More Liana

2 hours ago, John Shrall said:

You can always skip the paper and make a direct deposit from your Bancomer account to your landlord's account using the BBVA app on a phone or PC. Paypal Mexico also provides the means to transfer money between bank accounts with no charge.

Second the motion for Bancomer for bank transfers--not that this answers the OP's question, but it might simplify the OP's situation.  Using Bancomer's cell phone app makes setting up a transfer as easy as it can be: you need their account number, OR their bank card number OR their CLABE OR their cell phone number so the bank knows where you want to transfer the money.  There are a couple of other questions to answer--nothing invasive and nothing you need to ask the transferee to provide--and boom, you've set up the account to transfer to.  Once you've set it up, you use the same account info every time you make a transfer--it's saved in your bank data and you just make a new transfer without setting anything up.  It takes me literally 1 minute to make my rent payment using my Bancomer account and my landlord's Afirme account.  Highly highly highly recommend.

21 hours ago, slainte39 said:

Who is Kurt?.....or are you replying to Ken?

I fixed it, sorry.

KMetzger.  Read my lips.  Call this number from your TELEPHONE, not a cel phone, exactly as I type it here:  001-800-829-1040.  That's the IRS number to ask about your stimulus check.  You will be routed through an electronic menu, told to call a different number, etc.  Just STAY ON THE LINE and they will kind of unexpectedly connect you with an IRS representative who will help you.  The wait time is long, I waited for about 45 minutes, but it was WORTH IT. 

You'll need to give the live representative your Social Security number and some other data, including the date Get My Payment said your check was mailed to you.  The representative you're talking to will open your payment file and give you the information you need.  THEY will file a search form FOR you in case that's needed.  THEY will instruct you on how to make form changes if you need to do that.  Don't despair, it worked for me.    

On 8/7/2020 at 9:42 AM, kmetzger said:

Thanks, but I can't find a direct link. The direct link USED TO BE Get My Payment. But this site no longer accepts direct deposit info.

KMetzger, here's the direct link.  It's still Get My Payment, and YESTERDAY it accepted new direct deposit information from me.   https://sa.www4.irs.gov/irfof-wmsp/notice;jsessionid=6nTJfeBWtNubT03NTqETJYdB.39

2 hours ago, ibarra said:

Regarding filling out the Non-filers form for those that have filed 2019 taxes and are not scheduled to receive a refund---  only fill out the banking information,  not the part regarding your income, you have already submitted a tax return.  You are using this form to alert the IRS of your banking information only.

The IRS woman I talked to today told me that every part of that form HAS TO BE FILLED OUT.  She told me to click either button re the refund part and put the income amount as zero.  I did that, along with adding different banking information, and it was accepted without a hitch.

On 8/3/2020 at 7:40 PM, Don Anomino said:

Sort of peripherally related:

¿Sabías que hay 27 razas de maíces criollos?

Just FYI,

Don

Don Anonimo, in fact there are 64 varieties of maíces criollos (aka maíces nativos), plus countless sub-varieties.    Here are the 64 varieties. 

On 8/5/2020 at 4:57 PM, ibarra said:

I posted several times too about the need to complete the Non-filers form.  Our funds were deposited shortly after form was completed. 

I filed the non-filers form about three months ago, and  8 weeks ago found the notice on Get My Payment that my payment had been mailed on June 12.  I have yet to receive either a check or a debit card.  I'l call that 800 number to see if I can learn anything.

EDITED TO ADD:  Late this morning, I did call the IRS number that dichosalocura posted.  The wait time to talk to an actual person at the IRS was said to be between 15-30 minutes; the actual wait time was about 45 minutes and it was worth every minute of it.  The person I talked with identified herself with an official IRS ID number, asked me for some data about myself, and opened up my ACTUAL FILE showing what had already been done to get my stimulus payment to me.  She read me chapter and verse that a) the direct deposit was attempted (but at a bank where I have never had an account, go figure) and b) the actual check was mailed to me (to the correct address in Morelia) on June 12, but has never arrived.  She said they would put a tracer on the check immediately, that the tracer would take about 6 weeks, and at the end of that time the check would be deposited to my USA bank account--and ONLY to my USA bank account, she was unable to find a way to deposit it to my Mexican bank.  She assured me that the IRS would notify me about the results of the tracer.  Then she walked me through changing the deposit account to my USA bank, which she assured me would not affect my Social Security deposits to my Mexican bank.  

I was amazed at her knowledge, her patience, and her willingness to stay on the phone with me until we were both sure the changes were accepted and the process was a done deal.  This is the IRS, folks, and I was impressed.  

I strongly recommend that if you have not yet received a check that was to have been direct deposited OR was mailed to you and has not yet arrived, call these people.  The wait time to talk to a live person is worth it.  Had I not called them, I would never have had a single hope of receiving the money.

The IRS Stimulus Payment number, calling from Mexico, is: 001-800-829-1040.  

Thank you immensely, dichosalocura, for posting that information.  
 

1 minute ago, Upfront said:

yes this is elote. good for eatin.

Amén.  And you're probably seeing a lot of American-style sweet yellow corn, which has is being grown in several Mexican states and has become hugely popular in Mexico--as you said, for eatin'.

I suspect that the yellow corn being sold on the streets there is ELOTE--early, tender corn--rather than the DRIED corn used to make masa (corn dough).  Yellow elotes are not usually field corn, and you really want dried native corns for making masa--most dried corn is hybridized and is grown for animal feed.  

Ever since Mexico began producing blueberries, I have bought them fresh and grown locally, which for me is in Michoacán.  There's no comparison with frozen blueberries, IMHO.

I use them for pancakes, for muffins, for adding as fresh fruit to sugar-free natural yoghurt, for adding to salads, etc etc etc.  I usually pay $120 pesos for a kilo at Costco or less if I can buy from a seller on the street.  Walmart and other retail stores sell them for 60 pesos/170 grams, which IMHO is too expensive.

1 hour ago, Mainecoons said:

Well, some have pointed out it is so costly it will drive more into the informal economy, which already makes up about half the economy in Mexico.

The estimate is that 60% or more of the working-age population works in Mexico's "informal economy".

On 7/13/2020 at 9:36 PM, Karina G said:

Where can I buy Rice Krispies or something very similar that won't bankrupt me to acquire? I paid an outrageous price for the last box but now even that product has disappeared.

 

Look for a box or bag that reads, "Arroz Inflado".  It will probably be a Kellogg's product made in Mexico, and will cost you far, far less than the Kellogg brand with an English-language label.

I saw clear ziplock bags at Costco (Morelia) about 2 weeks ago.  

ETA: I was at Costco again yesterday and the ziplock bags were there, in boxes of assorted sizes per box.

20 hours ago, Yo1 said:

I never get a refund (terrible way to save money for those that have no discipline) because I don't file quarterlies.  They sent my stimulus check to my address where I living in 2018.  Wonder how long it will take?  2-3 months?

How did you find out the address to which it was mailed?  I'd like to know where they sent mine.

On May 24, the IRS mailed me a letter stating that my stimulus money would be direct deposited to my Mexican bank.  I received that letter about 10 days ago.

Yesterday I checked the "Where's my payment" section of the IRS website.  The IRS posted there that my check was mailed out on June 12, to my address of record at my bank: i. e., my Mexican address.

Hmmm...I wonder if I'll get a direct deposit AND a check, a debit card, or what.  Nothing has arrived anywhere as of today.

I went to the Federal Office Building at Av. Alcalde 500 in Guadalajara for my INAPAM card and received it the same day I applied.  No fuss, no muss, no line.

I travel a LOT in Mexico, and 95% of the time by bus.  All buses--whether local or long distance--offer 50% discounts on tickets for INAPAM card holders.  Last year alone I probably saved  6,000 to 9,000 pesos, maybe more--which amounts to about 600 pesos per round trip from Morelia, Michoacán (where I live) to Mexico City.
 

And of course the word on the street is that it took two men (Hidalgo and Morelos) to replace one woman (Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz) on the 200 pesos note.

2 hours ago, Mostlylost said:

For most foreigners to become a citizen you need to have lived in Mexico with a residente card. To get that residente you needed a certain income or cash in bank to qualify. That income or equity would rule you out of receiving benefits under this program.

Residente Temporal and Residente Permanente are visas, each with an income requirement, and are administered by the INM (Instituto Nacional de Migración).

Mexican citizenship has no income requirement and is administered by the SRE (Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores).  

If you don't mind going to the Mercado de Abastos in Guadalajara, the store Mamá Coneja will certainly have the quantity you need.

Yesterday (June 25, 2020) I received a letter dated May 24, 2020 with the letterhead "The White House", signed by 45, and mailed by the IRS.  It states that I am eligible for the stimulus payment and that it will be direct deposited to my bank account.  It doesn't indicate whether that will be my USA bank account or my Mexican bank account.  Is there a way to know, and a way to find out the approximate date the deposit will be made?  It's already been more than a month since the letter was mailed to me, but I've seen no deposit in either account.  

Most all of the metal garden furniture made in Jalisco and Michoacán is made of sand-cast aluminum; I haven't seen real cast iron for many long years.  Cast aluminum is quite heavy and durable.  IMHO the best is made in Tzurumútaro, Michoacán--between Pátzcuaro and Tzintzuntzan.  Much of what's made there is sold in Tonalá/Tlaquepaque, and it's less expensive to buy from the maker.  

I had this set made for me in Tzurumútaro about a year ago (table is 2 meters in diameter, there are six chairs).  It's very heavy and cost me about 5000 pesos total, including the custom paint job and delivery/placement of the set.   I bought the cushions separately, on Amazon.com, for about $40USD including shipping for the six.

We felt it in Morelia's historic center--more than anything, it made my ceiling lamps sway widely back and forth, and some molinillos that I have hanging in the kitchen.  Luisa and I went out to the street and there were some people who had come out there when the quake happened, but pretty soon we all went back inside.

In Mexico City, friends report that it was very strong and fairly long, making buildings sway and scaring the pants off people.  One friend reported that she had hurried outside and all her neighbors saw her in her underpants.  Another friend in the northern part of the city reports that it was VERY strong there.

In Oaxaca, friends in Oaxaca City say that it was terribly strong and extremely frightening.  So far the people I know there are reporting in little by little that they are well other than the fright.

The proliferation of hilarious memes about the earthquake/Covid-19 connection make the earthquake's occurrence almost worth while.  Almost.

 

My SS benefit amount is direct deposited to my Bancomer account.  The rate of exchange I receive is the rate used that day by Banxico, (Bank of Mexico, the national bank of Mexico), which handles the transaction.  The deposit does NOT go directly from Social Security into any ordinary commercial bank in Mexico, it goes through BANXICO. 

Your personal bank does NOT determine the exchange rate.  The Banxico rate is always a SPEI bank-to-bank rate and much better than the rate an individual account-holder receives.  Here's the explanation, direct from the Banxico website.  Yes, it's in Spanish.  https://www.banxico.org.mx/servicios/sistema-pagos-electronicos-in.html

4 hours ago, bluerock537 said:

I get my Soc Sec check deposited to a Mexican bank and my address is a Mexican address. I have not received any check at any bank or Mexican address. 

Same here.  I have received no paper check and no direct deposit to Bancomer.  And I have written to my US Senator about it, but without response.