Frugal Living Abroad – A Better Life For Half The Price

It was confusing as hell when I was at TBEX a few weeks back, because there happen to be two of us named Tim who live in Mexico. Myself, obviously, but for those of you weren’t aware of it, renowned travel writer Tim Leffel also happens to be based out of Mexico, although he’s far more north and west of where we are in Palenque. He currently lives in Guanajuato with his family.

Along with being in the industry for well over a decade and authoring the World’s Cheapest Destinations book as well as running the associated blog, he also heads Perceptive Travel. Earlier in 2013, he and I got to talking in emails and Skype about a few things related to living in Mexico and the whole “cutting your cost of living into a fraction of what it was in the U.S.”. 

Our own best-selling publication, The Expat Guidebook, was founded on the principles of a life of indefinite travel, anywhere you want in the world, using an online income and spending only pennies in comparison to what you pay in the U.S. or other developed countries. It used to be one of the primary focuses of this blog (living on the cheap abroad) before I moved into other content.

When Tim first approached me regarding his latest publication, A Better Life for Half The Price, he wanted to talk to me about one of the segments in my book: specifically, the section on negotiation and how to get the best prices while living abroad in countries where negotiation is expected from the locals, and where you’ll pay the jacked-up foreigner price if you don’t attempt to negotiate.

Pretty much every country in the world outside of the United States, by the way. Negotiation is an art form to these cultures, especially in Latin America, Japan, Asia and most of Europe and the Mediterranean, Russia, and beyond. They start learning it as children, and by the time they are teenagers they are already masters of the craft, whittling down prices on everything from candies to food at the market to t-shirts and clothing to rental property, real estate and auto purchases.

We caught up with each other while at TBEX Cancun in September of 2014 and not only did we share a few drinks, meals and overall fun together, but we also sat down to talk about negotiation tactics in greater detail, as well as the cost of living here in Mexico and what it’s really like living here as a foreigner…and what you can expect if you decide to head down here yourself.

Tips on Living in Mexico as an Expatriate from Tim Leffel on Vimeo.

Leffel’s latest publication focuses on one thing and one thing only: how to have a better life living in countries abroad. One of the most powerful components of this book is that it’s not just him talking about it: he went out and gathered data from others living abroad and got their take on it as well, with sections including:

• Negotiation for Expats by T.W. Anderson (yours truly)

• The Best Tools for Mobile Workers by Natalie Sisson of The Suitcase Entrepreneur

• How to Get Free Accommodation by Nora Dunn of The Professional Hobo

• Getting Started With Working Online by Christine Gilbert of Almost Fearless

He’s been working on the book since 2013, so it’s been over a year in the making. While the paperback version won’t be out until the end of the year, if you are someone like me who thrives on digital publications and hasn’t touched a paperback in years (because they are a pain in the ass to travel with and take up precious backpack space, not to mention storage space), you can get your hands on his latest publication now.

Typically, I don’t promote much here at the website. In fact, one of the reasons I charge so much for sponsored posts and advertising is because I’m notorious for wanting to keep Marginal Boundaries about myself and what can benefit my readers. So when I recommend something (like we did recently for themidgame), it’s because I whole-heartedly believe in it.

Tim’s book is akin to my own, and he’s one of the most respected travel authors in the industry. If you are an armchair reader who is on the fence about moving abroad, this is a publication that will push you over the edge and into the life that we live on a daily basis. And even if you are someone who has been traveling on your own as a nomad of some type, you’ll still be able to glean some wisdom from its pages; if not from myself or Tim, than from one of the other experts who have authored segments within.

There’s currently three packages available depending on if you are Curious, Committed, or All-In. Each level comes with a copy of the book plus a varying array of extras, such as a private Facebook group, access to the newsletter, access to special webinars with other travel experts, conference calls and even a couple of one-on-one coaching sessions with Tim himself. You can check out the packages here (or click on the book cover below) and decide for yourself which version suits your needs.

For the sake of transparency: yes, I receive a commission for recommending Tim’s book to my readers. But knowing how rarely I recommend other people’s products or services via sponsored posts, I know you can appreciate just how valuable I think what he has to say is. 

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