How to save money in Belize

Typically, people don't move to Belize to save money. They come for a slower, more enjoyable life-style in a warm, laid back and friendly country.

Saying that, they save money every day of their lives just by being here. The cost of living is so much cheaper than North America and Europe.

To reduce your cost of living even more, avoid the tourist and ex-pat hot spots on the sea where property prices and the cost of living are much higher than places inland, like the Cayo District.

Also, bear in mind that just about all canned food is imported so eat more of the fresh, local foods. Healthier too!

With your holidays in mind, it is possible to save money by driving to your exotic Central American or Mexican destination instead of paying air fares for the whole family. Belize has a great, central location for those who like to travel.

This is my copy and pasted response to this same question about 4 months ago. We still follow these principles to enjoy a low cost of living in Belize.

Finding Belize’s Low Cost Living.
We now enjoy low cost living compared to that of Canada. After just about three years in Belize, there has been a bit of a learning curve, and in our case an attitude adjustment as well. Here are just a few of the tips we have learned.

Five Tips To Low Cost Living In Belize.

Our Motto ~ “Live on what you need, not on what you want.”
Back in Canada we didn’t give much thought to  low cost living. With two good paying jobs and savings building, we would just go out and buy whatever we wanted whether we really needed it or not. The latest shiney items, sometimes on sale, but most times not, were just purchased on a whim at one of the many “Big Box” stores, Electronics outlets, or our choice of several shopping malls. Usually without much price comparison, we learned that they were all usually within $20. or $30. of each other, so it wasn’t even worth the time to price check. What’s $20. Right? (We’ll talk a bit more about that later).
In Belize there is certainly not the selection, or the number of outlets to purchase many things, but we have learned that it does pay to shop around, or if it’s a want item, to wait for it to go on sale. But always now, we ask each other, “do we want it, or do we need it?” and you might be surprised at how often we leave empty handed.

Shop Wisely
Shopping wisely, or like the Belizean’s do will also help to guard your low cost living. Convenience can be a budget killer. If you want to purchase everything at the grocery store because it is one stop, then you can expect to pay more, while sacrificing some quality in the process. Get fresh vegetables on delivery day at the local markets. Get fresh meat cut to your specifications at the local Carnicero (Butcher). Fresh fish can be bought directly from the fisherman if you are by the sea. (A little myth buster here though, we found fish are actually cheaper per pound inland then they were on the islands).

Also know that it is generally assumed that we gringos are just visiting. We are charged more just because it is assumed that we are all rich (another myth), and therefore able to pay more. We have found, that if at first we shop around to find a vendor that has what we need, and that they are friendly and cordial with us, then we will keep going back. It only takes a few trips, and maybe a subtle hint, and they will soon realize that you are not a visitor but living here and you will see prices go down. Also, we avoid grocery stores that don’t put prices their merchandise.

Forget US Dollar Comparisons.
One of the things that we did when we first moved was to convert everything to US dollars in our heads. It helped us to justify making some purchases. For example, that box of chocolates (my favorite, Ferrero Roche to be specific) was BZ$42.50, “hey, that’s only US$21.25, what’s $20.00” you might ask yourself as we did. Well, (I told you I would get back to this) at the local market we spend BZ$18.00 (US$9.00) for a whole week’s supply of fresh vegetables. US$20.00 (BZ$40.00) will purchase 160 oranges at 4/BZ$1.00 or 400 fresh bananas at 10/BZ$1.00. So if keeping up a low cost living is important to you, forget US$ and compare prices of “want” items to what can be purchased in “need” items for those same dollars.

Location, Location, Location
The right location will also be a factor to consider if low cost living is one of the reasons you chose Belize. We had our personal reasons to select the cayes as our place to land initially, so it wasn’t something that I look back on as a mistake, but rather part of our education.  However hindsight being 20/20, one thing that we would probably have done differently, was to move to the mainland rather than the Cayes (islands). Our budget was literally cut in half when we moved from the island to Cayo District just outside of San Ignacio.

Rent for a two bedroom apartment in San Pedro was BZ$2000.00/Mo. whereas our rent for a comparable two Bedroom house here on the mainland is BZ$1000.00/Mo.Fruits and Vegetables were typically about BZ$45.00/week on the island at the docks where the mennonite boats would deliver on Tuesday mornings. You had to get there early (like 5:00AM) to get a good selection. As I mentioned earlier on the mainland at the San Ignacio Market we pay about BZ$18.00 for the same quantity and get a better selection of fresher product.

Economical Appliances Keep The Cost of Living Low.
One of the other things that I have learned is that your appliances are also important in maintaining a low cost living. This is something you may not have much control over when you are looking for places to rent, but is good to know when you are building, or when trying to estimate what your monthly rental expense might be. In San Pedro we paid anywhere from about BZ$140-180.00/Mo. For electricity. That covered an electric range, washer, dryer, hot water tank, and the difference in monthly cost was probably the A/C unit which was only used during really hot months.

In Bullet Tree the house we rent has all economical appliances, and the experience has convinced me that when we build our own home to lay out a bit more initially to keep the monthly utility bill down. It has been hot the last few months requiring the AC unit for a half hour or an hour before bedtime. The electric bill last month was BZ$68.00. That’s half to a third of the island, and here are some of the reasons why. Our Range is gas (butane in Belize), and yes that is an expense, but the tank lasted for three months, then is picked up and returned full for BZ$40.00. Our Hot water is produced with a heat on demand hot water tank that is also gas, but after almost four months of use, I still can’t lift the tank, so I expect it is still good for at least another six months, and it’s controls are powered by 2 “D” batteries.
Finally we do have a washing machine, but our clothes dryer which is usually the energy guzzler of the two is a clothes line. It does require a bit planning around the weather during rain season, but this Solar/Wind powered unit will run 24hrs a day for BZ$ or US$0.00, so we have two.

Summary
A simpler, healthy lifestyle with a low cost living, is easily obtainable in Belize. Certainly for far less than that of Canada and the United States. If you watch your habits. Shop wisely. Compare BZ prices to the buying power in Belize rather than to the US dollar. Choose your location knowing that a premium will be payed on the Cayes. And, finally try to follow our motto of, “live on what you need, not what you want”.

To give you an idea of what US$ 800.00/Mo. can rent you, Check out this video of the 1 bedroom house that we rented in San Pedro when we first arrived in Belize.

What they said! We do live on the coast but in a tiny, remote village. We live in a one room, very belizean shack (one day we'll have a bedroom!), but our rent is $200 bz, and most people say we are being chanced 😂. We eat local. Don't buy canned or packaged. I periodically treat myself with yummy things I miss that I can find here but are expensive. We keep driving to a dull roar and combine multiple errands for each trip to town.  We bus for long trips unless we are all going (5 of us).