To A Definite Maybe Part Two

Now the real nitty-gritty about getting to a definite maybe. After reading six or seven books about retiring to Mexico, I felt ready to answer a least some of the barrage of questions from Bud. Number one, how much does it cost? This is kind of like nailing jell-0 to a wall since one has no idea what standard of living is being applied. In my research I found answers from as low as $1000 up to $2500 per month. Yeah right, so I decided use the standard to which we are accustomed. In a future blog you will find out what that turns out to be. It is hard to believe, so you will need to follow the process that we followed to find this answer.


It is only prudent to rent for the first year and maybe forever. A small "Empty Nester" home such as we live in now will range anywhere from $700 USD to $900 USD. These prices also include some of the utilities, i.e., water, local phone and Internet. The same level of home here in Frisco would run about $1300 USD and up plus utilities. Quite a nice savings just on housing.


Now what about food? Being an American and being non-metric savvy this has been a hard one for me to get a handle on. However if you eat fresh foods and few processed foods (which we do since we are vegetarian's....I know, this is a whole another blog), my best estimate is $300 USD per month. Just let me tell you, this is at least a 50% savings for us given the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables here in the US. I know many of you asking: Can you eat the fresh foods offered in the Mexican markets? The good news is YES!

What about medical care and insurance? This where you give yourself a sanity check. Living near a large city is very important fjust like in the US. That is where the well equipped hospitals and the best specialists are located. Many Mexican doctors have been trained and schooled in the US.

Medical Insurance is available for Americans in Mexico (Medicare does not cover people living in foreign countries).


These are the first set of questions and they lead to many more such as: transportation, entertainment, eating out, how to communicate, what would we do all day?


Stay tuned to find out all the answers and more. That led to not only a definite maybe, but let's take a trip and check it out.

P.S. The exchange rate as of today is about 11 pesos per US dollar.

All of these topics will be covered in much more depth in individual blogs in the near future for those of you that might be interested.

Y'all can make comments and ask for info on any topic you have a specific interest in knowing more about.

If you are following the blog please become a follower and let me know in that way.

Moire Stuff for sale

This is a 1927 Victrola : Antique/Folk Art piece.

When I was working as a desinger I had a friend paint the piece to go in my home in North Carolina. It was quite a conversation starter and it also really works. I have severl records that go with it i.e. My Secret Garden By Doris Day

Priced: $325.00

To A Definite Maybe Part One

How did I get from "That's something to think about" to a definite maybe? It did not happen overnight, even though I consider myself a pretty fast talker . However, this process fell somewhere on a continuum between Great Oration and Asian Water Torture. I truly believe it fell somewhere in the middle or former end of this spectrum.

I knew the first question that would need to be addressed " How much is this going to cost"? Boy, was I in luck! The very best news about Mexico is the cost of living. I just need to be armed with the specifics (I am married to an salesman/engineer)to make sure I was prepared. I began to do a lot of research on the Internet, which was not so great at providing the in depth/specific answers I was trying to find.

Then one morning my daughter call to ask me to pick her up at Frisco Automotive where they were repairing here car...you may already see how her car seem to have a continuing thread in this saga. I arrived ahead of her as usual, but in fairness I do not have to get two kids ready to tag along.

A good friend at Frisco Automotive ask how thing were going and I began to tell him that we were thinking about moving to Mexico. He hopped right off his stool and got a book from a drawer. " This book was written by a past client of mine you might enjoy reading it", and what to my wondering eyes should appear a book on Ajijic Mexico. This was the exact place I was trying to research. "MEXICO'S Lake Chapala & Ajijic The Insider's Guide", by Teresa A. Kendrick had all the answers. She tells where to go for dry cleaning etc. Along with all these details the most important revelation was the list of other resources.

Now that's something to think about

The last post showed my Secretary for sale. There will be many other jewels to look at soon. I am still trying to figure out how to add photos to my blog. My daughter was teaching me how to do this when a body shop called her to tell her the car was in fact totaled . Since she is in the same state of finances of most of us these days it was not good news. Given this, my tutorail for blogging was hijacked. So all you will get for a while will be my prose such as they are.

I will go back to the beginning of my tale of retiring to Mexico. Some seven or eight years ago I was moving in to a new home and the agent who sold it to us told me that this would be her last sale. She and her husband were moving to Mexico. She really got my attention when she ask if I would be interested in buying some of her furniture. So I took a look at what she was selling. WOW! it was real good stuff. Needless to say I still own some of it today.

As Bud and I began to talk about retiring these memories came to the surface. I started to play around with retiring to Italy(my favorite place). However, I quickly found that it was beyond our means. This lead me to investigate other options such as Panama and Mexico.

One night I just casually mentioned maybe we should think about retiring to Mexico; that after some research I thought we could lead a wonderful and adventurous life in a great climate. He of course gave the perfect response for a man who has been married the the same crazy lady for 44 years: "Now that's something to think about". In the next postings I will tell how this became a definite maybe.....

Hekman Secretary - 1/2 Price in Mint Condition!

I decided to just bite the bullet and start with some of the most beautiful stuff right up front. Here is a Hekman secretary which was featured in the Parade of Homes. I have loved this versatile piece and you will too - Especially at half of the original price. $3500.00

First Steps

When you begin to read this you may question our sanity. Oh, and by the way so do we, but that has not slowed us down in the process of retiring to Mexico. I know that most people just buy a sports car during a mid-life crisis, however, if you do not already know that I have a flair for the dramatic you will surely find out as you read more of this blog.

The first step to actually becoming an ex-pat is to take a trip to Mexico and try out some of the towns or villages that would make the best location for Bud and I. My research has lead me to the conclusion that there are about two or three places that might be a great fit for us.

So off we go! We hope to start the adventure in January of 2011 with a trip to Ajijic Mexico. Ajijic will be our home base for some more exploration.

One of the hardest pieces of this puzzle is to divest ones self of a life time of belongings. We have just started this process and you will find postings of many of the thing we wish to find a happy new home for on this Blog.

I will share much of my angst and joy on the subsquent posts.