Cost of Living Here

I have had several people tell me that the cost of things are very high here in Costa Rica. Yes, some things are high.Some of this has to do with with the import duties here. I really get a little sick of this crap because I have experienced many positive things about costs here. These are:

• Electronics - yep, expect to pay more for them, or just bring them in from the US.
• Plastics - again, yes they are more expensive.
• American foods -  you had better believe it - If you want to continue to live with those kinds of foods, then you had better expect to pay for them.

These are just a few things that we need to get used to paying excessive monies for, but Stef and I found out that if you quit thinking American and think more Costa Rican, you will save money,  Now, let me tell you the facts about costs:

• Health Insurance - we went from $800 a month with our Blue Cross to $40 per month when we became residents and went on the State run program - I love it -  the doctors are great, the hospitals are great and you don't have to wait for hours to get served.
• Property Taxes - where in the US can you pay $400 per year for a $600,000 home? 
• Labor - we pay about $50 a week for a gardener who works 27 hours a week on our yard and does a fantastic job. - Stef pays our housekeeper $40 a week for a new gal who is here 2 days a week and does great. We also have another great gal who cleans our patio and takes care of our pool for about $20 a week. - The last time we had someone clean our house in the states, this ahole said he deserved $200 for one day's work - figure that one out. - Are you reading this?
• Food - where in the US can you go to have dinner and have meat, salad and vegetables for under $3? Stef goes to the market on Friday's - buys fruit and vegetables and other for less than $6
• Medical - How about $20 a month for a doctor who makes house calls and the deductible is $20? Our doctor here (Dr. Candy) has found problems with us that the US doctors never knew. - Stef just went to an eye doctor here where they charged $20 for an eye exam. Guess what? - Stef was told that she was wearing her contact in the wrong eye for the last 10 years. This is after she had seen 3 eye doctors in the US who told her she was fine. - Dental - figure on 1/3 the cost here from that in the US for advanced procedures from that of the US.
• And much more..

Yep, some things are going to cost you more, but you had really need to take a look at the big things, which really overwhelm the costs of the smaller items. - Think about it.

 

Putting a Little Trama Into Our Life

April 2, 2010

This is what our lot looked like in February 2008 after a fire struck our neighborhood.

This is what the area around our house looked like Saturday afternoon after our lot was surrounded by a fire. It came up so fast that we didn't even know it was there until it crested the hill above our house. Fortunately, the neighbors, two fire trucks and the Cordaro family came to help put it out. We have had fires around here, but when they get that close to home, it's a little un-nerving. The fire department had to use a gas operated pump and take  water out of our pool to put out the flames on the left side of the lot. I have to tell you that our girl Ana Cecilia who takes care of the pool and cleans the patio every day, was the one who called the fire department and carried a fire hose up the hill to put out a lot of the flames. We now refer to her as  "Wonder Woman."

Many of the lots around us were completely burned, but believe it or not this can be good. The lots are cleared for new growth, and nutrients are put into the ground from the fire. In about a month, you won't even know it burned.

Stef was shaken from all this because it did get very close to our house. I told her that they have tornados in Tennessee that you can't do anything about, and we have fires here that you can at least fight. Anyway, we are all ok here - Here is a video of the fire going on around our house

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aKu5KR46ro

 

And now, some more pictures a neighbor took:

Yep, it was all around our house, but everything is ok now. Went and had a couple of drinks the next day, and I am fine. It may take a couple of days for Stef to recover, but she is more emotional than I am. I really want to thank everyone who helped us out during this ordeal.

Take care

Watch Out Nicaragua! - Here Comes the Girls

Stef recently made some new friends who she likes very much. Every Friday they get together and play cards along with some refreshments. The first time they played, it started at noon and didn't finish up until after 7:00 PM.

Well, one of them had to leave the country for 3 days to renew her visa (this has to be done every 90 days if you are not a resident) so they decided to take a trip to Nicaragua to accomplish this task. They wanted to do some big game sport fishing, relax at the beach and enjoy a few good meals. Enough from me about this, so I'll let Stef take it from here:

Thanks Pete
Well, February 3, 2010 I finally did it! Took my first bus ride in Costa Rica. It beats driving a stick shift for hours at a stretch, but I won't do it again. I'll fly or hire a driver. If you have short legs, it may not be so bad, if not watch out! I had pulled ligaments in my legs by the time I got home - after I rode for 8 hours - with my legs cocked out in the aisle because the lady in front of me had her seat set all the way back - so far back that the seat was practically in my lap!! Been there, done that and got the T-shirt!

Enough of that...My friends Cathy, Karolyn and me went to Nicaragua for 3 days so Cathy (far left) could get her visa renewed. Karolyn and I have our residencies so we just went along for the ride. We had a grand time, covered a lot of ground and made the best of the short time we were there. We rented a condo up the hill from San Juan del Sur. It was not withing walking distance, but they provided a shuttle for rides all day long until 10:00 PM, so that worked out just fine for us.  We could not wait to take the "Sunset Booze Cruise" that Karolyn had heard so much about, so we scheduled it for the last afternoon of our trip.


The first day we pretty much just found our way around the area because we did not get to the resort until about 3:00PM. Since we had to be at the bus station in San Jose at 5:00 AM that morning, it made for very LONG DAY. We decided to just cool it and get some rest in order to be ready for the next day.

The second day we had a great breakfast at the Gato Negro Cafe and Bookstore just a block or so from the beach. Then we did some shopping and headed back to the pool for some serious card games - Fun was had by all!!

What happens in Vegas - Stays in Vegas!

The next day the time finally came for the famous "Sunset Booze Cruise"! Yippy! All excited and ready to go our jaws dropped open when the guy at the little office told us "you may want to bring more beer" Now - what does that really mean we said? Well what it really means is they brought one beer for each of us. You heard me - one, 1, uno beer!!

And the boat...OMG. It was a 25' fishing boat with a fiberglass seat running down the middle of it. Then we had the captain whose 10 yr. old son was the second mate. With all this, Karolyn was embarrassed and we started to become worried that we were going to get seasick in the Pacific Ocean. I had insisted on taking Dramamine because of all the sunset trips I have taken over the years. Those were usually on a big catamaran boat that could hold up to 50 people, and had a kitchen and beer cooler. On those trips we would be out for hours and cover several miles. Not today folks! We almost backed out, but the captain, his son and the other passengers (3 Swedish students) - were like just staring at us, so we took a leap and got in the boat. We decided that if we spread our weight around and did not sit too close together - we would be ok, and that is what we did.

We were even allowed to fish. Now listen to this, the helper? He had fishing line on these wooden boards he would hand us, one at a time - mind you because not two of us could stand up together at the same time, remember? So we each fished and all caught something, so that was good.


Karolyn's catch









Then Cathy caught the big one of the day - This is really big game sport fishing!!!

So much for the "Booze Cruise", but it was actually fun.

Back to shore and get ready to leave the next day. Stopped and had dinner at a quaint little place before we retired for the night.

Check out the beautiful sunset. This is what it is all about.

On the last day of our trip we had to leave by noon to get to the bus station for our return. It was a quiet day and an hour to get to the border crossing back into Costa Rica. About the border crossing. You remember our trip to Panama where it cost us $100 in bribes to get across? Not as bad here, but it took us 3 hours to get through and it was HOT, my goodness. Yep - next time I will let the driver get us through, or fly!

Happy Trails, Stef