How much money do we need to have when we move to Panama, in order to live comfortably for a month?

Question

apartments, food, a bed, tv, phone, cable, internet

Answer 1

Do follow wcruz advise. Very accurate.

Answer 2

Well it all depends on how you want to live, and how much people are involved.

An average for a middle class family living in the metropolitan area would be:

Apartment - 600

Food - 100

Bed - 350

TV - 500 (decent size)

Phone - 30 (unlimited basic local service)

Basic Cable - 17 (if you add broadband its 35)

Internet - Dial Up is free if you get unlimited basic telephone local service, DSL lines start at 14.95 a month for 128K.

So in theory you're spending $1,611.95 as a monthly average on your basic bills.  Add up insurance, gasoline, gas, recreation, etc. and you will get up to $2,500.00 a month.

Answer 3

Short term, my wife and I could easily live in Panama on $1800 for 30 days.  This would include $750.00 for rent.

If we were going to live there long term we might want $1800 - $2000/mo to purchase other household items, clothes, etc.

For more information go to http://www.movetolatinamerica.com/.

Answer 4

For how many two, three, four?  We were able to find a nice three bedroom apartment furnished in El Dorado neighborhood for my daughter's family of five for $750 a month.  They bought their own TV from Rodelog (sp?) very large not flat screen for 250.  But it does take time to find the deals in apartments and appliances.  And then if you are only planning to stay a month there's always the aparthotels like the Torres De Alba.  It's a one bedroom suite, with living room/dining room, huge bath, full kitchen - fully stocked with washer dryer, satellite TV, high speed Internet, fax machine, etc right in the middle of El Congrejo so lots of good restaurants and within walking to a 24 hr Rey super market.  We had ours at a room rate of 50-60 a night.  I think they will give a monthly rate too.  We stayed here for a month while we located the place we currently live in.

It would be good if you could have a friend living in Panama do some of the work for you before you get here.  For instance, it took 15 days to get the internet and cable installed after we paid the deposits.  So if you are only planning to be here a month there are some things to think about.

Another thing to think about is a lot of the apartments out there may or may not have white line (washer, dryer, stove, frig) this may be something you will have to provide for yourself.

For other types of information about Panama see http://www.panamaexpertos.com/