Retire Early on $975 Month in Oaxaca Mexico
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This is Dan from Vagabond Buddha. This is my Oaxaca Mexico retire early low cost of living guide.
Maybe you are looking for paradise for early cheap retirement? Maybe you are a digital nomad reducing expenses while you start your online business. Maybe you are looking for a place to live cheap while you write your next novel? Maybe you are allowed to work from anywhere in the world so long as you have an internet connection?
Whatever the case may be for you, Oaxaca Mexico is a place you should consider. This Oaxaca Mexico retire early low cost living guide should give you a head start.
I have been traveling around the world since 2007 looking for the best travel or retire cheap place in the world. I have been to 65 countries so far. Oaxaca is easily in my top 3 places in Mexico. It is so easy, cheap, clean, and beautiful living here.
Qiang Hui of Hobo Ventures is traveling with me. She has a huge Instagram following.
Please subscribe here on Vagabond Buddha or on my Youtube Channel to see where we go next in Mexico. We are heading for a new place tomorrow.
If you would like to learn how to live internationally possibly with less money than you spend at home, please grab a free copy of my Ebook.
Oaxaca Mexico Cost of Living
After you have visited at least 4 or 5 places in Mexico, then consider where you want to live. Once it is time to pick a place to rent for a year or so, I recommend renting an Airbnb apartment here for a few weeks. If you try to rent over the Internet you will be quoted only Gringo prices. If you come put your boots on the ground here, I guestimate about $500-600 USD for a decent 1 bedroom apartment in the old town area of Oaxaca Mexico. I have used that number below.
Monthly Cost of Living, Oaxaca Mexico ($USD)
|
Expense |
Cost |
Low |
Medium |
High |
| Airbnb House Share |
$20.00 |
0 |
14 |
30 |
| Moderate Hotel |
$30.00 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
| Backpacker Hostel |
$12.00 |
30 |
3 |
0 |
| High-End Restaurant |
$7.00 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
| Neighborhood Restaurant |
$4.00 |
30 |
44 |
48 |
| Food Cart |
$2.00 |
30 |
12 |
4 |
| Subway/Train/Metro |
$0.40 |
20 |
26 |
8 |
| Bus |
$0.40 |
20 |
10 |
0 |
| Taxi/Uber |
$1.00 |
6 |
10 |
20 |
|
Total |
Per Month |
$569.00 |
$928.40 |
$879.20 |
|
Total |
Per Day |
$18.97 |
$30.95 |
$29.31 |
The above table is just my notes from my time here. The above numbers are for one person and do not include alcohol, tours, or extras. I do not guarantee these prices for anyone.
For more information about how the above “Cost of Living Monthly Multiplier” works, please visit the bottom of this page at Vagabond Buddha.
Please subscribe here or on our Youtube Channel if you would like to receive the costs of living estimates for our next Mexico stop. We are heading to our next city in the morning. Are you curious where it will be?
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Thanks for watching our video. If you would like to learn how to live internationally or make money online, please grab a free copy of my eBook. Just click the link on youtube in the notes below this youtube video, Contact us if you would like to collaborate with us on social media.
This is Dan of Vagabond Buddha. Thank you for stopping by. The world is your home. What time will you be home for dinner?
Warning: I am not offering you these prices. These are just my notes and estimates from the time of my visit and this post. Your costs will likely be drastically different if significant inflation or deflation occurs or the market changes after this post. I will not update these numbers until I am on the ground again here, if ever.
Hi William, if you click the link above that says “Retire Early on $975 Month in Oaxaca Mexico” you will find the Facebook page for Oaxaca Expats and they are likely to answer this types of questions … very friendly crowd. Best, Dan
Dan,
Enjoyed your video’s . Hubby and I would like to move to mexico . We are both disabled and living on 1100 a month . We would need to rent a place that allows pets . Do you have any suggestions for us ?
Thanks Dan! I really appreciate that updated link to the Hostel in Oaxaca. It appears to be even more attractive to me personally than the one in Puebla…based on the photos anyway.
I am interested in establishing communication with someone who has moved to Mexico from the US. I would like to communicate with them about the process of establishing residency there. I have looked on the web site of the Mexican Embassy in the US. It appears that the Temporary Residency Visa, which allows one to remain in Mexico for up to four years may be the logical one for me to pursue, as it requires one to prove a monthly income that is less than that required for a Permanent Residency Visa. I just thought I’d ask if you knew anyone there in Mexico who would welcome a dialogue with me? Thanks a gain for what you do…..William
Thanks William I fixed that link to point to Oaxaca.
Once I decide to stay in a place for months, I would just make offers for what I want to pay on Airbnb.
The other option is to walk around and look for rental signs. None Internet landlords give much greater deals.
Anything online is going to be 30-50% higher.
Dan!
Thanks so much for your reply. First I wanted to just mention that the link in the Matrix for the Backpacker Hostel takes one to a link for the Hostel in Puebla. But perhaps you intended that just as an example?
The other thing I wanted to ask about is if you have any resources somewhere on you blog about longer term housing? I imagine that on a visit I would do Airbnb for a couple of weeks, but my goal is to talk to folks there about housing for six months or a year.
Thanks! William
Hi William. Thank you for your thoughtful comment. It is matrix multiplication. The number 1 in the “low column” next to the “high-end meal” row means that a low end traveler would only eat in a nice restaurant once a month.
You just go down the column multiplying the number in the “low” column by the unit price for that item and sum each for the total.
Monthly Low end is estimated as follows:
The low cost of living column is (Hostel $12x30days= $360)+(High-end restaurant $7×1 = $7)+(Neighborhood Restaurant $4 x 30 meals = $120)+(Food cart $2 x 30 meals = $60)+(Subway/Train/Metro/bus $0.4 each x 20 rides = $8)+(Taxi/Uber $1×6 rides = $6)= $360+$7+$120+$60+$8+$6) == $567.00
It may surprise you to learn that I know someone who is able to live like this. I more on the high-end usually. And remember, below the table its states: The above numbers are for one person and do not include alcohol, tours, or extras.
Thanks,
Dan
Hi Dan!
First I want to express my appreciation for the thoroughness of you blog! Yours is probably the best I have found so far since I began doing research some years ago on retiring to Mexico (mainly through my subscription to International Living). I particularly am enjoying reading the page on Oaxaca now. I visited Puerto Escondido in December of 2017 (the Airbnb and beach I spent time at were wonderful!) but I did not make it to Ciudad de Oaxaca as I wanted, so I plan on a trip there at some point to explore that as a possible retirement destination.
The main reason I was writing was to get some clarification on your “Monthly Cost of Living” chart on the Oaxaca page. I may just be dense, but I am not exactly sure I understand clearly the figure of $569.oo as an example. Does that figure include lodging? I am a bit confused about that, because the suggested daily cost of the Hostel of $12.00 is only $7.00 below the daily total of $18.97. I feel sure that just the daily cost of food would likely be more. I hope I am asking all of this clearly! Thanks for any feedback you can offer. William