If you are tapped out, and would like to dismount the Northern treadmill, this is the place to lower your blood pressure and plug the holes in your wallet. But it ain't fer everbody. Only those with simple tastes. And a simpleton is writing these words.

Minimum Wages here do not mean a whole lot, because many people work for much less than the minimum. However, if you as a gringo try to hire one, you will probably pay more than the minimum. Personally, I have no problem paying more if the work is done well. I have had problems encountering competent help. Probably because the education and experience level here in Central America is so abysmally low. The following table gives an idea in the difference in wage rates. The figures are a couple years out of date. Source: La Prensa Libre, best newspaper in Central America (my opinion). Too bad that more than half of Guatemalans cannot read. And too bad the TV is completely controlled by those in power. But then again equal to the situation in the country of my birth.

Salarios Minimos Diarios

Guatemala          $2.81 Honduras           $3.30 Salvador             $3.39 Cuba                    $5.03 Panama               $8.01 Costa Rica         $7.02 Chile                    $6.36 Argentina           $8.05 Bushlandia      $41.47

So as not to mislead you. Just as no person in the USA can live on 50 bucks a day, neither can a Central American live on 3 bucks a day. More than 30 percent of the people down here live on what their family members in the North send them each month. I think that after coffee and tourism, these remesas from the north are the third most important part of the Guatemalan economy. I saw the figures a few months back but in that time had no idea that this website would exist.                     After living in Central America for about 10 years now, I would hazard a guess that a person can  live here on about $500 per month. I am speaking of a minimal no frills lifestyle. If you want to live with the comforts of an Estadounidense, it will cost you much, much more. To tell you the truth, costs here are not much less. But here you have the option to live a simpler, cheaper  life with dignity and respect. An option which is not available up North. At least not in my opinion. And remember, all this hogwash is simply my opinion based on my observations. You may come down here and form a completely different opinion. I am in fact talking to myself.                      I hope to clarify these thoughts someday in the future. Don't you love redundancy.