Job Discussion Forums

SkiLover · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 4

Hello,

Here's my situation:

I'm semi-retiring soon. I'll be teaching summers in Asia, then I'll have nine months off. My employer will pay my round-trip ticket to and from wherever I live in the world.

I'll have $750 a month to live on -- rent, food, etc. I'm not a big spender.
ANY SUGGESTIONS/ADVICE????

Thanks in advance.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Depending on some big items though, like health coverage and whether you are looking to buy or rent a place to live. You should do okay anywhere in Latin America, better if you are in a smaller center.

Do you plan to augment your monthly income by teaching?

Daniel Allen · Joined: 21 May 2003 Posts: 4

Greetings,
I screwed up my initial posting and I can't delete it so I'm replacing it with this.....sorry....see my new revised posting below!
Dan

Daniel Allen · Joined: 21 May 2003 Posts: 4

Greetings,
I'm assuming your talking US$750 per month. At the current exchange rate to the Brazilian Real (R$), that is roughly R$2250 per month. The buying power of the R$ in Brazil for almost everything except electronics and gasoline is way more than the dollar in the US or the dollar in Canada for that matter. This is one of the primary reasons I decided to stay in Brazil.

With that kind of money, you could afford to travel around the country and experience everything Brazil has to offer (which incidently is more than football, samba, and carnival). Granted you wouldn't be staying in 5 star hotels, you would be able to stay in fazenda hotels (literally translated is Farm Hotels) and pousada's (bed and breakfasts). Plus, if you come during the months of May, June, and July, you'll hit the winter season which means reduced rates.

Here's a sample of some other "staple" items and their approximate prices in US$:

- Beer $0.25/can ($0.60 for a quart at most bars)
- File Mignon $3/Kg
- Rum (Bacardi's) $2/Litre

Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me directly at [email protected]

Kind Regards,
Daniel allen

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

US$750/month (6,000 RMB) is plenty to live on in China, particularly if you aren't in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangdong province. You could be very comfortable with that amount and could supplement this with your monthly salary. If you taught at a college or university, your housing and utilities could be paid for you.

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

If you wanted to stay in SE Mexico (Yucatan peninsula) 9 months of the year, you'd either have to do a border run every 180 days (max. time for a tourist visa,) or you'd have to get a non-working FM-3 (good for up to a year before having to be renewed.) Immigration in this part of the country requires that you provide bank statements proving an income of at least US$900/month in order to get a non-working FM-3. You could get by on a fixed income of US$900/month, but you wouldn't be living very high on the hog. You could probably scrape by on US$750 with a tourist visa but barely, and you'd have to figure in the cost of border runs to Belize or Guatemala every 3 months as part of your expenses, which would really cut into your budget. Personally, I wouldn't want to try to survive here on only US$750/month.