Living in Los Cabos: Cutting Your Cost of Living

 

As promised, we’re back on topic with the cost of living in Cabo. Recently I posted the prices of many commodities at the supermarket. For some time now my shopping habits have been dictated not so much by value as time. I need to get in and out as quickly as possible. But if you have the luxury of a little free time you can save yourself quite a bit of cash, get better quality, and have a cultural experience.

 

Once I start naming names you’ll probably realize you’ve seen those names on little trucks all over Cabo. They are the purveyors for the restaurants and hotels and they don’t mind selling retail. Las Palmas, Lizzaraga, ComNor, Ocean Leader, Valle Hermanos are a few you might recognize. I’ve been shopping Las Palmas and Lizzaraga for years (and years) but my colleague and fellow foodie Ed Langton is introducing me to some others. And since he was able to get their price lists I thought a little comparison might be in order. So, let’s see….

 

 

Item	Supermarket	Wholesale
Chicken Breast	$1.74 per pound	$1.52 per pound
Ground Beef	$2.68 per pound	$2.27 per pound
Ground Pork	$2.44 per pound	$1.92 per pound
Pork Loin	$3.67per pound	$2.97 per pound
Ribs not baby back	$3.14 per pound	$1.92 per pound
Baby Back	Not available	$2.65 per pound
Beef Filet Mignon	Not in stock this wk	$8.74 per pound
Beef Prime Rib	Not available	$5.06 per pound

 

Now just a few words on how this works.

 

Looks are deceiving. The two I use are Las Palmas (butcher shop) and Lizzaraga (green grocer). Both are HUGE commercial operations that take up most if not all of the block they are on. But both kept on the little ‘tiendita’ or corner store that started their parents out many years ago. They look like what they are: old. And the products in them are the products that will be in demand in a working class neighborhood. Pay no attention to the butcher case at Las Palmas, after you wait your turn tell the nice butcher what you want. If you’re timid about your Spanish make a list, translate it, and simply hand it to him. Remember: you’re ordering in kilos. A pound is approximately half a kilo so make the adjustment. The butcher will get your meat and bring it to the cash register. They do custom cuts so be ready to tell them how thick you want your chops or bacon, etc. Las Palmas is on Felix Ortega street: go up Hildalgo, turn right on Ortega and go about two blocks.

 

Lizzaraga is on the right side of route 19 (the road to Todos Santos) just past the Bordo (the road that runs from the corridor to route 19). It is sandwiched between the Pemex station and the Chedraui grocery store. If you don’t see what you’re looking for don’t be afraid to ask; they’ll call someone in the commercial department and see if it’s available.

 

Last, I realize I didn’t have any seafood prices in that last blog. So here’s a couple of teasers from the Ocean Leader price list. Giant shrimp (U-15 size, basically a giant prawn) are $7.69 per pound and fillet of sea bass (cabrilla) is only $2.97 per pound.

 

Kind of makes you think surf and turf, right?

 

 

Carol Billups is Broker/Owner of Cabo Realty Pros. She has enjoyed working with both buyers and sellers for over thirteen years and still thinks hers is the best job on earth. She is also the real estate columnist for Los Cabos Magazine. You can read more of her articles on the website blog www.caborealtypros.com. You can reach her from the U.S. or Canada at 1-760-481-7694, or in Cabo at 044-624-147-7541. You can listen to our 24/7 broadcast on http://www.livecabo.net for a mix of happy music, weather reports and local information.

 

 

 

© 2014 Carol S. Billups

 

 

 

Living in Los Cabos: The cost of groceries 2014

 

Believe it or not, this is the most popular and most heavily read topic on my blog. But it certainly is not the most exciting to write. But, it’s time for an update. So anyway, here are some prices taken from my recent grocery receipts. Most are from MEGA in Cabo San Lucas, with some Costco thrown in. The produce prices are all grocery store, but most of ours come from the Saturday morning Organic Farmer’s Market in Pedregal. There prices are not marked, you just pick out what you want and the farmer gives you a price. I generally end up spending about 200 pesos, or about $15 US, to fill a re-usable shopping bag with totally wonderful goodies. I made the conversion using today’s rate of 13, it’s been pretty stable around that. I’ve noted which items were imported, which is very important and will be the topic of the next blog: saving money on groceries. At any rate, for those contemplating moving to Cabo, this should give you an idea what your cost of living will be.

 

 

 

 

Item	Price	Unit
Produce (Fresh)
Mushrooms	$1.30	large box
Avocado	$1.46	pound
Red Apples	$0.90	pound
Limes	$0.48	pound
Strawberries	$1.99	large box
Pineapple	$0.48	pound
Asian Pear	$1.74	pound
Cantalope	$0.48	pound
Garlic	$1.68	sleeve of 4 heads
Celery	$0.76	bunch
Romaine Lettuce Hearts	$2.83	package of 3
Roma Tomatoes	$0.34	pound
Nopal Cactus Leaves	$0.69	pound
Yellow Lemon (Eureka)	$1.11	pound
Brocoli	$0.83	pound
Meats
Chicken Breast (Boneless, skinless)	$1.74	pound
Ground Beef (very lean, but then it all is)	$2.68	pound
Deli Turkey	$5.83	pound
Ground Pork	$2.44	pound
Pork Loin	$3.67	pound
Pork Ribs	$3.14	pound
Breads/Bakery
Hamburger roll (big enough for two burgers)	$0.20	each
Bread “Thins”	$1.51	package of 12
Flour tortillas	$0.96	package of 12
Ritz Crackers	$1.48	half pound box
Sugar Free Choc. Chip Cookies	$3.14	half pound box
Corn tortillas	$0.34	pound
Dairy
Crema (like sour cream)	$1.42	450 ml (about 9 ounces)
Cheddar Cheese – IMPORTED	$3.59	package  8 ounce
Greek Yogurt	$1.50	450 ml (about 9 ounces)
Milk (in shelf-stable carton)	$1.15	quart
Blue Cheese – IMPORTED	$3.38
Groceries (Canned Goods, etc)
Flan Mix	$0.69	2 envelopes
Skippy Peanut Butter IMPORTED	$3.29	large jar
Refried Beans	$0.63	large box – 4 servings
Refried Beans	$0.48	small box – two servings
Chicken Baby Food (for the girls)	$0.60	jar
Peas	$0.52	small can – one serving
Peas	$0.72	regular can
Jello	$0.65	Package of 2 envelopes
Canned Chicken Breast	$1.65	can
Solid White Meat Tuna, double sized can	$2.36	can
Pepsi Cola	$0.61	can
Evaporated Milk	$0.76	can
Dijon mustard	$2.30	jar
Tomato Puree	$0.35	box
Vinegar (cider)	$0.61	quart
Soy Oil	$3.06	quart
Whole Bean Decaf Coffee – IMPORTED	$5.69	pound
Household/Cleaning Items
Large Zip-lock Storage Bags – IMPORTED	$2.68	box of 15
Chlorine Bleach	$1.06	gallon
Laundry Detergent	$5.38	half gallon
Fabuloso Multipurpose Cleaner	$1.69	quart
Liquid Dish Soap	$1.53	12 oz
Floor Mop	$2.61	each
Furniture Polish	$4.07	can
Window Cleaner (Senor Musculo)	$2.84	quart

 

 

Carol Billups is Broker/Owner of Cabo Realty Pros. She has enjoyed working with both buyers and sellers for over thirteen years and still thinks hers is the best job on earth. She is also the real estate columnist for Los Cabos Magazine. You can read more of her articles on the website blog www.caborealtypros.com. You can reach her from the U.S. or Canada at 1-760-481-7694, or in Cabo at 044-624-147-7541. You can listen to our 24/7 broadcast on http://www.livecabo.net for a mix of happy music, weather reports and local information.

 

 

 

© 2014 Carol S. Billups

 

 

 

Living in Los Cabos: Cost of Groceries 2013

Since the cost of living in Cabo seems to be the #1 topic of interest on the blog I need to make an effort to keep my blogs on the topic up to date. So I saved my grocery receipts for a couple of weeks, and calculated dollars per pound from pesos per kilo. I used yesterday’s exchange rate of 12.7 to make that calculation. The other disclaimer is that the folks at the organic farmer’s market decided to close for vacation for a few weeks, much of the produce would have been lower had I bought it there. And I shopped at the new MEGA store in Cabo San Lucas. I don’t know how these prices compare to the US, but they are high by Mexican standards. You need to remember that Cabo is the Hawaii of Mexico. Everything here was either trucked down 1,000 miles of very interesting road or brought by boat from the mainland, then trucked from our state capital, La Paz, to Los Cabos. And, if it came down from the US there was a 30% duty applied. All of that in consideration, here are the prices:

PRODUCE (Dollars per pound unless otherwise noted)
Watermelon: 17 cents
Raisins: 90 cents
Button Mushrooms: $1.75
Yellow lemons: $1.07
Cucumber: 35 cents
Honey Pinapple: 53 cents
Limes/Limones: 35 cents
Avocado: $1.36
Green onions: 38 cents
Bag of romaine heart lettuce: $1.28 per bag
Whole shucked coconut: 93 cents each
Tomatoes: 46 cents
Mangos: 21 cents
Yams: $1.14

BEVERAGES (Dollars per unit)
Tonic water: 57 cents per can
V8 juice: 47 cents per can
Pepsi: 54 cents per can
Powdered drink mix: 23 cents per 2L pack

PROTEIN: (Dollars per pound unless otherwise noted)
Deli ham: $4.33
Deli turkey: $4.58
Whole chicken: $1.03
Ribeye Steak: $5.68
Greek Yogurt: $3.07 for a one quart container
Eggs (Red, Extra Large): $1.73 per dozen
Ground pork: $2.06
Turkey breast cutlet: $4.18 (imported, of course)
Boneless, skinless chicken pre-flattened: $1.92
Cocktail hot dogs: $2.91 for about a pound, and yes, those are dog treats….

STAPLES: (Price per unit)
1 L Soy oil: $2.27
1 L Vinegar: 74 cents
Green olives, about 12 ounces: $2.10
Refried beans: 62 cents
Dried white beans, about 2 pounds: $1.25
Flour (about 5 pounds): $1.08
Cinnamon: $1.65
Fritos: $1.18
Bread thins: $1.79
Tortillas, flour so not subsidized: 96 cents
Sugar free cookies: $2.69
Rice, about 2 pounds: 70 cents
Breadcrumbs: 85 cents
Salt: 70 cents
Frozen waffles: $2.84
Dog Biscuits: $1.29
Evaporated milk: 84 cents

OTHER SUPPLIES:
Bandages: $1.57
Baby aspirin: $2.50
Large dishwashing liquid: $1.95
Club-sized tub of Oxiclean: $12.04
Fabuloso (multipurpose cleaner, 2 L): $1.23
Furniture polish: $4.17 (imported)
Clorox Color Safe, one liter: $1.48

Whew! Not the most exciting blog ever written but hopefully useful to those who are considering moving to Cabo San Lucas. As I mentioned above our location pushes the prices up, but for some of us it’s worth it.

Carol Billups is Broker/Owner of Cabo Realty Pros. She has enjoyed working with both buyers and sellers for over twelve years and still thinks hers is the best job on earth. She is also the real estate columnist for Los Cabos Magazine. You can read more of her articles on the website blog http://www.caborealtypros.com. You can reach her from the U.S. or Canada at 1-760-481-7694, or in Cabo at 044-624-147-7541. You can listen to our 24/7 broadcast on http://www.livecabo.net for a mix of happy music, weather reports and local information.

© 2013 Carol S. Billups

Living in Los Cabos: Cost of Groceries 2012

Living in Los Cabos: Cost of Groceries

Well, I’ve got some grocery receipts ready, so let’s continue on the cost of living discussion. Remember, once you’re here for more than a vacation you won’t be eating out every single meal. That’s the biggest source of misconception about how affordable life in Cabo really is. It’s not that locals don’t eat out, just not EVERY meal. Yes, our prices are higher than on the mainland because of shipping costs but still quite affordable. So here goes with what I hope will be a representative sampling taken from our grocery bills for the past week (short the farmer’s market produce I posted over the weekend).

Our prices are in pesos per kilo; I will convert that to dollars per pound when possible just for the sake of comparison. I’m using today’s exchange rate of 14/1. And, I would love it if readers would chime in on how the prices compare to where they live.

Meats
Ground pork: $1.92 (as I recall ground beef was a bit higher but not much).
Baby Back Ribs: $2.53
Bacon: $2.44
Pate Cerdo (kind of like liverwurst): $1.64 per chub
Deli Ham: $4.04
Deli Turkey Breast: $3.94
(For chicken I mostly use the boneless, skinless breast from Costco, as memory serves the big bag costs somewhere around 100 pesos or about $7)
Fish and seafood, unless some lucky fisherperson gifts it to me, I buy only day of consumption but it’s quite, quite reasonable compared to the US. As I recall last time I bought jumbo shrimp he charged me about five bucks a pound which I thought was highway robbery).

Fresh produce other than Farmer’s Market
Jicama: 58 cents per pound
Broccoli: $1.15
Sweet Potato: 63 cents
Celery: 32 cents
Limes: 24 cents
Baby potatoes: 42 cents
Pinapple: 39 cents
Mango: 45 cents (now this was a splurge, first of the season, will be half that next week)
Avocado: 80 cents (on sale)
Apples: $1.29 (of course, they’re imported)
Eggs (large, brown, dozen): $1.84

Absolute Essentials!!!
Lindt 90% Cacao large size bar: $3.50 and worth every penny

Canned Goods and such:
Tuna: 81 cents
Dry Soup Mix: 43 cents
Soy oil (one liter): $2.00
Mayonaise: $2.00
Popping corn: 34 cents per pound
Rice: 57 cents per pound
Small corn: 46 cents
Small peas: 41 cents
Pedigree Dog Cookies: $1.17
Small Salsa Verde: 48 cents
Evaporated Milk: 81 cents
English Muffins: $2.82

Cleaning Supplies/Misc
Large skin lotion: $3.69
Laundry detergent (2 liter): $4.61
Bar Soap: 69 cents
Pledge: $3.31
Bleach (gallon): $1.20

Carol Billups is Broker/Owner of Cabo Realty Pros. She has enjoyed working with both buyers and sellers for over eleven years and still thinks hers is the best job on earth. She is also the real estate columnist for Los Cabos Magazine. You can read more of her articles on the website blog http://www.caborealtypros.com. You can reach her from the U.S. or Canada at 1-760-481-7694, or in Cabo at 044-624-147-7541. You can listen to our 24/7 broadcast on http://www.livecabo.net for a mix of happy music, weather reports and local information.

© 2012 Carol S. Billups

Living in Los Cabos: Cost of Groceries 2012

Living in Los Cabos: Cost of Groceries

Well, I’ve got some grocery receipts ready, so let’s continue on the cost of living discussion. Remember, once you’re here for more than a vacation you won’t be eating out every single meal. That’s the biggest source of misconception about how affordable life in Cabo really is. It’s not that locals don’t eat out, just not EVERY meal. Yes, our prices are higher than on the mainland because of shipping costs but still quite affordable. So here goes with what I hope will be a representative sampling taken from our grocery bills for the past week (short the farmer’s market produce I posted over the weekend).

Our prices are in pesos per kilo; I will convert that to dollars per pound when possible just for the sake of comparison. I’m using today’s exchange rate of 14/1. And, I would love it if readers would chime in on how the prices compare to where they live.

Meats
Ground pork: $1.92 (as I recall ground beef was a bit higher but not much).
Baby Back Ribs: $2.53
Bacon: $2.44
Pate Cerdo (kind of like liverwurst): $1.64 per chub
Deli Ham: $4.04
Deli Turkey Breast: $3.94
(For chicken I mostly use the boneless, skinless breast from Costco, as memory serves the big bag costs somewhere around 100 pesos or about $7)
Fish and seafood, unless some lucky fisherperson gifts it to me, I buy only day of consumption but it’s quite, quite reasonable compared to the US. As I recall last time I bought jumbo shrimp he charged me about five bucks a pound which I thought was highway robbery).

Fresh produce other than Farmer’s Market
Jicama: 58 cents per pound
Broccoli: $1.15
Sweet Potato: 63 cents
Celery: 32 cents
Limes: 24 cents
Baby potatoes: 42 cents
Pinapple: 39 cents
Mango: 45 cents (now this was a splurge, first of the season, will be half that next week)
Avocado: 80 cents (on sale)
Apples: $1.29 (of course, they’re imported)
Eggs (large, brown, dozen): $1.84

Absolute Essentials!!!
Lindt 90% Cacao large size bar: $3.50 and worth every penny

Canned Goods and such:
Tuna: 81 cents
Dry Soup Mix: 43 cents
Soy oil (one liter): $2.00
Mayonaise: $2.00
Popping corn: 34 cents per pound
Rice: 57 cents per pound
Small corn: 46 cents
Small peas: 41 cents
Pedigree Dog Cookies: $1.17
Small Salsa Verde: 48 cents
Evaporated Milk: 81 cents
English Muffins: $2.82

Cleaning Supplies/Misc
Large skin lotion: $3.69
Laundry detergent (2 liter): $4.61
Bar Soap: 69 cents
Pledge: $3.31
Bleach (gallon): $1.20

Carol Billups is Broker/Owner of Cabo Realty Pros. She has enjoyed working with both buyers and sellers for over eleven years and still thinks hers is the best job on earth. She is also the real estate columnist for Los Cabos Magazine. You can read more of her articles on the website blog http://www.caborealtypros.com. You can reach her from the U.S. or Canada at 1-760-481-7694, or in Cabo at 044-624-147-7541. You can listen to our 24/7 broadcast on http://www.livecabo.net for a mix of happy music, weather reports and local information.

© 2012 Carol S. Billups

Living in Los Cabos: The Cost of Groceries

It seems these days I have a new specialty: Mexico Relocation Expert. Almost everyone I’m working with is planning to move to Los Cabos, either immediately or in the next few years. Wow! And I’m loving it! It’s so much fun working with these people, even though they do present some new challenges. One of the most fun challenges is the questions they ask. When you’re considering moving to a new place, and especially to a different country, you’ve got to get educated on every aspect of day to day life there. I love it, but sometimes they throw me for a loop.

One question I have had difficulty answering is: how much does food cost? I mean, I can tell them that our grocery bill is about 600 pesos a week plus some more at Costco or City Club or the butcher shop, but what if they eat different kinds of food than we do? After all, I’m buying chicken and rice for the girls (they prefer not to be thought of as ‘dogs’) and sugar-free imported items for Bob.

Here’s a quick but important tip: buying imported food or wine is vastly more expensive than buying the same brand manufactured and labeled for Mexico. Trust me: Philly cheese and Best Foods Mayonnaise and Ritz Crackers are the same no matter which language the package is in; that’s the same for any brand name item. If there is a local version buy that. The grocery stores have both, often right next to one another, knowing the Gringos will be more comfortable buying the label they’re used to. Cha-Ching!

Anyway, to help make sense of it all I just took a look at some prices of things I think are pretty typically found in the grocery cart and converted the prices from pesos per kilo to dollars per pound. I hope this helps figure out what your cost of living in Los Cabos would be. These are prices on May 12, 2010 with an exchange rate of 12/1.

Grocery Costs in Cabo
Item Price Pesos per Kilo Price Dollars per Pound
Grade A Large Eggs Doz. 17.7 per dozen $1.47 per dozen
Sugar (white, refined) 14.9 0.62
Butter-flied Chicken Breast, skinless and boneless 47.9 1.81
Limes (limones) 7.9 0.03 (no that’s not a typo)
Cantaloupe 7.5 0.28
Oranges for juice 4.9 0.18
Bananas 8.95 0.34
Red apples 19.5 0.74
Baby Back Pork Ribs 85.8 3.25
Filleted fresh fish (Jamul) 58 2.19

If you want to explore other products, a good source is http://www.ccc.com.mx, which is the grocery store I frequent. On their website you can read the weekly flyer, pick your product by the photo and convert the price. Overall I believe the cost of groceries here to be significantly lower than in the US, particularly on local products like produce and fish and chicken. But, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

Carol Billups is Broker/Owner of REALTY EXECUTIVES Los Cabos. A Certified Home Marketing Specialist, she has enjoyed working with both buyers and sellers for ten years and still thinks hers is the best job on earth. She is also the real estate columnist for Los Cabos Magazine and the real estate co-ordinator for the Los Cabos Now program on CaboMil FM (www.cabomil.com.mx). You can read more of her articles on http://www.reloscabos.com. You can reach her from the U.S. or Canada at 1-760-481-7694, or in Cabo at 044-624-147-7541.

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© 2010 Carol S. Billups