Mexico: Why You Should Always Tip Your Bagger [] Two Expats in Mexico [] Qroo Blog

Published July 1, 2022

When we first moved to Mexico, I couldn’t help but notice that most of the baggers in grocery stores were senior citizens.

At first, I assumed that they were paid employees of the store, but I later learned that they are all unpaid volunteers. The only money they make comes from the tips that they receive from shoppers.

Some Background
In Mexico, many senior citizens need additional income to make ends meet but it’s not easy for them to find employment.

To help alleviate this problem, the Mexican government created a program in 2003 where people over the age of 60 could work as volunteers bagging groceries to make extra money. The program is managed by the Instituto Nacional de las Personas Adultas Mayores (INAPAM).

INAPAM has established agreements with grocery store chains across the country to provide them with volunteers.

How Much They Make
Typically, people only tip a couple of pesos per bag. Depending on the exchange rate, one peso is the equivalent of 5 cents in the United States.

Daily earnings for a volunteer bagger range from $150 – $300 pesos a day. In U.S. dollars, that would be approximately $7.89 – $15.78 a day.

Let’s Wrap This Up
The other day, I was in a grocery store in Tulum, Mexico and I noticed that most people were paying with credit cards. Without any loose change at their disposal, they just said “gracias” to the bagger and left without tipping. The moral of the story is this: Even if you’re planning on paying with a credit card, always remember to bring some some old fashioned money — also known as cash — so you can tip these hard-working individuals.

I’m Qroo Paul and the lovely woman in the photo is my wife of over 20 years, Linda. In case you’re wondering, my nickname come from the abbreviation for the Mexican state where we live, Quintana Roo, and my first name. A little background about us. Linda and I are from Florida where I worked as a deputy sheriff and she worked as a director for a children’s advocacy center handling child abuse cases. In August of 2015, I retired at the rank of lieutenant after 25 years of service. Linda wasn’t eligible for retirement, but we decided to move to the Riviera Maya in Mexico anyway. Once we were in Mexico, we knew right away that we had made the right choice. Our enthusiasm for Mexico and the lifestyle here was evident in our frequent Facebook posts. We shared our adventures as well as countless pictures of beautiful beaches and awesome beach bars. Some of our friends jokingly threatened to unfriend us, while others started asking serious questions about living here. I found myself answering dozens of private messages about the cost of living here, healthcare, banking, immigration etc. I decided it would be easier to create a site where I could post all of the information in one place, and the blog was born. Even though the blog was only intended to be read by friends and family members, other people have managed to find it. To date, our articles have been viewed over four million times and many of them have appeared in various newspapers across Mexico. We’re not really sure why our little hobby blog has gotten so much attention. It certainly isn’t for my writing ability. Perhaps people just enjoy looking at our photos. Anyway, you’re welcome to check it out. If you like what you see, feel free to share our articles with your friends.