Chedraui Supermarket
These are basically nicer Wal Marts! You can buy everything from Q-Tips to a new scooter here!
Soriana (Supermarket)
Same thing as Chedraui! I prefer Chedraui but it's honestly a personal preference.
Wal Mart and Sam's Club
DAC Fruits and Vegetables (Market)
Local market with fresh fruits and vegetables. Surprise!
Fruits and Veggie Market
Also have fresh juice!
There are so many cheap and easy drop off places around town. Some deliver and pick up your clothes, washed, dried and folded. I see a lot of reviews revolving around delicates not being washed the way you want. Grab a delicates bag, wash by hand in your sink and hang to dry, or a scrubba bag.
How Does it Work?
Take your clothes, dry in a bag or box.
Give them your name, they'll give you a receipt. KEEP THIS RECEIPT it's how you're going to get your clothes back.
Show up the next day or whenever they tell you and pay. For 1kg it was usually $2-4. Most of them have their prices listed for specific articles. Bring CASH!! I tipped $20-60MXN each time, but you don't need to. They never saw me do it, so I don't believe it impacted service at all.
I have only used the top 2 listed:
Lavandería García (I used, quick, efficient, great service, and comparable prices)
Lavandería Smart Clean (I used the most often, doesn't do big blankets or pillows generally)
Mayalav Lavandería Autoservicio y Tintorería
I switched to Google Fi about a year after I started travelling. They are fantastic. Several friends have switched since seeing the service and speeds I get.
https://g.co/fi/r/RCE8N0 (my google fi referral code), no sign up, cancellation fees and you can bring your own phone. You can just use it when you're travelling and it's A LOT better than T-Mobile (the runner-up for international friendly US-based cellular). So if you want a travel-sim, use Google Fi, set it up, and discontinue when you get home if you want! It really can't get simpler than this!
T-Mobile gets brought up a lot, and I've travelled with several people with it. It's stone-age compared to Google Fi.
Get What's App; almost everyone uses it for both personal and business use. It isn't uncommon to do business via texting on What's App!
Here are some banks that operate in Mexico:
Anywhere you have the right card you should be able to use. I used several random free-standing ATMS. I withdrew $11000+ pesos at a time to see if I could. In the US I can only withdraw $300 on my accounts in a day!
Scotia Bank
Sending money
It is also possible to send money via the bank to an account, they send you the info and you can withdraw. It sounded sketchy to me at first because I was unfamiliar. But, it is just new to me.
Gas stations! Alongside paypal and venmo, you can send money to people directly at gas stations. Most of the ones in the touristy areas speak english..if not, just say
I would like to send money.....please (por favor)
Me gustaría enviar dinero (me goose-tahREE-uh en-vee-AR dihn-air-oh)
Quiero enviar dinero (key-arrow en-vee-AR dihn-air-oh)
Quisiera enviar dinero (key-see-AIR-uh en-vee-AR dihn-air-oh)
Deseo enviar dinero (deh-SAY-oh en-vee-AR dihn-air-oh)
Drinking the water is not recommended. The "potable" water comes in big trucks, and generally gets refilled from them. I tried the "tap water" from the "potable trucks" on a free afternoon, and I spent the entire day in the bathroom. Drinking water is cheap and easy to get, save yourself the trouble!
Garrafones are 5 gallon water jugs of drinking water. You can get them delivered to your house; pick up at wal mart, gas stations, and convenience stores, or supermarkets. They are $1-4 each.
Alternatively you can buy smaller jugs pretty much anywhere which are portable and have carrying handles.