Alex: You've heard about
the affordable cost of living in Mexico, but how cheap are we really talking? After this video,
you'll know exactly how much I spend on food in one month while living in Querétaro, Mexico.
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My name is Alex, and I moved to Mexico from the US in 2017. I've called Querétaro home ever since.
One of the first ever videos I made for YouTube was about the cost of living in Mexico.
Here's what I had to say about how much I thought I was spending on food each week.
While we are in the dining room with the fridge in the background, I thought I would talk about
groceries. This is to feed two people per week. To feed two people per week, we are
paying between 980 and 1,270 pesos per week. And that comes out to between $43 and $56 USD.
Last month, with the encouragement of some numbers-oriented subscribers, I decided to
challenge myself to track how much Taylor and I spent on food. With the exception of not drinking
for the first few weeks of February, this was a pretty typical month for us. Typical in terms
of the pandemic, I should say. I'm hoping that as case numbers continue to go down, we will be able
to start eating in restaurants more in Querétaro. This breakdown of our monthly food expenses
includes how much we spent on groceries from the market, groceries at our neighborhood shops,
Uber Eats, one very fun day at the brewery, and more. I promise you that I did not let the fact
that I was tracking our expenses change anything about our eating habits. You are getting the full
and true picture. Before we dive into the breakdown, I just wanted to note that in terms of
Mexico, Querétaro is one of the more expensive places to live. While the cost of living here is
still very affordable compared to the US, it is far from the cheapest place to live in Mexico.
We average one order per week from a large supermarket like Sorianna or La Comer using
the app Rappi. Since we don't have a car and have both been very busy with work,
it's just more convenient, just a lot easier to place an order for staples like pasta and
olive oil from Rappi using the app. I also like to use Rappi to order alcohol, because it generally
has a better selection than our neighborhood corner store. When our dry January to mid February
was over, I used the app to order a nice bottle of wine and some kava from La Europea. One of my
subscribers recently asked me about the cost of alcohol in Mexico, specifically how much I spent
on a bottle of Centenario tequila. I told him that a fifth of Centenario usually costs around $12
USD, and he told me that for the same bottle, he pays almost $40 in Nashville.
For the month, we spent 3,733 pesos on Rappi, or around $183 USD. For a big fruits and veggies haul
plus fish, we try to go to Mercado La Cruz in Querétaro city center once a week, usually on
Sundays. Two pieces of salmon, two thick pieces of salmon usually costs around 150 pesos, or $7 USD.
Our go-to produce vendor will itemize everything for you if you ask, and I won't read you the
whole list, but here's an example of what we're paying for fruits and vegetables.
Nine pesos or 40 cents USD for a head of broccoli, 60 pesos or $3 USD for a box of strawberries,
80 pesos or $4 USD for a bunch of asparagus. For the month, we spent 960 pesos
or $46 USD at Mercado La Cruz. Have you shopped at a market in Mexico before? Did you find the
experience enjoyable, overwhelming, or a little bit of both? Let me know in the comments. Because
Mercado La Cruz is a little bit of a walk from our house, we rely on shops in our neighborhood
when we need something during the week. We have a bakery, a chicken guy, a convenience store,
and an organic produce shop. Taylor and I prepare the majority
of our meals at home, so one of us is running out pretty much every day for some sort of last
minute ingredient for a meal. This part of our budget also includes how much we spend
on water. We buy our [foreign language 00:04:57] or five gallon jugs from the corner store and
usually go through two or three jugs a week. For the month, we spent 2,502 pesos or around $121 USD
at different shops in our neighborhood. One of my biggest takeaways from tracking
our food expenses for the month is that I am spending way too much on Uber Eats. We only order
from Uber Eats once or twice a week, but I seem to always choose the most expensive places. I am
particularly addicted to the seafood pasta from an Italian place called Bruno Cucinelli.
For the month, we spent 2,620 pesos or around $127 USD on Uber Eats. In addition to Uber Eats,
we also spent a portion of our food budget getting takeaway from different places in
the city center. Bagels from [foreign language 00:05:56] is kind of a Sunday tradition for us.
We spent 620 pesos or around $30 USD on takeaway. For the first few months of February,
Querétaro was in red, but about halfway through the month, the city moved into orange, according
to what Mexico's stoplight system. And with the city opening up a little bit more, we decided to
meet some friends for a few drinks at [foreign language 00:06:24]. An afternoon of drinking craft
beer followed by tacos pushed our dining out total for the month to 1,840 pesos or around $89 USD.
How much does it cost for two people to eat and drink for a month in Querétaro, Mexico?
In the month of February, we spent a total of 12,314 pesos or with the current conversion rate,
right around $594 USD. That comes out to $297 per person for the whole month or $150
for both of us together per week. Trust me, I am well aware that is quite a bit
more than the estimate that I shared in my original cost of living in Mexico video, but
that estimate did not take into account Uber Eats, dining out, or alcohol.
You could certainly spend less on food while living in Mexico and many people do,
but even without sticking to any type of food budget, we still spent less on food
in a month than many couples, most couples living in large cities in the United States.
According to Business Insider, on average, people in Chicago spent $705 and 75 cents per month on
food. In the future, I might challenge myself to see how much I can reduce our monthly food costs,
and if you'd be interested in seeing a video like that, let me know in the comments. If you found
this video helpful, be sure to give it a thumbs up and you can always leave any questions that you
have about moving to Mexico below. I'm Alex from backpackingbrunette.com. Thanks for watching.