I have now been living in Costa Rica for one month. In late April I left SE Michigan to move to Costa Rica. As I have 3 Chinese pugs that have a high rate of death on planes, I decided to drive the 4300 miles. It was an incredible experience driving through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and finally Costa Rica over the course of 9 days. I have to say that this is truly a free country where you need to be responsible for yourself. You have freedom here to do whatever you want but don't expect help from the government if you have a problem. The weather is great and the end of my street is the Pacific Ocean. There is a sportsbook 3 miles from my house. The people here are extremely friendly and happy. I am not missing the U.S. at all. Pura Vida.
Living in Costa Rica for One Month
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No trouble with the dogs at the borders but there were two close calls. At the border from Honduras to Nicaragua, we got there at 9:00 PM and there was a power outage. It was pitch black and pouring rain and the border crossing was being run with 3 flashlights. They asked for my USDA approved pet travel papers with the import stamp from Honduras and two copies. I had the original with stamps from Honduras but not two copies. As the power was out there were no copy machines available. I did have two unstamped copies I brought from Michigan and after about 15 minutes and not wanting a hassle they accepted the unstamped copies and let the dogs pass into Nicaragua. We crossed into Costa Rica late on a Saturday afternoon. The bank where you pay the pet import fee was closed until Monday morning so we had to to sneak the pugs through final inspection without having paperwork showing the pet import fee was paid. Luckily, it worked.
- Nov 13, 2009
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It's good to hear positive 'livin the dream' stories... People feel better when they know they have options. Enjoy man!
Sounds exciting. Tell me about the cost of living, are you working. What do you do during the day and in the evening? Is it a small town or a city you're living in? etc. etc. What about cell phone and cable TV?
The cost of living is lower than in the U.S. but it's not super low. I would say housing on average is about $75 per square foot. Food is slightly less. Medical is much less as is veterinary medicine. Electric is a little higher. My cell phone is about $50 per month. Satellite tv is $45 per month for the premium package. Internet is $40 per month. Gas is around $5.50 per gallon. Electronics cost about 25% higher than in the U.S., as do cars. Car and house insurance are very low. Taxes are extremely low. Hiring people is extremely low as the average wage is $25 per day.
My wife and I are not working. We were both attorneys and saved enough so that we can now just live off our savings/investments. The banks here pay 6.5% to 13% interest. We are trying to figure out what to do with all of our free time. Just a month ago, we were both working 50 hours a week and now it is zero. Currently, we are spending a lot of time looking for things to furnish our house and spending a lot of time at the pool and working out at the gym/ running/ biking outside. We live just outside Jaco beach, which is a very popular tourist destination on the Pacific Ocean. I would say the population of the area is around 20,000 or so but seems more because there are a lot of tourists. San Jose is about an hour and a half drive away. Cell phone service is pretty good but there are dead spots away from town. I have an IPhone and the internet connection on my phone is reasonably good. Satellite tv is not that good. We get about 1/3 the channels we had in the U.S. And about 1/2 of them are in Spanish. Premium sports packages are all available though. We do have a shitload of movie and soccer channels ( if you are into soccer).
I hope my wife and I are doing the same thing in 10 years. My father is law is using this summer to scout out Central to South American countries he wants to move to.
My goal is to golf in the morning and surf in the afternoons. Surf is the priority but I think my wife would be more into the golf part.
My goal is to golf in the morning and surf in the afternoons. Surf is the priority but I think my wife would be more into the golf part.
I agree!! I wonder how safe your money is in the banks there. Anything around 10% and we're talking feeling a lot better about retirement.
The banks here are very safe. I don't believe they've had any bank failures here in over 50 years. The accounts that pay lower interest are guaranteed by the Costa Rica government, similar to the FDIC. I would worry more about having money in a U.S. bank these days.
We looked at Belize too but ruled it out as it is just not developed enough for us. The summers here are not super hot. The temperature is generally between 80-85 from May 1 to December 31 during the day. It's January 1 to April 30 when it is 5-10 degrees hotter.
What a drive! No pics or more stories about that drive? Wow.
I'm sure you did some serious research before taking that journey.
Places you stayed, ate, road conditions, towns you passed through, etc?
Do you and your wife speak Spanish?
Pics?
Really interesting to me.
Enjoy your retirement. :toast:
Reds-one of my golfing buddies just brought land in Belize and they are working with a contactor to build--
they plan on spending winters down there.
they plan on spending winters down there.
