🌿 The Real Cost of Living in Costa Rica — What Future MiraVida Families Should Know

Costa Rica is paradise — lush jungles, warm weather, wildlife everywhere, friendly people, and a life that feels closer to nature than anything we ever experienced in Europe or the Middle East.But there is something important future families need to understand:

Costa Rica is not cheap. Not at all — especially in the beginning.

This article is not meant to discourage anyone. It’s meant to give you an honest picture, so you can plan well, avoid false expectations, and arrive prepared instead of overwhelmed.

🌴 Costa Rica Is Beautiful — But It’s Not a Low-Cost Country

Before moving here, we lived for many years in Dahab, Egypt. Life there was simple, affordable, and incredibly cheap compared to the Western world. Here, it’s the opposite.

Many things in Costa Rica cost as much as in Europe or the US, and sometimes even more — especially anything imported.

Examples include:

• electronics

• cars and car parts

• tools

• packaged food

• supplements

• cosmetics

• “Western comfort items”

If you can’t live without your favorite home products or restaurant lifestyle, Costa Rica will feel expensive very quickly.

🚗 Cars Are Shockingly Expensive — And Often Need Repairs

One of the biggest surprises for newcomers is the cost of vehicles.

• Used cars are expensive

• New cars are even more expensive

• Import taxes are extremely high

• Repairs are common because many roads are rough

• Mechanics and parts add up fast

Most families need at least one reliable 4×4 — and that alone is a major investment.

🥑 Food Can Be Pricey — Especially Until Your Farm Produces

If you’re coming with the dream of living from your land, growing your own food, and being self-sufficient — that’s a beautiful and realistic goal.But it doesn’t happen in the first months. Or even the first year.

While you are building your home, clearing your land, planting your first trees and vegetables, you still need to:

• buy groceries

• eat out sometimes

• get supplies

• purchase essentials

Supermarket food — especially imported items — can be much more expensive than in Europe or even the US. Simple products like cheese, nuts, yogurt, pasta, frozen foods, or organic items can feel shockingly overpriced.

Eating out is also not cheap. Tourist restaurants cost almost the same as in the US. Even local “sodas” (the local Costa Rican restaurants) are affordable — around €8–10 per person — but if you do it regularly, it adds up quickly.

🏡 Building Costs: Don’t Underestimate Them

Buying land with us is intentionally affordable and fair — because we want families to be able to join our neighborhood without stretching themselves financially.

But building a house is another story.

If you don’t build everything yourself, a good rule of thumb is:

Labor costs roughly the same as your materials.

Examples:

• A simple bathroom with cheap fixtures = cheaper installation

• A high-end toilet or expensive shower = more expensive installation, even though it’s the “same job”

And that’s just one example.

Construction in Costa Rica also takes time, flexibility, and creativity — especially in rural areas.

💰 You Need a Stable Source of Income

This is the most important part:

**To live comfortably in Costa Rica, you need:

a passive income, remote income, or an online business.**

Costa Rica is paradise for families who can work online. But if you come without a financial foundation, the first year can be extremely stressful.

We want people to join MiraVida with joy — not fear. With excitement — not monthly panic. With stability — not the hope that “somehow it will work out.”

🌱 Our Long-Term Goal: Grow Our Own Food

Our dream — and the dream for our neighborhood — is independence.

We want to:

• grow our own fruits

• plant vegetables

• raise animals

• exchange food between neighbors

• reduce our dependence on supermarkets

• avoid expensive and often toxic packaged foods

This is possible — and we are working toward it. But it takes time, patience, and a strong start financially.

🌿 We Share This Not to Discourage You — But to Prepare You

Costa Rica is magical. It’s pure nature, pure life, pure connection. But it requires planning and awareness.

We want families who join us at Finca MiraVida to arrive with:

• realistic expectations

• a steady income

• patience

• flexibility

• and the understanding that paradise also has a price

If you come prepared, this place can give you a life more beautiful than anything you’ve imagined.

If you come unprepared, it can overwhelm you.

Our goal is to help you succeed — not struggle.

🌴 Final Thoughts

We share this openly because we want MiraVida to grow with strong families, with clear expectations, with stability and joy — not disappointment.

Costa Rica is not cheap. But the freedom, nature, safety, and childhood here are priceless.

And with time, as the land begins to feed you and the neighborhood grows, life becomes simpler, healthier, and more affordable.

If this journey calls to you, we are here — building a new kind of neighborhood, step by step, with people who dream of a more meaningful life.