One Month’s Living Expenses: San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Rarely a day goes by when “cost of living” is not on the list of daily search engine terms for In Nica Now.
Everyone wants to know how much it “really” costs to live in Nicaragua…
…so we’re going to tell you!
For the month of October we tracked every single cordobas we spent. Despite the fact that we ate out a lot, drank a bunch and took a road trip to Managua we still managed to stay within our $1400 budget.
The table below shows a detailed summary of our expenses by category. Please note that the exchange rate is based on 23.65 cordobas per $1 USD.
To view a detailed line-by-line list of our expenses for October 2012 click on the link below.
In Nica Now: Expenses – October 2012
As always if you have any questions feel free to send us an email.
Posted on January 12, 2013, in Cost of Living and tagged budget, cordobas, cost of living, Expat in Nicaragua, Living in Nicaragua, monthly expenses, Nicaraguan Expat, San Juan del Sur. Bookmark the permalink. 20 Comments.
Thank you for sharing. All I can say is “WOW.” Good for you.
I know you guys are younger so medical issues are probably not high on the “things to consider list” but have you ever looked into the medical plan provided by the Vivian Pellas Hospital? Or have you considered any other medical insurance options that the local hospitals, MDs will accept? I see that med. insurance is not on your list?
Mark
Hi Mark,
We have looked into the medical plans provided by Vivian Pellas Hospital, but since a regular visit with a doctor in private clinic costs only $16 we decided it’s not something something we currently need.
For $50 per month you can purchase the Gold Plan at Vivian Pellas.
The plan offers the following:
- Discounts of up to 100% in some emergency services
- Discounts up to 80% in tests diagnostic aid, hospitalization, surgery and intensive care
- Discounts up to 60% on preventive medical checkups
- Discounts up to 50% on regular replacement materials
- Discounts up to 30% on drugs
- Care and cesarean births with hospital coverage to 50%
- Medical consultations valued at $10.00, with specialists enrolled in the program
- Discounts up to 65% on medical fees, doctors enrolled in the program.
* Does not include periodic replacement materials or medicines.
Fortunately we haven’t experienced any major medical issues since arriving in Nicaragua. We have heard great things though – and if anything major were to go wrong – it’s where we would go.
Elisha
i love it–keep it up—i like the fact you ate and drank a lot and still stayed in budget—means to me you are enjoying life—duncan
What’s your guess for one person to rent a studio apt. or similar ‘nice’ space? How much are rents for those kinds of spaces? I imagine that I could cut medical, etc. in half and have a number that’s real?
Thanks so much!
Hi Helena,
We have lived in one and two bedroom places, but never a studio apartment.
Our friends rented a small one bedroom apartment here in San Juan del Sur at Elizabeth’s Guest House for $250. It’s not hard to find an entire house for rent $300.
Our costs for medical expenses in October were for simple things like cough syrup, ibuprofen and allergy pills.
You can spend a lot less on groceries if you don’t buy things like peanut butter, olive oil, cheddar cheese and other items that have been imported into the country.
San Juan is the most expensive city we’ve lived in Nicaragua.
Cheers,
Elisha
Thank you! I have one more question. Do you know any single women living in Nicaragua? How is it for them? Safe? Hassled? Thanks so much for the information. I hope things are going well!
Helena
My husband and I are researching places to stay this summer in SJDS. We are familiar with SJDS since we were there last summer for two weeks. I notice your rent is $300 for the month. Can you give me an idea where you are staying?
Hi Sarah,
This blog post was based on the first house we lived in in San Juan. It is located two blocks south of the back of the church. It has two bedrooms, one bathroom and a nice deck.
Take a look at the post here.
If you are interested we can send you the landlord’s phone number.
Cheers,
Gordon
Thanks for creating this website and for answering questions from individuals. Making a move abroad is a very big step and I am sure we appreciate all the info we can get. (Some of us overdose on info and underdose on action, to be sure.)
Can you say why you have moved so much? Is it to upgrade each time or is it landlord problems or other reasons?
Thanks,
Duncan
Hi Duncan,
Before arriving in Nicaragua we had planned to live in a few different areas. We did this so we could determine what area we wanted to settle down in. Once we arrived in San Juan del Sur we just kept finding better homes. We love the place that we have rented right now and plan to stay there for awhile.
Cheers,
Elisha
Can you do long term lease-12 months?
Absolutely!
Thanks.
Hi! Nice list. Just one question, is that for 2 people? I m assuming so because you refer to yourselves as “we”, but maybe its more. Thanks
Yes, it is for two people!
Cheers,
Elisha
Looks to me like that couple is living “high on the hog” as my parents woulda said.
I saw an article recently where somebody living at Lake Atitlan (Guatemala) has a budget of $250 per month, and that includes rent on a nice two-bedroom house. Now I’d go to Guatemala in a flash, but I understand they have some crime problems.
Hi Mark,
Generally Nicaraguan living expenses are lower than in Guatemala. We have a friend here living on $300 per month, but he rents a bedroom in a shared home and barely leaves the house. He also eats the same two basic meals each day.
We researched Lake Atitlan before moving here and expats average $1000 to $1500 per month living expenses. It is a beautiful area that we plan to visit.
We do live well, but I would be interested in reading your blog if you started living on $250/month. You probably wouldn’t have a blog though because a computer and Internet wouldn’t be in the budget. LOL
Cheers,
Gordon
Helena, I am interested as a single woman too. I’ve found a beautiful place (on-line) that is renting for around $300 per month but who knows if it will be available when I get there in August? We’ll see.
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