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An important factor that determines the cost of living
for foreigners in Costa Rica is their lifestyle. If
you are used to a wealthy lifestyle, you'll spend more
than someone accustomed to living frugally. Either
way, you will still find Costa Rica to be a bargain.
Despite having one of the highest standards of living
in Latin America, purchasing power is greater in Costa
Rica than in the United States or Canada.
San José's cost of living ranks close to last
when compared to 144 cities worldwide. To see where
Costa Rica ranks, see http://www. finfacts.com/costofliving3.htm.
The cost of living in Guatemala City or Panama City
is about 14 percent higher than in San José.
Corporate Resource Consulting, a firm that compares
costs of goods and services, rates San José among
the least expensive cost-of -living cities in the world.
It is second to Quito, Ecuador, in the Americas in
terms of afford ability. CNN reports that Mercer Human
Resource Consulting also finds Costa Rica an inexpensive
place to live.
In most areas, housing costs less than what it does
in the United States and hired help is a steal. Utilities
(telephone service, electricity, and water) are cheaper
than in North America. You never need to heat your
home or apartment since Costa Rica's climate is warm.
You need not cook with gas, since most stoves are electric.
These services cost about 30 percent of what they do
at home. Bills for heating in the winter and air conditioning
in the summer can cost hundreds of dollars in the United
States, neither of which is necessary in the Central
Valley. Public transportation is also inexpensive.
San José and surrounding suburbs occupy a small
area. A bus ride across town or to the suburbs usually
costs $0.25 to $0.50. Bus fares to the provinces costs
no more than $10 to the farthest part of the country
(see Chapter 10). Taxi travel around San José is
also inexpensive.
A gallon of regular gasoline costs about $4.20, making
Costa Rica's gasoline prices among the lowest in the
Americas (To figure out the cost of gasoline per gallon
in dollars take the actual price per liter in colones,
divide it by the exchange rate in colones and
then multiply by 3.8). Only oil-exporting countries
such as Mexico and Venezuela have cheaper gasoline.
However, you do not really need a car because public
transportation is so inexpensive and accessible. If
you must have a new car, remember that they are very
expensive here due to high import duties. In Costa
Rica people tend to keep their cars for a long time
and take good care of them. We recommend buying used
cars since they are usually in good mechanical condition
and their resale value is excellent. Food, continuing
education, entertainment (movies cost about $3) and,
above all, health care, are surprisingly affordable.
Both new and second-hand furniture is priced very low.
You will more about these benefits later on.
When you have lived in Costa Rica a while, learned
the ins-and- outs and made some friends and contacts,
you can cut your living costs more by sharing a house
or apartment, house-sitting in exchange for free rent,
investing in high-interest yielding accounts in one
of Costa Rica's many banks, working full or part-time
(if you can find legal work), starting a small business
or bartering within the expatriate community. Doing
without packaged and canned imported brandname foods
and buying local products, eating in small cafés or sodas instead
of expensive restaurants and buying fresh foods in
bulk at the Central Market like Costa Ricans do can
also reduce your living costs. You can also help yourself
by learning how to get a better rate of exchange on
your money and by learning Spanish so you can bargain
and get lower prices when shopping.
If you take lessons from the locals and live a modest tico
lifestyle, you can save a lot of money and still enjoy
yourself. By not following a U.S.-shop-till-you-drop mentality,
you can live reasonably. Taking all of the aforementioned
and personal lifestyle into consideration, the minimum needed
for a decent standard of living for a single person ranges
from $1,200 to $1,500 monthly. A person can indeed live for
as little as $35 a day, excluding housing. Some single people
scrape by on considerably less and others spend hundreds of
dollars more, again depending on what one is accustomed to.
A couple can live well on $1,500 per month, and live better
on $2,000. Couples with husband and wife both receiving good
pensions can live even better. Remember, two in Costa Rica
can often live as cheaply as one. Any way you look at it,
you will enjoy a higher standard of living in Costa Rica and
get more for your money. Considering that the minimum monthly
wage is $287 and the average Costa Rican earns only $250 to
$350 a month, you should be able to live well.
Here one expats views of the cost of living here:
If you go completely native, you can even live on $400
a month, counting $75 a month to rent a room with no
bath but kitchen privileges where there is no hot water
to disinfect the communal dishes. But would you like
it?
Most Costa Ricans eat small amounts of meat, rice
and beans, and mostly fruits. They dress cleanly and
neat if not stylish. They do not, at this salary, have
cars. Their homes are not plumbed for hot water, nor
do they seem to miss it. Their children are not given
textbooks in their public schools. They ride the bus,
they seem happy, their clothes are often homemade,
they own miniature washers and hang their clothes out
to dry. They often share housing, with several earning
family members occupying the same house, making for
crowded conditions. The older generations leave a piece
of their backyard to the newer generations. When they
can scrape together the money, they build a house for
the new bride and groom.
On the other hand, wealthy Costa Ricans, live on what seems
to be, by observing their restaurant eating habits, their
clothing and their large 4 x 4's, in excess of $4000 per month.
They buy CD's, eat at restaurants where the tab is often more
than $20 per plate, send their kids to expensive private schools
costing up to $500 per month, have country places and live
in $300,000 homes.
One American retiree stated, Most Americans I know in Costa
Rica are frugal, live on a fixed income, drive older cars,
and are just getting by. Many have had to get temporary jobs
or start their own small businesses. They live on $1,500 a
month. You need to realize that this may exclude many perks
that we as Americans are accustomed to having: good quality
clothes, travel, electronic toys, eating in steak houses rather
than beans-and-rice places, using imported condiments and
other nice imported foods that double your food bill.
Another foreigner said, The long and the short of
it is, it can be hugely cheaper to live in Costa Rica.
Like others have said, the average tico family
lives on $4,800 a year. They're not wallowing in abject
poverty, either. They have plenty to eat, attractive
clothing and a clean appearance. They also have a TV,
they own their own home and they might have a computer.
Nothing is stopping us from also living on $4,800 a
year.
The question is how you want to live. It is no different
in Costa Rica than in the United States. There are families
who live quite comfortably on $30,000 or $40,000 a year, and
families that wouldn't feel comfortable spending less than
$80,000 (or $100,000 or $150,000, etc.). Some things are more
expensive in Costa Rica (goods), some are less (services).
You can live very well here for less money than would buy
you good living in the United States, but it may not be the
same kind of good living'you'd enjoy in the States. Costa
Rica is a different country; adjustments are always required.
If you are prepared to shed some of the luxuries you enjoyed
back home (i.e., big kitchens, nice bed linens, long luxurious
baths, fast food [if you consider that a luxury], high-quality
spices, etc.), then you can live very inexpensively. But you
will live like a tico, and ticos live in a third-world
country. Prepare for the differences, embrace your new life
and enjoy every minute of the pura vida, and you can
live the good life a la tica (Costa Rican style) for
less money than you ever could in the United States.
When you take into account all these factors and others,
such as good year-round weather, the friendly Costa
Rican people, the lack of political strife and a more
peaceful way of life no price is too high to pay
to live in a unique, tropical paradise like Costa Rica.
Jim, a fellow expat remarked, Costa Rica is a place where
one can live whatever lifestyle one desires and can afford
to live. I am a 72-year-old pensionado who has been
living in Costa Rica for more than three years now. I am retired
on Social Security and live on less, yes, I said less, than
$700 per month. I do not feel that my lifestyle is much better
or worse than it was in California. In the United States I
lived on more than $25,000 a year. Now I own a small plot
of land on which I have built a small (750 square feet) Swiss
chalet-style log cabin and have a view that many of my California
friends would literally die for.
Here is what another expatriate wrote to an on-line forum:
I am discovering that it is actually much easier than I would
have dreamed to live in Costa Rica on Social Security benefits
alone, even though mine are quite meager. I am astonished
when I realize that I am living a comfortable middle-class
life on less than $1,000 a month. That includes traveling
around the country and paying to stay in hotels when friends
come to visit occasionally. I am actually saving money while
living on Social Security and haven't had to touch my savings.
I did come with the intention of simplifying my life, which
I have done. I do not own a car. I enjoy taking public transportation.
I do not buy every electronic gadget and gizmo that comes
down the pike. And you know, I am not missing anything. I
feel richer than ever.
Another American stated something similar: I've been
living here now for one year (exactly), and I have
spent more than $1,000 per month in only one month
so far. I didn't expect to live so cheaply. I do not
deprive myself of much of anything. For amusement,
I travel about the country quite a bit, staying in
fairly nice hotels. I eat well. I rent a two-bedroom,
gringo-style apartment and have all modern conveniences.
I also have a serious book- and CD-buying habit that
I support.
The big money-saver for me is not owning an auto.
Instead, whenever I want or need, I rent a car or truck
and its driver, for the hour or for the day.
I also use public transportation buses, of course,
and taxis, a lot! I go where I want, when I want
but I don't worry about auto repairs, buying gas or
insurance, or getting a vehicle inspected every year.
I promise that at the end of the month, my transportation
costs are way lower than the transportation costs of
all my auto-addicted friends. Of course, your mileage
may vary, particularly if you cannot imagine living
without a car in order to drive to the corner pulpería.
Besides, I've lost 20 pounds in the past year, which
I attribute to walking. Remember walking? What a concept!
The only problem is trying to walk in places where
you can avoid the autos!
I was bragging to some friends about living on less than
$1,000 per month. Two of those friends accused me of being
a spendthrift.'Both have lived here for more than 10 years,
and neither spends more than about $600 per month.
Before closing this section, we want to emphasize
that you should not be alarmed by high real estate
prices you may hear about or see advertised in English-language
publications such as Costa Rica Today or the The
Tico Times. This recent rise in land prices is
a result of the current land boom and increasing popularity
of Costa Rica. Inflated real estate prices do not reflect
the real cost of living in Costa Rica, which is still
relatively low when compared to North America and Europe
. Even more important, the Costa Rican government must
keep the cost of goods and services affordable for
the Costa Rican people in order to avoid the social
problems found in most other Latin American countries.
Approximate Cost
of Living and Prices as of January 2007 in Dollars
Rentals - Monthly
House (small, unfurnished)........................................................
$400
House (large, luxurious).................................................$1000/1500
Apartment (small, 1/2 bedrooms, unfurnished)........................... $300+
Apartment (large, luxurious) ..................................................
$700+
Property Taxes (a year on a small home) ......................................
$100
Home Prices
House (small).................................................................
$50,000+
House (large).................................................................
$85,000+
Miscellaneous Monthly
Electric Bill (apt.)................................................................$15/25
Water-Sewage (apt.)...................................................................
$8
Telephone (850 impulses)...........................................................
$13
Telephone (cell 200 minutes).......................................................
$24
Cable TV................................................................................
$27
Taxi ............................................................. ¢365
first kilometer, and ¢340 thereafter per kilometer
(Jan. 2007)
Bus Fares (around city) .............................................................
$.45
Gasoline (regular gas per gallon)................................................
$3.94
Gasoline (super per gallon).......................................................
$4.11
Gasoline (diesel per gallon).......................................................
$2.80
Maid/Gardener (per hour)......................................................
$1.25
Restaurant Meal (inexpensive)..............................................
$5.00+
Soda (a diner or coffee shop) Meal .............................................
$2.00
Restaurant (mid-range).........................................................
$10.00
Banana ..................................................................................
$.05
Soft drink ..............................................................................
$.50
Pineapple.............................................................................
$1.00
Papaya ...................................................................................
$.70
Avocado (large).......................................................................
$.50
Lettuce ..................................................................................
$.30
Cereal (large box of corn flakes) .................................................
$3.50
Bread (loaf) ..........................................................................
$1.00
Tuna (small can) .......................................................................
$.75
Orange ..................................................................................
$.08
Rice (1lb.) ..............................................................................
$.45
Steak ..............................................................................
$4.60 lb.
Quart of Milk ........................................................................
$.95
Beer.......................................................................................
$.85
Airmail Letter around .........................................
$.33 to the U.S.
Doctor's Visit ....................................................................$25/35
National Health Insurance (yearly for permanent residents)......
$450.00
New Automobile ...............................................$15,000/$50,000
* These prices are subject to fluctuations.
Money - Banking
- Tipping - Paying
Bills - Housing and Real Estate
Investements - Affordable Hired
Help - Health Care - Taxes
- Panamanian (Offshore) Corporations
- Insurance
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