Seven Compelling Reasons to Invest in Coopenae

By Paul & Gloria in Blog (Updated October 7, 2014) We’ve been banking and investing at Coopenae for several years now and have been extremely pleased with their customer service and investment CD rates. Here are some good reasons to consider investing with them: Rated by “Fitch Ratings” (international bank rating): Short term rating at: ‘F1+ (cri)’ the […]

Cooking Class in Oaxaca Mexico – Muy Sabroso!

By Gloria in Blog Buying chilies at the market For me, one of the highlights of our trip to Mexico was taking a cooking class at Casa Crespo in Oaxaca. Sure, I can make quesadillas and burritos, even fajitas, but the preparation is more Tex-Mex style. True Mexican cuisine is so different than what we’re used to in the U.S. […]

Retire for Less Newsletter – September 26, 2014

By Paul & Gloria in Blog, Featured Welcome to our RetireForLessInCostaRica.com Newsletter! Paul and Gloria In Our Special Health Care & Health Insurance Issue: Costa Rica’s Caja: How it Works Our Caja Experience, by Norman and Frankie Siegel In the Mailbag: Regarding Getting Residency in Costa Rica and Joining the Caja New Development: Make Caja Appointments by Phone Update: […]

Retire for Less in Costa Rica – April 8, 2016

By Paul & Gloria in Blog, Featured Welcome to our Retire For Less In Costa Rica Newsletter Paul and Gloria In This Issue:  Our March 2016 Costa Rica Cost of Living Expenses Featured Property-San Ramón: Unique 2BR 2BA Home Priced to Sell at $62K Reduced! Our Ultimate CR Healthcare Tour     If you missed our last newsletter, you can […]

Costa Rica’s Café Chorreado

By Paul & Gloria in Blog by Gayle Sommers Coffee is an interesting thing here in Costa Rica. Like apples in WA State, the best coffee is exported, but there’s still a lot available, from many locations around the area…I’ve experimented with a number of different brands, probably trying out at least 15 different kinds, but still barely […]

Increasing Grocery Prices in Costa Rica: Fact or Fiction?

By Gloria in Blog Generally, it seems to me that grocery prices have risen, though the statistics show otherwise. “Cost of food in Costa Rica decreased 0.69 percent in January of 2019 over the same month in the previous year. Food Inflation in Costa Rica averaged 5.91 percent from 2007 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 27.74 […]

Our March 2018 Costa Rica Cost of Living

By Paul & Gloria in Blog March was a relatively quiet month for us. We had a beach day, invited friends over for dinner a couple of times, and did a few tours for potential expats. We also had higher than normal expenses in healthcare and groceries. More about that below. Transportation – $206.14 March was a month […]

Our September 2018 Costa Rica Cost of Living

By Paul & Gloria in Blog Our plan was to spend September in Oaxaca, Mexico as we do most years, but Paul’s surgery to remove his right kidney in August caused us to delay our plans. We spent the month in Costa Rica as Paul recuperated and began to get his strength back. Transportation – $389.36 Our expenses […]

Retire for Less in Costa Rica – February 28, 2017

By Paul & Gloria in Blog, Featured Welcome to our Retire For Less In Costa Rica Newsletter Paul and Gloria In This Issue:  In the Mailbag – Relocation Tours, a Reader’s “The Good, the Not so Good and the Disappointing about Costa Rica,” Buying Appliances, and More If You Could Move Overseas Tomorrow for a Better Life…Would You? by Dan Prescher Invest […]

Our June 2019 Costa Rica Cost of Living

By Gloria in Blog In June, we came close to our goal of spending $2000 for the month. Transportation, Healthcare, Personal Care/Clothing, and Pet Care came in higher than normal. Here’s the breakdown: Transportation – $272.23 Though we only had one fill-up at the tank in June ($59.38) we had some car repairs on our 1996 Toyota 4-Runner […]