The All Inclusive Life
The All Inclusive Life
When we come to Mexico, we throw the budget out the window. We pay little attention to expenditures. One of the reasons is that we stay at an all included resort. Thus, while we pay out the nose up front, there are no recurring or extra expenses. Pretty much, there are no surprises. This buys us the ability to eat and drink as much as we want. This is true luxury. And I love it. Which makes me wonder if I could retire to this type of lifestyle. Could I live the all inclusive life?
Whether I would want to or not, I am intrigued by the idea if it would be economically tenable. Could I afford it and retire early?
How Much Does It Cost?
I am conservatively guessing that each adult cost about a thousand dollars a week to stay at the resort. I am using an estimate because I am not sure how much of our bill is attributed to us verse our kids. Thus, for my wife and I (assuming we ditched our kids), it would cost roughly $104,000 a year. Now, I think this number is a little bloated.
For one, we probably could negotiate a sizable discount. If we were to guarantee that we were going to stay 52 weeks a year, I suspect we could save at least 25% off the price up front. Especially if we agreed to vacate during major holidays (when we would travel or visit friends).
Second, I suspect that we would probably stay less than 52 weeks a year. Mexico is fairly hot in the summer and we would move to Europe for a few months where we could get an Airbnb, and likely live on much less than two thousand a week.
The all inclusive life sounds quite affordable.
What’s Included?
So what’s included for a thousand bucks a week per adult? Well, you get a luxurious place to stay with built in maid service. Free toiletries and no need to own bedding or any household items. Free Wifi, electricity, water, heat, and air conditioning. And a parade of service people to wait on you, serve you, and help you navigate your surroundings.
Food is completely included. There are several 4-5 star restaurants. 24 hour room service. All the alcohol and soft drinks that you can consume. More fresh fruit than you can imagine. Dessert is always on the menu.
Amenities abound. Five to six separate pools. Your own beach with a bar right on the water. A full work out facility and spa (only some services are free). Entertainment every night including live shows. An arcade room, and even a kids club to keep young children entertained.
So far, it sounds like the all inclusive life is pretty posh.
What’s Left Out
Certainly not everything is covered. Certain personal items are not included (contact solution for instance). You would still have to find some type of health insurance and dental care (although being out of country you could get expat insurance for quite cheap).
There are always transportation, travel expenses, and offsite fun and adventure. Your clothing budget would still exist but be much smaller given no need for winter apparel.
But for the most part, the all inclusive life is just that. All inclusive.
Final Thoughts
Although a thousand dollars per adult per week sounds expensive. This is far less than we budget per year in our current lifestyle. Even if we added in a 30% premium for extra and unexpected expenses, it would still be a better deal than we are paying for now.
Keep in mind that the economics break down if you have to also pay for kids. This is more of a post college plan.
But with all said and done, on first glance, the all inclusive life sounds fairly doable.
I’m quite certain that most of us overestimate how much it costs to live in many other parts of the world. After practicing medicine for thirteen years, our family decided to start traveling around the world. We are now 7.5 months in, have seen 15 countries, and collected countless incredible experiences. Our costs are roughly the same as what we were spending just to get by back home. If anyone is interested, I broke it all down in a blog post: https://big-family-small-world.com/show-me-the-money/
Your story sounds fascinating.
When we take trips in our travel trailer, I often get a similar feeling. Most RV parks have water, electricity, Wifi and you can be in interesting locations. But an all-inclusive has never crossed my mind. The difference that matters to us is the change of scenery. We enjoy variety and the experience of different locations. Yet, the all-inclusive can probably be found in many places. For Fat FIRE folks, that’s actual a quite reasonable price. Hmmm…
And it really feels luxurious.
I pretty much did this when I was a locums. Every where we went was a beach community and I made the hospital get me a condo on the beach, usually signed up for 3-6 month contract, and drove to the job with my wife. The job paid per day expense plus salary so we lived on that and I banked the salary. Plenty of time to explore the local area before moving on. The condo took care of maid service etc the rest of our lives (like my wife’s WOK) easily fit in the back seat of the car. After a couple years of locums I had a ton of experience with the politics and pit falls involved in practices v hospitals, half a mil in the bank and a good adventure. I think I would find the “all inclusive” experience a bit too restrictive. You see one Dianna Ross or Jimmy Buffet tribute band you seen em all. The seafood was fabulous.
The food is definitely a good perk.
Fascinating thought there. For the FATFire life, go to an all inclusive resort. Then, if and when the time comes to move into a nursing home, move instead into a Holiday Inn, like this couple: https://www.syracuse.com/living/2019/02/man-plans-to-retire-in-holiday-inn-says-its-cheaper-than-nursing-home.html.
Sounds good to me.
When I was reading this I remembered a story of a man who lived in a cruise shop for a couple of decades.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-05-06/this-man-has-been-living-on-cruise-ships-for-twenty-years/amp
There are so many ways to live a happy life and it is fun to see what people can come up with.
Could I live on a ship or resort? Maybe for a few months before I’d want to do something else.
I recently looked at how much per night our apt costs. I’d never done that before. I always think on terms of monthly rent. Our apt is over 90$ a month.
How many places could you visit or live in that would be less than $90 a night?
The cruise ship thing looks fun. For awhile.