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Just got back from Guanacaste and heading back down in 55 days via Dulles(DC) to San Jose on TACA with a group of 6 with fares of $282 ea. round trip. This is a savings of $400 each, well worth the 3.5 hour drive from Norfolk. The savings pays for our accomodations during our stay. Norfolk, Va. to Liberia is usually about $6-800.00
I too believe you could live quite well on $4k/month with all the comforts, though not sure what schooling will add to your expense. Pretty much deal in nothing but cash and 1 credit card.[quote=”maravilla”]forget credit. why would you want it? the key to real financial independence is to ditch the notion that credit improves your life. it doesn’t. it’s a noose around your neck. you didn’t mention kids in your first post. i don’t know what it costs to school them here. i don’t know what you mean by bare essentials. for me not having a TV is a [b]luxury[/b]. there are so many other things to do here for kids besides watch TV, and what do you mean by “gringo comforts”? if that’s a bunch of high-priced packaged food, well, i don’t know anything about that either, i just know i would never spend $9.00 on a sack of Oreos, mainly because i don’t eat them anyway. if you’ve read other posts on this thread you will see that i have said that my husband an i live on about $800 a month down here, but then our house is paid for. we have high speed internet, but no TV. we do whatever we want to do, which isn’t much really, eat gourmet food, entertain, have nice clothes, good sheets (that’s a luxury for me!), i don’t know what else there is in life. we don’t have a car, but right now that’s by choice. with kids i guess it’s different. it would be nice to wean your kids off the grid of american consumerism. most kids here don’t have gameboys, xbox, or whatever all the stuff is, or even a computer — the internet cafes are filled with students when school is in session. whether you can survive on two grand or four grand will depend on what you really deem important to the quality of your life. $4 grand is more than most lawyers or doctors make here. it’s surely a lot more than my dentist makes, but only you will know what you can and cannot live without.[/quote]
WOW…thank you once again..
I guess that AS MUCH reading and thought adjustments we’ve made already, we still have a ways to go…. I need to stop thinking about what is all around us here, $9 OREOS? I will surely perish……….LOL
I guess our concerns about credit only extend to whether or not we will ever be able to buy a house, other than that, we have been denied access to what others deem “normal” credit for so long that it is only important where a home is concerned. AGAIN an adjustment must be made, and like I said and am WELL AWARE of, we MUST come down and spend some time.
Please, I don’t mean to hijack this thread, or defer from others’ concerns and questions, but please, as long as your patience will allow, keep it coming, it’s GOOD to hear the kind of information that comes from those who KNOW.
there is no 30 year fixed mortgage in CR. and the interest rates are much much much higher than in the states, and yes, they often check your credit.
my best advice to you is to stop thinking about what you will have to do without, and adapt to what you really need as opposed to what you think you want or what you were told you need to be happy. you will then find that you need surprisingly less than what you’ve been told. as for TV, my husband and i raised both our daughters without it. they had other activities nearly every day, and they read books. they are now, thankfully, not TV watchers! american junkkfood is expensive here, as are all imported products. learn to like what is fresh and seasonal, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, grains and beans, and fish, and you will probably be a lot healthier than you are now.
i spend less than $50 a week on food, and we eat really really well. but i don’t buy packaged anything except pasta and olive oil. and we are mostly vegetarians. it won’t matter how much you read about living here; that will only give you a vague concept. you need to come here and experience the CULTURE. some people adapt, and some dont. only you will know how much frustration you are willing to deal with to have a life here.Thank you so much for your last paragraph! I agree he and his family need to pitch in and try to help the U.S. not just whine and run away. He might get to Costa Rica and realize the U.S.A. wasn’t so bad after all. His whole family needs to go visit Costa Rica for awhile before they go complaining about the U.S.A. Both countries have a lot of good and not so great things to offer families!
Thanks,
Denise[quote=”jdocop”]Prior to asking whether or not that might be adequate for you and your family to live on, you need to ascertain whether or not your pension is acceptable to the government of Costa Rica for the purposes of obtaining legal residence. They require a written certified statement indicating the amount of your pension, and it must clearly state that the pension is payable for life. If the VA is not willing to give you such a statement, I don’t see how you could ever hope to qualify for legal residence.
2) Not sure I understand your fixation on whether or not you can buy a home. For one thing, you will find many, many Gringos here who insist it is flat bad to buy here, when rents are so cheap, and rental laws favor tenants. But, fyi, we were able to obtain a 30 year mortgage from our local bank, with a truly horrible interest rate, but that got our home built. As for buying a home already built, I can just about guarantee that you will find prices to be on the steep side, just because you are a gringo.
3) Since it appears that you have never visited CR, I would suggest that you are getting ahead of yourself. Despite whatever ability you all might achieve in speaking Spanish, and despite whatever preparation you might be doing now, if you have never visited, you have skipped the most important step in your process. Get here first. Look around. Then, think about whether or not Costa Rica is right for you.
4) Air fares for $200, or less, are becoming more and more rare, and when you do find them, you have to know that they are, as Maravilla said, mostly from points of departure that simply are not convenient for the average visitor. Live with it. Beyond that, you should know that without a credit card, you will likely miss out on most of the better fares, anyway.
5) The matter of not having a car can be addressed in a couple of ways. First, as Maravilla says, you could learn to live without one. Most Ticos do, and they do very well. Public transportation is actually very good here. We bought our car using a credit card for most of the cost, and agreeing to pay the balance within six months directly to the CR dealer. Again, no credit card might be a problem for you. Also, you should know that cars are very expensive to buy, to maintain, and to operate – way more so than in the states.I could go on, but bottom line for me is this: if you can’t find a way to at least visit CR, either learn to live where you are, or find somewhere that you can visit – and more than once – before you move your family anywhere.
Finally, one other thing that bothers me about your posts is that you say, among other things that the U. S. is in serious trouble. So, why is your answer to run away, rather than to pitch in and try to help? Do you seriously think that all of us who now live in Costa Rica live here because we hate the U. S., or felt like it was a drowning ship, or something? I’m sorry but the political climate in the U. S. was not the reason my wife and I retired here. Hell, if that was true, we would have left Texas when ‘W’ was first elected governor![/quote]
Thanks for your post John, but I think you misread our intentions…Politics IS NOT our sole motivation, it is just a factor….NOT the reason.
And it looks like you missed that we fully intend to visit before we make ANY kind of leap, but I appreciate your concern….your points surely are valid.
Like I acknowledged in an earlier post, I am cognisant that muhc adjustment in thinking is necessary, like where a car is concerned, and if I don’t ask kind folks like you before we come, how would we know what to expect?….your posts are much more valuable than I think even YOU know.
It seems that a few minutes HERE has effectively answered the few remaining questions we had.
First of all, NONE of this maters, until we actually plant our feet on Costa Rican soil, we knew this, and are SOOO looking forward to making friends.
Second…SCREW the credit/buying a house idea, we will be happy to rent.And while a vehicle would be nice, we have read over and over how good the public trans is there, and can live with that until such a time as a car becomes NECESSARY…..How’m I doing so far?
…But PLEASE don’t believe that I/WE hate the us, we only hate what’s being done to it while good people sit idly by and watch….I’m a Veteran, my Son-in-Law is in Iraq RIGHT NOW, I have family who work for the “Government”, I consider myself a Patriot, so leaving here has little to do with the politics of this errant government…rather it is about quality of life, giving my kids the gift of being more well-rounded by learning and LIVING a different culture, and while I loved Florida, I long for a similar climate only not so hot, and NOT beseiged with rude, self-important “Snowbirds” all winter.
Then there is the matter of Health……No McDonalds on every corner, I want to indulge in the wonderful fresh foods, people, scenery, and apparently altogether HAPPY culture that we have heard so much about.
We also like San Ramon, but my wife just pointed out that we are unsure more than ever about schools…..”Bilingual” doesn’t always mean “English Spoken Here”, and I am concerned about my kids becoming frustrated and unhappy before they can assimilate the language. (Us too, to a lesser degree)
I know that the people on this forum and this thread represent a wide range of locations, and determining the right one for us will be the most important consideration.
As for my income, I am a 100% permanently Disabled Vet, and my income exceeds $4000 with VA and Social Security combined, with SS, being the smallest amount, and I don’t have ANY concerns about being able to verify it, so I can check THAT off the list.
Keep it coming folks…Maybe someone else has similar concerns and this thread might help them as well…
Dan.
[quote=”pauldthomas”]Thank you so much for your last paragraph! [i]I agree he and his family need to pitch in and try to help the U.S. not just whine and run away.[/i] He might get to Costa Rica and realize the U.S.A. wasn’t so bad after all. His whole family needs to go visit Costa Rica for awhile before they go complaining about the U.S.A. Both countries have a lot of good and not so great things to offer families!
Thanks,
Denise[/quote]Denise, sorry, but I take exception to your characterization here, no one is “WHINING” and you HAVE NO IDEA what I personally have done to help improve things here in the US, so please think before you make such statements, not everone frustrated with things here is “WHINING” about it….I am offended.
To hear your post, all you have “HEARD” of what I said is that I am whining and running away from the US…..get a grip.
I’m not exactly the dullest tool in the shed, so please give me the courtesy of not jumping to the conclusion that I am not conscious of the fact that there is good and bad in BOTH worlds, so forget about the politics, we want a different life, PERIOD.
My wife is killing herself in a dead-end job so that we can just keep up, and I don’t want her best years to pass her by…. We BOTH long for a little adventure, and to see the places that most people only read about…if we can live on just my income, then it would be a step up for us……But don’t mistake our reasons for something mamby-pamby and so shallow as to be running away just because the American People seem to want to elect idiots to ruin the Country for us, that is a point of frustration, NOT a reason to leave.Regards,
Dan.
Dan,
Sorry you are so frustrated with the U.S.A and as you call the idiots that are ruining the country. I totally believe its people like you that need to find their happiness somewhere else. Good luck where ever you end up!
Best wishes,
Denise[quote=”pauldthomas”]Dan,
Sorry you are so frustrated with the U.S.A and as you call the idiots that are ruining the country. I totally believe its people like you that need to find their happiness somewhere else. Good luck where ever you end up!
Best wishes,
Denise[/quote]Sorry Denise if you took my comments to be too harsh, and I’m also sorry that you seem to be out of touch with the reality of what’s going on here……Are you in CR full time?
As I mentioned, I am a Veteran, and as such I am very aware and FAMILIAR with things going on here that you probably can’t fathom, I’ve been privy to things I’m sure you haven’t, and I’m glad for you that you [b]haven’t[/b] but I don’t want this to be about Politics, although you should TRUST me on that subject. I would rather get back to the discussion of what it takes to avoid the numerous pitfalls and hurdles facing one who wishes to come to Costa Rica for a change of air, and for the thrill of interacting with such a wonderful society and Country.
Still warmest regards,
Dan.
there is certainly a lot to whine about “up there.” i’ve given up that it’s going to get better any time soon; in fact, the predictions are that it will get a whole lot worse. so i can totally sympathize with anyone who wanted to bail out to a place that is not likely to impose martial law or spy on its own citizens (which they’ve been doing since the 60’s in breach of the CIA’s charter) and just live a simple life free of some of the stresses that our own gov’t has imposed. if there are NOT idiots running the country, then how did it get to this??? calling them idiots is actually too kind IMHO!
I think you sound reasonable enough Dan, and hell if you did want to criticize the US, who cares? That is a hard earned right of every American, especially a Vet!
Dan I don’t live in CR but have spent quite a bit of time there and have many friends, Tico, Gringo who live there full time.
On 4K a month you will live a grand life, send the kids to school and be able to buy yourself a good used car. Now get down there and see if you like the place!
From NYC to SJO I just payed $283 round trip on Continental in December. I know from Florida the tickets are much less out of Miami and can be double on the West Coast(I may have that backwards?) so set up a alert on Kayak.com with all surrounding airports.
Pura Vida
[quote=”maravilla”]there is certainly a lot to whine about “up there.” i’ve given up that it’s going to get better any time soon; in fact, the predictions are that it will get a whole lot worse. so i can totally sympathize with anyone who wanted to bail out to a place that is not likely to impose martial law or spy on its own citizens (which they’ve been doing since the 60’s in breach of the CIA’s charter) and just live a simple life free of some of the stresses that our own gov’t has imposed. if there are NOT idiots running the country, then how did it get to this??? calling them idiots is actually too kind IMHO![/quote]
Thank you Maravilla, I’m glad SOMEONE understands…I guess there are fully indoctrinated Liberals everywhere……Absent that, I still hope that the info keeps flowing….. We’re hoping to get down there after April, whenever the rainy season has ended…..you might educate me on that too……LOL
I’ve gotten a lot of good information these last two days, to make the trip is our most anticipated next move.
Dan.
[quote=”*Lotus”]I think you sound reasonable enough Dan, and hell if you did want to criticize the US, who cares? That is a hard earned right of every American, especially a Vet!
Dan I don’t live in CR but have spent quite a bit of time there and have many friends, Tico, Gringo who live there full time.
On 4K a month you will live a grand life, send the kids to school and be able to buy yourself a good used car. Now get down there and see if you like the place!
From NYC to SJO I just payed $283 round trip on Continental in December. I know from Florida the tickets are much less out of Miami and can be double on the West Coast(I may have that backwards?) so set up a alert on Kayak.com with all surrounding airports.
Pura Vida[/quote]
WOW, Lotus, your reply has been MOST REFRESHING! but I thank you all equally, I hope this thread, as I said in an earlier post, helps someone else too.
Make me a recommendation on a good time to get down there, and please, I know that there are people all over, but recommend good places to live with a family…… Is San Ramon a good area? I think my wife likes what she’s reading about the area, but you can’t tell everything from reading, especially if the articles are dated.
We may only have a week or 10 days to spend, and DOUBT that we will be able to get it all done, but by Jiminy, we’re going to try.
THANKS AGAIN!!
Dan.
[quote=”maravilla”]the rainy season ends in december. it starts up again in mid-may.[/quote]
Gracias Maravilla, I hope we can target Mid-April then..If not sooner….We’re eagerly (Sarcasm applied) awaiting 1-3 inches of snow here right now, which will close schools for DAYS…I need some warm weather and warm-friendly people to pull me UP from this deep blue funk……LOL
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