by Gary | Dec 9, 2020 | casa, Mexico, Puerto Morelos
This week we officially broke ground on our new house! I mentioned last week that we finally got all of the building licenses and permits, then we finished up the contracts with the builder, and now work has begun! Clearing and hauling away First up is clearing the...
by Gary | Dec 3, 2020 | caribbean, casa, Financial, Puerto Morelos
It took a while, but we finally have the necessary permits to start building our house! It was early August when we closed on the land, so it certainly took a while to get our permits. Construction License Costs A number of people had asked about building costs. So...
by Gary | Oct 14, 2020 | caribbean, Mexico, Puerto Morelos
The hurricane season here normally lasts from June through November. It’s been quite a season so far. From Wikipedia: The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is an ongoing tropical cyclone season which has featured tropical cyclone formation at a record-breaking...
by Gary | Aug 11, 2020 | Mexico, Technology
Ever since the COVID-19 quarantine has started, our home internet with Izzi has had reliability problems. Izzi woes The speed with Izzi was good, when it was there. But we would get frequent, short drops throughout the day. 10 seconds here, 20 seconds there, a minute...
by Gary | Aug 3, 2020 | casa, Financial, Mexico, Puerto Morelos
It took us over a year, but we finally closed on a piece of land here in Puerto Morelos! Future home of Casa TBD It might not look like much now, but we have big ideas! The lot is just over 300 square meters, and it’s just two blocks from the beach, and a 5...
by Gary | Apr 20, 2020 | Technology
I’m a big fan of Traveling Mailbox. it makes dealing with mail soooo much easier. See our full review at Dealing with Snail Mail while living in Mexico. I also like using a VPN service – especially when I want to work around accessing geo-restricted...
by Gary | Mar 26, 2020 | Financial, Mexico, Technology
One of our more popular posts is regarding our trials and tribulations of paying our CFE (Electric) bill online in Mexico. In that post, I provided some ways to pay a Mexico electric bill (CFE) online. There are definitely some challenges paying Mexico utility bills...
by Gary | Mar 23, 2020 | Financial, Mexico, Technology
Over the past year, the conversion rate from US dollars (USD) to Mexican pesos (MXN) has been about 19 to 1. This means that 1 US dollar is worth about 19 pesos. This rate changes constantly, based on a variety of factors. Over the past year it’s...
by Gary | Mar 6, 2020 | Mexico, travel
Years ago, when we were still living in the US, we were approved for Global Entry. Recently, it was time to renew our Global Entry (you need to renew every 5 years or so). But, now that we’re living in Mexico – would that be a problem? What is Global...
by Gary | Jan 9, 2020 | Financial, Mexico, Taxes
In the last post, I discussed the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), and how it can save you a boatload of money. In addition, us US expats can also take advantage of the Foreign Housing Exclusion. The Foreign Housing Exclusion allows you to deduct the excess of...
