Cost of Living Report 2019: San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Whether you’re retiring, temporarily relocating or moving to Nicaragua for good, it’s important to understand the cost of living.

This report will help you gain valuable insight as to how much it really costs to live in Nicaragua.

For the month of May 2019 we tracked every single dollar we spent. Our expenses came to a grand total of $1131.24 USD.

For a day by day detailed report — that shows every single purchase we made in the month — click here.

For a summary of our expenses by category check out the chart below:

A BIT ABOUT OUR STANDARD OF LIVING

We are a Canadian couple who has been living in Nicaragua full time for the past 7 1/2 years. Gordon sells real estate and I help people relocate.

We have 1 dog and no children. We own an SUV that is 13 years old and a motorcycle that is 3 years old.

In November of 2018 we moved into our newly constructed 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home. Before that we lived in various rentals that ranged in price from $350 – $550 USD per month.

We eat well and drink more than we should. We live a very comfortable life; not wanting for anything.

RENT – $0

• 

• 

Within the last year and a half long term rental rates in San Juan del Sur have dropped by 30%. And in some cases even more.

Now that we own a home of our own we no longer have the expense of rent. But prior to moving into our home our single largest monthly expense was always rent.

Like anywhere in the world rental rates vary depending on the size of the property, location and amenities it offers.

Presently a basic no frills home without air conditioning or hot water can be found for as little as $250 to $350 USD. While a 3-bedroom North American style home with a pool can run anywhere from $850 to $1500 USD and up.

ELECTRICITY – $91.77 USD

$91.77 USD reflects what we paid for electricity consumed from April 8 – May 9, 2019. Our total usage for the month was 338 kWh.

If you do the math that’s $0.27 USD per kWh. When I compared this rate to what my parents pay in New Brunswick, Canada I learned we are paying 3x more for electricity than they are.

Since moving into our home 7 months ago our highest bill yet has been $101 USD. This was reflective of a time when we had visitors for most of that month. We were using air conditioning an average of 8 hours per night in both bedrooms. We were also running our pool pump for longer periods of time each day. And with more people showering our water pressure pump was being used more.

During a month when we weren’t using air conditioning and it was just Gordon and I in the house our bill was only $52 USD.

NOTE: If you plan to use air conditioning on a regular basis make sure you allow for extra electricity costs in your budget.

INTERNET – $57.80 USD

Currently our home internet service provider is Movistar.

Our monthly plan includes 200 GB of data at an average speed of 15 Mbps. Cost is $57.80 USD. Initial set up involved the purchase of the Movistar router which costs a little more than $100 USD.

For detailed information on internet providers and packages available in San Juan del Sur click here. 

TV – $0

We don’t pay for satellite or cable TV. Nor do we have a Netflix account. Rather we use a free app called KODI to watch TV programs and movies.

Claro is one company that provides cable and satellite TV service here in San Juan. Their packages start at $17.99 USD per month.

WATER – $10.69 USD

Water comes to our home via the city. Our monthly bill averages between $8 and $11 USD.

NOTE: The cost of water increases significantly if you are living in a development that is not connected to city water. For example: Our friends who live in Lomas de Palermo get water from the development and pay $2 USD per cubic meter, while we are paying just $0.29 USD per cubic meter.

CELL PHONE – $25.68 USD

Here in Nicaragua we use unlocked cell phones that we purchased on Amazon. We have Pay-As-You-Go cell service with Movistar.

Gordon and I are currently on a weekly plan that costs approximately $3 USD.

With this package we get 600 MB of internet, 25 calling minutes and 25 text messages. We can use the calling minutes to call anywhere in Central America, Canada and the United States. We also get free use of Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.

For more information on the various Movistar Pay-As-You-Go plans and how to activate a cell phone in Nicaragua click here.

VEHICLE & TRANSPORTATION – $18.35 USD

San Juan is very walkable. If you live in town it’s easy to get by without personal transport.

A collectivo (shared) taxi anywhere in the city costs $0.75 USD. A handful of hostels and surf shops in town offer daily shuttles to the beach. Depending on which beach you’re going to the price of a return trip ranges from $5 to $10 USD per person.

Vehicles – whether new or used – are expensive here compared to what you’d pay for them in Canada or the US. You can see examples of pricing on Encuentra24.

In September 2017 we upgraded our 2001 4 x 4 Hyundai Galloper to a 2006 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. It had 160 000 kilometers on it when we bought it and we paid $12 500 USD.

Gordon is still driving his 2016 – 180 UM (United Motors) Renegade Sport that he bought new in November of 2016. He paid $1600 USD for the bike at the time. This price included registration paperwork, insurance and lawyer’s fees.

The current price of diesel is $0.92 USD per liter. Gas costs a bit more. It is $1.06 USD per liter. Since we rarely drive far our monthly fuel consumption is consistently low.

HOUSEHOLD – $99.60 USD

As we continue to get settled in our new home we tend to have more household expenses than we did when we were renting.

This month I bought a couple plants for our garden. We also bought some supplies to do some touch up painting. And we had our kitchen sink drain swapped out.

TIP: There will be things you’ll need and/or want to buy when you first arrive to make your rental home more comfortable. Don’t forget to add extra in your budget for these expenses.

GROCERIES & SNACKS – $351.11 USD

We eat meat, lots of fresh vegetables and a bit of fruit daily.

We could definitely spend a lot less on groceries each month if we only bought what’s available locally and cut back on the junk food. Some examples of items we “splurge” on are almond milk, imported cheese, nuts, boxed cereal, peanut butter and specialty oils for cooking.

Compared to buying fresh, canned goods and prepackaged foods are expensive here.

For a complete guide to grocery shopping in San Juan del sur — with examples of pricing — click here.

RESTAURANT – $117.45 USD

Although we prefer to eat in we still managed to eat out 12 times this month.

For a nicer sit down dinner of pasta, pizza or poke bowls with a couple of drinks each we usually spend between $15 to $18 USD including tip.

For an inexpensive lunch typical plates at the central market are a great option. Grilled chicken, fish, pork or beef served with beans, rice, salad and plantains costs just $3 USD.

After dark you can enjoy a large plate of fritanga (barbecued meat with sides) for less than $5 USD. Memo’s — across the street from Bella Home — is our current favorite.

TIP: If you pay attention to promotions offered at local restaurants you can enjoy some decent meals out without spending a ton of money. For example: Dale Pues often sells their classic burger and fries for $5 USD. Every now and then El Social runs a “Buy one menu item, get one 1/2 off” promotion. Many of the restaurants on the beach offer daily happy hour specials with $1 drinks and $2 appies.

ALCOHOL – $106.88 USD

When beer and rum drinks only cost $1 – $1.50 USD it’s always easy to have “one more round”. Not to mention that soda and natural fruit juices are quite often twice the price of local beer and rum.

$106.88 USD reflects the amount we spent on alcohol when we were out for drinks only and for alcohol that was purchased to drink at home or friend’s houses.

Currently a 12-pack of beer purchased at the supermarket or local pulperia (convenience store) costs just over $12 USD. A 750 ml bottle of 7 Year Flor de Caña rum rings in at $12.50 USD. When we feel like wine our cheap go to is Frontera. Here in San Juan a bottle costs $7.50 USD.

PET – $21.10 USD

We bought a 20 lb bag of Kirkland dog food for Maggie last month so our only pet expense this month was for a 6-month supply of Heartgard.

Veterinary care is very inexpensive here compared to what it costs in Canada or the US. A general check up with our vet costs just $12 USD.

For more information about life with a dog in Nicaragua — including details on what’s required to bring a pet into the country — click here. 

HEALTH & BEAUTY – $30.46 USD

This month I had my cholesterol and glucose checked. Within a couple hours of having my blood drawn at a lab in town I had my results. Costs for these two tests was $21.10 USD.

Almost all drugs that are available by prescription only in Canada or the US can be purchased over the counter here in Nicaragua and for cheap.

Presently a month’s supply of birth control pills costs less than $4 USD. A 10-pack of 400 mg Ibuprofen costs $0.30 USD. A 500 mg tablet of amoxicillin costs just $0.06 USD.

CLOTHING – $5.72 USD

It’s very difficult to find inexpensive quality clothing and footwear here. And therefore almost all of my clothing shopping is done when I take my annual trips back home to Canada.
On the rare occasion that I do buy something here in San Juan it’s usually at a used clothing shop or from the “Ropas Americano” truck that is parked at our central park.

Gordon (like most men here) has much less trouble than me in the clothing department. His wardrobe mainly consists of t-shirts from San Juan Surf and a dozen or so pairs of board shorts that we buy in Canada.

GIFTS – $25.02 USD

When we moved to Nicaragua we stopped buying Christmas and birthday gifts for family. But now that my nephews are older (5 and 7) we are buying again. Occasionally we also buy inexpensive birthday gifts for friends here.

For a few months now we’ve been covering tuition for afternoon English classes for a little girl that used to be our neighbor. Our total spend on gifts this month was $25.02 USD which was entirely tuition.

ENTERTAINMENT – $108.67 USD

We don’t typically spend much on entertainment each month, but this month we hosted an event we dubbed Mojito Mayhem.

With fellow expats in tow — every Saturday — we sampled and rated mojitos at 3 different bars and restaurants. Our goal was to determine who in San Juan had the best mojito.

So for this particular month we drank a lot of mojitos, had a ton of fun and spent a lot more on entertainment than we normally do.

Other options for entertainment in San Juan include live music, karaoke night at Simon Says, open mike night at the Cerveceria and workshops at the Art Warehouse.

WEEKEND GETAWAY – $60.93 USD

This month a girlfriend and I took 3 day, 2 night trip to Laguna de Apoyo to visit a friend. Not having to pay for accommodations, buying groceries instead of eating out and sharing the cost of gas made for a very affordable weekend away.

Gordon and I take a 2 – 3 night in country trip away about 3 to 4 times per year. We usually go with friends and split the cost of gas. We stay in hotels that are between $30 to $60 USD per night. Sometimes we go on our motorcycle, which makes the trip even cheaper.

If we average out what we spend on road trips in a year it works out to be about $75 USD per month.

DAY TO DAY SPENDING VS. TOTAL COST OF LIVING

In addition to day to day expenses it’s also important to consider costs for the following:

Trips to Your Home Country & Elsewhere

Even if you snag a great deal on flights, have a free place to stay and access to a vehicle the cost of a trip “back home” adds up very quickly. Especially if you’re traveling as a family.

If you plan to do any traveling after moving to Nicaragua – whether it be to your home country or elsewhere – don’t forget to add this expense into your budget.

Health & Dental Care

In Nicaragua public health care is free, even for foreigners. That being said the quality standard of care is not that of which we are accustomed to in North America.

Since neither of us have health issues we choose to live without health insurance. Should one or both of us need medical attention, emergency surgery, etc. we are prepared to pay out of pocket.

For more serious illness or issues our hospital of choice would be the Vivian Pellas Metropolitan Hospital in Managua.

Dental care is dirt cheap here compared to what we would pay in Canada. A check up and cleaning at our dentist costs a mere $15 USD. A friend of ours recently had a root canal and crown done. Total cost of the procedure was $300 USD.

Vehicle Maintenance & Insurance

Now that we own a newer vehicle trips to the mechanic are much less frequent than they used to be. If you own an older vehicle you will need to factor maintenance and repairs into your budget. While labor is cheap, parts are not.

Here is Nicaragua you can’t buy full coverage insurance for a vehicle that is more than 10 years old. So in our case we have basic coverage only and pay $55 USD per year. Motorcycle insurance is $35 USD.

Full coverage insurance is more in line with what it would be in Canada or the US. For example a friend of ours has his 2013 Hyundai H1 fully insured through Lafise at a cost of $483 USD for the year.

Tourist Visa Renewal

If you are living in Nicaragua and you don’t have residency you will be required to renew your tourist visa every 90 days. The cheapest and easiest way to do this is by crossing the border to Costa Rica.

Cost per person for tourist visa renewal (via Costa Rica border) — not including transport — is $24 USD.

For detailed information on tourist visa renewal and border crossing to Costa Rica click here.

Domestic Help

While we do our own gardening and pool cleaning from time to time we do hire a housekeeper to do a top to bottom clean of the house. She works between 4 and 6 hours and we pay her $12 USD.

NOTE: If you’re planning to hire a full time domestic worker (nanny, housekeeper, gardener, etc.) you should know that the current minimum monthly salary is $179 USD.

In addition to this base salary employers are required to pay a percentage to the government for the employee’s social security and health insurance plans. They are also required to pay aguinaldo (an extra month’s pay) and 4 weeks of vacation pay.

All said and done you’re looking at a total expense of $275 USD per month per employee.

BOTTOM LINE

There is a ton of information out there about how incredibly cheap it is to live in Nicaragua.

And it certainly can be.

But depending on where you’re coming from, where you relocate to and how you want to live you may find a life in Nicaragua is not as affordable as you thought it would be.

I said it in our last report and I’ll say it again. Budget wisely!