Just wanted to point out that long term rental prices have gone down a bit since Kelly and Mike stayed with us, maybe as owners are more in line with the new global economy.

Really nice 3 bedroom for $1000. Some two bedroom options at $750… http://www.beachcondotamarindo.com/index.php?action=page_display&PageID=26

We still work on average, 40 hours a week, so are pulling in a comparable wage to what we used to back home.

As far as food and drinks go… well, we love to eat and drink, so we don’t usually skimp on either of those. We love to cook, and I’m always trying new recipes. Tamarindo was great for that, as I could pretty much get any ingredient I needed with just a short walk to the store.

On average I’d say buying groceries at one of the supermarkets was about 15-20% cheaper than what we would have paid back home (some items like olives or Doritos are the same or more), and booze about 50% cheaper. Eating out at most of the restaurants was pretty comparable to North America, although, you can eat like a local quite cheaply… if you want rice and beans 3 times a day.

We realize this doesn’t work for most travelers so we try to approach it more as a lifestyle. On paper we’re you’re typical 30 something couple. We both have good careers that we’ve been in for the last 12 years, we make a decent living, and have a good standard of living… We just happen to do it all in a foreign country!