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[quote=”ddspell12″][quote=”davidd”]this is great news!!! the less americans here the better.
[/quote]Then why don’t you leave smartA$$[/quote]
hahaha why should I leave??? I have a costa rican passport. I renounced my citizenship 3 years ago.. thank goodness
I have business here and have my kids that were all born here
I have been here now for over 15 years
how does this compare to the newbies looking to replicate their bubble life. wanting to move to another country without really knowing or preparing themselves. not even learning the language
it’s silly..
:):):):)it’s good you have some cash.. now your objective is to protect that wealth.
and relocate it in some strong offshore safe instruments.
[quote=”ddspell12″]And I suppose you were born there and never a newbie!!! My cash is just fine!!![/quote]
yes.. but I think I may have misstated my point.
and yes its selfish.. OK.. now you have the truth its a selfish reason why I would rather not have any more Americans come here
in the past 15 years I have seen alot of changes here and unfortunetly I do not agree with many of them but face the fact that it is what it is.
most recent is the commercial Black Friday concept that is now becoming a normal part of costa rica landscape.
and the more americanized this country becomes attracts more and more americans here and I mean more affluent americans that don’t speak or even bother to learn the language or customs here. they move here and replicate thier suburban life that they had back home.
this is the direction this country is going in alot of ways.
but again it is what it is. noting more or less
if you do decide to move here I wish you luck and hope the best for you.
we shall see how the future unfolds.
David
PS. I forgot to mention and it would also fall under the selfish category. there is 1 thing that i love when americans move here.
after a year or so they decide to move back and put all thier stuff on craigslist to buy for 1/4 the cost :D:D:D:D:D:D:D
if ever there was a reason for me to leave costa rica, it would be for these two reasons: too many gringos and the americanization of a latin country.
san ramon was a complete zoo yesterday with the black friday hooplah going on in every single store, and then of course, there were the loudspeaker cars announcing black friday. i guess we have wal-mart to thank for this. i find it disgusting. another thing that bugs me is all the people who move here, not to experience a new culture or immerse themselves in it with language skills, etc., but rather to have their same gringo lifestyle for a fraction of the cost. the joke is on them, though, because if you want to live like that, you will pay through the nose.
The[i] feria[/i] prices [b]DavidCMurray [/b]quoted are cheap and sounds like they could be equal to the [i]feria[/i] in Liberia so what prices are the ‘people’ that the OP complaining about?
In regards to what [b]davidd[/b] posted in regards to CAJA costs for his family, he is very lucky! ARCR has stated that they cannot permit any more new people into their present group plan but will try to get another one running, if CAJA allows it. So, new Pensionados will pay $125 and Rentistas $230 or 12% of their $10000 or $2500 per month that they have used to gain their residency. And the complaining people the OP meant, will have definitely some complaining to do, when they find this out when they apply for CAJA the receive their [i]cedula.[/i]i had a run-in with someone who got his CAJA bill and it was $230 — he said that was outrageous. but he has an income of $2500 a month. i asked him how much he thought he should be paying and he said about $40. jajajajaja Those days are OVER, pal, I told him.
somehow they get it in their heads that things should be really really cheap, like electricity. i know someone whose bill was routinely over $200 a month. some ill-informed person told him he was paying gringo rates, so he went to ICE and complained. ICE just laughed and said no, there were no gringo rates, and he said, But i was told my bill would only be about $14 a month. then she explained that his electricity usage was 6 – 7 times what the average Tico uses. jajajaja that was priceless, i thought. it is real sticker shock when people come here and don’t change their consumptive habits.
[quote=”maravilla”]i had a run-in with someone who got his CAJA bill and it was $230 — he said that was outrageous. but he has an income of $2500 a month. i asked him how much he thought he should be paying and he said about $40. jajajajaja Those days are OVER, pal, I told him.
somehow they get it in their heads that things should be really really cheap, like electricity. i know someone whose bill was routinely over $200 a month. some ill-informed person told him he was paying gringo rates, so he went to ICE and complained. ICE just laughed and said no, there were no gringo rates, and he said, But i was told my bill would only be about $14 a month. then she explained that his electricity usage was 6 – 7 times what the average Tico uses. jajajaja that was priceless, i thought. it is real sticker shock when people come here and don’t change their consumptive habits.[/quote]
that is funny i can picture a gringo going to ICE and asking them why he was being charged gringo rates. this is exactly what I mean. people come here already with their preconceived ideas of how the world should be without actually doing any diligence except listing to soundbites of other people.
one needs to have an open mind and be willing to re evaluate their assumptions.
this takes experience.. my first 10 years I lived ina variety of places
escazu ( where all gringos start at lol)
santa ana
san jose
barrio mexico
desampardos
moravia
la guardia de moravia
tamarinddo
jaco
herediaand rented until I got a good baseline.. then I finally found my place.
:lol::lol::lol:
what was really funny about going to ICE is that my husband had to be the interpreter. He said he was so embarrassed when he started telling the agent that his friend was being charged “gringo rates.” i wish i had a dollar for every time i heard that line. someone once told me that the check-out counters in any store also have a “gringo” button they push so they get charged a higher than posted price. you gotta laugh at such stupidity. another woman i met couldn’t believe that i spent so little on food every week when she was spending $150 a week. i asked her to show me what she routinely buys and to be honest, i was shocked. i didn’t even know some of those food-like products existed, but they all had very expensive price tags. when i suggested eliminating some if not all of those things, she looked at me and said “But what would we eat then?” and i suggested “real food.” and then there are the people who think that if you don’t spend that kind of money that you are eating only rice and beans, and that’s just plain silly. even with the new rate increases for ICE and Caja, my fixed bills every month are about $170 — that includes internet, water, lights, cel, and Caja. in the States, that would be JUST my electricity bill for 8 months a year. it all comes down to lifestyle. if you were wasteful in the States, you’ll be wasteful here, and there is a price to pay for that.
[quote=”ddspell12″]Someone i have been getting info on Costa Rica just recently made the move. They did a through investigation talking with many people before and did much research before making this move.
Even paid an attorney $1400 dollars to start the residency process.
Arriving around 2 weeks ago they were very dissapointed at the cost there. They are in the Grecia area and even stated that the Feria’s were not cheap. They met with other expats who recently made the move and most felt they should not have not move.
They felt like they were misled by many people and or organizations. I have a very good retirement and was planning on settling in The Grecia area also.
Although it not affect my plans it does throw re flags up about the information you receive.
[/quote]I guess it depends on where you live in CR. While I don’t live there, I do have land on Lake Arenal. We just got back and I can tell you, other than eating at American type restaurants and buying gasoline, prices are cheaper. We ate breakfast everyday at a local soda, had a ton of food/drink/fruit, for never more than $3 per person. and a big lunch with meat and drink, was never more than $5. I commented on it being cheaper to eat breakfast out than making it yourself.
Depending upon your area, you may not need heating or A/C…this, to me, is huge coming from very cold/hot central NY.
Property taxes are very cheap…anything would be cheap compared to NY!
We bought some tools…much cheaper there. I bought minutes for my data card/stick, for my laptop, for the internet from ICE. $6 for 9000 minutes plus 1000 free minutes. I was quite stunned! Pastries were $.60 each at the local bakery store. And the best…plants and small trees were such a bargain–I felt like a kid in a candy shop at the local vivero.
Fruit/vegs are delicious and cheap. An apple here at home is $1. A pepper here is $1. A pineapple is $4. You can eat healthy food for very cheaply in CR. If you’re looking for Oreos, Cheerios, 6 pks of beer, etc., yes, it is VERY expensive. If you can live like a local, it is much cheaper than in the US.
How do the locals do it on their smaller incomes and survive??? I think you might have to change your mindset and way of living.
Everything you say, Loraine, is true, but it’s not just location-dependent. Whether you live in downtown San Jose or someplace in the boondocks, your cost of living will depend on at least two things.
The first is your available income. With a little effort, Marcia and I have always been able to spend just about whatever income we’ve had whether that’s been a lot or a little. I’ve never been able to figure it out, but the more we have the more we spend, and vice versa. I think we share this experience with a lot of folks.
The other thing is the lifestyle you impose upon yourself. If you insist on imported wine, beer and cheese, living will be expensive no matter where you’re located. The more accustomed you can become to living on the local economy, eating what and where Costa Ricans eat, driving modestly, etc the less expensive life can be, but you have to make those accommodations.
The other factor that can enter in is your actual life needs. If you are dependent upon a medication that’s not supplied by the CAJA, or if you need to hire help in your daily living, costs will mount up, but that’s equally true no matter where you live — San Jose, Arenal, or upstate New York. Some things just cost what they cost.
I think some expats come to Costa Rica thinking that it’s a welfare program for foreigners who can’t afford health care at home, who can’t live the lifestyle they’d like on their native economy, etc. Well, it ain’t. As Loraine has rightly pointed out, many food items are less expensive here, but to think that you can live a lavish lifestyle on a pittance is to delude yourself.
everything david said is absolutely true. this is not a welfare state where people can live like kings on a pauper’s income. and it does take discipline to not fall into the trap of living beyond one’s means. i went 7 years without a car, not because i couldn’t afford to buy one, but because i just didn’t want to get into that trap and then spending a fortune on gas because i stopped being organized about my shopping trips. even now, i only go to town 3 times a week because my budget for gas is $20 a week and i refuse to go over that unless it’s absolutely necessary. we eat well, live well, have everything we need and want, and i still save more each month than we spend. that was my goal, and i’m sticking to it. but i know others who can’t live well on any amount of money and that will do you in here.
[quote=”maravilla”]everything david said is absolutely true. this is not a welfare state where people can live like kings on a pauper’s income. and it does take discipline to not fall into the trap of living beyond one’s means. i went 7 years without a car, not because i couldn’t afford to buy one, but because i just didn’t want to get into that trap and then spending a fortune on gas because i stopped being organized about my shopping trips. even now, i only go to town 3 times a week because my budget for gas is $20 a week and i refuse to go over that unless it’s absolutely necessary. we eat well, live well, have everything we need and want, and i still save more each month than we spend. that was my goal, and i’m sticking to it. but i know others who can’t live well on any amount of money and that will do you in here.[/quote]
Maravilla
thats great that you stick to your goal which requires a certain discipline.
everyone has different $$ thresholds that would feel comfortable with but the key would be as my dad would also say to me ( I love you dad)
live below your means.
you can spend alot of money in this country and I have done both here.
you find your own balance of items and where you get them that will help you live comfortably
in the 8 years i’ve been here i’ve seen what happens to people who are not disciplined. i’ve seen them run through whatever savings they had because they couldn’t curb their spending. i know people who spend $100 a week just on gas because they have to go someplace every single day. it would be fine if they could afford that, but they are the ones who are continually complaining that the costs of living here are too high. for me, living well isn’t dictated by how much you spend, but how its spent. i don’t see the point of having all the lights on during the day, owning every electrical appliance made since the industrial revolution and keeping them plugged all the time; i don’t believe in being wasteful, and that is something i see amongst way too many people — whether it’s how they spend their money or the amount of trash they generate. being frugal is hip these days, and i think i have elevated it to an art form! jajaja
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