MARCH 2014 EXPENSES – NICARAGUA BORDER RUN by Marilyn

CATEGORY	AMOUNT
Groceries/Household	416.12
Rent/Utilities	946.14
Transportation	143.46
Doctors/Dentist/Meds	250.41
Dogs	59.88
Entertainment	86.65
Trips*	782.05
Workshop/Garden	143.03
Furniture/Fixtures	0.00
Exercise/Fitness	43.00
Misc.	95.78
March 2014 TOTAL	$2,966.52
*March Visa Run to Nicaragua Bus tickets to/from Nicaragua $72.92 Transportation in Nicaragua (taxis/shuttle to border) 95.00 CR buses 8.08 Meals/Snacks 149.70 House Sitter 80.00 Hotel 298.35 Customs/Border Fees 40.00 Misc. 30.00 March 2014 Visa Run TOTAL 782.05

 Without going to Nicaragua this month, we would have just missed our $2,000/month goal, spending $2,184.47. Last month was $2,248.21. Should I change the goal to $2,200? I really don’t want to – I do think that once we get our pensionado, our medical expenses (mostly mine) should decrease enough to keep us below $2,000. So I’m going to hang onto the $2,000 goal for now and see what happens in the coming months.

But … until we get our pensionado (which we still haven’t begun working on), we will have to leave Costa Rica every 90 days for 72 hours. (UPDATE:  Several folks have shared information with me since I posted this, explaining that the 72-hour requirement has to do with customs, not immigration. I appreciate their taking the time to explain this, and we'll happily use that information to take a much shorter trip next time.)And even after we get a cedula number, which means that we’re “in process” we will continue to have to cross the border to recertify our U.S. drivers’ licenses (not the 72-hour requirement), but we’ll most likely follow the lead of our neighbors, Jim and Irina Just -- A Different Kind of Trip to Nicaragua ..., who have ferried to Nicaragua for lunch and come right back.

We learned lots of lessons on this, our first trip to Nicaragua. In total, our trip cost us nearly $800, pretty pricey (for us) for a 4-day trip. To get the complete picture of this trip, check out the three-part “Busing It from Costa Rica to Nicaragua” articles on our blog. After reviewing what we spent our money on, there are definitely a few things we could have done to cut down on these trip expenses:  picked a cheaper hotel (downtown San Juan Del Sur has several modestly priced hotels that are rated okay on Trip Advisor); taken the un-air-conditioned, but much cheaper Deldu bus both ways; spent less on food -- we ate at the hotel restaurant which was delicious, but pricey for Nicaragua. I'm not sure how many of these Visa runs are in our future -- friends who've applied for their residency more than 15 months ago are still waiting. It will be interesting to see how much we're spending every three months or so on these trips. So far January and March haven't been too promising in the "living cheaply" category. 

NEW CATEGORY

I’ve added the category “Exercise/Fitness” to the March budget. We are trying to be regulars at the twice-a-week yoga, and Paul has started playing tennis again after a 10-year hiatus. Maybe in future budgets our Exercise/Fitness expenses will help reduce the Doctors/Dentists/Meds category! 

NOVEMBER LIVING EXPENSES IN COSTA RICA by Marilyn

Inspired by Paul and Gloria Yeatman+ (retireforlessincostarica.com) we are determined to keep our living expenses in Costa Rica at or below $2,000. So, like the Yeatmans, we’ll be posting our expenses on our blog every month. I like the idea of comparing what we’re spending with what others are spending to live comfortably in Costa Rica. 

CATEGORY	AMOUNT
Groceries/Household	403.99
Rent/Utilities	1049.01
Transportation	76.66
Doctors/Dentist/Meds	180.56
Dogs	69.32
Entertainment	29.99
Trips	0.00
Workshop/Garden	109.58
Furniture/Fixtures	924.19
Misc.	15.02
November 2013 TOTAL	2858.32
LESS Extraordinary Expenses*	995.39
ACTUAL LIVING EXPENSE	1862.93
*Furniture for house; cables, etc. to bring electricity to workshop

In the States, discussing money issues with others is still pretty verboten. People will gleefully share information about who they hooked up with or what drugs they’re on, but talk about how much you earn … never!

Many who move here come with substantial savings and investments. They may have healthy pensions or retirement accounts. They don’t have to count pennies (or colones) every month. But there are also the folks like us who hope to find a way to live well on a limited budget.

It was extremely refreshing as I began my research on moving to Costa Rica to discover Paul and Gloria’s website. They are truly an inspiration and let us believe that we could do this too.  

A bit of background on us is in order. Paul and I spent much of our working lives as freelancers in creative fields. Although we had “real” jobs at various points, those jobs (editing, video production, adjunct faculty) did not provide opportunities to build strong retirement accounts. We were fortunate to have the last years of our working lives be as high school teachers. We each earned enough “points” in the system to have small pensions that now supplement our Social Security income.

So that’s what we have to work with.  By keeping our Costa Rica expenses below $2,000, we should be able to develop a decent savings account. In the monthly expense grid that I will be publishing, I am not including “prior commitments” like credit card and loan payments. Because we no longer use our credit cards, they are not part and parcel of our living expenses in Costa Rica; still, until we finish paying them off, they will be impacting our ability to save as much as we would like.

During November, we had nearly $1,000 of what I’ve indicated as “extraordinary expenses.” We moved into a house with almost no furniture. It is a great house and we feel very fortunate to have it, but all it had in it was a table, four chairs and a bed that was too small for us. After meeting Paul and Gloria in June, we thought we might be able to find a terrific furnished house in a great area for $500 a month because that’s the deal the Yeatmans have. They had strongly cautioned us that they’d fallen into a “one in a million opportunity.” But it wasn’t until two weeks of rental house shopping that the reality of the “one in a million opportunity” set in. The house we’re in now is the first one we looked at and initially rejected because the rent was $850 a month with minimal furnishings. But now that we’re here, it is right for us for many reasons (to be discussed in a future blog) and well worth the $850 a month.

 For several reasons we chose not to ship any of our furniture from the states. So for the next few months we will be purchasing (or Paul will be building) furniture. The “extraordinary expenses” in November represent a used bed and bookcase and a new sofa. We are turning the old house behind ours into a workshop (one of the bonus opportunities of this rental) To bring power to the building, we purchased electrical cable and fittings. These improvements will also be considered “extraordinary expenses” since they are not “required” to live comfortably in Costa Rica, but are choices we are making over and above our living expenses.

So there you have it. Of course every household will be different, but by looking at a variety of monthly expense budgets, you may be able to develop your own idea of what you’ll need to start your new life in Costa Rica with more clarity.