Costa Rica Weather–April 2016 Observations, Facts, & Tidbits

By Paul & Gloria in Blog CLICK TO ENLARGE You’ll notice that we now show rainfall and temperatures for eleven towns in Costa Rica: San Ramón de Alajuela Atenas Nuevo Arenal Quepos Near San Isidro de General San Rafael de Heredia San Marcos de Tarrazu El Cajón de Grecia Grand View Estates, Siquirres Volio de Cachí, Orosi Valley Escazú This […]

Why We Are Leaving Costa Rica, by Janet Bradshaw

By Paul & Gloria in Blog, Lake Arenal, real estate By Janet Bradshaw The Decision In August of 2012, I wrote the article “Why We Chose Nuevo Arenal” for the Retire for Less in Costa Rica Newsletter. After retiring from my work as a civil engineer in Canada in 2009, my husband, Scott, and I spent our first 3 years in Costa […]

Monthly Costa Rica Weather Report for 8 Towns in Costa Rica–November 2015

By Paul & Gloria in Blog You’ll notice that we now show rainfall and temperatures for eight towns in Costa Rica: San Ramón de Alajuela Atenas Nuevo Arenal Quepos Near San Isidro de General San Rafael de Heredia San Marcos de Tarrazu El Cajón de Grecia This isn’t weather forecasting. We report after the fact to give you a much better […]

Live in Costa Rica? Save up to 25% on Spanish Lessons at CPI

By Paul & Gloria in Blog If you’ve been reading our newsletters, you know we’ve been taking Spanish lessons for a while now at CPI Immersion Spanish School in Heredia. After living in Costa Rica for four and a half years, we are still working at learning the Spanish language, poco a poco. And yes, sometimes I feel frustrated. […]

Gardening in Costa Rica with Steve – Gardening for Wildlife

By Paul & Gloria in Blog When we began gardening many years ago, we also started feeding wild birds at about the same time. It wasn’t long before we realized the two activities were interconnected. We observed the birds’ habits, learned what things were beneficial for them and began modifying our garden accordingly. Later we became attuned to […]

Retire for Less in Costa Rica – February 19, 2017

By Paul & Gloria in Blog, Featured Welcome to our Retire For Less In Costa Rica Newsletter Paul and Gloria In This Issue:  What’s Up with the Yeatmans? – Moving, Shopping, and Buying Our January 2017 Costa Rica Cost of Living Paul’s Money-Saving Tip to Live for Less in Costa Rica-Use WhatsApp and Save on Telecommunications Charges Our Ultimate CR […]

An Introduction to Finca Luna Nueva

By Gloria in Blog, Videos One of our most interesting trips recently was to Finca Luna Nueva, located in the northern part of the Cantón of San Ramón, about one hour and 45 minutes from where we live. Though things are getting brown here on the Pacific side of the mountain range that runs through the center of the […]

Our December 2017 Costa Rica Cost of Living

By Paul & Gloria in Blog Seems like I say this every December, but…wow! Our normal monthly expenses are well under $2,000, but December is always higher, for a number of reasons we will explain. This December was no exception and, in fact, it’s one of our highest months ever. So here we go… Transportation – $868.70 Our […]

Our December 2015 Costa Rica Cost of Living Expenses

By Paul & Gloria in Blog Not too bad. That’s the best I can say about our spending in December. I would have been surprised if we came in under $2,000 so ending up at $2,181.76 wasn’t unexpected. After all, December is the month of “Christmas and the car.” The Car First, let’s talk about the car. December […]

Off to New Adventures Aboard “Dragon’s Wing”

By Paul & Gloria in Blog Paul and Gayle Sommers by Gail Sommers My husband, Paul, is settling into “boat mode,” as we get ready to leave Costa Rica. Obsessively checking weather reports for crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, ordering parts for items that need to be taken care of when Paul returns to Florida to do […]