As we planned our initial jump into senior traveling after retirement, we heard so much about the amazing cost of living in Merida that it was naturally at the top of our list for our first grand adventure! Is what we read true? As seniors on a budget, the economic advantages of living in Mexico screamed at us! To keep track of our expenses, we kept a detailed list each of the 5 months of each expenditure & what it covered.
As seniors traveling on a budget, we wanted to get a real feel on the REAL cost of living in Merida. We had in our mind a set number that we felt was doable for us monthly. We also understood that the real cost of living in Merida may well be an eye opener for us. Each month I kept a detailed list of pesos spent & below we will share with you an average expense for us. Lets see how close we were on our numbers!
The Real Cost of Living in Merida
What did we include in our living expenses in Merida?
The first month expenses were higher than normal as we were settling into our casa & had to buy a few things for that. Still, nothing that broke the bank. Rent & groceries were the highest expense but phone service & electric bill was also included. Site seeing excursions, massages & Spanish lessons would pretty much complete the list. We are a minimal couple with very basic needs & wants in our travels.
Let’s get started. All amounts are in USD & rounded to nearest dollar.
1] Rent – [2 bed/3 bath fully furnished {no w/d} – $ 500
2] Groceries/fruit stands – $ 430
3] Electric {avg of 4 months} $ 100
4] Massage & Acupuncture {as needed} per visit – $20
5] Cocina Economicas/Uber eats [inc tips] – $ 170
6] Coffee shops [our idea of entertainment]/Bakery – $ 60
7] Roasted Coffee Beans – $ 40
8] Uber Fees – $28
9] Laundry [6 visits approx] – $ 26
10] Pedicures – [twice a month x 2 inc tips] $ 50
11] Water Delivery – $ 5
12] Hair Salon [An absolute necessity] inc tips – $ 45
13] ATM Fees – $ 18
14] Telephones – $55
Yes, pedicures/massage/acupuncture are considered necessary monthly expenses – to us NOW.
What we didn’t include in the average monthly expense.
Spanish Class
Ten (10) one on one Spanish classes for two people [one time cost] – $150. Not a monthly expense but a necessary one!
Day Trips/Ruins/Weekend at Beach
This expense is totally on you as far as planning out what excursions, etc you want to do. Follow your budget & if you want add a ‘sum’ allotted to this expense. You do you. With the cost of living so economical, it is very easy to schedule your entertainment to your budget. All are very cost efficient entertainment so you do you…only you know your budget.
Surgery/Medical/Therapy
Yes, although we didn’t plan it we did have an unexpected medical expense [surgery on arm, follow up apts & therapy] at the end of July that was supposed to be covered by travel insurance. This expense taught us that when you travel internationally you really need to have a back up plan for unexpected medical emergencies as these will be an out of pocket expense, unless your insurance has an agreement with the International medical facility that provides your care.
We were fortunate in a few areas when it came to medical expenses, the hospital agreed to discount its services, accepted our credit card as a method of payment and we had enough of a credit limit available to pay the entire bill. The most important thing I can tell you about this part of a budget is no ones knows when an accident is going to happen. Do your homework prior to traveling internationally and check with your local insurance or your purchased travel insurance to determine that they have a direct bill contract with the local medical facilities or be prepared to pay out of pocket.
US Medical Insurance
The last item not included in our monthly expenses for Mexico is our US medical insurance. Although it is of no use to us here in Mexico, we have not determined whether to keep or cancel so for now we are still paying for US insurance until we decide on permanent move. Having said that, I also did not include the price of our travel insurance as it was paid upfront when we first bought flight, etc so it was not, technically, a monthly expense.
So…The Cost For Us To Live in Merida?
We calculated a $1500 total monthly budget for our living expenses. Once here we found massage/acupuncture spa that really is a necessity to your well being & health so we are fine with adding that to our monthly expense as needed. Our monthly average of the above expenses per month in Merida was approximately $ 1600 so we were over our initial budget just a tad on monthly expenses but well within our living budget if that makes sense & well under the amount we paid in US just to live month to month! Some of the above expenses may vary a little month to month but this is a good representation of expenses.
As far as rent per month, we have been told that $500 is expensive & we could have found less expensive place to live? The rent amount is going to depend on where you live in Merida, that is just a simple fact. We were in Montecristo neighborhood but I am open that we could have found less expensive [in the same general area] if we had taken more time to look. Our rental was huge for two seniors in size but we really liked the neighborhood as it was extremely walkable & friendly to us. We also lived above the owners which for us was a plus!
Side Note:
We simply loved living in the residential area of Montecristo with its coffee shops, fruit stands & being easily accessible to anything we needed. For seniors on a budget, it was super nice to have easy access to Super Aki, Walmart, coffee shops, etc & very easy to catch Uber home for larger purchases.
Xcumpich neighborhood [to us] is for tourist rentals & there are a lot of fast food places with Mall & Costco near by. Uber is your friend if you don’t have a vehicle.
San Ramone Norte neighborhood for a month – it was definitely more expensive, on a main street & definitely had everything a tourist could want. Very walkable & again Uber for longer distances or grocery days.
I hope this helps guide you on your adventure to Mexico. Of course, I am sure these prices will vary greatly from area to area but set your budget, do you due diligence & visit a couple places to see if that place is for you. Good luck!
