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| There was so much food in our dinghy it was hard to find room to sit! |
There are so many different ways that life in Mexico is more affordable than life in America. We won't even go into the whole debacle of America's health insurance system and cost of medical care - I've covered that before. Today, we'll focus on just that basic staple of life - food. We just came back from a shopping trip to Mega - a grocery store that is indistinguishable from your typical upscale Safeway in America. Mega has all the amenities you would expect in a nice grocery store in America - an on-site bakery, deli, butchers on staff to help with any special meat order, a huge veggie/fruit section, pharmacy, and aisle after aisle of goods for sale, all set in a very clean, new, brightly lit facility with soft music piped in and well oiled, brand new carts without wobbly wheels.
The only difference you notice is when you step up to the register to pay. Today, we were provisioning for the next month we plan to be out cruising, so we were stocking up on all the things that are either hard to find in the little tiendas up north, or are just too expensive off the beaten path. Our pile of goodies filled two shopping carts to the brim. We bought lots of expensive items including 3 fifths of alcohol, 5 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken breast, 4 lbs of beef roast, 2 lbs of pork roast, 2 lbs of hamburger, 2 lbs of bacon, bags of potato chips and snacks, 24 big boxes of good quality juice (pomegranate, cranberry and pineapple-coconut), about a case of pop, and lots more. The grand total, you ask? Hold on to your hats, folks. At today's exchange rate we spent $292.95 USD. At those prices, it's really no wonder how we stretched our budget out so we could be out cruising nearly four years instead of the two we planned on.
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Hmmm I'm curious.
ReplyDeleteIn California I can buy a standard size (1.75 liter) bottle of no name rum for 12 dollars. How's that compare to LaPaz?
And of course, we all know red wine in Mexico can't approach how reasonable it is up in CA,so I won't even ask about that.
Fruit & Veggie-wise (went shopping today so it's fresh in my mind) two small avocados --78 cents, a bunch of spinach 88 cents. Fiji apples 88 cents a pound. Milk, 2.78 a gallon.
Ok,
DeleteSmirnoff Vodka was about 9$. Boneless chicken breast was about 1.90$ per pound - axceptional quality. Excellent top sirloin roast at $4.70 per pound. Red wine is ridiculous in Mex and we never buy it. Avocado were about 1.25$ per pound. Limes were $.40/pound. Big boxes of quality juice were 1$ each. So, most things are very economical, some things are just a little cheaper, and a few things are more expensive.
So...why would you want to leave? I'm just playin' with ya,I know why. ;)
ReplyDeleteRed wine can be had for a reasonable price in the Mazatlan area. Mega has a large selection of national and imported wines. The wine store in the Golden Zone has beautiful wines, beyond the average gringo budget, and then some. (So that does not count)
ReplyDeleteWine is available at "Freddy's", on Stone Island. He will order by the case if you like.