I propose here a test to see how spoiled rotten you are, and I offer this mostly for Americans. My exposure to the everyday variety of citizens here in Texas is that the majority of them are spoiled almost beyond belief . . . and I'm one of them. I'm married to a spoiled rotten woman, and I have spoiled rotten kids and grandkids. None of us are rich or even what could be called "well off." Most Americans aren't either, but they're still spoiled. We're so badly spoiled that we're starting to stink up the place. Here's a test to determine your personal extent of rottenness.
1) How old and how expensive is the vehicle you drive? Do you have more than one vehicle? If you drive a new car (big payments) and have a second older car, you're rotten to the core, even if you can justify a need for two cars.
2) Do you live in a big house, say like 3,000 sq. ft. of living area? Do you have nice furnishings? If so, you're spoiled rotten, even if you can afford it.
3) Do you own at least three televisions or have more than one cell phone in the family? Do you spend extra money on jewelry, recreation, and sporting equipment? Do you have a budget for recreation? If so, you're spoiled rotten.
4) What would it take to get you to live less well, say for instance half as well? An act of God? If so, you're spoiled rotten.
This isn't part of the test, but if you had to live on far less money could you do it?
Look, we're all under pressure to spend money, and it comes at us from all angles. Anyone offering a service or good wants to sell it to you, and they work hard at it. You get family pressures to spend money, and again, from all angles. Everybody seems to need or want something, and those pressures aren't about to go away. No, they're here to stay, and you can't go away from the pressures either . . . at least not easily.
I have a budget only in my head because I spend as much as I need. Doing that makes life more of an obligation than a pleasure. I wonder what it feels like to have a decent savings account? I wonder what it feels like to have a safe supply of money left over at the end of the month? It's not a mystery to me; I just wonder why I allow it to happen to me. I don't have to do that. I'm a willing victim to all the demands for my money, and that's stupid.
During my quiet hours, usually late into the night, I amuse myself looking for ways to save money, to get out from under the money mandate. Last night I was checking our the housing market in San Felipe, Baja California. It's a town of about 30,000 only about a two hour drive into Mexico, and lots of Americans have discovered it. I started looking at San Felipe quite some time ago but wasn't much interested because I'm not a desert person. There are deserts, like the lovely desert around Tucson, and then there are butt ugly, desolate, bleak deserts, like the one around San Felipe. But there's lots of development there, quite a few homes for sale and at very reasonable prices. Forget the fancy resort towns of Mexico because that's not what you'll find in San Felipe. It's recreational, for sure, and the Sea of Cortez is really nice, lots of beautiful beaches. But then, there's that desert.
I found several houses there selling for under fifty grand, and they were nice smaller homes. Not fancy, but nice enough . . . if you can live in about a thousand to twelve hundred feet. I see a few small houses I could simply buy outright, which is the way to go. Just plunk down the money, and it's yours. So, I spend fifty grand on a place like that knowing my property taxes will be almost nil, that my utilities will be a fraction of what they cost here . . . and I'd still be in a gated community where HOA fees are like fifty bucks a month. Property and car insurance is less, and if I decide to keep using my medicare, American doctors and hospitals are not far away. And, my outgoing money demands suddenly drop by 75 percent. But, I'm still in that desert, so the question is: Just how spoiled rotten am I? I have a quick answer, which is: Not that much.
I could do a lot of things to a property under conditions like that. I'd have several thousand bucks a month left over, or maybe more. Even if I jumped in big, bought one of the nicer homes in that area, I'd still be far better off financially. But alas, I have a wife who has demands. Have you ever tried moving a woman from a really nice house to a lesser one? Or, try this statement on for size: "I'm buying a house in a bleak desert in Mexico, and we're going to live off less than two grand a month."
And then, make sure your earplugs are in place.
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Friday, December 2, 2016
A REFRESHER ON WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER MEXICO AS A PLACE TO LIVE
I've said before, but it's always worth repeating. Consider Mexico as a home, regardless of what your age is or what you do for a living. It all starts with:
1) Abandon the notion that you just can't do it. Necessity is the mother of invention, and you might need to leave here for a better situation somewhere else. Mexico is the best option.
2) Purge your mind of almost everything you know about Mexico through American news sources. It's mostly all bogus. They have crime, yes, but many places there have far less crime than you live around here. Their government is corrupt, you say? Can you hear me laughing? Like the one you live under here isn't? Mexico is poor, you say? Have you looked around lately? It's here too, you know, and it affects upwards of half our population. Mexico is backward? Think of it this way: They didn't just elect a misogynist, xenophobic jerk to the highest office in the land, and we did. I could go on and on about this, but the bottom line is: Don't believe what you hear here, not from our press. Do your own research, go take a look for yourself.
3) Don't dive into the deep end of the pool without your floaties. Plan adequately, make contacts, form alliances, and again, do the research. You'll find out some interesting things. All of them won't be good, but you'll know what you're up against and can weigh the costs of moving there against the benefits. You'll find the benefits enticing. I did, and it only took a short while to do that. We all have different situations and circumstances to deal with. I'll reveal mine, show you the difference, and you can go from there.
I live in a nice house in central Texas and am on a fixed retirement income. We, the wife and I, have a steady bankable income of about $4,600 a month, but she still works to help make ends meet. On a monthly basis we spend about a thousand a month just on various insurances. A move to a nice town in Mexico cuts that in half, even a little more, and we're just as well insured. We spend over five thousand a year here on just property taxes, and for the same kind of house in Mexico, that goes down to more like two hundred. Utilities here can run as much as $1,000 a month, almost always around $800 (that's for a home and my wife's business), and in Mexico that would be no more than $100 a month. Three things, folks, just those three things would save this family around $20,000 a year. With other reduced cost of living there, that number edges up close to $30,000 a year. I fact checked it all; it's not a myth.
4) Be prepared to give up some things, and one of them is your spoiled American attitude. Be prepared to change and adjust to another culture. Mexico is mostly a pay as you go society, and if you go there and try to live like you do here (credit cards and big debt), you're very little better off. You won't have to sacrifice in lifestyle, just mostly in your style. Don't be the ugly American. One of the hardest adjustments you'll face is to shake your fearfulness, something you've been trained to be here. You can't be fearful of people who're not like you and get along well anywhere.
5) Relish the adventure. What do you really have to lose? Nobody leaves a place that's working well for them. They go looking for a better life, and that doesn't just land in you lap. I'm trying to make that move, and I'm 75 years old. If I can do it, anybody can . . . if they need to, and want to. My need to move there is greater than my wanting to be there. In in a position to say, "I'd love to stay, but they won't let me." Too many people want to take too much here. I want out from under that.
1) Abandon the notion that you just can't do it. Necessity is the mother of invention, and you might need to leave here for a better situation somewhere else. Mexico is the best option.
2) Purge your mind of almost everything you know about Mexico through American news sources. It's mostly all bogus. They have crime, yes, but many places there have far less crime than you live around here. Their government is corrupt, you say? Can you hear me laughing? Like the one you live under here isn't? Mexico is poor, you say? Have you looked around lately? It's here too, you know, and it affects upwards of half our population. Mexico is backward? Think of it this way: They didn't just elect a misogynist, xenophobic jerk to the highest office in the land, and we did. I could go on and on about this, but the bottom line is: Don't believe what you hear here, not from our press. Do your own research, go take a look for yourself.
3) Don't dive into the deep end of the pool without your floaties. Plan adequately, make contacts, form alliances, and again, do the research. You'll find out some interesting things. All of them won't be good, but you'll know what you're up against and can weigh the costs of moving there against the benefits. You'll find the benefits enticing. I did, and it only took a short while to do that. We all have different situations and circumstances to deal with. I'll reveal mine, show you the difference, and you can go from there.
I live in a nice house in central Texas and am on a fixed retirement income. We, the wife and I, have a steady bankable income of about $4,600 a month, but she still works to help make ends meet. On a monthly basis we spend about a thousand a month just on various insurances. A move to a nice town in Mexico cuts that in half, even a little more, and we're just as well insured. We spend over five thousand a year here on just property taxes, and for the same kind of house in Mexico, that goes down to more like two hundred. Utilities here can run as much as $1,000 a month, almost always around $800 (that's for a home and my wife's business), and in Mexico that would be no more than $100 a month. Three things, folks, just those three things would save this family around $20,000 a year. With other reduced cost of living there, that number edges up close to $30,000 a year. I fact checked it all; it's not a myth.
4) Be prepared to give up some things, and one of them is your spoiled American attitude. Be prepared to change and adjust to another culture. Mexico is mostly a pay as you go society, and if you go there and try to live like you do here (credit cards and big debt), you're very little better off. You won't have to sacrifice in lifestyle, just mostly in your style. Don't be the ugly American. One of the hardest adjustments you'll face is to shake your fearfulness, something you've been trained to be here. You can't be fearful of people who're not like you and get along well anywhere.
5) Relish the adventure. What do you really have to lose? Nobody leaves a place that's working well for them. They go looking for a better life, and that doesn't just land in you lap. I'm trying to make that move, and I'm 75 years old. If I can do it, anybody can . . . if they need to, and want to. My need to move there is greater than my wanting to be there. In in a position to say, "I'd love to stay, but they won't let me." Too many people want to take too much here. I want out from under that.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Can You Soar Like An Egale in a Flock of Buzzards?
Nothing in life is more frustrating than trying to soar like an eagle in a flock of buzzards. I've seen sparrows chase off hawks, or even pigeons roost with chickens, but I'll expect to see a lamb lie down with a lion before I see an eagle buddied up with a bunch of buzzards. That's the way any truly intelligent person should feel if elected to the Congress of the United States. When it comes to buzzards, we've got them in Congress. We've also got a few hawks, an eagle or two, and even some parrots. And as you know, a buzzard is most at home around dead things, like . . . even a dead country. They can't kill it because they're not up for that, but they can sure make it sick. The death blow will come from Congress itself when it finally commits suicide. They'll do this in the passage of some truly idiotic laws.
But forget politics and all the stinky stuff that goes with it, and concentrate on how you'll react if you're not a bottom feeder. Will you try to rise above all the decay and soar above it? That won't work because everything must come back to ground sometime. That's when you get your feet dirtied. Consider this: What about flying to where the landing will be better, where you don't land in deep shit. Is there any such place within flying distance? Yeah, there is, and nicer places. I've got my sights set on Mexico, but the places to pick from are abundant. Considerations about distance should be conditioned by the benefits of finding a better home, and we live in a world now where that's less important. Here's a country you might overlook because of negative publicity - France. But they have heavy taxes, you'll be told. The country is eaten up with savage terrorists, they'll tell you. The water is bad there, and it's socialist, and the people are unfriendly. Remember (and don't forget this), most of this information comes to you via the American news media. Do you trust them to tell the truth? They're the ones who pumped you full of bullshit propaganda about how wonderful the U.S. is, so keep that in mind.
Do your own research; it's easy to do. Make comparisons, and then make judgments. You'll find that the good old U.S. is a long way behind many other countries in any number of things. Then make decisions based on what you can learn, and how much you can afford. Don't neglect looking at countries that are much smaller than the U.S. because good efficient government, stable societies, are easier to create there. Norway, Austria, New Zealand, and Chile are good examples. Someone asked me about Uruguay not long ago. I couldn't give a glowing report, but from what I know it it, some possibilities exist there. There's always Panama, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, or you might like some of the far eastern countries. Stop listening to all the chatter about unstable governments and take a look at your own. Pay attention to costs of living elsewhere and make comparisons.
Ajijic, Mexico, on Lake Chapala south of Guadalajara, is full of American expats who're living on much less than half what it costs to live here. Check out the youtube videos, look at realtor sites, talk to people. The more you know, the better equipped you are to leave here. I think mostly about location. I can drive from my home in one long day all the way to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I can move possessions and precious animals there, or any place in Mexico, with greater ease. I can live there on one fourth what it costs me to live here. Do what's most doable, something that's important to someone my age. If you're younger, the broaden your search, explore other places. And don't wait too long. Time isn't critical at the moment, but a year from now the situation will be worse. It's best to leave before you get caught in a bad bind.
But forget politics and all the stinky stuff that goes with it, and concentrate on how you'll react if you're not a bottom feeder. Will you try to rise above all the decay and soar above it? That won't work because everything must come back to ground sometime. That's when you get your feet dirtied. Consider this: What about flying to where the landing will be better, where you don't land in deep shit. Is there any such place within flying distance? Yeah, there is, and nicer places. I've got my sights set on Mexico, but the places to pick from are abundant. Considerations about distance should be conditioned by the benefits of finding a better home, and we live in a world now where that's less important. Here's a country you might overlook because of negative publicity - France. But they have heavy taxes, you'll be told. The country is eaten up with savage terrorists, they'll tell you. The water is bad there, and it's socialist, and the people are unfriendly. Remember (and don't forget this), most of this information comes to you via the American news media. Do you trust them to tell the truth? They're the ones who pumped you full of bullshit propaganda about how wonderful the U.S. is, so keep that in mind.
Do your own research; it's easy to do. Make comparisons, and then make judgments. You'll find that the good old U.S. is a long way behind many other countries in any number of things. Then make decisions based on what you can learn, and how much you can afford. Don't neglect looking at countries that are much smaller than the U.S. because good efficient government, stable societies, are easier to create there. Norway, Austria, New Zealand, and Chile are good examples. Someone asked me about Uruguay not long ago. I couldn't give a glowing report, but from what I know it it, some possibilities exist there. There's always Panama, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, or you might like some of the far eastern countries. Stop listening to all the chatter about unstable governments and take a look at your own. Pay attention to costs of living elsewhere and make comparisons.
Ajijic, Mexico, on Lake Chapala south of Guadalajara, is full of American expats who're living on much less than half what it costs to live here. Check out the youtube videos, look at realtor sites, talk to people. The more you know, the better equipped you are to leave here. I think mostly about location. I can drive from my home in one long day all the way to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I can move possessions and precious animals there, or any place in Mexico, with greater ease. I can live there on one fourth what it costs me to live here. Do what's most doable, something that's important to someone my age. If you're younger, the broaden your search, explore other places. And don't wait too long. Time isn't critical at the moment, but a year from now the situation will be worse. It's best to leave before you get caught in a bad bind.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
MORE ON THE LOGIC OF LIVING IN MEXICO
I'm absolutely amazed at the number of people who refuse to move anywhere, even away from a city that's been treating them unkindly for a long time. "But I grew up here. I have friends and family here. My roots are here," I've been told time and time again. And my response is usually, "What are you, a tree?" Well, apparently, most people are indeed trees, too rooted to move . . . and they suffer lots of indignities to keep their roots firmly planted. If you use logic, face facts, you come to the conclusion you need to be more like a bird that's free to fly. A tree is a wonderful thing, but it has lots of limitations. It can't move, for one thing, and that means it must stay put . . . and at the pleasure of things that want to use it. Trees, squirrels, cats, and a bevy of other creatures love trees, but so does the lumberman. He'll chop you ass down in a heartbeat and saw you into lumber, and why? Because in the spurious society you live in a tree is worth more dead than alive.
So, consider yourself a tree and take note of what happens to you. Unlike the real tree, you're a tree that can be chopped down slowly, a limb at a time. You're there for the taking. Government, corporate American, and the society you live in are going to chop away at you, leaving perhaps only enough of you to stay alive so you can grow new parts to chop off. Government is going to tax and regulate the shit out of you, and Corporate America is going to whittle away at your income like drug crazed termites. As for society, it gives up very little that's free. Getting an education is costly, and churches always want money, and those pesky charities are always after your bleeding heart money. The grocer is going to gouge you with price increases, and the mechanic is going to rip you off when you need a car repaired . . . and it goes on and one. Is it any different anywhere else? Well, not many places, but at least you can cut into the amount of loss you'll incur by leaving this country. I've investigated costs of living all over the world, have taken note of where expats have gone, and have made some startling discoveries. After all the research, I've found the best place for cutting back on oppressive costs of living is right in our own back yard - Mexico.
You won't save much, if anything, buying property in Mexico. Americans have pretty much taken over the real estate business in Mexico, and wherever Americans go, the dollar becomes the bottom line. Yeah, that's more of corporate America at work, even if you leave home for Mexico. You won't save money buying automobiles there either, and your savings in food costs will be only marginal . . . if you keep up the same lifestyle you lead here. But, you can kiss the other outrageous costs of living goodbye. Mexico doesn't bleed it's citizenry for taxes, especially property taxes. The cost reductions are drastic. You could easily go from paying ten grand a year here to just a few hundred bucks a year there. Bye, bye big utility bills too. Cost there are a fraction of what they are here. You can actually afford to see a doctor regularly, and dental care is much cheaper there. And the care aspect of medical care there is just as good or better than it is here. But will I be safe in Mexico? In most Mexican states, the answer is yes. The states that run up crime statistics in Mexico are close to our border, usually, and many places there are safer than you can find here in the U.S. Will I be treated well there? Most expats say yes, exceptionally well in most cases. But don't believe me, do your own research. You'll find a completely different story than the constant bullshit our news agencies here have been feeding you. And then stop being a tree.
So, consider yourself a tree and take note of what happens to you. Unlike the real tree, you're a tree that can be chopped down slowly, a limb at a time. You're there for the taking. Government, corporate American, and the society you live in are going to chop away at you, leaving perhaps only enough of you to stay alive so you can grow new parts to chop off. Government is going to tax and regulate the shit out of you, and Corporate America is going to whittle away at your income like drug crazed termites. As for society, it gives up very little that's free. Getting an education is costly, and churches always want money, and those pesky charities are always after your bleeding heart money. The grocer is going to gouge you with price increases, and the mechanic is going to rip you off when you need a car repaired . . . and it goes on and one. Is it any different anywhere else? Well, not many places, but at least you can cut into the amount of loss you'll incur by leaving this country. I've investigated costs of living all over the world, have taken note of where expats have gone, and have made some startling discoveries. After all the research, I've found the best place for cutting back on oppressive costs of living is right in our own back yard - Mexico.
You won't save much, if anything, buying property in Mexico. Americans have pretty much taken over the real estate business in Mexico, and wherever Americans go, the dollar becomes the bottom line. Yeah, that's more of corporate America at work, even if you leave home for Mexico. You won't save money buying automobiles there either, and your savings in food costs will be only marginal . . . if you keep up the same lifestyle you lead here. But, you can kiss the other outrageous costs of living goodbye. Mexico doesn't bleed it's citizenry for taxes, especially property taxes. The cost reductions are drastic. You could easily go from paying ten grand a year here to just a few hundred bucks a year there. Bye, bye big utility bills too. Cost there are a fraction of what they are here. You can actually afford to see a doctor regularly, and dental care is much cheaper there. And the care aspect of medical care there is just as good or better than it is here. But will I be safe in Mexico? In most Mexican states, the answer is yes. The states that run up crime statistics in Mexico are close to our border, usually, and many places there are safer than you can find here in the U.S. Will I be treated well there? Most expats say yes, exceptionally well in most cases. But don't believe me, do your own research. You'll find a completely different story than the constant bullshit our news agencies here have been feeding you. And then stop being a tree.
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