Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
[quote=”rturner”]Hi,
I plan to visit for several months and am wondering about where to rent an SUV for that period of time.I have rented vehicles for 1 or 2 weeks and paid for the insurance but the day rates add up fast for a 2 month rental.
Just wondering if any places are better for long term rentals than others.
Thanks,
Robert[/quote]Hello Robert,
I have rented from three different car companies. The longest being a month while waiting for my Xterra to be imported. I will tell you Avis was the best. If you want to know who NOT to rent from send me a personal message and I will share my experiences with you. Alexander[quote=”2BNCR”]Be resourceful.
Look do it this way: hire a nica, send the money to an account that is not in his name (family member that gives him the pin#). Get a simple contract from the person that owns the account stating in Spanish that they are providing you the worker for X amount. Have it notarized.
If your Nica has problems then tell them to take it up with his employer – the one you send the money too. You now have a contracted employes through a third party. Be sure that you have all the third parties info and make it clear to your employee that if he makes trouble, then all will participate (suffer).
I pay 1100 for the gardener and he is fantastic. I have paid much less for slouch work.
I pay the maid 1200 and she is OK. I have paid less for the same quality and paid more for less quality. Finding a maid that doea not stael is nearly impossible. You have been warned so keep all valuables under lock and key. Better yet only allow here to clean sensitives rooms when you are there and all other times keep these roomed locked out.[/quote]
Thanks for the information.[quote=”wspeed1195″]you could do what many americans and others do.
hire Nicaraguans.[/quote]
I guess that would be a “work around”. Much like the mexicans in North America. At least the illegal ones.[quote=”guru”]Where things get tricky is with live in help. There are official rates for that as well but the perks provided also have a value that MAY be taken into account.
A live-in caretaker of a friend had the perks of a place for the entire family to live, PLUS as much space as they wanted to garden or farm, PLUS a small truck or automobile for 6 months of the year. The employment people claimed the worker was being underpaid until they learned what the “perks” were.
———————————-
I see a LOT of the Costa Rica government web sites fall into disrepair and disappear. I wonder how much money the developers got and then left. . .[/quote]
Thanks for the input so far. I think the best bet for me is to keep the “manager” I have for now and after my other house is built I will provide a place for the caretaker to live and a small salary and of course pay into the caja. The perks will far out weigh what is expected and I believe I will have a loyal, honest person to do all of the tasks as a full time employee. If they don’t know how to clean a pool I will teach them ect. My friend sent me the governments pay scale. My pay and perks will far exceed the expectation so no worries on my part. Thanks.[quote=”costaricabill”][quote=”edlreed”][quote=”rosiemaji”]I agree will Costaricabill’s comments about CR plastics. We live in the San Isidro area and plastic things seem way overpriced compared to the US. They also become brittle fast and break quickly. They are poor quality and sometimes lids don’t even fit correctly. I have refrigerator dishes here in the US that I have had for 15 years or more. A similar use item bought in Costa Rica is lucky to last 6 months. There is also a great disparity in the prices of coolers as Bill mentioned. I bought a big Igloo Cube cooler with rolling wheels at Wallmart in Florida for $30 and took it to Costa Rica as our second checked bag filled with sheets and blankets. It just barely fit into the airline limit of 62 inches (h+w+d). The same cooler bought in Costa Rica would have cost at least $150. Some airlines won’t let you bring coolers as luggage but others will. It has gotten more expensive to bring an assortment of household items to Costa Rica from the states in our luggage since the airlines started charging for the second checked bag and, in the case of some airlines, they charge for even the first checked bag. Many of the things we had been bringing to Costa Rica are beginning to become available. Last year, I noticed a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Paso Colón (just a few doors down from Quiznos, oh boy!). It looked just as American as one in the US with the same luxurious looking stuff inside. I didn’t go inside so I don’t know what the prices were like. I expect this trend to continue. As more Americans move to Costa Rica, the stores (especially the chain stores) will follow with the things that Americans want and will buy.[/quote]
Hey, Toledo South, just around the corner. Ya’ALL come. We brought them Dios, Walmarts. Now, if we can only get them into good plastics. How very trying this all must be. Oh sorry, I forgot this was the WeLoveCostaRica forum. How rude of me.[/quote]for the record, there is only one “a” in “y’all”.
crb[/quote]
That is correct CRB! Being a Carolina boy I had a good laugh at that. Thought I might have been the only one to notice. I agree about the plastics in CR. I went to EPA and paid 80.00 dollars for a plastic lounge chair to go by the pool. Won’t be making that mistake again. I had purchased several things that day. I thought the bill
seemed high when I checked out but kept going as the sun was out I wanted to lay by the pool. Upon further investigation I found my chair costs 80.00. Pura Vida, hand me another Imperial![quote=”DavidCMurray”]I was thinking the other day about all the stuff we’ve brought into Costa Rica since we moved here almost five years ago. Taken together, it’s a substantial list. We brought most of our household goods in a container when we made the move and we’d do that again if we had the chance. Others feel it’s better to liquidate everything in the States and begin anew here. To be sure, there are pros and cons to each argument.
That said, I thought it might be useful to folks anticipating moving here if those of us who have already made the move reflected on what we wish we had brought or what we’ve imported since we got here. We could reflect, too, on what we did bring but wish we hadn’t. Maybe it would provide some hints for the newcomers-to-be.[/quote]
Thank you David! That is a fantastic idea. I just imported an Xterra and we are going to buy a 40 container to fill up with household products to go in to our house we are building. It would be of great help to know the experiences of others. We have heard to bring everything that “requires a plug” from the states as well as bedroom furnishings. Anyone else want to share on their experiences? Thanks Alexander[quote=”Scott”]There are now three moderators (apart from me) and I was told that the thread in question was made “inactive” because the moderator believed that it was becoming too obvious a sales pitch for a project we know nothing about.
I have seen NUMEROUS threads where someone ‘plants’ a question and someone else ‘plants’ the answer to make it look innocent when it is in fact boiler room, swamp land salespeople trying to drum up leads….
This may or may not be the case with this project but our moderators tend to be careful about this…
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com[/quote]
Thank you Scott![quote=”cheryl4313″]Thanks for the info, Scott, I’ll check out the sites you mention. I was thinking of taking some time during my visit to do a little fly fishing in the mountains on the road between Cartago and San Isidro El General.[/quote]
Hey Cheryl, if you fly fish in a stream and catch a fish please let me know. I love to fly fish and do it here in the mountains of NC. It will be informative to let each other know our results. I’ll be fishing near Puriscal in a week or two. Good luck! Alexander[quote=”vmc”]We reached a milestone in our preparations for our own move to Costa Rica yesterday, with loose ends coming together one-by-one.
We’re shooting for Mid-June, with our biggest hurdle now, the transporting of the doggies.
Here’s to keeping our fingers crossed that the Presidential Decree works out and we get in the air with no big hang-ups!
Hope to meet a lot of you in person sometime soon!
Pura Vida![/quote]
Hello,
We will be bringing the dog in July. I will be interested in how the process goes for you. Please update after you arrive in CR. Thanks! AlexanderThanks for sharing your experiences with me. I decided to import as SUV’s are really cheap in the US right now and I can put a few more things in the container. You know, things that plug in.:o
Alexander
[quote=”alexander69″][quote=”bstckmn”]I am trying to perfect my technique for preparing authentic quality pizza at home here in CR. I am almost there in terms of the right taste and feel except I can´t seem to find one essential ingredient here in CR (at least so far). The simple stone ground corn meal that lubricates the pizza peel so the dough will slide smoothly to the cooking stone is nowhere to be found. I tried buying some whole corn kernels from Hipermas and Sarreto and blasted them in the blender for a long time. What can out was like coarse gravel that you would find in a bad parking lot. The texture on the bottom of the pizza was not so much a problem as the threat to my fillings and dental work. Does anyone know where to get regular corn meal here? The corn masa is too fine. I am a little embarassed to order corn meal from the U.S. through my Aerocasillas account.[/quote] I was told recently that one can not buy good ole corn meal in CR. I am bringing some for a friend next trip. May want to go ahead and order some. Good luck.[/quote] We live in Puriscal. If you don’t live too far away from Puriscal or San Jose I will bring you some also. “Do unto others”.:lol:
[quote=”bstckmn”]I am trying to perfect my technique for preparing authentic quality pizza at home here in CR. I am almost there in terms of the right taste and feel except I can´t seem to find one essential ingredient here in CR (at least so far). The simple stone ground corn meal that lubricates the pizza peel so the dough will slide smoothly to the cooking stone is nowhere to be found. I tried buying some whole corn kernels from Hipermas and Sarreto and blasted them in the blender for a long time. What can out was like coarse gravel that you would find in a bad parking lot. The texture on the bottom of the pizza was not so much a problem as the threat to my fillings and dental work. Does anyone know where to get regular corn meal here? The corn masa is too fine. I am a little embarassed to order corn meal from the U.S. through my Aerocasillas account.[/quote] I was told recently that one can not buy good ole corn meal in CR. I am bringing some for a friend next trip. May want to go ahead and order some. Good luck.
Does anyone know how much lasik cost in CR? And who would you recommend? I’ll be getting that in the future. Thanks!
[quote=”Joan&Troy”][quote=”qtc9808″]I can refer you to a fantastic creative and honest architech that helped us design the home we are building in Guanacaste- His name is Ricardo Barrantes and he resides in Grecia. If you need me to put you in contact with him just write me at qtc9808@aol.com.
Joe
Hi Joe:
We recently bought land in Naranjal, which is near Samara. I’m not sure how close by your architect is that you recommended, but would appreciate getting his contact information. I have already contacted one architect, but would like to get at least two proposals.
Thanks!
Joan and Troy[/quote]Anyone know of a good builder near Puriscal? 45 minutes Sw of San Jose. Thanks!
