Laid off people turned Ex-Pats Living on the CHEAP?

[markhas]

"Belong in a factory making widgets"

Those jobs are gone or will rapidly be gone. Factories don't require manual labor any more the few jobs that haven't been eliminated by computers will be in a steady march to what's termed "lights out factorys" the lights never come on, materials in one end, product out the other. Oh Truck drivers are still required for the time being but as Warren Buffett said about his billions invested in railroads, they'll be the transportation of the future.

The whole concept of work needs to be redefined as humans are rapidly becoming obsolete in accomplishing work, wheather it's blue collar or white collar. We could start the definition with the requirement that a person has a high school diploma of content, not what passes in the USA for a diploma by todays standard.

[Mark Manley]

Originally Posted by robert110411

Not everyone belongs in college. Sorry, that's a hard fact that goes against our current touchy feely climate. Some kids? Belong in a factory making widgets. Let's spend some money finding meaningful jobs instead of education kids who don't belong there for jobs that don't exist.

We have just started to realise this in Britain and re-introduced apprenticeships, for one thing we were running out of skilled people be it in my field of engineering, the building trade or mechanics, if it were not for the influx of skilled workers from Central Europe nothing would get done here. The other point is with tuition fees and living costs while studying, university education has become an expensive luxury with no guarantee of a good job afterwards, school leavers seem to be encouraged to do any degree with little thought as to its use afterwards, we have some very qualified shelf stackers and bar staff.

[Gentri in GA]

in another thread that I thought related well to this one, which I love to read...
Summary: you can do well in the US also. ;)

Jdowns: "Living in a foreign country sounds good on paper but it gets old for most people after 6 months or so. I suggest people go rent a place in the foreign country that interests them and see for themselves before making any big expensive lifestyle changes." THIS. I've lived in a few 1st world countries, and enjoyed it, but if you don't speak the language and make friends fast, you get lonely... IMHO. A rental in a foreign country for 3 or 4 months, then running back home would be ideal. My goal is to have a few rentals in the States, run away for 3 or 4 months, then bounce back... take care of business. I find the US of A to be about as cheap for the quality as you can get... people just want and expect too much, and often, you can't find that for cheap in other countries.... Mexico included. Quality and safety cost...

I live in a house that cost me 48k, 4 years ago in a somewhat ghetto neighborhood, close to Atlanta... they stole my 1997 DR650 in April... part of the cost you pay... this place has saved me over 38,000 dollars in rent/mortgage over 4 years versus my intown house that I now rent out... the moto was valued at 2k and got me to the Copper Canyon and back last December...

In a few years I plan on renting a place ON the beach in Central America, probably Honduras or Guatemala, for a few months and just laying low, and riding out when I feel like it....

JDowns, thanks for your RR, they are hard to do and keep up with. My RR to Copper Canyon was decent I thought, but it was really, really tough keeping up with it.... http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=745618 you are doing a great job and keeping us entertained to boot! Thanks! Ride Safe and keep on Writing! Gentri in GA

[996Pilot]

Originally Posted by Ben99r1

At 44 Ill will finished paying of my house. That's 6 years from now. That will give me 21 years to save every cent I can. At 60 I plan to get a truck and camper with a hitch motorcycle carrier. Ill drive around the states for 5 years. Based out of my California home. Then at 65 when my ssi kicks in I am heading down south. Ill go wherever the road takes me. If I find somewhere I like ill just stay. That has always been the plan for me since the first time I went camping in a camper. That was in 1983 with my friends retired grandparents. I knew then that was the way I wanted to end up too. Ben

Sorry -- at your current age your SSI won't be kicking in at 65. More like 71

[mrprez]

Originally Posted by 996Pilot

Sorry -- at your current age your SSI won't be kicking in at 65. More like 71

If ever.

[Hektoglider]

Live now. Then Live good later too. The Deferred Life Plan is no good. Thinking you will have it made 20 years from now..........

[GlennR]

Originally Posted by Hektoglider

Live now. Then Live good later too. The Deferred Life Plan is no good. Thinking you will have it made 20 years from now..........

So true. But it's great to have plans for the future.

Seems life is always surprising me with something new that I hadn't expected. Sometimes it good, and sometimes it's not.

It's easy to make lemonade from lemons, but I haven't found a good way to salvage BS!

[MikeB]

It's easy to make lemonade from lemons, but I haven't found a good way to salvage BS!

Go into politics.

[GlennR]

Originally Posted by MikeB

Go into politics.

I forgot about "twisting facts and blaming others"....

[Patrick46]

Originally Posted by skierd

The only real difficulty for me has been getting my s.o. on the same page. I'm having a hard time convincing her that life is still life if it's lived in a house, on a boat, in an rv, or out of a saddlebag. Or maybe I'm the one that needs convincing that a home isn't a death sentence to travel and a wandering life.

You & me both pal..... You & me BOTH!!


however....I AM actually making a bit of progress on getting the wifey out to where the fun is!!

[RW66]

My advice...stay out of big cities and places Americans go.....
I live in centeral Mexico and I pay.....
Less than 150 a month rent and I live in a middle class neighborhood
Maid 5 days a week house cleaned and clothes washed and ironed less than 35
Water bill 10 a month
Elect 10 a month
My son lived in Honduras for a couple of years and he said the cost of living there is about half of what it costs in Mexico
You cand spend as little or as much as you like
Safety......dress down but don't look too much like a bum
Good luck

[CaptTeach]

I've always had that wanderlust thing - when I was in HS I said I was going to live on a boat and if I didn't like my neighbors I could just pull out of the slip and move.

I have spent some time traveling around and looking at that spot to be the ExPat in - I have found that anytime you find a realtor from CA that has moved to where you are looking it is now time to move on. They start pushing up the real estate prices and saying things like ' A view like this in CA would cost you ten times as much' Then I tell them you can still buy acres of land in MS at 1500.00 per - FORK buying a 75x100 lot for 50,000.00 in a third world country!!

Oh Yeah - I now have the retirement boat A 32ft Catamaran, but it needs a little work

[MikeB]

My advice...stay out of big cities and places Americans go.....
I live in centeral Mexico and I pay.....
Less than 150 a month rent and I live in a middle class neighborhood
Maid 5 days a week house cleaned and clothes washed and ironed less than 35
Water bill 10 a month
Elect 10 a month
My son lived in Honduras for a couple of years and he said the cost of living there is about half of what it costs in Mexico
You cand spend as little or as much as you like
Safety......dress down but don't look too much like a bum
Good luck

You can find a lot of posts where people claim to be living on a fraction of the cost of life in the US. Glaringly absent from most of these posts is any description of the quality of life they have in Central Mexico or anywhere else.

A lonely gringo stumbling over the language and holed up in his cheap apartment -- even one with maid service, water and electricity -- is not a happy sight.

For the record I also lived in central Mexico (Zacatecas) for about two years just after I got out of the Army. But I was riding my motorcycle all over -- twice to the Yucatan -- and having some pretty colorful adventures with Mexican friends. To be there primarily because it's cheap seems a pretty lame motive.

And it's amazingly easy to distinguish between those expatriates who actually have a lively interest in local culture and the growth opportunity that lifestyle represents and those who are only there for the cheap booze or inability to function usefully in the US. All you have to do is exchange a few words with them to determine whether or not they speak the local language or at least are attempting to get beyond "otra cerveza, por favor." If they don't speak the local lingo it's a sign that the life they accept is essentially bounded by the four walls of their bargain apartment. That's sad.

[Witold]

Originally Posted by MikeB

You can find a lot of posts where people claim to be living on a fraction of the cost of life in the US. Glaringly absent from most of these posts is any description of the quality of life they have in Central Mexico or anywhere else.

A lonely gringo stumbling over the language and holed up in his cheap apartment -- even one with maid service, water and electricity -- is not a happy sight.

For the record I also lived in central Mexico (Zacatecas) for about two years just after I got out of the Army. But I was riding my motorcycle all over -- twice to the Yucatan -- and having some pretty colorful adventures with Mexican friends. To be there primarily because it's cheap seems a pretty lame motive.

And it's amazingly easy to distinguish between those expatriates who actually have a lively interest in local culture and the growth opportunity that lifestyle represents and those who are only there for the cheap booze or inability to function usefully in the US. All you have to do is exchange a few words with them to determine whether or not they speak the local language or at least are attempting to get beyond "otra cerveza, por favor." If they don't speak the local lingo it's a sign that the life they accept is essentially bounded by the four walls of their bargain apartment. That's sad.

You make really excellent points that reflect my observations.

People always mention that they live in a Dream Location. They never mention that they live in 3rd world conditions in a roach infested dump because anything semi-decent in Dream Location is expensive. They always compare themselves with local dirt-poor farmers and how - comparatively - they are doing great! They never compare themselves with local educated middle class that don't live in shacks and have regular housing that is comparable to US housing.

Most developing countries are only cheap if you want to live on the baseline like a _poor_ local. If you want air-conditioning instead of baking in 100 degree room 24/7, hot water in your bathroom, clean, without any bugs running around, with decent kitchen, in safe area - prices are often more expensive than in the USA for comparable standard of living. It depends on the exact country and location, and some places offer better value than others, but this is how it goes for a lot of locations.

People say they don't mind it, but it seems like very few can withstand to live on the baseline for long. It wears on you. That's why there are very few people who manage to do it long term.

Developing countries are also only cheap if you drastically alter typical lifestyle. If you plan to have kids and provide for them, you will be shocked what a good education will cost you in these countries.

And if you ever want to get a car - or anything that needs to be imported - you will find that everything is ridiculously expensive because of heavy import duties/tariffs... much more than USA prices. So if you want to maintain or try some life enriching activity - photography, ice skating, bicycling, mountain climbing, paragliding, whatever - you will find it prohibitively expensive and logistically difficult to pursue.

The only "cheap life" you can have is sitting on the beach, sleeping in your hut, and drinking cheap beer. That gets pretty old, pretty fast for vast majority of people with a modicum of motivation, self-development, or curiosity for life.

I've met plenty of people living like this and I got the impression and feeling that they felt stuck, not free.

[PirateJohn]

Originally Posted by markhas

Oh Truck drivers are still required for the time being but as Warren Buffett said about his billions invested in railroads, they'll be the transportation of the future.

.

Actually, Volvo Trucks have been experimenting with a system wherein one driver controls multiple remotely controlled trucks that all play follow the leader.