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Is anyone using a mail forwarding service in Florida to get new ATM Cards from the stateside bank. My federal credit union has promised the name and email of a banker to help me once I moved to Costa Rica. But the only way I can put cash directly from the credit union to my BNCR branch is by wire transfer. At the time I setup the account they BNCR branch did take my stateside check which surprising cleared my credit union in about 8 days times. I have been giving some thought to just showing up at my BNCR branch monthly and depositing a stateside check and watch the account on the Internet to see when it clears. The main thing I missed which is probably the worst mistake of my adult life was saying no a “ficha” when the bank offered in Orosi. Don’t make that mistake because I can’t setup accounts to pay out of my BNCR account from outside Costa Rica without it. So I have been sending the salary of my gardener to his account at $30 a pop for each electronic transfer.
I wish Scotiabank would come to Orosi, they always seems to have lot of cash in the branch in Cartago I go to for large withdraws from my federal credit union. Maybe on this trip I will go to the back and put in a stateside check to see what they do about since I have the account for two years now.
[quote=”maravilla”]there is also a growing drug problem in costa rica. gangs are vying for territory in the area where i live. and yes, cost of living has gone up here — many items have doubled in price in the last 3 years — eggs are one of those items. even fresh milk and butter from the local lecheria have gone up significantly. fresh fruits and vegetables are still a good deal, and a lot cheaper than the US. but if you want to live a gringo lifestyle you will pay for it. taking a local bus (which is free if you are over 65) and taxis are still a cheap alternative to owning a car. any place that has been hyped as much as costa rica has is bound to see these changes. the same thing happened in the yucatan and the baja peninsula. both places were ideal spots to retire until the developers moved in and started building luxury homes for the very wealthy. i still live quite well on less than a thousand dollars a month, and i could never do that in the States.[Free bus transportation for over 65? Sign me up immediately! My honor citizens pass in Portland Oregon is $328 for the whole year, but free is better! I am thinking of following Vicki Skinner’s advice about becoming friends with one or two younger cab drivers in my town so I can have a private driver to Cartago or San Jose when I need one. But free bus service, I am now really excited.]
Does anyone know if you can buy a Sim card at the San Jose airport for the Huawei E173 data stick in the same way you can buy a Sim card for an unlocked cell phone? I am sort of new to this so I am looking for advice since I am torn between buying/bring a netbook with me or just buying a international unlocked cell as backup to my trying to use the WiFi iGoogle features on my T-Mobile with my SKYPE account for this trip.
Any thoughts or comments?
Thanks,
Tom
Portland, Oregon[quote=”*Lotus”]Tom: Keep us posted on what you decide to do. I love to see pictures of interesting alternative housing solutions.[/quote]
Dear Lotus,
This is the link to Lyn and Pecos Bill’s blog about Costa Rica. Lyn writes great stories, it helps to start at the beginning and read forward to get their great adventures. The house on the first page is the house I was talking about in my message last night.
They are fun people! When we met a few weeks ago they wanted to send their contractor and his two builders immediately to my property and start building. I had to finally beg off that if the connections of my gardener didn’t work out, I would entertain the thought of using their team.
Enjoy the link: http://fossiltofinca.blogspot.com/
Tom
[quote=”cancertomnpdx”]I would like to find someone who has built themselves either a yurt of wood and/or have built a house along the principles of the tinyhouse movement.
If you have any information I would like to hear from you.
Thanks,
Tom
Portland, OregonPS: Today was like a fresh new morning in Orosi, Costa Rica here in Portland, Oregon! I look forward to many such mornings on my little farm soon.[/quote]
Thanks to everyone who responded to my question. Many of the sites suggested have been favorites for a long time. Finally I have visited with two people in Oregon who have built 600 sq foot house with a 300 sq foot patio for $16,500. After our conversations, I realized I have been on the right track for several years and my budget is adequate. Their building adventure was along the very ideas I have been thinking about for years. Again, thanks for the suggestions!
Tom
Portland, Oregon[quote=”jtd2″]Newmanincr,
Here is a link for the list of GSM cell phones certified by Grupo ICE.
http://portal.grupoice.com/wps/wcm/connect/Web%20Content/esp/cattelecom/movil/homol/0gsm
I personally use an unlocked Blackberry phone. You can check eBay, Amazon, or pricetrace.com for prices on factory unlocked GSM phones.[/quote]
Do you just buy a SIM card for a month or so from ICE at the airport when you arrive in Costa Rica? I am interested in the fact you are using a blackberry which must give your email and maybe even SKYPE.
Thanks,
Tom in Portland on a Budget[quote=”aprilbinnie”]Hi
I just wondered if anyone has had any problems with buying an unlocked iPhone 3 or 4 in Canada and getting it connected here with ICE.
I noticed that the iPhone 4 has a micro-SIM card and I don’t know if ICE provides those here or not.
My current cell has the regular SIM card…
Thanks
April[/quote]My friend from Costa Rica here in Portland, Oregon told me his brother bought one on a trip to Canada a few months ago. He showed me pictures uploaded from their family farm in Osa which were pretty clear and very kewel! His brother had to walk up and down the side of a mountain to find service with the tower the ICE tower on the other side of the bay, but it worked. Amazing to live so long that you can have an email or pictures from someone standing in the middle of some far away place!
Tom in Portland
Thank you for these notes on your importation of your dog. I have copied your posting and will put it into my many great notes from this website. The information was clear and very interesting to see every thing I will need to do.
Tom in Portland on a budget!
I think of the 40 or 50 year war on drugs as the US social security plan for the drug cartels. Now days I think it more like a federal bailout for the drug cartels. Beneficiaries of the money spent on the war on drugs since it was first purposed so long ago have been the federal government itself, also without a doubt the DEA, the CIA, the FBI, the Costa Guard and now Homeland Security just to name a few the past and new player in the ball game. This cash cow has also benefited also many federal contracting companies that have raked in a bundle no matter which party has been in power.
I wonder if any of this cash outflow has ever helped any American citizen decide to stay off drugs? With the people I see riding my bus every Tuesday and Thursday on the way to the free methadone clinic already high, I must wonder what have we accomplished with our huge annual cash outlay? With the conversations I hear this happy group having, I don’t think we have done much or succeed much.
Why haven’t we legalized all of this, taxed the hell out it like we have done with tobacco products? Then I think of Winston Churchill’s comment after the US Congress passed lend lease for Britain at the start of WWII, “After American tries everything else, it does the right thing!” Maybe we need a 100-year payout for our war on drugs in order to finally do the right thing!
What the hell do I know, I am now officially an “old fart?” Is now the younger generation to either fix this or keep paying for it I would suggest.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]I just took a quick look at their website (www.efoy.com) but nothing there explains just what these things do and how they function. I get it that they deliver electricity, but how? They must consume something, right?
Just what that something is might answer your question about whether they’re being used in Costa Rica and, if not, why not.[/quote]
I think Efoy is just getting up and running in the United States. The EEU has approved shipment of their fuel cells all over Europe. I had seen hit and miss information that they are now approved for air shipment in the US. My shipping contact in Costa Rica says that if they are approved for the US, then they can be imported into Costa Rica. I know the US Army used them in Iraqi for both portable power and military hospitals.
See this link for an explanation of their operation and service:
http://www.efoy.com/en/mobile-homes-faqs.htmlYou Tube has a video of the caravan they converted in English to drive around on the cells. Their site doesn’t shown very much how you would connect your house to the unit. A friend of mine from Germany says the German website explains much more then the English. They are now available for purchase in the United States so I keep checking every once and a while on the viability of the fuel availability of either bring the fuel from either Spain or Boston.
Nobody should by property in Costa Rica without reading Scott’s book three or four times. He provides the road I used when I purchased my property. By the time I got to the lawyer’s office I sort knew what we were going to do. Please don’t sit by an not get your lawyer to explain what you don’t understand. Purchasing property in Costa Rica is far different then showing up at US title office and do your closing.
The last thing should do on your way to Costa Rica is re-read Scott’s book, he tells all!
Later,
Tom in Portland
A happy property owner in Costa Rica[quote=”markus”]Great subject. Rhode Island reds are good for eggs and meat. I am planning to raise chicken. Has anybody tried purchasing from the universities or agricultural schools? Sometimes they sell to local farmers.[/quote]
I know I pass either the agriculture school or an extension center of the University of Costa Rica as you drive on the road from Cartago into the Orosi Valley. I know you can see some the large animals out in the fields, but I really don’t know about chickens. If you drive out that way to check things out, make sure drive down the road a bit further to the Sanchiri Lodge for one of the best lunches and views in Costa Rica! The heart of palm salad and grilled Convina are to die for, the family owners and staff are wonderful people. I think they make their own ice cream also which is very good with a couple of scoops on their fresh fruit plate. Yum! For June I can hardly wait and last my eyes upon the Orosi Valley from their vantage point!
Tom:
Your rule dude! Think I am going to cut and paste your points for up over my desk at work. With all my house planning your points simply say “keep it simple Tom!”
Tom
Portland, OregonSpeaking of Americans being caught with pot, read this interesting story:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/24/nation/la-na-marijuana-juries-20101225
I had a similar experience when I went for jury duty on Monday. By the end of Voir Dire, about six of us was telling the defense attorney, the prosecutor and the judge at the end of our examinations we didn’t think we could apply the drug laws to the young man on trial. What was amazing that out of 25 people called, only one or two didn’t have some activity involvement with marijuana either family members, friends or on the job where they found people were using. I think the above link explains something that is rising up in the United States. What I think is funny, Missoula, MT, who would ever thought they would have made such a stand?
Later,
TomI would think any appointed State Department employees in Costa Rica should be able to sign documents for by virtue of their appointment and employment. It could be these days that only one of the several consular officer of State at the Embassy have the power to notarize official individual documents. I would call the Embassy to ask their process for notarizing documents. The last time I had it done many years ago on Guam, the signature came with the beautiful gold star with the seal of the United States pressed into the star. Pretty impressive!
Later,
Tom
