A gallon of milk in Mexico (at Walmart) costs 51.50 pesos, or about $3.96 U.S.
Minimum wage in Mexico, $5.23 per DAY.
Most people involved in labor intensive jobs and factory work (perhaps the majority) make 3-5 times the minimum wage. Let’s suppose a man makes 5 times the minimum wage, or about $157 for a 6-day work week (many people work Saturdays). That’s $628 U.S. per month.
If you make this amount of money, and your family drinks 2 gallons of milk a week, you spend about 5% of your weekly budget on milk.
Now, obviously there are quite a people people who make more than the minimum, or even 5 times the minimum. There is a middle class that works hard, enduring up to 4 hours round trip in traffic and/or public transportation, and salaries are comparable to any first world country. If you have a job like this, or perhaps own your own business, you will most certainly have a car.
A car owner pays $3.63 for a gallon of gas. A driver’s license costs about $30 per year. Bi-annual emissions inspections cost about $23 each time. A “road tax” is $35 each year, paid by printing out a form from the Internet and depositing at a bank or sponsoring store. Liability insurance runs around $185 per year, and full comprehensive, collision and theft insurance for a relatively new vehicle for a year…about $780 (this varies obviously).
No matter where you drive in Mexico, if you want a nice, four-lane road, you’ll be paying for it. Trips north, south, east and west on toll roads will cost you, on average, about $8-10 per hour of driving time in tolls.
Oh, and finally. Two disposable Gillette razors will cost you $4.30.
Some aspects of life in Mexico are more affordable. Milk, gasoline and disposable razors, however, are not!
