Some of you may have noticed a huge gap between my first and second posts. It isn’t because I have been particularly busy, because I haven’t been. I am very thankful that I am able to get out of bed every morning and that I can take care of myself. I learned with AI assistance how to build my simple blog site. I finally finished it, and I feel like I made a huge accomplishment. Now I have a little momentum.
My biggest worry is living from paycheck to paycheck. I’m sure that you probably have this worry as well. I made it through the first few weeks of September and have paid all of my obligations on time. The financial challenge for me is to tippy-toe through the rest of the month without overspending. I am continuing to take surveys and scan receipts to receive cash rewards and gift cards. I have to challenge myself every day.
In preparing for a move to another country, I have to live a much more frugal life before I can pick up stakes. I need to live in a stable environment that is devoid of chaos. I also need a lower cost of living; a similar one would be a source of anxiety, and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my new home. I have used numbeo.com to find data that allows comparisons of many major cities throughout the world. I can enter my nearest metropolitan area alongside a foreign one and compare the cost of the basics, then weigh the softer factors like quality of life, crime, and healthcare. Weighing those factors against my life now surfaces questions I hadn’t thought to ask, and each one demands a complete answer before I move on.
I Like Mexico
While living in Arizona for about three years, I made several trips to Sonora, Mexico, visiting the border towns of Nogales and Agua Prieta. I enjoyed the friendly people, the curio shops, and sitting down for a meal in a restaurant that cost between $3 and $4. I had a favorite barber shop where I would get the works for about $5. When I started to consider Mexico, I started gathering data on Nogales, which is about an hour’s drive from Tucson. A border town seems to make sense for the affordability in Mexico and having access to indulgences, cheaper gasoline, and healthcare specialists that might be necessary in an emergency.
I soon found out that Mexican residency wasn’t in my future because of my monthly income or lack of income. My chat with Claude AI found several articles and resources to help me verify some facts. Without getting into specifics about personal finances, I have neither the income nor the savings to obtain residency. One link, https://www.relocate.world/en/articles/mexico-temporary–resident-visa, lists the requirement as roughly $4,300 to $4,500 in monthly income, which must be documented over the last six months. These are 2026 figures, and each consulate sets its own threshold, so the number can vary.
This past week, I saw a YouTube video that highlighted a few countries where a person could make “Visa Runs” to live there without meeting the financial requirements. Mexico was one of them. An explanation of a “Visa Run” is found at https://nomadflag.com/visa-runs/. The YouTube video was put out last month, but the information isn’t current. Go to https://mexvisapro.com/blog/mexico-border-run-visa-run/ for more information about why this isn’t a good option for a permanent move.
My Priorities v. Governmental Priorities
For me, it has been fairly hard to earn a decent income throughout my life. I could have a plan that made good sense to me that didn’t work out for others. I don’t have the necessary charisma that could carry me over the hump. I became more critical and pragmatic, and I learned to rely on hard work, research, and data. Then came ageism. My timing has been lousy. I now define success in terms of happiness and contentment.
The goal of having just a more affordable retirement can’t be the only factor to look at. While I worry about money a lot, it is not the only thing that I worry about. In no particular order, I worry about my health and the care that is available, feeling safe and secure, enjoying the freedoms that I have always enjoyed, enriching my soul, feeling spirit, and tolerating the weather that I live in day to day.
Each country sets its priorities for its needs. I share many of these priorities. Most people want order in their lives and a nation wants order among its population. The best thing to do is accept those priorities and move on. Bermuda would be an awesome place to live, but the cost of living is higher than it is in New York City and I can’t afford New York. My financial priorities don’t align, so I can’t afford to move to Bermuda.
I haven’t used the word “dealbreaker” yet, but there are priorities that need to be examined first before wasting time. In my opinion, it doesn’t help to find a loophole to slide through on a technicality. The corrupt mind might make this work, but my mind cannot. A country’s financial requirements are the first thing that I look at as a potential dealbreaker. My income versus the cost of living is a potential dealbreaker. Human rights, forms of government, and civil unrest can be dealbreakers. For me, snow might be a dealbreaker.
Without naming any preferences, I am looking at taxes as a future dealbreaker for a destination that I am seriously considering. I will be looking through my notes and will tell you another country that I have looked into and why it is on the back burner. Never say never.
I am thinking about the next essay that I will post. I want to share my method of research, what is going through my mind, and how I am thinking outside the box. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Use my contact form, and I will get back to you in a few days.
Leave a Reply