Costa Rica

About Costa Rica

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the North, Panama to the East and South, the Pacific Ocean to the West and South and the Caribbean Sea to the East.

Costa Rica, literally translated: Rich Coast, constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949. It is the only Latin American country included in the list of the worlds 22 older democracies. Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index. The country is ranked 3rd in the world, and 1st among the Americas, in terms of the 2010 Environmental Performance Index.

In 2007 the Costa Rican government announced plans for Costa Rica to become the first carbon neutral country by 2021. According to the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index and is the “greenest” country in the world.

This excerpt we took from Wikipedia, you can read much more in detail if you visit this link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica

Costs of living in Costa Rica

Despite having one of the highest standards of living and being one of the most expensive countries in Latin America, purchasing power is much greater in Costa Rica then in the United States, Canada or Europe.

Hired help is a bargain, a full-time maid costs only a couple of hundred dollars per month. Utilities like telephone service, electricity, and water cost about 30% of what they cost in North America. Bills for heating can cost hundreds of dollars in the States. You never need to heat your home because of Costa Rica’s warm climate. Public transportation is also very reasonable priced. Bus fares from San José to the provinces cost no more than $15 to the most remote part in the country.

A gallon of gasoline costs about $4.00. If you must have a new car, realize that cars are expensive due to high import duties. Food, entertainment (movies cost a little over $4.00) and above all, health care, are surprisingly affordable.

When you have lived in Costa Rica a while, learned the ins-and-outs, you can invest in high-interest yielding accounts in one of Costa Rica’s many banks or private finance companies (some pay over 15% annually in dollars), starting a small business, do without packaged and canned imported brand-name foods and buy local products, eating in small cafes or sodas instead of expensive restaurants, or buy fresh foods in bulk at the markets like Costa Ricans do.

The minimum needed for a decent standard of living for a single person ranges from $900 to $1200 monthly (not following a “shop-till-you-drop” mentality).

A couple can live well on $1200 per month (not having a car), and live in luxury for $2000. Couples with husband and wife both receiving good pensions can live even better.

Any way you look at it, you will enjoy a high standard of living in Costa Rica and get a lot for your money. Consider that the average Costa Rican earns only $300-$500 a month. Costa Ricans earning under $500 monthly are considered to be lower class; those earning from $500 to $2000 are part of the middle class with anyone making more than $2,000 being upper class. So, you can see, foreigners with a decent income can have a comfortable lifestyle in Costa Rica.