Recently, a question arose on Facebook, “Can I seriously consider moving to Costa Rica living solely on my pension income from the US Social Security Administration?” I did it, making the move in July 2019. It wasn't and isn't easy, as Costa Rica is the most expensive country in Central America. I had enough money in savings to pay for the airline flight and my application for residency, but not much more than that. My savings disappeared years ago, but I am still here, living month to month on my Social Security check. Here are some cost-saving suggestions if you are considering making the move with limited funds.
Location
The location you chose to live is the most important factor in making the country affordable. Here are factors to consider:
- Avoid all places that tourists frequent as rent will be too expensive.
- Avoid locations where North Americans congregate, places such as Escazú, Santa Ana, and San Antonio de Belén. Again, rent will be too expensive.
- Essential services should be within walking distance to save money on transportation, such as the grocery store, the feria (see below), the bank, the pharmacy, and a bus stop.
- Choose a location where air conditioning is not required to live comfortably, to keep electricity costs down.
As a general recommendation, the ideal location for living on limited income in Costa Rica is a nice and safe Tico (a common word to refer to Costa Ricans) barrio in the Central Valley.
Living Space
A furnished one or two bedroom nice apartment can be found in Tico neighborhoods in the Central Valley for $600-750/month. If you desire a gated community for extra safety, you will likely pay double that cost. And alternatively, if you want to go “all in Tico,” you can find cheaper places, but they will not be up to the standards to which most North Americans are accustomed, and likely are not in the safest places. Most rentals typically include all services but electricity. My electrical bill is only $50-60/month year round, as neither heating nor air conditioning is needed in the Central Valley.
Transportation
Forget about owning a car here, you can't afford it.
As recommended above, walking should be the primary means of getting around. Walking not only reduces transportation costs, it significantly improves health and overall quality of life. I have lost 35 pounds since my first arrival to this country and I am more healthy than six years ago. I attribute the health improvements primarily to walking instead of depending on a car to go everywhere in the US, even short distances.
The public bus system is the second most important part of mobility in Costa Rica. “Everyone rides the bus,” unlike in North America. And, “All roads lead to San Jose (not Rome.”). If you chose to live outside the Central Valley, to traverse to another part of the country, you must first travel to San Jose to board the bus to your final destination, more often than not.
Learning the bus routes takes time and research, as different companies own the routes and there is no coordination between these companies. No “master schedule” of routes exists, much less times of departures and arrivals. Several applications purport to publish all routes - such as Moovit, Rome2Rio and Yo Viajo - but all are typically outdated and inaccurate, although helpful. I have learned how to “beat the system” and hope to share my secrets in a future publication.
Buses are inexpensive. Within the Central Valley, for daily travel needs, the best two ways to learn how to navigate the short routes are (1) just begin riding the buses to and from the city center, the malls and other places, learning as you go, and (2) ask Ticos for help.
It is impossible to go everywhere without using private transportation from time to time. Several options are available. First, three ride-hailing services offer transportation in Costa Rica: Uber, DiDi (a Chinese-owned competitor), and InDriver (a service that allows the driver and rider to negotiate the fare before the ride begins). Although these services are technically illegal, the government “looks the other way” and allows them to operate. You can use your credit card to create an account with Uber and DiDi (but you can't use the card on a trip with drivers), while InDriver is cash only. You will not encounter any problems using these services.
Finally, the “red taxis” are everywhere in the Central Valley and easy to access. Cash only. Make sure the driver turns on the meter before you.
Shopping
Discrimination in selection of stores to buy different products is important to get the most “bang for your buck.
- Fruits and vegetables: Every community has a “feria” (farmers market) once a week, where produce is significantly cheaper than in any grocery store. Take a few big bags and purchase all of the fruits and vegetables that you will need for the week. Do not buy canned produce to save costs.
- Bread: Bakery shops are on every corner and prices are unbelievably cheap. Do not buy bread in a grocery store.
- Cheese: Cheese shops are also abundant with low prices. Do not buy cheese in a grocery store, very expensive.
- Meats: Unlike bread and cheese shops, the local “carnicería” does not always have the lowest prices on meat. Watch local grocery stores for discounts and learn to live on chicken and pork, not beef. As for fresh fish, if in the Central Valley, go to the Central Market in San Jose.
- Food staples: For rice, dried beans, sugar, cooking oil, and all other food staples, learn to “shop around” for the best deals, considering transportation costs. There are several Costa Rican “chain stores,” such as MegaSuper, Pedi, AutoMercado and others. Walmart is present in Costa Rica but it is not the low-priced discount store as it is in the USA. However, Walmart subsidiaries - Maxi Pali and Pali - have better prices. I shop at Pali for my basic requirements, supplemented by frequent visits to MegaSuper, as it is the grocery store closest to my home for walking.
- Non-food staples: While paper products, soaps and cleaners, personal care needs, etc. are available in grocery stores, other department stores often have better prices for these non-food essentials: Pequeño Mundo, Shoppers, and El Rey are good choices; find the closest one.
- Bulk purchases: Costa Rica has PriceSmart and Costco for bulk purchases, but as I live alone month-to-month, the quantities are too large for me to be a cost effective strategy.
Two final recommendations. First, learn to enjoy Costa Rican brands rather than US brands, as imported products are significantly more expensive. Second, for clothing, first visit “Ropa Americano,” stores which offer second hand items often “like-new” at very low prices.
Pura Vida Insider
Monthly residency news, CCSS updates, cost of living data and expat tips. Free, no spam.
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.
Restaurants/Dining Out
Eating out in Costa Rica is expensive; the cost of dining at a nice “sit-down” restaurant in Costa Rica exceeds my budget, except on rare occasions. But affordable options exist.
- Sodas: A soda is a locally owned small restaurant, ubiquitous to Costa Rica; North Americans might call them “mom and pop” operations. Although there are hundreds if not thousands of sodas in the country, their menus are remarkably similar. The main dish offered is the “casada,” consisting of a protein (chicken, pork, fish, beef), gallo pinto (seasoned rice and beans), fried plantains, and a fresh vegetable, typically a cabbage-based salad. In addition, sodas might offer empanadas, salchichón (Costa Rican sausage), fried chicken, french fries, and olla de carne. That’s about it, but undoubtedly, sodas offer the most nutritious meal at an affordable price.
- Bocas:Tico bars offer small portion snacks - “mouths” or “bocas” - which are inexpensive and for me, the portions are plenty for lunch. Bocas are “bar food,” such as chicken wings, TicoTacos, hot dogs, fish sticks, fried cheese, french fries, nachos, etc., as well as smaller portions of Costa Rican favorites such as olla de carne, and chicken and rice.
- Executive Lunches:Many nice restaurants offer “Executive Lunch” specials, typically from 11:00am - 3:00pm on weekdays. I have identified a few nice restaurants with great deals, nice places to take guests. These meals typically consist of a natural fruit drink, an entré (typically soup), a main course, and dessert with coffee. As of the time of this writing, Executive Lunches are @6,000 ($12) colones in most nice restaurants.
- Fast food:Costa Rica has many of the fast food brands familiar to Americans, such as McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway and many more. I avoid fast food restaurants, for both financial and health reasons, with one exception: Subway offers a “Sub of the Day,” the selection varying each day, a 15 inch delicious sandwich for 2,000 colones ($4), “the best deal in town,” for my budget.
Entertainment and Leisure
I enjoy attending live entertainment, festivals, music, theater, and the like, as well as visits to museums and art galleries. There are many options and opportunities in San Jose, many at low cost or free. Outside of the San Jose General Metropolitan Area, such venues are “few and far between.
And, the beauty and natural resources of Costa Rica are only a bus ride away from San Jose! Day trips to the Pacific Coast are enjoyable, easy and cost the bus fare and lunch/drinks.
Medical Care
Expatriates handle healthcare in various ways.
- Insurance:The National Insurance Institute (Instituto Nacional de Seguros or INS) is an autonomous government institution, which held a monopoly on insurance until 2008, when insurances were opened to a competitive market. INS offers a variety of products to cover all insurance needs. In addition, insurance agents are happy to sell you private insurance plans. With insurance, you have access to the physicians and the private hospitals (Hospital Clínica Bíblica, Hospital CIMA, Hospital Metropolitana and others) for the very best care. However, the cost of insurance is probably not affordable on Social Security income, certainly not for me.
- The CAJA:The Costarricense de Seguro Social (Costa Rican Social Security Fund, or CAJA), is the institution that provides Costa Rica's universal healthcare and social security system. The CAJA is available only to citizens and expats who are official residents. And with residency, monthly payments to the CAJA are compulsory, the amount of the monthly payment determined by a formula based upon total personal income. The CAJA has significant problems that leave it a less than desirable option for all healthcare needs. Most significantly, wait times for any procedure are long; for any surgery, the wait is often years. It is said on the streets, “You will die before you get your needed surgery at the CAJA.” Second, the care is not always the best; it is rare to have a private room for a hospital stay, and many doctors/technicians are leaving the system for better pay in the private sector. The CAJA is definitely in a crisis currently.
- MediSmart:Similar to an HMO in the US, MediSmart is a prepaid medical plan that provides access to a network of private healthcare services at a significantly reduced cost, typically 60-75% of the cost of visits to the same physician without holding MediSmart membership. The monthly cost for individual membership is $15-20/month. Physicians in the MediSmart network are excellent, with every specialty practice available. MediSmart does not offer hospital coverage.
- Cash pay (“out-of-pocket”):Some individuals chose to pay cash with private care physicians and private hospital stays at standard rates. Even so, these rates are typically significantly lower than paying out-of-pocket for similar services in the US.
- MediCare:Use of Medicare is generally not available in Costa Rica, although certain procedures may be reimbursable in part after you pay the total expenses first. You should confer with the Social Security Administration to explore this possibility of reimbursement for any costs paid. I have never had success in getting reimbursed, although some expats have.
After living here six years, my strategy starts with MediSmart membership, visits to doctors within the network for both general care and speciality care. Monthly visits to my general practitioner - an excellent physician - are only 8,000 colones ($16) per visit.
Second, I have residency so the CAJA is available to me, but I currently visit CAJA clinics/hospitals only for lab tests, x-rays and such, prescribed by my MediSmart physicians. Additionally, I have gone to the emergency room of a public hospital twice, all at no cost (other than my monthly payment to the CAJA). Some prescriptions are available though the CAJA at no cost, again prescribed by my MediSmart physicians.
Third, I maintain my Medicare in the United States and will return to the States for any major procedure. In 2019, I returned to Texas for heart surgery, staying with my daughter’s family until the doctors cleared me to return to Costa Rica, all expenses covered by Medicare
Final Practical Suggestions
Bring over-the-counter medicines such as aspirin, benadryl, acetephetanin, and cold remedies. Such items are unbelievably expensive here, when compared to prices in the United States.
Although it is a debatable topic, I personally have found residency to be a good choice (versus twice a year border runs). With residency, I ride buses free, enjoy Tico prices to national parks and entertainment venues, have a Costa Rican bank account, have access to the CAJA, among other benefits.
"Thrive in paradise, not just survive!"
Terry Young
Retired
Texas A&M University
MA and MBA
Terry Young