How to Save Money

In the US, it’s just too damn easy to buy things online that you don’t need. Retailers call it the “frictionless’’ sale, translated as removing all roadblocks in order to create the easiest, most effortless sale possible. Hubspot, a 2.5 billion dollar developer of software marketing tools even offers a Frictionless Sales Certification Program to their clients.

Features of frictionless sales include free shipping and returns, payment shortcuts, “one-click” purchases and more recently, buy now pay later plans, cutting consumer resistance as we knew it at the knees. (As a friend of mine remarked, we only have so many “no’s” in us.)  Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year scored a record turnout. It’s no wonder that the average credit card debt in the US is almost $8,000. Combine such ease of purchase and target marketing advertising and we’re toast. 

Or you’re toast. I live in Mexico. The cost of living isn’t just lower. Mexico lays out a number of speed bumps that make it easier to restrain your buying impulses.

Less on-line shopping

Mail service being less reliable in Mexico, Mexicans and foreign residents alike, order a fraction of a fraction of what we order online in the US. Surfing the websites of the most reliable online stores in Mexico, Amazon and Mercado Libre, you’ll find far fewer products. Language translation and currency exchange calculation tend to dampen your enthusiasm as well, especially if you like to relax with a glass of wine while you shop.

Items harder to find brick and mortar stores

You’ll likely need to shop in actual stores more in Mexico. For once, natural human inertia works in your pocketbook’s favor. We’re out of the habit.

Stretching out the buying horizon

The cost of the dozen items on my wish list tally up to about $1,500 dollars. I could make those purchases in 30 minutes online if I was back at home in Virginia. In Mexico, it will likely take me six months to find the style/price/sizes I want, if I find them at all. The delay basically amortizes $1,500 in expenses and purchasing pleasure over six months, rather than getting a short-lived intense buying high of buying it all in one sitting and moving on to dream up the next $1,500 worth of stuff I want. 

Less social pressure

In Mexico, my friends don’t know if I can’t afford any nice lawn chairs or if I just can’t find any (since they can’t find that stuff either). In the US, online buying has eliminated the last crucial excuse, that I can’t find what I want, for not having nice lawn chairs to 800 thread-count sheets, items I might feel necessary to make guests comfortable back at home.

Less impulse buying when grocery shopping

Impulse buying of course isn’t limited to online buying. Grocery stores offer plenty of opportunities too. Expat-focused markets such as City Market in San Miguel often have glorious bakeries and greatly expanded frozen food sections. Upscale grocery stores are appearing in Mexico, notably Freska supermarket chain. But while these stores are aesthetically equally pleasing, it’s mainly a facade. They still won’t tempt you with near the number of impulse shopping opportunities that large grocery stores at home would, ni hablar of a big Whole Foods. 

In my head, a purchase doesn’t qualify as an impulse buy in a grocery store if you deliberately enter the territory knowing the temptations will be stacked there. Mexican grocery store chains often concentrate much of the potential impulse buying in import isles. You’re not caught by surprise while minding your own business checking off items on a grocery list when suddenly the $7 dollar bag of guacamole-flavored chips jumps out in front of you.

More emphasis on cash purchases in Mexico

The online money saving site NerdWallet tells us that paying cash is one of the best ways to save money because it’s harder to part with physical money. Most stores in Mexico today take credit cards, however, many potential impulse buys still require cash. After decades of not carrying cash with the ascension of debit cards, I’m rarely carrying over $50 dollars (about 1,000 pesos), hence the potential damage is limited.

Strict return policies

You never develop the “I can always return it,” mentality in Mexico. Most places have no-return policies under any circumstances. I learned the hard way when Palacio de Hierro, a luxury retail store along the line of Saks, gave me only exchange credit in the precise department in which I made my purchase. 

Sales staff at Liverpool, another chain department store similar to Macys scrutinize receipts as if their verdict will determine the trajectory of their career. You can’t ever be confident that those few Mexican stores that have return policies won’t come up with an excuse to deny a refund.

I’ve walked away from many, many purchases that I was 80% sure of in fear of being caught up in negotiating a refund in Spanish. (The last one being a lampshade, which within a day, I forgot about forever - an automatic $125 dollar savings.)

Enjoying the annual binge

Americans living in Mexico return to the US, if for nothing else, to purchase their laptops, tablets, e-readers and phones, items that are much more expensive in Mexico (along with having keyboards disconcertedly in Spanish). 

Each time I go back for these obligatory electronics purchases, it doesn’t take long before I’m gleefully binging with my credit card just like the rest of my spend-drunk compatriots. Just at the point when I’m about to lose all control and go on a real economic bender, it’s time to return to Mexico, where I’m put into retail rehab and gratefully back on the wagon.

About the author

Kerry Baker is the author of books for people considering expat life, whether full time or a “mini life”.

If Only I Had a Place is the absolute guide to renting in Mexico - far different than you’d think. Don’t be fooled by realtors.

The Mexico Solution: Saving you money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico tells you how to set up for part-time life and the cultural surprises you will encounter along the way.

Her most recent work, The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico is a cookbook for travelers, snowbirds and expats. In Mexico, you must cook to maintain a healthy diet. This book shows you how.