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Nice Maravilla. I see us living in CR 3-6 months a year in say 10 years. I think a big part of our being able to live comfortably will be to own our home outright. We have the land and perhaps in a year or two we will have our house built. We live in a 900F2 apartment in Manhattan, so living in a similar if not smaller home in CR will be no problem. I do plan to have a car, but will pay cash for something rugged. I am able to handle most basic maintenance.
I am glad to hear Maravillas account, it wont work for everyone, but it is similar to my life style in NYC, except now we splurge a bit on Travel and occasional restaurants. I have been “green” since 1981 and to date live a simple life. I am certainly not looking to complicate it in my later years. Simple living…high thinking. I think a paid in full house is key to living a comfortable life on a small budget.
Perhaps it is possible for me to adapt to life without a car, but I am going to try to avoid having to do that. All the other things you mentioned sound very reasonable to do.
I would forsake owning a house before giving up a car, though.
Mobility on a whim for me is very important.hey, keith, you are least have a good choice of restaurants in NYC — i would eat out there, too, but down here, why would i want to eat mediocre food prepared with ingredients that aren’t even particularly good for you such as bad oils and lots of msg? as for the car thing, well, you can’t live in your car, sprite. i would rather have a house i owned outright than a car. there are plenty of transportation alternatives, but not as many alternatives for housing, which is usually the biggest part of someone’s budget. my husband wants a car more than i do; he’s still locked into that model that says having one makes one’s life easier. so we’ll see if we get one later this year. it doesn’t matter to me one way or another as i have survived for most of the 5 years i’ve been here without one.
[quote=”sprite”]Perhaps it is possible for me to adapt to life without a car, but I am going to try to avoid having to do that. All the other things you mentioned sound very reasonable to do.
I would forsake owning a house before giving up a car, though.
Mobility on a whim for me is very important.[/quote]Hey, maybe sprite should get a Winebago?:wink:
The only thing holding me back is money. I’m only 54 so SS isn’t an option for me for awhile. And I can’t get at my other retirement for 5 more years, so I don’t think it is realistic for me to move now. But I’m seriously considering buying some land this year – maybe a small farm or orchard – nothing big – and see if I can find someone that wants to lease it for next to nothing and work it until I can make the move. Heading down for my third trip this summer and I will be looking into that idea. I wish I could move sooner – my disillusionment with this country just gets heightened all the time, and I really do love CR. Maybe I’ll pick up a lottery ticket today!
Be [i]very careful[/i] when offering to lease your property because they could claim ‘squatters rights’ if you have given them permission to use it.
This is what many do though, while actually living on a property, especially if growing coffee, so that for a $1 a year, ‘someone’ will work the farm and reap the benefits, saving you the [i]’time and effort’ including CAJA/INS.[/i] They will do the physical work but [i]probably not pay for[/i] fertilizers, etc.[quote=”costaricafinca”]Be [i]very careful[/i] when offering to lease your property because they could claim ‘squatters rights’ if you have given them permission to use it.[/quote] Very good to know! Those are the kinds of things I must learn before doing anything. I will work with an attorney before doing anything – in the meantime, all advice is appreciated!
[quote=”maravilla”] gringo living is all about excess, but i have stripped all of that away and live with only what i need and what makes my life comfortable. i could teach a class on how to live cheaply in costa rica and stop being a gringo consumer.[/quote]
Oh Maravilla, I so much admire you and I’ll be your first student! This quote of yours brings me back to my original response to this post in which I explained all the fears holding me back. I mentioned in my original response that I realized submerging myself into another culture would strip me of everything I know (David, I appreciated your response to this as well), and with that being said, your quote above is exactly what I meant by that. I know I live in excess and want, want, want – that does tend to be American culture. I have had to do much soul searching this past year and have come to realize it is time to change things in my life. Part of wanting to move to CR is to lead a simpler life and experience new culture. Yes, I know my life is what I create it and can be created anywhere, but I do believe removing myself from my comfort zone and my “normal” life is essential in growth and in creating a more “authentic” lifestyle for me.
I currently struggle on a daily basis about selling my things, my vehicle, etc. but also, day by day, I retrain my thinking that I don’t “need” these things, they essentially are “just things”. So….I still am fighting my fears, and trying to “rationlize” them, but yet I still forge ahead. I think it was 2BNCR that mentioned some of us have adventure in our blood, but are not full blooded adventurers, and yes, I do have adventure in my blood and am becoming quite excited about my future plans. Speaking of planning, luckily I am a Virgo which means I have to plan, organize, plan again, organize some more, etc. so, I do have my plans in order. I plan to visit in April to check out the areas I am interested in, return in Septemeber to make some final decisions, and hopefully in mid-November take the …what did Marvialla say….”leap and the net will appear”. Well, hopefully it’ll be a hammock and not soon enough as I’m peering out my window at snow…again!!!
PS – Thanks to those that commented on my original response to the post. For a person that has only lived in 1 state their whole life (I even graduated from the college in my hometown – ok Marvialla, stop cringing!), your words, encouragement and advice are much appreciated!
Dawnsheryl crowe said it best: It’s not having what you want
It’s wanting what you’ve got. as long as i’ve got 600 TC sheets, cashmere sweaters, a beautiful house, good food, good health, my dogs and my husband, well, after that everything else is pretty meaningless. come on down, dawn. there’s a hammock with your name on it and i promise you won’t hurt yourself leaping into it!!Dawn, Yes being a Virgo I know all about planning and then planning again!As we look around the house we see how easy it is to part with what we thought we could never live without.But yes we won’t forget the 600 count sheets, there are some things you just CAN’T live without!
Hi everyone! Try THIS one on for size.
We have NO FEARS, we LONG to make the move. What holds US back is not knowing how to handle certain situations…. I am a 49 (50 in April) year-old Disabled Veteran. I have a disability income that SHOULD make life bearable ($4000+), but some hurdles have been thrown in our path for quite some time. We survived Hurricane Charley in 2004, and were ruined financially by FEMA’s “HELP”, and the ensuing years since then have not seen anything improve but our ability to pay our bills (My wife makes fair money). What kills us is that we have nothing saved up, and have a very hard time being ABLE to save….everything went/goes out the door. For us to live, everything has to be in CASH, as our CREDIT here in the US is RUINED now, and recovery will take YEARS UPON YEARS. Credit, because of a very prejudicial and un-decipherable credit reporting and scoring system here in the US, is all but IMPOSSIBLE to correct in the course of ONE human lifetime.
My wife is HUNGRILY reading everything she can find, learning Spanish, devouring all the advice and information she/we can find, yet we haven’t found the answers that will allay OUR fears. We are afraid we WILL NOT be able to buy a house, We don’t have money for $40,000 down on a house, and if we DID, what then? Will we even be able to have a car? If we do, will SO MUCH of our income be consumed, that we can’t afford to live on my income alone, even in that wonderful place that has so much to offer?
I think we have MOST of our questions answered except THOSE. We are eager to embrace the life down there. We want to get away from the deterioration of our lives here in the US under what soon will be Communist or perhaps Sharia rule….we have a usurper in the White House, and the American people have been lulled to sleep by their own apathy.
We have searched far and wide for these few answers, but have yet to find them, therefore we hesitate. Is my income enough to make a decent life there? Will we be limited to something akin to a hovel to live in? will we be able to travel when we wish, or will we be worse off altogether?
For those who inevitably race to judge, we are no trailer trash, we are NOT irresponsible with our money and credit and ARE NOT looking for an easy way out…. We have been dealt some serious blows (I haven’t told it all here) and are just sick and tired of the deck being stacked against us….. Here in the us, the FIRST hint, first INSTANCE of not having normal credit, and it’s “DOG PILE ON THE GUY WHO IS DOWN” you are KEPT at a disadvantage, until/unless you have help of some kind, and we’re fed up.
The US is in serious trouble, and the people will sit idly by and let it happen………….we want out.
So, until we can have answered these last few nagging questions, we will REMAIN in a holding pattern……We HOPE to be able to come down sometime this summer, but here again…WHERE ARE ALL THESE INEXPENSIVE AIRFARES that people throw around so liberally when talking about visiting CR? I’ve never seen the likes of some of these prices, and I consider myself somewhat CAPABLE when searching for such things.
We live near Nashville TN and we’ve looked at departure points ALL OVER the US and STILL can’t find anything cheaper than a THOUSAND DOLLARS for two, round-trip……Where do all of these people FLY from who get airfares less than $200? Are we seeing a lot of BS or hype?
SOMEONE…..PLEASE help set us on the path! HOW do we get the answers we need?
Best wishes to all! (Or should I have said “Pura Vida”?)
Dan.
first of all, it’s the high season so airfares are expensive right now. but only two or three times in 17 trips did i ever get an airfare less than $500 from Denver. the cheap flights are usually out of florida, but that’s not close to where you are.
you can live very very very well on $4000 a month, and in fact, if you aren’t extravagant, you can probably live better than you are living now on half that amount, giving you two grand to stash every month. there should be no problem finding a lovely place to live for less than $600 a month, probably even less.
[quote=”maravilla”]first of all, it’s the high season so airfares are expensive right now. but only two or three times in 17 trips did i ever get an airfare less than $500 from Denver. the cheap flights are usually out of florida, but that’s not close to where you are.
you can live very very very well on $4000 a month, and in fact, if you aren’t extravagant, you can probably live better than you are living now on half that amount, giving you two grand to stash every month. there should be no problem finding a lovely place to live for less than $600 a month, probably even less.[/quote]
Thank you Maravilla, I have enjoyed reading your posts…… I’m not afraid to go back to Florida for the less expensive airfares, but I still haven’t found them…no matter WHAT time of year, but will keep looking.
I failed to mention that we have a 15 year-old Daughter and 9 year-old son as well….we KNOW that schools will be important, and have done our due diligence researching them….. We, after exhaustive reading, like Grecia, but KNOW that until we’ve been there, and I mean Costa Rica in general, we won’t know where we want to be.
Like I said, we worry about being able to have a home…..YES we will rent, we’ll HAVE to, and we’re USED to renting, but don’t want this to be the trend for the remainder of our days…….I want t be able to leave something for my kids and wife.
With kids, I am sure that it’s more advantageous to have a car as well, and are looking for those answers too.
If you are telling me that we can live ok on $2000 a month, does that mean bare-essential, no TV (Remember, I have kids….LOL), and NO Gringo comforts? Don’t get me wrong, I am ready, I can simplify with the best of them, but when you add kids to the equation, it may mean needing “SOME” of the comforts of home, after all, it is THEY who have to adapt as well.
Reading the VOLUMES we have read, it is still best to hear from someone who is “LIVE AND ON THE GROUND” so to speak, so respective of things like the rainy season and all, what time of year would YOU recommend to come?
Also, do you know how credit will affect our ability to do the things we want to do?
Thank you SO MUCH for your reply.
Dan.
forget credit. why would you want it? the key to real financial independence is to ditch the notion that credit improves your life. it doesn’t. it’s a noose around your neck. you didn’t mention kids in your first post. i don’t know what it costs to school them here. i don’t know what you mean by bare essentials. for me not having a TV is a [b]luxury[/b]. there are so many other things to do here for kids besides watch TV, and what do you mean by “gringo comforts”? if that’s a bunch of high-priced packaged food, well, i don’t know anything about that either, i just know i would never spend $9.00 on a sack of Oreos, mainly because i don’t eat them anyway. if you’ve read other posts on this thread you will see that i have said that my husband an i live on about $800 a month down here, but then our house is paid for. we have high speed internet, but no TV. we do whatever we want to do, which isn’t much really, eat gourmet food, entertain, have nice clothes, good sheets (that’s a luxury for me!), i don’t know what else there is in life. we don’t have a car, but right now that’s by choice. with kids i guess it’s different. it would be nice to wean your kids off the grid of american consumerism. most kids here don’t have gameboys, xbox, or whatever all the stuff is, or even a computer — the internet cafes are filled with students when school is in session. whether you can survive on two grand or four grand will depend on what you really deem important to the quality of your life. $4 grand is more than most lawyers or doctors make here. it’s surely a lot more than my dentist makes, but only you will know what you can and cannot live without.
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