Anyone know what it is like to live permanently in Costa Rica?

Question

I have been told that if you have some kind of annuity or regular check coming in that is at least 1,000-1,200/month that you can live pretty well there?

Answer 1

Yeah, I know how is like to live in Costa Rica, I live there jeje

It's a nice place, we abolished our army 60 years ago, so all the money that would had been invested in weapons, training, etc, has been used for the education and health systems, so we have the best ones in central america by far...

And yes, with $1000-$1200 you can live well, I make about $1400 a month and have a nice life: have a decent car, nice new apartment, can take my girlfriend to a very nice restaurant or hotel la couple of times a month, etc. I guess that $1000 a month here is like $6000 a month on the U.S. (I used to live in L.A.).

If you live in the capitol, you can get to the pacific or atlantic coast in 1-2 hours (its a small country!), and pay $30 bucks a night for a 3 1/2 star hotel and have a nice weekend at the beach.

Just to give you more examples: 1 entrance to a movie theather will cost you about $1,5 , a pack of cigarettes: $1 , a regular meal at mcdonald's $2.8. A nice apt, 65 square meters (sorry you will have to convert it into feet jeje), in a nice area, close to let's say North Hollywood (where i used to live in the u.s.) will cost you $300-400 a month, taxis and public transportation are extremely cheap.

Somethings are more expensive to buy down here, specially electronics and cars, but affordable anyways.

So, to answer your question, yes, you can have a nice comfy living on $1000-$1200 a month, like upper-middle class

I love my country, and most people here feel the same, most of the population is caucasian, a lot of americans come down here to retire and have a small bussiness to stay bussy...

A good source to find info about Costa Rica is the CIA WorldFact

Let me know if you need more info, i would be happy to help

Jose Echeverria
[e-mail]

good luck!

Answer 2

Depends on what your neccesities are. Many people need 4,000 dollars a month where others live a comfortable lifestyle for less than a thousand. If you dont own a car, dont party a lot, happy living in a small apartment outside cities equal to ESCAZU. (a suburb of San Jose) Buying food from the markets, Have 1 girl friend instead of 3 or 4. You can live content.

Answer 3

CR is good place to live with sunshine all year round and the cost of living is low compared to other nations in the region, and plus are the latino woman who are just great.

Answer 4

this is what it is like to live in Costa Rica

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2jtRWFOd04

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A55CzcYl7qQ

Answer 5

i dont know, never been