Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes Inexpensive things are important if you want to keep your cost of living at an acceptable level. Here we go. I’ve been spending a lot of time and ink in the last four blogs talking about and giving advice on expensive or hard-to-find articles in Costa Rica. Therefore, I…
Sometimes it’s really hard to find articles in Costa Rica. I’m going to mention a couple of more non-perishables before leaving the territory of hard-to-find products in Costa Rica. Here’s an eclectic list of a couple of expensive and hard to find articles plus a bit about cellphones. Luckily, we shipped a couple of box…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes I needed some specialty goods and really had a hard time finding them. There are other food items to cover on Costa Rica’s hard-to-find list. But I thought men are less interested in edibles. So today, as a men’s section of blogs, I’ll explain how I found a shortage of…
This week, I’m going to continue with a partial grocery shopping list of our hard- or impossible-to-find gringo food items. Again, I expect to elicit a sizeable reaction from readers informing me where they found gringo food items I said we couldn’t find or couldn’t afford. Maybe you missed my blog 2 weeks ago? Then, I’ll…
Do you think you will miss your customary delicacies after moving to Costa Rica? If you are going to reside in Costa Rica, there is one adjustment you are probably going to be required to make. It is learning to find or invent substitutes for delicacies that don’t exist here. Other delicacies are so obscure…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes I couldn’t connect with a recommended English-speaking specialist for a medical appointment. You’ll see, I’ve learned to have patience. I was having a troubling medical situation. So now my Plan B is to attempt to see a GP in the town next to mine. I called and the receptionist connected…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes When moving to Costa Rica you’ll need medical attention. So what’s available when you retire here? While we’re still waiting for our “cedula de residencia” as “pensionados” we’ve kept our MediCare in the States. Just in case there is a real medical necessity. So, if something major required a return…
Estimated Reading Time: 7 Minutes I’ve found out how to pay my utility bills. But I’ll start this blog with a disclaimer. My chosen topic for today’s blog, paying utility bills in Costa Rica, is a bit like an unfinished symphony: the final stanza has yet to be written. It also reflects my own personal…
It is tourist visa stamp time for my wife and me. Our 90-day visa was expiring and we needed to make a border run. Therefore, we had to leave Costa Rica and re-enter to renew our visa. That was the only way to keep our U.S. driver’s license and Costa Rican driver’s insurance in force.…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes How can you legally drive when you have just moved to Costa Rica? Can you legally drive on a pending residency? Have you decided to settle down and start living in Costa Rica? Maybe giving it an extended tryout? Then you’re going to have to leave the country every 90…
TicoNuevo joins ranks at the horse parade. A little-known fact for novice “tope-goers”: you can actually rent a horse and join the riders in most Costa Rican tope or horse parade. We had this offering at our horse parade. Some of the renters, to be delicate, “detracted somewhat” from the aura surrounding my vision of…
Maybe you have a reason to dissolve your Costa Rican corporation? As many of you are aware, or certainly should be aware by now, the Costa Rica government imposed an annual corporation tax on all Costa Rican corporations. This is done by way of Law No. 9204 in 2012. The date the law was implemented…
If you want to move here, I insist you learn about the tope in Costa Rica. As my practice riding sessions continued on schedule, I recalled the team’s uniform requirements mentioned weeks ago during our get acquainted dinner (a black cowboy hat, white dress shirt, black jeans, western belt and buckle, and a pair of…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes This is how the wish for my first tope started. Your Costa Rican guide books and online resources probably define a “tope” like a horse parade. Using a very liberal interpretation after my first experience with one, that’s as accurate a description as I can give. Every town of any…
Estimated Reading Time: 6 Minutes So, we’ve completed 98% of our home improvement project. Friends say that this is the Tico way of finishing things. Honestly, I think it happens everywhere. But allow me to tell you all about it, so you can learn from my mistakes. We have finished the business with my contractor…
Estimated Reading Time: 8 Minutes I’m sure you now want to learn more about the remodeled result of our home. We went through a long and detailed process, but we’re all happy with the remodeled result. We bought our new property in Costa Rica at a price that allowed us to afford all of the…