So I've been looking into cheap places to retire in Mexico and honestly the options are pretty solid if you're working with a limited budget. A bunch of these cities let you live comfortably on like $2,500 a month or less, which is wild when you think about it.

I found that Aguascalientes tops the list for actually affordable Mexican cities to retire in. Rent there is dirt cheap - we're talking under $170 for a one-bedroom outside the center. Your total monthly spend including everything lands around $860, which means you could genuinely retire on Social Security alone. That's the dream right there.

Then there's Saltillo up north, another seriously cheap place to retire in Mexico. One-bedroom apartments go for like $265 in the city center, and your total monthly budget sits around $885. The colonial architecture is beautiful too, so you're not sacrificing culture for affordability.

If you want beaches with your cheap living in Mexico, Veracruz is interesting. Lowest three-bedroom rents outside the center of any city they looked at - just $368. You get colonial vibes, amazing food, and sportfishing all for under $1,000 a month total. Ensenada's another beach option, super close to wine country, with rents around $339 for a one-bedroom outside town.

Puebla and Querétaro are solid if you're not a beach person. Both are cultural hubs with UNESCO World Heritage sites and way cheaper than the resort towns. Puebla's known as the food capital, and you're looking at under $1,100 monthly. Querétaro keeps costs low partly because it doesn't have the resort hype of Mazatlán or Playa del Carmen.

The beach resort cities like Mazatlán and Playa del Carmen are pricier but still doable - around $1,300-$1,600 monthly. Tijuana's convenient if you want easy access back to the States, running about $1,500 total.

Honestly, if you're serious about finding cheap places to retire in Mexico, you've got way more options than most people realize. Even the pricier spots on this list are still cheaper than most US cities.