Tips on Living in Costa Rica

Below is an assortment of tips on living in Costa Rica.  These are some handy things we've learned by living here.  Enjoy!

How to call the

U.S.

for 10 cents a minutes an

Canada

and

Europe

for 10 cents a minute (NOTE: This is for placing calls to land lines only. To place a call to cell phones it costs 42 cents per minute).

You can sign up for this plan with a company called Fergata Verde out of

San Jose

. You must be referred by a member in order to sign up. Call 220-4594. You can ask for someone who speaks English, if necessary.

They will tell you to go to a Banco Nacional and deposit a minimum of $10 (in U.S. dollars only, not colones) in their account, number 1026001181. When you do this, you will receive a receipt with a transaction number on it. Call Fergate Verde back, tell them you have made the deposit. They will ask for the transaction number. They will call you back in 15 minutes after they verify the deposit and give you an account number and a PIN.

To place a call, you will dial either 291-7655 or 291-7656 as an access number. You will press 1 for English, then you will be prompted to enter your account number and PIN. You will be told how much money and minutes you have left on your account and the call will be placed.

As your account balance gets low, you can go back to Banco Nacional anytime and deposit more money into the Fergata Verde account and call them and give them the deposit transaction number. It sounds more complicated than it is.

Another option is to use a calling card, which you can purchase at supermarkets, but generally they have a maximum of 20 minutes of calling time. Calls to the

U.S.

from a calling card are about 28 cents a minute.

Most all prices in almost every store are negotiable. Americans are not used to going into stores and having to haggle over the prices, however, in

Costa Rica

, you will find that most all prices negotiable. This is something that locals know, but many gringos do not until they have lived here for a while. The normal discount is between 15 and 20%. Shortly after I first got here, I bought a dresser with mirror for our bedroom and the list price was 70,000 colones (about $140 at the time). I didn´t know to ask for a discount, and, if I had, I would have been able to get it for $28 less. You should ask how much something costs, and then after they have told you, you should ask how much it is with the discount. ALWAYS ask for a discount for higher priced items such as furniture and appliances. In San Ramon, there are stores that have one price on the price tag and when you turn it over and look on the other side, it has the lowest price they will go on that item. 

If you see something you like and want, BUY IT THEN. Stores don´t stock items like they do in the

U.S.

and the inventory is always changing. That means, if you see something you like, chances are, that after it is sold out, you will never see it again, so, if you like it, buy it. And buy as much or many as you think you will need or want, because, chances are, you won´t be able to buy it later.

Companies don´t send out bills like they do in the States, so the oous is on you to remember when they are due. The best advice we can give you is to write it down on a calendar every month when everything is due – electricity, phone, cable and water.

Paying bills is not as difficult as you read on theIinternet. Actually, there are so many places that you can pay bills, that you almost never have to wait in line. Some of the places that accept payments are the Camera de Commercia (Chamber of Commerce), certain pharmacies, supermarkets and banks. You can also set up online banking depending on the type of account and bank.

There are virtually no street names in most of

Costa Rica

, particularly in towns outside of

San   Jose

. This makes it very difficult to find places and to give directions. This can be, at the very least, frustrating and could also be perilous in case of an emergency. As soon as you move, learn how to give explicit directions to your house or apartment in Spanish.

You can buy one of a lot of things. For example, you can go into a pharmacy and buy one aspirin. Or into a hardware store and buy one screw or nail. This is actually rather handy, because you don´t have to waste money on buying more than you need.

Pedestrians do not have the right of way. As a pedestrian you should be extra careful because in

Costa Rica

, cars, not pedestrians, have the right of way. So you need to be especially vigilant when on foot.

Cargo/transport/moving trucks queue up every day in the same place and are available on demand. Since many Ticos don´t have means of transport, there are cargo trucks which can be rented very easily. For example, in San Ramon, there is a street where all the moving/transport trucks line up all day every day. If you need something to be moved, you can just go to the line and find someone who suits you and for a couple of dollars, they will come and load and move whatever you need. We moved a one-bedroom apartment in two hours for $30.00.

All

U.S.

citizens must declare all foreign bank and financial accounts with a balance of $10,000 or more to the

U.S.

Department of the Treasury. If you have bank or financial accounts in a foreign country with an aggregate balance of more than $10,000 as of December 31, you must file form TD F 90-22.1 with the U.S. Treasury Department by June 30 of the following year. You can find the form with all instructions at irs.gov.

K

eep your garbage outside or take it out before you go to bed. This may sound strange, but kitchen waste attracts bugs. You can go to bed at night and wake up the next morning with all kinds of bugs crawling in and around your garbage can. Best to take out the garbage every night or either leave it outside.

Buy some Quadriderm cream at the pharmacy and keep it on hand. Since there are so many bugs in

Costa Rica

, you are bound to be biten at some point. This is a great cream, it takes away the redness and itch overnight and can be purchased at any pharmacy. There is also a massage lotion called Tei-Fu, which is also good for bites but also good for aches and pains. A good Sunblock with an SPF of 60+ is Helioblock XL Total.
Most Costa Ricans have two last names. In formal situations like on business cards and signs, you will see names like ¨Maria Cecilia Ramirez Gonzalez¨, a first name, middle name and then two last names. The first last name, in this case, Ramirez, is the father´s surname and the second last name, Gonzalez, is the mother´s surname. In an informal environment this lady would refer to herself as Maria Ramirez (using her father´s surname). Therefore, sometimes if you give someone your first, middle and last names, they will drop your last name and think that your middle name is your last name. I have had doctor´s do this when they write a prescription for me. When women marry, they may use their first name and the husband´s last name in social occasions, but all legal documents remain in the legal format that I described above.