Expenses in moving to Belize,

Last activity 31 December 2018 by Will The Old

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jmjohnston88Active member30 December 2018 14:42:13

My husband and I are planning on moving to Belize in like 3 years.. we are trying to do all the research that we can do....We are on a very limited income at this time.. He gets $1000.00 per month... I was wondering how the expenses are there.. We are looking to rent either a 2 bedroom apartment or a 2 bedroom house.. we are looking at Cortozal. We are simple folks and are wanting to meet new friends.. And info you could give would help a great deal. We have Sprint as our phone service,, what is the phone service like there.

terrificSerial expat31 December 2018 01:16:45

582

for a couple I think $1000 is not going to be enough to rent and live in Belize. There is good reason that the Tourist Board made the monthly income $2000 for the QRP.

Will The OldSerial expat31 December 2018 07:45:14

418

terrific is correct, there is a dollar threshold below which most North Americans would not be happy living with long term in Belize. It is going to vary case by case so no one can say for sure what the dollar amount is.

$12,000/yr is well below the poverty level for the USA according to this chart. https://www.thebalance.com/federal-pove … rt-3305843

Start by making a budget.
In Belize, at US $500/mon= $6,000/yr for rent/utilities are going to eat up half of that budget.
Belize Visa fees for two first year for two $900, $1,200 a year after that until full residency is granted (or not). That leaves $4,800/yr ($400/mon) for everything else.

The Belize government has many policies that seem to be shooting at their own feet. However they are wise in setting policies to discourage expats from competing with their own people for jobs. So unless the expat has the financial resources to live on and or start/operate a business employing local folks or has an online job making legal income outside of Belize, I doubt the expat couple will last here very long.

The resources and opportunities for aid, jobs, supplemental income, starting a business, etc. inside the USA are far far greater than one would find in Belize.

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