Farewell Marrakesh

Our time has come to an end. We loved it here. We had many rough starts but we made it 9 months on a budget less than $900 a month. This single mom of four did it! Yes!!! It was all down to major budgeting and sometimes we went over but the overages were legitimately good reasons. Either needed medicine or the baby needed new clothes or bottles.

I've learned patience and acceptance. Living in a country with no family, friends or support system is a big challenge especially being a single mother of four beautiful children. But I survived and made it. Many things I was not able to accomplish while living in Marrakesh which was finding adequate schooling for my kids so I homeschooled, my online store did horrible which Argon oil is very popular but my customer base where mainly soap makers that loved Shea butter and black soap so selling argon was a little difficult plus shipping was ridiculous and more expensive then Senegal.

Here is a breakdown of cost of living in Marrakesh, see below :

• Rent 2 bedroom, 1 bath $250-$300 (I 1st used Airbnb which I learned was too expensive then went to Realtor and they showed me apartments that I thought was cheaper but after visiting other people's home and me comparing my apartment to there Riad I was paying over $100 more, but you live and learn) also beware if you get a Realtor to help YOU pay commission which is one month's rent. Most contracted apartments require 1st and last month's rent, One-month rent deposit and $100 utility deposit. Which is crazy expensive. 
• Housekeeper 1x a week is $10 a week. (I paid more by $².00 just because 😂 but again I talked to my neighbors that lived permanently and they paid $10 a week)
• Monthly food varies, and honstly, it's cheaper to order out then buy groceries so I'll give prices of certain meals and other useful price breakdown:
•  Tagine poulet for 2 Max $2.50 
• Calamari plate for 1 $3 
• Tagine meat for 2 Max $5 
• French fries 🍟. 50¢ 
• Moroccan soup. 50¢ 
• Café with milk $1 
• Moroccan tea 🍵. 10¢ 
• Orange juice .40¢ with straw extra. 10¢ 
• Strawberry juice $1 
• Bowl of Snails 🐌. 50¢ 
• Sugar donuts. 20¢ 
• Macaroons .10¢ for 1 
• Taffy, you just give him. 50¢/$1 and he will cut you a piece. 
• Coffee from walking coffee guys MAX. 20¢ a cup. 
• Bag of popcorn .20¢ 
• Cotton candy .20¢ 
• Homemade chips $1 
• Burgers and 🍟 $1.50 with cheese extra .30¢ They also have well know fast food like McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, and Pizza Hut. 
• Baby items cost (best if you go to Marjane their prices are just like Walmart prices) : 
• Pack of pampers $7.00 
• Baby wipes. $1.50 
• Baby bottles $3-$10 Baby shoe &; clothes EXPENSIVE 😂 $20+ Cheap plastic stroller $100 overpriced 
• Taxi: each taxi has a METER but whether they use them is another thing lol They always want to act like there meter broke but just wait for honesty taxi and they will use a meter. But keep in mind petite taxi's only take 3 people and yes they count babies as 1. Grand taxies do not have a meter so negotiate a price to a destination.  Anything between Jemma la Fin, Gueliz, Marjane roughly cost $2-3 in petite taxi they will want you to pay $5-7 but don't fall for it. Marrakesh has plenty honest taxis that will go by meter.
• Bus fare: .40¢ per person and babies are free. Airport bus is $3 one-way
• Horse carriage ride varies but should never cost more than $15 for tour of city

They have Ikea but it's in Casablanca which is 3 hours from Marrakesh. I probably forgot something but I'll add it in the comments later. Now you might have to pay more if they think you don't know better. All in all, we met great people and made awesome friendships. Marrakesh is very westernized country and more liberal than West Africa.

So is Marrakesh budget friendly YES, kid friendly YES YES YES and more YES. I would totally recommend Marrakesh for a family.  So get ready and book your flight.

Adieu Maroc jusqu'à la prochaine fois ...