General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Anybody else no longer love this country? Hesitated to post, but gotta get this off my chest. [View all]LakeArenal
(28,673 posts)I dont really want to reveal all the costs.
But We have a very cute 1 bedroom Cabina with use of a pool. $700 a month.
Would be much cheaper if it didnt have the view.
To get Residency you need at least $1000 per person in SS, income, or annuities. We do make that.
Although 90% off the fossil fuels, CR has the 2nd most $$ electricity in the world
But we need no heat or AC where we live.
Food is about the same as US but US brands costly. Hormel bacon about $11 and Johnsonville brats about $10 for five. If you can find them. An hour away is Liberia with airport, Walmart, PriceSmart and almost everyfast food.
Gas is $5 a gallon.
If you move here, be prepared to buy a car here. We shipped our Kia and it is really costly to fix. US Kia parts from Mexico and Tico Kia parts are from China. Not interchangeable. Trust me on that on.
You would have to get new phone service.
Until you get residency you have to prepay phone service.
Everyone here uses Whats App
Labor is cheap. $2-4 per hour. No lawn mowers in this part. Handymen use weedwhackers for everything. Lots of expats have housekeepers and ground keepers.
A pretty nice house for under $200000
In a nice community. But a house can be found livable for $100000 or less.