May 12 2018
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 where our car …
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Mar 31 2018
Here’s our February 2018 spending breakdown: Transportation – $319.63 When you have an older car, like ours, repairs are part of life. Our 1996 Toyota 4-Runner has always been a reliable, comfortable car. We have used it for our tour business as well as for personal use, and it doesn’t show any sign of letting …
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Mar 18 2018
In January, our spending was back to normal, totaling $1,826.57 for the month. Here’s the breakdown: Transportation – $72.74 No car repairs this month and only one fill-up totaling $54.66 for our Toyota 4-Runner, plus $11.48 to top off our oil. We also had some miscellaneous tolls and parking fees. Groceries – $495.25 Another high …
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Feb 25 2018
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 expenses for gasoline, …
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Feb 25 2018
(Updated with 2018 prices) A great way to save hundreds of dollars a year is to have a post office box in Costa Rica, versus using a delivery service like Aerocasillas. I would say Aerocasillas is more efficient, and certainly faster than the post office, but you pay for that service. Our P.O. Box, #187, …
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Oct 22 2017
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual report on consumer expenditures shows the “average” American household (AAHh) spent $57,311 in 2016. Note, $74,664 is the “average” income and $57,311 is the average spent after taxes. I decided to compare the expense published against what I spend in Costa Rica, but I see a problem with this …
Permanent link to this article: https://retireforlessincostarica.com/our-costa-rica-cost-of-living-by-rob-evans/
Sep 30 2017
If you’ve been following our newsletters, you know that we have been spending an extended period of time this year in Oaxaca, Mexico. In August, we returned to Costa Rica for three weeks to speak at the International Living Costa Rica conferenceand to tour with many of our clients. Since a friend has been living in our …
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Aug 23 2017
This is the first time in many years that we don’t have a Costa Rica cost of living breakdown to share with you. We spent the entire month of July in Mexico, and during this time, a friend lived in our apartment, paid the rent and utilities, and even took care of our cats. Instead, …
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Jul 16 2017
Our June 2017 Cost of Living Report needs a bit of explanation. As we mentioned in our last newsletter, Paul and I traveled to Mexico on June 20th where we will be staying for an extended period. Therefore, our June Costa Rica Cost of Living report includes all of our normal fixed living expenses but …
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Jul 09 2017
In May, we were happy to see another month well below our goal of $2,000. We came in at $1,853.32, with no major purchases to outfit our new apartment in town. Transportation – $286.46 We had some car repairs done to our 1996 Toyota 4-Runner in May which came to $214.76. Here’s the breakdown: Replace …
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