%. In 5 - 7 years it will cost the same to live in Mexico as it does in the States"

And the US inflation rate will stay the same or go down?

$ 12 K - $ 14 K in the Midwest?? Yikes, what's her house worth, a Million? It's less taxes than that in Calif and industrialized New England. I thought the Midwest and Southwest and South was cheaper.

Who knows what the US inflatrion rate will do, but Uncle Sam didn't give us any COLA's for 2 years saying there's no inflation. Yeah right. Bullsh*t, screw the Seniors again.

Try 14.3K about 50 miles west of Chicago. and no $1M, the home is worth about 400K, down from about $700K three years ago. That's IF you can find a buyer. Way too many homes in foreclosure and going for next to nothing. Again, my point being, you really don't know the situation up here anymore.

mrum wrote:Try 14.3K about 50 miles west of Chicago. and no $1M, the home is worth about 400K, down from about $700K three years ago. That's IF you can find a buyer. Way too many homes in foreclosure and going for next to nothing. Again, my point being, you really don't know the situation up here anymore.

And that $ 400 K home isn't going to sell anytime in the next 3 years with a $ 14.3 K taxes. I can buy that same home in California, which is "supposed" to be so expensive for $ 5 - 6 K in taxes with great weather, like the San Diego area. Which would you buy?

I wouldn't be willing to live in a San Diego house that cost only $400K.

David wrote:I wouldn't be willing to live in a San Diego house that cost only $400K.

What reasons do you have for saying that?

Reasons for saying I would not? John, negatives don't have to be justified.

Bob, It looks like if you have a pool the cost of maintenance is high, but in the US or Canada you would probably do it yourself. I'm looking at John's costs and they are really high compared to what I pay, especially electric, TV, water. I don't have a pool.

The most surprising thing I encountered (and I've been here 12 years) is where I wanted to buy a house when the time came. I rented for a long time and lived in Guadalajara, San Antonio Tlayacapan, Jocotopec, and ultimately bought in San Juan Cosala. Every community is very different. And taxes and water and much cheaper in the municipality of Jocotopec.

I've compared mine to a friend who owns a house in Riberas - we have about the same amount of land and house. My property taxes and water bill are very low compared to in the Chapala region. I have over 6,000 square feet of land, about 2,500 sq ft of house with 3 bathrooms and pay 900 pesos for water and 800 pesos in taxes. I didn't have a DIF card at the time - I do now and so I would have paid half of that.

The biggest surprise in 12 years is how fast the area has grown. There are many new developments of houses, and the traffic can be really bad on our two lane highway through town. When I moved here, there was one traffic light in Chapala. Now they are in every town and several of them. There are still a lot of retirees moving here, although at a slower pace. And many Mexicans from Guadalajara are buying weekend homes here. So the area is growing faster than I expected.

FYI, SIMAPA (water) and Chapala Municipio do not give discounts to foreigners with DIF cards. Our pool is maintained by our gardener who works 3hrs/3days. I buy a bucket of tri-chloro every 2-3 months. I know folks who pay a pool service. IMHO, not worth it.

Looking after a pool is not that much work or that expensive if you regularly maintain it. I have a 18' x 36' pool and spend about 1 - 2 hours per week vacuuming and cleaning it. The chemicals if kept balanced are a quick check and adjustment. I spend about $300 year on chemicals and about $500 year on electricity and gas however I only have it open for 6 months of the year. They do become a lot of work if you have leaf or fruit dropping trees or don't maintain and they get algae infestations.

David wrote:FYI, SIMAPA (water) and Chapala Municipio do not give discounts to foreigners with DIF cards. Our pool is maintained by our gardener who works 3hrs/3days. I buy a bucket of tri-chloro every 2-3 months. I know folks who pay a pool service. IMHO, not worth it.

Your gardener takes care of your pool, so how much do you think he's costing you and how much is the yearly cost of chlorine? It takes no more than 1/2 hour a week to maintain a pool 3 times a week.

Soooo... it takes 10 minutes 3 times a week?

To vacuum the pool, clean along the water line, clean the skimmers, check & balance your Ph & Chlorine levels, reverse flow to clean your pump & filters...

In 10 minutes...

John... you're good!!

I know what my costs are and they're way less than yours.

True cost of living is a very subjective things as we all life different lifestyles.

some folks need their wine or hard liquor, me included
Costco for some things but not really like we used to back in Oregon at all.
We live a very comfortable lifestyle here and we are saving 30-35% for sure across the board. We could do better if we wanted to. We buy local everywhere we have lived in Mexico and have learned to embrace and enjoy the experience. My wife loves getting to know our poultry or pork butcher. it's fresher, cheaper and we have NEVER gotten sick here. Can't say that for those big name chains up north.
The pace of life here is a big part of why many of us chose to live here I suspect.