Corozal, Belize, Living in Belize as a Foreigner

Cost of Living in Belize (Corozal)

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There has been quite a bit of excitement building about how affordable it is to retire in Belize.  A couple days ago Belize was featured in Yahoo Finance as an affordable spot for your retirement dollars.  I spent the last two years living in Belize full time with my mom and thought I would break down our costs of living in Corozal Town (Northern Belize).  First things first, everyone has a different standard of living and many of my expat friends living in Belize spend more than we do so it all depends on how you want to live.

My mom and I had a comfortable life in Corozal on $1,200USD total every month for both of us.  She still resides there and lives on even a little less than that without me; approximately $1,000 USD per month.  A lot of your monthly expenses are dependent upon where in Belize you plan to live.  These costs are representational of Corozal Town which is on the mainland in Northern Belize.  Corozal is located on a bay and a two hour boat ride or 15 minute plane ride to nearby Ambergris Caye.   There are a couple factors that kept our costs so low, the main being our house was purchased outright for around $95,000 USD so we did not have rent or a mortgage to deal with.  That aside the following is a breakdown of what our monthly costs were and still are for my mother.  All monetary amounts are in USD.  The fixed exchange rate in Belize is $2BZD = $1USD.  Also note that all utilities required an initial set-up or installation fee.

Rent/Mortgage $0
Electricity – no air-conditioning (BEL: Belize Electricity Limited) $60
Water (BWS: Belize Water Services) $30
DSL Internet & phone (BTL: Belize Telemedia Limited: fastest available) $167
Passport Extension Fee ($25pp for 6 months & $50pp after 6 months) $100 (2 people)
Lawn Maintenance (bi-weekly) $40
Car Insurance (based on length of time purchased) $32
Butane $30
Gas for vehicle $40
Cable (Centaur) $25
Food (we purchase mostly local products) $250
Water (5 gallon jugs) $4
Entertainment/Eating out $200
Health Insurance (major medical only) $60
Misc. Expenses/Repairs $162
Total Monthly Expenses (2 people) $1,200 USD

The following is a cost of living chart for a single woman living in Corozal Belize – a friend of ours;

Rent $250
Electricity (no air-conditioning) $50
Water $30
Cable $22.50
Internet (Stellar Links) $75
Lawn Maintenance $100
Phone $33
Residency (over 6 months) $50
Food $200
Butane $20
Total $830.50 USD

I will also update this section with other cost of living charts so you can see what the numbers may look like based on a couple other situations.  There are also periodic costs that will come up along the way such as the cost to become a resident after having lived in Belize continuously for 12 months (minus 14 days allowance to leave the country).  The cost for residency is $1,500 USD for Americans.  It is slightly less for British folks.

Hopefully this gives you a clearer picture of how much you can expect to pay living in Belize.  If your heart is set on living on an island in Belize these costs will increase because everything is imported.  http://tacogirl.com is run by a woman living in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize and she periodically posts information about the cost of living on the island.