Peso hits all time low

It's all relative. Living here I have exchanged more than a hundred thousand dollars. And having worked on countless RV's down here, many if not most arrive with more inventory than the local tienda. The real hoot happens at the end of the trip when they give it all away to increase gas mileage on the way home.

Leaving a tip for a meal that will pay for a quart of gasoline is sorta embarrassing don't cha think? Or maybe buy a roll of toilet paper. Leaving an occasional large tip in a business you frequent will sometimes pay dividends you cannot imagine. One day a waiter told me about a super tire sale and I got a set of General tires at a savings that equaled all the tips I had ever left him times ten.

A weak peso leaves store shelves stocked with "the basics" that few tourists purchase. And no this does not conflict with the stuffed motorhomes above that arrived when store shelves were jam packed. Sugar free food, diet foods, condiments and snacks are neat but stashing ten pounds of flour and boxes of Cocoa Puffs?

Remember when business slumps RAISE PRICES! So Mexican products raise in dollar terms. I long ago learned to live with this mind set. My made-in Mexico medications are undergoing a mind-boggling upward price spiral. Some are thirty-percent higher in DOLLAR VALUE than they were six-months ago. I guess I need lawyer grade explanation now. Medicine from private label Mexican companies manufacturing 100% made in Mexico medicines that have zero to do with licensed medicines from abroad.

The local RV park has raised prices five times in as many weeks. So the perception of a weak peso / better value Mexico needs further study. This ain't the seventies, folks, cell phone internet. Instant connections to SHCP SAT official tipo de cambio sites.

I agree with bigdog2, we usually bring enough pesos home to get us as far as Guaymas, and then hit the ATMs. We have about 6000 we got two years ago for around 13 but that doesn't matter, if it starts costing too much, we will stay home also. We don't bring every thing we need, despite what David said, except butter, wife doesn't like the taste of Mexican butter so we usually stuff the freezer compartment. We stay 5 months in a park that employs 5 0r 6 Mexicans plus the two ladies that run the restaurant at the pool. We mostly avoid the gringo owned places and eat at the Mexican places. We shop at the local markets, hardware stores, and carnacareas and usually make a run down to the Mega in Bucereas only about once a month.

I brought about 10,000 pesos home with me when we left in April. Reason being I can buy gas etc. on the way back down in October. The rate was about 14 to 1 last spring. So, if it is now 16 to 1 big deal. Not even worth it to me to figure out how much I 'lost'. If it gets so I can't afford to go then I'll stay home.:D

darbone85737 wrote:
Mexicowanderer has a good point. Plus RV tourists are among the cheapest, most "frugal" people on earth. They strive to keep from spending an extra peso to the point of bargaining over the smallest trinket or piece of produce. You can hear them squeak when they walk.

People who fly in on vacation don't mind spending money in restaurants and shops.

Air tourists are short-term, they are coming purposely to throw money around, don't know and don't care that their $5 tip is what a waiter or hotel worker is getting paid for a day.

RV are often long-term, many have permanent site on a camp. They in fact "live" there, they know what costs what, and are not going to pay full day wages for one hour labor of plumber or gardener. OTH, they are buying tools, materials, labor, grocery, gas, dental and medical services, utility bills. Some are throwing money around more than others, but mostly, they don't - by US standards. By Mex standards they do.

Bringing full supply of everything in RV - I wish. What people normally do, is bringing things that either cost more in Mexico, or are not available there.
Those on a short RV trip tend to come closer to bringing "everything" because they don't have time to run around shops to buy when they come, or they simply don't know the country and don't know what is available.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
When I used to go hole-up for the winter I chose very remote villages. Even now my kids live in a village of 105 souls with the nearest known gringo is 25 miles distant and no I have never met them and don't care to seek them out. Americans complain about Mexicans creating their own universe in the USA with store signs in Spanish. Come to Mexico and many of the gringo infestations are exactly the same in reverse. People live here for 15-20 years and do not bother even trying to learn Spanish.

I have a distant neighbor here where I am renting who is from the USA. We talk oh maybe once every three months for 60-seconds or less. The gringos bring virtual whole-store inventories in their RVs. So their money goes for gasoline, toll toads and RV park owners who drive BMW's, and nothing else of local origin. Nada. How can this possibly help local Mexicans?

The peso is slipping because only some foodstuffs are of Mexican origin. Lightbulbs, soap, tires, cars, bicycles, motor oil, and 99% of canned and box foods are of foreign origin. The balance of trade level resembles a ski ramp. No one wants Mexican crude anymore. About 30% of the frijols and maize for masa comes from the USA.

When my herniated disc cures by itself, cataracts, shrink and go away, and I can rise out of bed without use of handlebars is when the peso will strengthen. The most I can hope for is it to slow down sliding downhill. The peso was at parity with the dollar in 1900. One hundred sixteen years later it stands at 16,290 to the dollar. I've been reading about peso "revaluations" for the last forty years. Look for a possible "peso revaluation" immediately after Petroleos Mexicanos cuts the price of combistibles.

My brother in law moved to mexico 4 years ago, he has nothing to do with Gringos, deals only with locals. When he built a house, that really paid off.

Mexicowanderer has a good point. Plus RV tourists are among the cheapest, most "frugal" people on earth. They strive to keep from spending an extra peso to the point of bargaining over the smallest trinket or piece of produce. You can hear them squeak when they walk.

People who fly in on vacation don't mind spending money in restaurants and shops.

moisheh wrote:
Almot it does not matter if the peso is low or the dollar high.

Unless you are a Canadian :B

To me, it does. Because I need to buy both pesos and $US.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
..."gringo infestations"...

That's harsh.

Describing any group (ethnic or otherwise) as an "infestation" is offensive.

moisheh wrote:
Mexico will need those reserves to build the Trump Wall. Don't ya think?

Moisheh

If he does I'm sure it will have the Trump emblem on it!

When I used to go hole-up for the winter I chose very remote villages. Even now my kids live in a village of 105 souls with the nearest known gringo is 25 miles distant and no I have never met them and don't care to seek them out. Americans complain about Mexicans creating their own universe in the USA with store signs in Spanish. Come to Mexico and many of the gringo infestations are exactly the same in reverse. People live here for 15-20 years and do not bother even trying to learn Spanish.

I have a distant neighbor here where I am renting who is from the USA. We talk oh maybe once every three months for 60-seconds or less. The gringos bring virtual whole-store inventories in their RVs. So their money goes for gasoline, toll toads and RV park owners who drive BMW's, and nothing else of local origin. Nada. How can this possibly help local Mexicans?

The peso is slipping because only some foodstuffs are of Mexican origin. Lightbulbs, soap, tires, cars, bicycles, motor oil, and 99% of canned and box foods are of foreign origin. The balance of trade level resembles a ski ramp. No one wants Mexican crude anymore. About 30% of the frijols and maize for masa comes from the USA.

When my herniated disc cures by itself, cataracts, shrink and go away, and I can rise out of bed without use of handlebars is when the peso will strengthen. The most I can hope for is it to slow down sliding downhill. The peso was at parity with the dollar in 1900. One hundred sixteen years later it stands at 16,290 to the dollar. I've been reading about peso "revaluations" for the last forty years. Look for a possible "peso revaluation" immediately after Petroleos Mexicanos cuts the price of combistibles.