International Living Community

I just wanted to share what my lawyers at Themis Legal (https://themislegalcr.com/) sent me when I shared your question: "Yes, it has been reviewed by the Legislative Assembly and it is still been analyzed, yet it has not yet been approved."
-Bekah Bottone, IL Costa Rica Correspondent

Hi Debra,

The short answer to your question is yes, I do think that a single can live in Portugal for $1,600, which at the current exchange rate is around €1,485, depending on your lifestyle.

Your largest expense will be rent, unless you plan to purchase a property outright. Depending on where you choose to live, rent prices vary. Lisbon, Cascais, Porto, and the Algarve are the higher-priced areas.

Check out the mid-sized city of Caldas da Rainha, one hour north of Lisbon, which should have some affordable housing options.

To give you an idea of what you can expect to pay for rent, I suggest searching on the property website idealista.com. You can change the filters to location, number of bedrooms, city center, etc…

Here you will see terms like T1, T2—the T stands for apartment and the number indicates how many bedrooms. If the T is replaced with a V, it’s a freestanding house.

You would probably want to live in a small community so there is no need for you to have a car, as gasoline is expensive—currently as much as $7.75 a gallon.

As part of the resident visa for Portugal, you would need to carry private health insurance, which will add to your budget. Depending on your age and health condition, the prices of insurance will vary. But you will also have access to the public healthcare system to use if necessary, which will help keep your medical costs down.

You can find more information about the cost of living in Portugal in Chapter 6 of the Escape to Portugal guidebook—available on the IL Bookstore here.

Hola Roger!

This is a great question, but one that is always subject to so many personal choices that it makes it difficult to answer precisely. However, let me see if I can give you some general ideas that will help you decide about your specific situation.

Let’s begin where you ended—healthcare. If you are coming here to become full-time legal resident, you’ll be enrolled in in the government social medicine program (affectionately called the CAJA) as part of that process.You would have full coverage, with no exclusion for pre-existing conditions. Think of it being sort of like the Veterans Administration medical system in the USA. Cost varies as a percentage based on your reported pension income. (We currently pay about $85 per month.)

There are definitely two camps of expats—those that believe living here is more costly than the U.S. and those of us who find that we live on much less. What’s the difference? Primarily it comes down to two main choices.

The first is where to live. Just like in the States, some areas of the country are much more costly to live in than others. As you might expect, tourist areas and beach areas are much more expensive than the mountain areas. And the rural areas are even more economical. For example, the rental price for a similar apartment on the beach versus a mountain area just outside the urban zones could be $1000+ per month vs. $300 per month.

The second is adapting to the culture and buying local. Many expats of the “costs more” group only buy products that they already are familiar with—in other words, the products they used in the States. Those all carry a high import tax. Why buy laundry detergent made in and imported from the U.S. when there are similar Central America products that cost less?

I can tell you that we and many of our friends all report living on less than half (closer to a third) of what we did in the States.

You can find more information about the cost of living in Costa Rica on the International Living website’s dedicated resource page.

I hope these general ideas will give you a better idea of what it would cost you to live in Costa Rica.

Hi Wilma,

Thanks for reaching out with your question. Portugal is one of the most affordable countries in Western Europe, which, along with its great climate, makes it a popular expat destination.

Accommodation, which will arguably be the greatest cost for most expats, varies around the country, but is generally reasonable.

In the capital, Lisbon, you can find rentals for around $650 a month for a simple one bedroom in the central neighborhoods of Chiado, and the Baixa. You can get more comfortable one-two bed apartments in these neighborhoods starting at around $1,000 a month. This is still a real bargain, relative to the cost in some other European capital cities.

In the south, the Algarve is a particularly popular destination for expats and tourists alike, so there you can expect to pay significantly higher rates.

Basic utilities, such as electricity, heating and water for a mid-priced apartment can come out at about $80 a month. Depending on where you are, you may need to pay additionally for more heating during the admittedly mild winter, or more likely, for air-conditioning during the hot summer.

The cost of food is also low in Portugal. Many cities and towns enjoy an assortment of impressive local markets boasting a wide variety of fresh local meat and produce. Many of these markets will stock excellent, locally produced wine and olive oil, reducing the cost of typically expensive items. A couple could pay a grocery bill starting from $200 a month but could be more, depending on personal choices.

Dining in restaurants doesn’t need to break the bank either; lunch specials cost only about $9-$12 for a full sit-down meal. You can get a dinner for two, with wine, for around $30 in many places.

Healthcare is also a mere fraction of what you could expect to pay in the U.S. A visit to the doctor, for example, through public services costs as little as $5, and even going to a private service will only set you back around $50. Similarly, most medications are going to be significantly cheaper in Portugal than the United States.

As reasonable budget for a couple living in most suburban areas of the country would be around $2,500 per month, housing included.

Get a more detailed breakdown of the cost of living in Portugal on our newly revamped website.