Is costa rica cheaper than the USA??and is a good place to start a new life their being 22yrs old??

Question

Is costa rica cheaper than the USA??and is a good place to start a new life their being 22yrs old??

Answer 1

Yes, it is cheaper than the U.S. but is the second most expensive country in Central America. Also, you could live cheap in little towns where it is not expensive. If you're planning to have luxuries such as beach front, large house, air conditioning the prices are comparable to those in the U.S. Costa Ricans land is extremely pricey and keeps getting more expensive year after year. I would hate to live there all my life, i see nothing exiting about it to spend my life there. For a 1-2 week Vacation it might be good, but for life, i would say no. If you want to, of course, you can. Knowing the language would be a good start, as the majority of English speakers are on the Caribbean coast, are business people or workers in the tourism industry.

Safety is another matter, Costa Rica is the second safest country in Central America (1st is Nicaragua) but the majority of crime happens in San Jose and other touristy cities/towns.

Answer 2

what things are cheaper in costa rica that can concern a 22 year old?

beer, food, apartment rental, urban transportation, backpacker hotel fee, night life.

expensive things

a car can cost twice the US price, gas is over $4 a gallon, international phone calls up to $3/min (hotel rate), cell phones got cheaper rates but you can't buy a cell phone in costa rica cause local provider is out of lines (is not a joke). clothes, audio/video, music/dvds are expensive too.

Answer 3

its a good place to go on vacation for a little bit =]

Answer 4

cheaper no, new life if u no a lot of spanish yes

Answer 5

My experience is that Costa Rican costs are about 90% of the U.S. average so if you are from New York, Boston, LA etc you will find it extremely cheap, if you are from a smaller midwest or Southern city you will find it about the same or slightly cheaper.

Answer 6

Living in Costa Rica is no longer cheap.  Land in most of Costa Rica has prices comparable to the U.S.  If you live a gringo style life in Costa Rica you will spend more then in the U.S.

It is a not a good place to start a new life unless the new life comes with mucho money.  Or you have some marketable skills.  Right now high tech trades are doing great.  If you speak Spanish and English and are with not a single shred of decency you can take up real estate scams.

But most jobs you can get are poorly paid.  Getting all the permits to be legal can be a real pain in the *** but not nearly so painful as being detained for illegal status.

If you are really thinking about it come down first for a long visit.  Every  3 months you will have to travel abroad to avoid visa problems.  

Are you interested in going to school when you get here?  That would be the ideal way to start in.

Answer 7

It is a great place to go on vacation...

It is cheaper (except near the beach) but being an American, you will not be able to get a job there.... so you will have to bring a massive amount of money with you, and get a visa extension to stay more then 90 days.... if you can prove you have wealth, you can get a permanite resident visa from a Costa Rica consolate here in the USA before you go.

I love it there... but I could not live there unless I had plenty of money.

Also, although it may be cheaper to "live" there, if you want to live descently, it would take a lot more money then it takes here in the USA.

Answer 8

I think Costa Rica it's a good place for you to start a new life. I've  never been in the USA so I can't compare both. I will give you an idea of how expensive life here is.

Regarding real estate, food, and oil Costa Rica it's one of the most expensive countries of Latin America. Regarding public services (water, electricity, telecommunications) it's the cheapest.

Costa Rica has a low unemployment ratio (no match in Latin America) and a very active economy making one of the two Latin American countries with more immigrants coming than emigrants going.

Prices:

A brand new three bedroom, two bathroom house in the metropolitan area. Cost: $ 85000.

Breakfast: $2.

Lunch: $3.

One month electricity bill: $ 18.

One month water bill: $ 10.

One month cell phone bill: $ 9.

One month phone bill: $ 9.

One month Cable TV bill: $ 22.

Apartment rent for a month in the Metropolitan area: $200.

Of course the prices vary depending on rate of consumption, location of the house, etc. I hope I helped you.

Answer 9

Yes, lots of Americans are visiting Costa Rica and they like so much, some of them stay living in there. My first time in Costa Rica was about 6 years ago, and I liked it so much that in my second time there I decided to buy a vacation apartment near the beach (Jaco) and a 2 hour drive to San Jose (capital city). If you earn in US dollars the exchange rate is soooo good, but if not you will be living very well if you earn in Costa Rican colones. There are lots of jobs for American people, specially in hotels, call centers (HP, Sykes, Data Ascension and more), huge international companies (Procter&Gamble, Intel) and more, as well as common jobs.

It will be a great place to raise a family (if you plan so) and enjoy la good life. Pura vida.

Answer 10

If you want to live like an American, I don't think its especially cheap.  If you don't mind living or traveling like a local, it is quite a bit cheaper, at least outside the tourist-only areas. For example, a basic but clean hotel (no AC or cable) might be $5-10/night.

Not a great place to live though, because I'm not sure if foreigners can get jobs, and Costa Rican pay levels are very very low, I recall people making $1/hr.  Its not cheap at all if you have to get by on a Costa Rican income.  There is a reason why young people immigrate FROM these countries to the US, and US retirees migrate to them.