We're Back!

Well, if you been reading any of this blog you have noticed that we have been on hiatus for quite awhile. Our deepest apologies for leaving you without current information on Cheap Places to live for so long!

I'm not going to go into a long winded explanation and excuse but hope you can just forgive and forget and we can move on with our discussion.

A big thank you to the Cheapest Places readers, subscribers and visitors for leaving questions, comments and suggestions on our various 'older' posts. Seems like finding cheap places to live in Florida and California are still hot topics. But with all of the gridlock and total frustration with U.S. politics we're going to spend even more time researching cheap places to live abroad all over the world.

We're also digging deeper and looking further to find you free or at least cheap resources to help in your search. When you subscribe you'll get these free tips from time to time. We'll try and provide a good descriptive subject line. So, if you're not in the mood or not interested in that topic you can just delete it. Please don't mark it as Spam. That just hurst everyone who values the free info we send. If you're finding our information or e-mails aren't helpful, just unsubscribe. It's easy as we always place a link at the bottom of each e-mail. You can always come back to the blog and resubscribe at any time.

Live Cheap and Retire too

Sound like a fantasy? Maybe not. Can you scrap together $500 a month? If you're answer is yes you may be surprised to find that there are beautiful, safe exotic places that are ready to welcome you with open arms.

Please continue to be generous in your comments and suggestions. The Cheap Place community has turned out to be a great place to share cheap places you've visited or lived and the reasons you thought them great or not so much. 

So, thanks once again for being patient and sticking around. Get ready, get started let's Go... again!

Where is Belize?

Belize - The Best Place to Retire?

Many times we have compared and contrasted the Best Places to Retire in relation to cost of living. Now more than ever those approaching retirement or recently retired are concerned about if or when their financial resources may run out. The ups and downs of the stock marketed combined with advances in health and longevity make this a real concern. So it's important for retirees to consider cheap places to live abroad in retirement. Places where they know their savings and retirement nest egg will last.

Latin American countries have been the darlings of the media and many retirees for the past decade. It started with Costa Rica in the '80's and '90's and then spread across the central American map as more and more of these places developed infrastructure and services specifically targeted at the retiring American Baby Boomers. For five years in a row Panama ranked number one in lists of the top retirement places while countries like Nicaragua, Honduras, Roatan and Belize often made the top 10 lists.

Recently we have been writing about retiring in Belize as one such place where the pace of life is slow and easy and the cost of living more than reasonable for most. I've been getting some feedback and questions about Belize and it makes sense the first and most popular question is...

Where is Belize Located?

That's a pretty important question! After all ow will you get there if you don't know where Belize is? Seriously though, when it comes to retiring abroad one of the most important issues is location - how close will I be to my children? My grand children? My home country? Other countries and places I may want to visit?  It's not atypical for a retiree living abroad to make numerous trips back to their homeland so moving relatively close and with easy access is of paramount concern. Thuis is probably one of the biggest reasons Latin America has become so popular for a seasonal or full time retirement home and Belize is located smack dab on the middle.

Belize is found on the Caribbean Coast of Central America with Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west.

It is easy to get to from the United States with flights of less than two hours from Miami, Houston and  Dallas. You can also fly a little long from Atlanta, Newark, and Charlotte.

More about Belize

Formerly Belize was a British Colony so the official and common language is English. This makes it quite easy for retirees from North America to communicate and quickly feel at home. The 'Retire Belize Program' was modelled after other successful retiree incentive programs in countries like Panama. The incentives offerred to people who wish to live but not work make for a very attractive lifestyle by cutting the cost of living even further. The population is estimated at 300,000 persons residing in eight urban areas. Over 30% of the people live in Belize City. Belize is quite small at just 8,867 square miles but it is still one of the lowest densely populated countries in the Americas.

Weather in Belize

The Belize climate is subtropical, with an average annual temperature around 80°F. Highs can reach over 90°F while night time lows at cetain times of the year may fall as low as 60°F.   Belize is also an attractive destination for suba divers as it is home to the longest living Barrier Reef in the world which stretches along the entire Eastern Coast of the country.

Belize boasts large areas of unspoiled jungles and national parks, amazing rivers, waterfalls, wildlife, caves, and even archaeological ruins. Living in Belize as an American you will immediately notice the vibrant blend of cultures, including Mayan, Hispanic, Garifuna, East Indian, and Creole.

International Jobs for US Citizens

As you know this Blog is all about finding the Best Places to Live in the World. For some that means a great place to spend their retirement years for others it means cutting their cost of living - finding a more affordable way to live so they can enjoy a higher quality of life. I get feedback from people all the time wanting to move and looking for cheap places to live abroad. But they also need to find places where they can still work. My good friend Mel just sent me this handout he had put together for a course he was teaching called, The Best Places to Live Abroad for Americans. He shared this segment of his course and the handout is titled,

International Jobs for US Citizens

Guest post by Mel B

Our world has changed over the last few years as the economy has declined and because the job market has shifted too, overseas jobs for Americans are becoming more and more attractive. These overseas jobs for Americans are sometimes just more attractive and more people are willing to explore the possibility. Although there certainly is an appeal and a certain amount of glamor associated with working internationally, it often fades to some degree when the effort to secure that job is spread out before you. It has become more difficult as the competition has increased as a result of the global economy and the increasing numbers of people willing to work abroad but it is certainly still possible. There are many possibilities that are often available internationally that have domestic equivalents and should make the transition possible. For instance, teaching jobs overseas for Americans are plentiful but there are many others besides. Here are just a few:

• International nursing jobs
• International sales jobs
• Overseas security jobs
• Overseas teaching jobs
• International business jobs
• International finance jobs
• International engineering Jobs
• Non profit jobs
• International marketing jobs
• International accounting jobs
• Overseas construction jobs
• International consulting jobs

It is not unusual for we Americans to believe we can just make application and if we are qualified or the best candidate we will get the job. Unfortunately that is not the reality. There is a lot more to the process and it takes far more effort and persistence to secure a position internationally. Some Americans have never even heard of a CV which is the equivalent of the resume and it can even be different in different countries. Another issue that often needs to be addressed is the very real possibility that the country that you land a job in will likely require you to have a visa and it is not uncommon for a visa to take months to get. The good news is many companies that hire internationally will help with this process but it is another hurdle that has to be overcome in the process. One option that some people overlook is the company they already work for. If you are working for a multinational company right now you may have a good chance of transferring abroad easier than finding employment otherwise. You never know until you ask. When you set out to form a plan you will need to keep in mind several factors besides what we have already discussed. First, you will need s assess your abilities so you can accurately filter the jobs you do in fact find and apply for. Also you will need to identify the companies or the industries where your skill set fits and where you have interest. Overshadowing all of these decisions is to identify the countries where you would like to live. Hopefully you will have been in these countries and actually know first-hand about the customs and the cultures. The cultural differences can also be a blind spot that need to be addressed in order to successfully prepare for all aspects of finding and taking a job in a foreign country. The culture in your target country will have an influence on every aspect of the job like:

1. Interrupting information you gather

2. The job application process

3. The interview

4. Negotiation for salary and benefits

5. On the job relationships

6. Rules of conduct in the workplace

These are just some of the ways that culture can directly effect your success of failure in finding jobs abroad for us citizens and doesn’t even begin to address your experience outside of work that so often are important in building a network of contacts to support your work. Because many Americans do not speak a second language this can have a tremendous effect on which jobs are available to even apply for but there is good news. There are many countries where English is the official language and in turn there will be many more opportunities for employment there. In the following table are listed 54 countries where English is the official language and this should significantely reduce the barriers in finding international employment.

Anguilla	Cayman Islands	Jamaica	Papua New Guinea	Tanzania
Antigua and Barbuda	Dominica	Kenya	Scotland	Tonga
Australia	England	Lesotho	Seychelles	Trinidad and Tobago
Bahamas	Fiji	Liberia	Sierra Leone	Turks and Caicos Islands
Barbados	Gambia	Malawi	Singapore	Uganda
Belize	Ghana	Malta	Solomon Islands	United Kingdom
Bermuda	Gibraltar	Mauritius	South Africa	Vanuatu
Botswana	Grenada	Montserrat	St. Kitts and Nevis	Wales
British Virgin Islands	Guyana	Namibia	St. Lucia	Zambia
Cameroon	Ireland, Northern	New Zealand	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	Zimbabwe
Canada (except Quebec)	Ireland, Republic of	Nigeria	Swaziland

There is a lot to this whole international job search but we hope we are leaving you with a more in lightened approach to the matter and some tools that you can use to ease the process no matter where in the world you choose to make your next home. As one final gift we would like to leave you with is a list of some of the more established web locations where you can do significant research on finding international jobs for Americans.

Antal International

Offices in 24 countries with 50 staffed offices. Opened in 1993 and has successfully placed executive in 75 countries

ART: Atlantic Research Technologies

This firm works worldwide to place US and Canadian workers in upper and middle management . Caters to high-tech, industrial and service sectors.

Barclay Simpson

UK based corporate governance recruitment. Specializes in jobs in Internal auditing, financial crimes, information security, risk, compliance, IT auditing and public sector jobs.

CareerJet

This is a search engine for international employment. One can even browse by county, job type or geographic area.

Embassy Job Search

As the name indicates this site all about Embassy jobs but they are not job listings but there are links to the embassy websites you may show jobs available in countries where you may be interested.

Employerjobs.com

Another job search engine based in the UK with reach outside. Key word search based. It appears that applicants get some additional exposure on the front page with a rotating list of names of people seeking employment.

Eurojobs.com

Pan-European job search engine with great country search that details the results by job type and number of jobs

ExecutivesOnTheWeb.com

UK based career site offering executive job search for senior management jobs across the Middle East, Europe, UK, and Africa. Visitors need to register to apply for jobs but can search jobs without registering.

ExecutiveSurf

Executive search firm based in London with offices in Prague, Warsaw and Milan. On their website candidates can apply for positions they are qualified.

GigaJob

Large website covering many countries, some that are not often covered in the international sites. You will not be able to search the entire database at once but will need to switch from one country to another in your job search.

Goinglobal.com

This is a standout site as it offers more than most for the international job seeker. It has lots of country info as well as tools and links that are useful in putting together your resume/CV as well as your job search and cultural advise.

Hudson

An industry leader in recruitment with international recruiting offices in 20 countries. Many valuable resources for the job seeker offered online.

iAgora.com

This site focuses on the recent college grad that may be looking for opportunities internationally. You can apply for free but there is a paid membership offered.

iHipo.com

Singapore based "iHipo targets young professionals and students with a social network platform for both seekers and employers. Registration is not requred to search but it is to apply for jobs.

International Jobs

Career Services for the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin

This site offers a lot of information for the international job seeker including what to expect when you step outside your home country. It attempts to prepare the uninitiated for the world of international employment and they do a pretty good job.

Jobbind.com

Great search engine for finding jobs in many countries. You will default to your country when you go to the site but you can easily change country to search another. One of the widest array of jobs and countries although some have been in the database for an extended period.

Locanto

This site brings together classified ads from all over the world including job postings. You may find jobs posted here that may not be posted elsewhere.

Monster.com

One of the 'monsters' in the industry this site speaks for itself and its reputation for job listings proceeds your visit.

NES Global

This site specializes in engineering services and specialist staff support solutions to its worldwide client base across the Oil & Gas, Power Generation and in doing so gives it a strong footing with offices in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

OverseasJobs.com

International jobs and overseas assignments are the foundation of this site for expats and professionals alike. You can check out jobs without registering

PlanetRecruit.com

Jobs from all over the world on this site and registration is not necessary. One nice feature of this site is you can only send your resume to the intended receipent and it will not be visable to others.

Renego

A classified search engine that has a database of UK, Spain, India, Poland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and even the US. Local language is requried on many of the countries internal pages.

SAM Headhunting

This site is a little different than most as it presents the searches it is working at the moment and you can even see the positions they are trying to fill in individual offices. They cover 19 countries.

StepStone

StepStone works primarily within Europe. Just like so many others you select a country from a map or from the dropdown menu and start your search there.

TipTopJob

This site is like many other in that it has an international list of jobs and you do not have to register to look but if you apply it will automatically register you with the details of your CV

Trovit

Covering many countries in Latin America as well as Europe and the US this classified site has a lot to offer even the casual international job seeker.

World Job List

Site offers advise as well as listing spread all over the world. Most are spa and hospitality industry although others are also represented.

Cheap Places to Live Abroad

As I read through the International Living Quality of Life Index for the best places to live in 2011 I can't help but be drawn to that one very important category - Cost of Living. It's such an important topic since the economic melt down. Retirees were sitting pretty and thinking they could settle down just about anywhere they wanted on the planet but then overnight it seemed their nest eggs disappeared or at the very least have been diminished to a great extent. It's really quite sad and when I hear people who should be retiring saying things like, "I don't know if I will ever be able to retire". It breaks my heart.

Now savvy and global thinking retirees aren't about to give up on their dream. In fact they were probably planning alternative scenarios for retirement many years before the collapse. And that's where this index can really come into play. Restricted budgets and income losses don't mean retirement has to be put on the back burner. It does mean finding the cheapest places to live has become a greater concern and a higher priority.

This is the fun, interesting and helpful part of having Quality of Life for each country broken down by nine different ranking categories. Let's revisit our list of the Best Places to Live based on average quality of life and determine the potential Best Places to Retire based and rank ordered by Cost of Living -

Cheap Places to Live Abroad

#1 - Hungary
#2 - The United States
#3 - Argentina
#5 - Portugal
#6 - New Zealand
#7 - Malta
#8 - Uruguay

#9 - Slovenia
#10 - Belgium

Of course we are talking about entire countries here so the data and the index once again can be a bit suspect and perhaps even misleading. The United States is the best place to live and has the second lowest Cost of Living according to the index. Now we know the U.S. does have a very low cost of living in some places. And, it has very cheap housing BUT it also has some of the most expensive real estate on the planet! It's a huge country so the averages can be quite misleading and will skew the results. Sure, you can live very cheaply in some very rough neighbourhoods in the U.S. You can live cheaply in some very cold and snowy places in the U.S. On the other end of the spectrum we have very small countries like Malta with a high quality of life score. But, in Malta the climate and cost of living is pretty consistent throughout the country. This is why quality of life really needs to be considered as a basket of items including such very important things like climate.