I shared this with the Facebook Group earlier this week, and what ensued was a really fascinating conversation on strategies and tactics to keep your cost of living lower in Mexico. Many of these tips will work for travelers, too.

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The cost of living in Mexico has inevitably increased with inflation. But, in most areas, it’s still quite a bit lower than in the US.

That said, it’s easy (especially in areas with large concentrations of foreigners) to get trapped spending almost as much as you did back home.

For many of us, finding the absolute lowest cost of living possible isn’t our goal (it has never been mine), but needlessly overpaying isn’t ideal either.

You can keep your cost of living low in Mexico by embracing the local way of life.

Depending on where you are, this may mean doing things like:

• Not living in communities (or neighborhoods) that are predominantly occupied by foreigners
• Renting from a local landlord
• Living without a vehicle (in many cities, you won’t need one anyway!)
• Shopping at local markets instead of grocery stores (I broke down my grocery shopping strategy in this blog post!)
• Learning to cook with Mexican staples rather than relying on costly imported products

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If you're in my Facebook group, Female Travelers in Mexico, you can see the original post here.

Commenters suggested doing the follow, in addition to what I mentioned above:

• Reducing your use of air conditioning
• Making friends and taking turns hosting gatherings at one anothers' homes rather than going out to eat/drink all the time
• Learning Spanish and speaking it with vendors
• Using public transportation, including buses and colectivos
• Setting a strict budget (and following it!)
• Adapting to a slightly different lifestyle than you may be used to (because some of the stuff you used to do back home is way more costly in Mexico!)

This discussion resulted in my writing out a detailed explanation of my grocery shopping strategy in Mexico. You can read it here, if you're interested!

Do you have any strategies of your own for keeping your costs low in Mexico? Hit reply and let me know!

Hasta pronto!

Janine

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