The cost of living in Belize is two-fold. If you live on the island, it is more expensive because things need to be brought over by boat. In contrast, living inland is much less expensive. This is the reason why when people look at Belize as a country to move to, they look at the cost of living as an important factor in deciding where they will live.

 

If you are going to buy twelve limes in San Ignacio, which is in the Cayo District, you might pay US $1, while on the islands, you will pay $2.50. Districts are similar to provinces or counties, which North Americans are more used to. The Cayo District is the most western district of the country of Belize, and is inland; it is not on the ocean.  Everywhere on the mainland is so lush and green that you can grow things very easily. If you are down at the southern part of Belize, everything grows very well down there, since they get a lot of rain, so you will not have any issues getting fresh fruits and vegetables. The same goes with just  north of that area. When you go inland in the Cayo District, that is where the farming is done for the whole country, so you can get to these things quite easily. (A lot in the Cayo district, pictured above.)

 

If you are going to rent a property and you want to rent a home inland, you can find a home for $300 to $800 per month. If you are on the mainland and closer to the ocean, to rent a home will cost around $1,000. When you get to the island of Ambergris Caye, the rentals will start at $1,000 and will go upwards. If you want a very nice place to rent with two bedrooms and two bathrooms in San Pedro (the town on Ambergris Caye), you will pay around $1,500 a month.

 

If you are on the mainland and inland, you will be able to purchase a house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms on a regular home-sized lot for $100,000, for example. For the same type of house on the mainland, but on the ocean front or near the ocean, you will pay about $250,000 to $350,000. If you go out to the island, it is going to be very difficult to find a home that is anywhere near $350,000, so expect to pay more around the $400,000 to $500,000 range. (House in San Ignacio, Belize, pictured to right.)

 

Many times it is understood that Belize is an island, where in fact, we have islands, and yet we are a mainland country which is part of Central America and just below Mexico. We have several islands in Belize, too. Ambergris Caye is one of the main islands, located just outside of the Belize City area. It is the biggest island and everyone knows Ambergris Caye because people go there to go snorkeling, diving, etc. The other island that is just a little bit south of Ambergris Caye, is Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker is like a small bohemian island, while Ambergris Caye has more hustle and bustle with more restaurants and things to do.

 

Placencia is both on mainland and near the ocean. When we were shooting our House Hunters International TV show in Placencia, it was difficult to find homes for rent for anything under $1,200 a month. The home that they chose for the family featured on the show was $5,000 a month. It is not a low-cost place. (House on Maya Beach, near Placencia, pictured.)

 

These are really key things to consider.

I live in Toledo, often cited as the "Forgotten District" because it is not as developed as the rest of the country.

 

My cost of living is (BZD)*:

I live a simple lifestyle. If I wanted to, I could live for far less. My house is a concrete house that I rent that was vacant for awhile so it needs repairs but it's low-maintenance and if I need something done, I can do it.

 

The real thing to consider is what kind of lifestyle you want. If you want a lifestyle that you can get in the US for cheap, Belize is a great option. If you want a completely different lifestyle, well that's what I have. It's simple, fresh, organic, honest and authentic.

 

And I love it.

 

*Editor's note: "BZD" stands for "Belizean dollar", which is pegged at 2 BZD to 1 US dollar.  To convert the prices above to US dollars, divide by 2.

 

Personally, I have lived in San Pedro Town (the principle town on Ambergris Caye), Ranchito (Corozal), San Ignacio (Cayo), Corozal Town and now I'm living at Cerros Sands in the Corozal District.

 

San Pedro has by far much more expensive, food and building materials, as well as real estate.  Corozal and San Ignacio are very close in prices. If you want to live near the sea in Corozal, you will pay a bit more. The homes I rented in Corozal by the sea went between 400-500 US a month.

 

 

(Boats at Cerros Sand, Belize, pictured.)

 

The cost of living in Belize is very inexpensive. However, how much it will cost you personally depends on your nature.
 
In my personal experience my husband and I were living on over US $200,000 per year, so we were used to a very high lifestyle.  Now, we’re living on a pension and so just to kind of show you our pension of about US $1,500 a month, and I can report that two people can live extremely well on US $1,500 a month in Belize. This monthly budget would include utilities, car expenses, travel expenses, food, and entertainment. So, most people could live on their Social Security checks here in Belize.
 
As an example, let’s review the budget of a couple living on their combined income of Social Security living in Belize.  For those who rent, their rent could run maybe about US $600 per month for a very nice home. Their utilities would run about BZ $60 (US $30) for electricity, BZ $30 (US $15) for water and about BZ $15 (US$7.50) for butane gas.  The cost for food depends on if our example couple goes out or if they just went to the farmer’s market, bought the food and cooked at home, in which case, they will probably spend about maybe BZ $200 to $300 (US $100 to $150) for food.  The cost for entertainment depends on what they like to do.  There are no movie theaters in Belize. There are not very many shopping malls. So “entertainment” consists of just going to the local hangout, drinking a couple of rum and Cokes, perhaps some Belikin beer if you’d like, or whatever they like for appetizers.
 
Relative to car expenses, you don’t really need a car here in Belize. If they did have a car, the gas does run a little bit more.  We pay about BZ $9 (US $4.50) per gallon.  Car insurance is very, very low, about BZ $350 (US $175) per year and that’s on a newer car, like maybe V8 or V6, high-end SUV. So it’s very minimal. They wouldn’t have very many other expenses. There are no yearly income taxes to pay. There is no house insurance to pay.  As a result, you can live very, very comfortable on the budget I just described. You can also have a maid once week on that income.
 
If you bought your house outright, you would have very low property taxes, perhaps as low as BZ $10 (US $5) per year. It can go as high as maybe only BZ $800 (US $400) per year and that’s on a mansion.  

 

(Cottage in Bullet Tree, Belize, pictured.)

The cost of living in Belize varies a lot depending on where you are. In San Pedro (the principle town on Ambergris Caye), it is really expensive as far as I am concerned, and San Ignacio, here in the Cayo District, is very cheap. You can pay almost twice the amount in a restaurant in San Pedro and Placencia (a higher end peninsula with lots of expats) as you can here in Cayo.
 
One of the ways to figure cost of living is to discuss the cost of going to a restaurant.  You can go into very different price ranges. If you want to buy local food, you can spend as little as US $2.50 for rice and beans, or if you wanted something fancy like a shrimp salad or something like that, you would pay about $8 in a restaurant here in San Ignacio. There are different priced restaurants in Cayo and all of these are cheaper than the ones in Placencia or San Pedro. 
 
In Belize, property is far cheaper inland than it is on the shore. It is much, much cheaper here in the Cayo District than in the cayes. A standard, 2,000 square foot, 3-bedroom, 2-bath house in the Cayo District in a fairly nice area would be about $150,000. In San Pedro in Ambergris Caye or Placencia, it would be double or triple the amount depending on the location.  In addition, in these areas, it wouldn’t be a house. It would probably be a condo, because there are not many residential houses on Ambergris Caye for sale.
 
Relative to the price to purchase food, most of the local food is grown in the Cayo District, so it’s a lot cheaper here because, in order to get to San Pedro, it gets transported to the cayes by boat and taken by road. San Pedro in Ambergris Caye is sand, so nothing grows there. Everything comes from Cayo. 
 
In the market, for example, you would pay about US 50 cents for an apple, $1.50 for a head of lettuce. Then if you go for groceries, you’re paying $1 for a loaf of bread from a Chinese store. You get 10 bananas for 50 cents, and a sack of 100 oranges for $4 (that’s right; 4 US cents per orange).

 

(Tempting barbecue ribs at Fuego Bar & Grill Belize, San Ignacio, Belize, pictured.)