What is the real cost of living in Costa Rica?
I lived there for eight years and in this video I'm gonna break it down for you
so you know exactly what to expect.
and at the end of this video,
I'll tell you what my exact cost of living was and what other foreigners are
spending.
Let's start with one of the biggest expenses housing.
Now your exact cost for housing will depend on where you move within
the country, the type of housing you choose, and how long you stay.
But let's start with just a one bedroom furnished apartment in the Central
Valley that will run you between 500 and a thousand dollars per month.
But one of the things that you'll notice when you get to Costa Rica is that the
cost of a one, two,
or three bedroom property might not be that much different.
You could rent a really nice one bedroom condo and a luxury building for
the same price as a two or three bedroom town, home or single family home.
Here we have a one bedroom condo in La Sabana,
which is just outside of downtown San Jose,
and it's fully furnished for a thousand dollars per month.
But just down the street in Los Yoses,
we have a two bedroom apartment for only $150 more.
And then in Heredia, which is just to the north of the city,
we have a three bedroom townhome for only 950 per month.
So you can see how you can get a lot for your money depending on where you live
within the Central Valley or the country as a whole.
Some beach towns like Playa Flamingo, Brasilito and Nosara, for instance,
can be much more expensive to rent in with less availability compared to some
of the bigger towns like Tamarindo, Playa Del Coco, and Jaco.
If you live in Jaco on Costa Rica Central Coast,
you can get a studio or one bedroom apartment for as little as $500 or
$650 per month,
and you can also get a house or a bungalow for less than a thousand per month.
Now, if you want to go really high end,
some of the nicest properties in the area, beachfront ocean view,
go from between $1500 a month up to $3,000 per month or more.
Here we have a studio in Jaco for $500 per month,
A house in Hermosa down the road for $900 per month,
and a luxury condo in Jaco for $3000 per month. However,
compared to Jaco,
a studio or one bedroom apartment in the beaches of Nosara could go for
$4,000 per month. When renting in Costa Rica,
always make sure to ask your landlord, which utilities will be included, if any.
Sometimes water can be included, but it won't cost you that much either way,
could be 10, 20 or $30 per month.
And also condo fees and security.
If you're living in a building or a gated community,
that should be included in your rent as well.
The big expense when it comes to utilities is electricity. Now,
if you live in an area of Costa Rica with a milder or cooler climate
like in the Central Valley for instance,
then your electricity bill might only be around $75 per month up to
a hundred dollars per month.
But if you live on the beach and if you're running your air conditioning all
day, your electricity bill can easily be $200,
$400 or more.
I once had a client who had a $1,000 electricity bill,
but that's because he lived in a big house that he was air conditioning all day.
So if you wanna save money when you live in Costa Rica,
make sure to turn off the lights, turn off the AC when you're not using it.
The price of internet has dropped a lot in recent years for pretty decent speeds
today for only $30 or $40 per month,
you can get speeds for up to 100 megabits per second,
and for $40 to $50 you can get packages including cable
and internet together.
Some of the biggest internet companies in the country include Cabletica and Kolbi.
Now you're also going to want internet on your phone,
and you can get that using a prepaid sim card. Now,
as you can see here on Kolbi's website for 30 days,
it says it's only 4,000 colognes,
but that's only for two gigs of data.
So you could burn through that pretty quickly,
so could cost you between $20 to $30 a month for your
prepaid sim card. Getting around Costa Rica is pretty affordable.
If you don't buy a car, there are plenty of taxis, buses,
shared shuttles, private drivers, and Ubers available.
The cheapest way to get around by far is the local bus.
A fair within town can cost you maybe only a dollar or two,
and to get all the way from San Jose to the beach for example,
Jaco might cost you only five or $10. Likewise,
if you were to take a shared shuttle from the airport,
it could cost you $45,
or if you wanted your own private driver around $150.
Ubers are pretty cheap as well,
but they're mostly only available in the Central Valley.
So if you have to take a taxi,
make sure that's the last resort because that is the most expensive of all the
options. Now,
you can also fly around the country with one of the local domestic airlines
like Sansa or Nature Air, but it's not cheap.
A one-way ticket could cost you between a hundred and $200,
and there's also hefty baggage fees.
But if you qualify for temporary or permanent residency in Costa Rica,
you could access some of the local deals,
which can sometimes be as low as $40 or $50.
If you plan to buy a used car in Costa Rica,
it's going to cost you to the tune of 10 or 15 grand.
The good news is you can usually sell it for the same price that you bought it
for. The bad news is be prepared to spend around $500 per month
on gas and maintenance for the least amount of headaches.
Opt for one of the most well known car brands like Nissan, Toyota,
or Hyundai.
Many people also invest in motorbikes or four-wheelers.
If you live on the beach,
you can pick up a motorbike for around a thousand dollars or so,
but four by four's can go up to 5K or more.
I don't necessarily recommend renting a car, but if you have to,
it could cost around a thousand dollars per month.
There are four levels of grocery shopping in Costa Rica,
and the cheapest option is to shop at one of the local weekend markets.
You can usually walk out of there with two hefty bags of produce,
maybe some local eggs and cheeses for around $20 or $30,
and that includes organic produce.
The next level up from there is to shop at the local Costa Rican chain
Pali then comes the Mas X Menos
and the most expensive supermarket is Auto Mercado,
as well as some of the specialty stores where that $20 or $30 on produce
can easily double or triple if you expect to be eating out. Then,
if you were to have breakfast at one of the local sodas,
maybe a Gallo pinto with some tortillas, eggs,
coffee and fruit, that could run you between five to $8.
But going to a breakfast at a fancier place can easily cost you $10 to
$15.
The cost of a local Costa Rican cup of coffee is $1,
and we all know how much it costs at Starbucks. Same goes for lunch.
If you eat a Casado which is a typical plate at one of the local sodas,
which has some salad, rice and meat,
then that could cost you around seven to $10 or $12.
But if you go to a nicer restaurant,
then you can easily spend $20 to $30 on lunch.
Dinners at local spots could cost you $15 or $20 per person,
but you can also spend $30 to $50,
even a hundred dollars per person on a nice meal out,
especially in a touristy area. And when alcohol is included,
the cheapest alcohol in Costa Rica is the local beer and also Guaro,
but you can also get some pretty affordable bottles of wine at the supermarkets
and some nice happy hour specials for your sunset drinks.
Also, remember that Costa Rica charges a 13% sales tax and a 10%
service charge at restaurants.
So always check the menu to see if Eva is included or ask your
waiter. So there are no surprises when you get your bill.
Entertainment costs in Costa Rica vary. It depends on what you're looking for.
You can save a lot of money on service based businesses. For example,
a massage that could cost $50 or a hundred dollars or more in the US could cost
you only $20 or $30 in Costa Rica. Same with maid service.
Instead of $20 or $30 per hour, it could cost that much for the whole day.
And I've also found that spa services can be about
30% less than in the U.S. And when it comes to tours,
it depends on what you're going to do.
But a coffee tour could cost you $25 whitewater rafting,
$50 or $75,
and the entry for the day to the hot springs at Tabacón, for example,
could cost you up to a hundred dollars. There's also golfing, zip lining,
sport fishing, all kinds of fun stuff in Costa Rica.
We also can't forget about the casinos, which Costa Rica is famous for,
but there's really no limit to the amount of money you could win or lose there.
Gym memberships are pretty affordable in Costa Rica,
you could pay between $20 to $40 per month,
but some of the nicer chains like World Gym might cost you $80 or $90 a
month. Costa Rica is known for its medical tourism industry,
so you have plenty of options when it comes to healthcare. Now,
you might wanna keep your policy back at home,
especially if you aren't going to be there very long. But in either case,
you should have an international travel medical insurance policy to cover
you wherever you go. I use Safety Wing,
I'll link to it in a comment below,
but you can also get local Costa Rica and health insurance.
The company's INS and Sagicor both offer tourist insurance.
For foreigners, good for up to 90 days at a time.
A 90 day policy with Sagicor starts at $540.
For a people aged 70 and below, or $1,400 for people,
over 70. INS is around the same rate at about $7 per day.
You can also pay out of pocket for medical procedures.
A dental cleaning or a basic checkup with a physician could cost you between
$50 and a hundred dollars,
and you can even get a home visit for around $85.
So if we add everything up,
even before accounting for miscellaneous expenses like banking,
ATM fees, clothing, and other purchases,
taxes that you might pay in your home country,
you can expect to have a cost of living of around $2,500 to
$3,000 per month. Of course,
locals can live a bit cheaper,
and if you live in Costa Rica long term,
you can certainly cut your cost of living down by renting unfurnished
and renting long term. But if you're gonna be there a shorter amount of time,
if you wanna keep a really high quality of life,
then it gets a little pricier. If you buy a car or if your rent is more,
then you can can easily expect a cost of living of around four or
$5,000 per month.
Hey, there,
just wanted to interrupt my own video for a minute to bring you some new
information. I do this sometimes when I'm editing my videos,
but I decided to post a Facebook poll to ask other foreigners who are living in
Costa Rica how much they spend. And I got over 300 responses,
and this was fascinating.
The range of people's costs of living in Costa Rica goes from
$175 per month up to $10,000
per month. So on the low end, this guy with his $200 a month budget,
he's living on a sustainable farm. He's bartering his food,
he's growing his own food, he he's doing his thing.
And then somewhere in the middle,
I would say the average cost of living that people reported for a single or a
couple was anywhere from $1,500 per month to $3,000 per month,
which is about the range that I was discussing in this video.
And then for a family,
it was around $4,500 per month up to $6,000
per month because they have their kids in private school quite often,
which can go for a thousand dollars per kid per month.
And then there were people on the higher end with the eight, $10,000 range.
And I also found it interesting that most people said that they were spending
around half of what they paid in the United States, especially for rent.
And then other people said they were spending the same amount of money,
but they just had a way better quality of life.
Many of my friends who live on the beaches in Costa Rica spend between three and
$5,000 per month.
I spent around 2,500 to 5,000 per month depending on how many
repairs my car needed and how much I was traveling within the country and in
the region.
But I hope that this helps with your planning and let us know in the comments
below if these figures are higher or lower than what you're spending now
and where you're living.
And for more videos about living on Costa Rica and why some people leave,
check out these videos.