In our new article, “Best Places in the World to Live on Less Money,” author Tim Leffel gives us the lowdown on how to prosper on less money in the cheapest places to live abroad.

A seasoned travel journalist, Tim has circled the globe three times in search of the best places to live in the world on less money and believes it’s easy to cut your expenses in half if you pick the right destination.

“It kind of depends on where people are coming from,” he says. “If they are coming from the United Kingdom, often they will go to Hungary, Bulgaria or Portugal because they can have a better life for a lot less money. Because those countries are in the European Union, they can use their passports to easily establish residency. Americans and Canadians often head south to Latin America because it’s pretty easy to get to, flight options are reasonable and you are in the same time zone, more or less. Asia is an option for just about everyone because living expenses – especially in Southeast Asia – are much lower.”

Tim chose Guanajuato, Mexico as a place to live for the past three years. “When we first moved to Guanajuato, we paid US$800 a month for a furnished four-bedroom and two-bath home with a huge roof terrace,” he tells us. “Our monthly rent also included all utilities, including the Internet connection. Most of our friends in Guanajuato pay around US$600 a month for something pretty sizeable and mostly furnished.”

He thinks Mexico is a very good value because of the favorable exchange rate, which is currently 15 pesos for one U.S. dollar. Nearly one million expats living in Mexico must agree, since the country is home to more American expats than any other country in the world.

Tim says other Latin American countries that are tied to the dollar, such as Panama and Ecuador, also are very good deals today and are rapidly growing expat hot spots.