By Naincy Gulati
When I was preparing to move to Costa Rica, my browser history was filled with the same search over and over again:

“How expensive is Costa Rica?”

I read blogs, watched YouTube videos, compared budgets, and even made spreadsheets. Almost every article gave me the same answer: “It depends.”

At the time, I found that frustrating.

Now, after spending the last few months living in Heredia, I think it was probably the most honest answer anyone could have given me. Because the real cost of living in Costa Rica isn’t just about rent, groceries, or transportation. It’s also about learning how to start over in a place that slowly stops feeling foreign and starts feeling familiar.

I moved here from India for work. Unlike many people who come to Costa Rica to retire or spend a few months working remotely, I arrived with a full-time corporate job, a suitcase, and absolutely no idea what my everyday life would look like. That turned out to be the most interesting part of the experience.

My First Grocery Bill

A few days after I arrived, I went to the supermarket feeling surprisingly confident. I walked through the aisles picking up cereal I recognized, pasta sauce I had always bought back home, a few imported snacks, and other things that felt familiar. I never looked at the price tags. Then the cashier told me the total. I smiled, paid, walked outside, and immediately looked at the receipt again. I remember laughing to myself and thinking, “Well… I won’t be shopping like that again.” The next day I mentioned it to one of my colleagues.

She looked at me and asked, “¿Ya fuiste a la feria?”

I told her no. She smiled and simply said,

“Then that’s your plan for Saturday.”

She couldn’t have been more right. Walking through the feria felt completely different from walking through a supermarket. People weren’t rushing. Vendors greeted customers by name.

Families were carrying bags full of fruit and vegetables while stopping to chat between stalls. At one point, I stood staring at a fruit I didn’t recognize. The vendor noticed, cut off a small piece, handed it to me and said,

“Pruébelo.”

I tried saying the name back to him. My pronunciation was terrible.

He laughed, smiled and replied,

“Muy bien… casi.”

We both laughed. It lasted less than a minute, but I walked away smiling because, for the first time since moving here, I didn’t feel quite so out of place. Now I rarely miss a Saturday feria.

Home Started Looking Different

Back in India, cooking usually felt like something I squeezed in after work because I had to. Here, it’s become one of my favourite parts of the week. Every Sunday I put on some music, chop vegetables, make egg curry, cook vegetable daliya, prepare rice, and fill a few containers for the week ahead.

Originally, I did it because eating out too often wasn’t practical. Now I do it because I genuinely enjoy it. There’s something oddly comforting about coming home after work, opening the fridge, and realising dinner is already waiting for me. It’s one less decision after a long day.

More importantly, it’s one of the routines that has made Costa Rica feel less like somewhere I’m temporarily living and more like somewhere I’m actually building a life.

Read about: Guanacaste Beyond Tourism: How It Aims to Become Costa Rica’s New Sustainable Development Hub

Learning to Slow Down

One thing I didn’t expect was how much my weekends would change. When I first arrived, I felt like I needed to make every weekend count.

Another waterfall.

Another beach.

Another national park.

Another place to tick off the list.

Looking back, I realise I was treating Costa Rica the same way I used to treat my calendar—always trying to fit in one more thing. Somewhere along the way, that changed. Now some of my favourite weekends are incredibly simple.Stopping at a café after work in Heredia and watching people come and go.

Reading a few chapters of a book while afternoon rain taps against the windows. Getting on the wrong bus, laughing at myself, and discovering a bakery I never would have found otherwise. None of those moments would make it into a travel brochure. They’re still some of my favourite memories.

The Cost Nobody Mentions

Most articles about moving abroad compare rent prices, grocery bills and utility costs. Very few talk about what it feels like to start from zero. You don’t know which supermarket is cheapest. You don’t know which bus to catch. You don’t know where to buy the spices that remind you of home. And you definitely don’t know who to call when you simply want to meet a friend for coffee. There were weekends when I missed my family more than I expected. There were days when I wondered if I’d made the right decision. Making friends wasn’t something that happened automatically. Sometimes it meant going to an event where I didn’t know a single person. Sometimes it meant trying to explain something in Spanish and hoping people would be patient with me. Most of the time, they were.

One afternoon, a woman working behind the counter at a small café asked,

“¿De dónde eres?”

“India,” I replied.

Her face lit up.

“¡Bienvenida a Costa Rica!”

It was a conversation that lasted less than two minutes. I still remember it months later.Those are the moments that never appear in a cost-of-living comparison, but somehow end up meaning the most.

So… Is Costa Rica Expensive?

People still ask me that question. My answer is always the same.

Yes. And no.

Yes, some imported groceries, electronics, and everyday items cost more than I expected. But I’ve also realised that some of the best parts of living here cost almost nothing. Saturday mornings at the feria. An unexpected conversation in Spanish. Coffee after work. Getting slightly lost and finding somewhere new. Cooking dinner while planning the next weekend.

If you’re thinking about moving to Costa Rica, absolutely compare rent prices, grocery costs, and transportation options. Those numbers matter. But don’t forget to leave room for the things you can’t calculate.The routines you’ll create. The people you’ll meet. The confidence you’ll gain by figuring things out on your own. When I first moved here, I thought I was learning how to live in Costa Rica.

Looking back, I think Costa Rica was quietly teaching me something much bigger: home isn’t always the place you come from. Sometimes it’s the place where, little by little, your ordinary days begin to feel like they belong to you.

Costa Rica isn’t just a destination to visit, it’s a place to build a life. And sometimes, that’s worth far more than what you spend to live here.

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