cojito - I’ve researched Panama as well as I know how and what you’ve said here in your pages is mostly truth with a lot of bullshit and sex mixed in (no insult intended). Thru the internet I began writing a sexy woman who’s involved with the study for the widening of the canal. We wrote back and forth for awhile and she decided to take it to another level .
She tells me Panama’s an expensive place to live. I get $785 per month give or take a buck or two. Is that enough for me to live modestly there? I don’t need a big apartment, and I don’t intend to have a car. I’m asking you because you don’t seem to be the type to add or subtract from the truth.
dear esteemed reader,
i have one rule for living. never never trust any woman who wants to widen the panama canal. my friend, bigger isn’t always better. you dodged a bullet on that one. there’s just no living with a size queen.
yeah - i write about sex. the women of panama are passionate and beautiful. any site not talking about sex in panama is not giving you the full story. this is no news site. and i’m no journalist.
but, let me assure everyone, i’m not posting bullshit. the articles and stories on this site are true. they really happen. oh sure, names get changed to protect privacy. yes, for the sake of a laugh, things get wildly exaggerated. but beneath the veneer there’s an effort to be honest about life in panama.
so, can you live on $785 a month? if you’ve read the hype on other sites, you might think that $785 is enough to pay for food, rent, rum, a maid, viagra, and still have enough left over for hookers. you know what? you might be able to pull it off.
really, it depends on how, and where you want to live. do you want to live like a gringo or a native? i spend much less living in panama than i did in the U.S. not only is panama cheaper than the u.s, it’s cheaper than Costa Rica. but if you really want cheap, go to nicaragua.
if i remember correctly, Eric Jackson, writer/editor of the panama news, wrote (in the panama forum) that he was living in Panama City on about $800 a month. i’m in Panama City too. my budget’s about $1000 - $1200 a month.
my monthly expenses include: maintenance fee $100 (trash, water, gas, insurance), electric bill $45, cable and high speed wireless $80, groceries $600 (my girlfriend has a family that visits). health insurance starts at about $150 pp, cell phone $30 - $40.
these cost of living expenses do not include flying to the U.S. every year, or road trips to Costa Rica to renew my visa*, the money i’m spending on my girlfriend’s medical problems, or the cost of stocking my bar with good rum.
in panama food’s cheap. gringo food’s more expensive. you can find rentals for $100 a month. you can find rentals for $1200 a month. just depends on what part of panama you want to live in. i live in middle class el cangrejo. i don’t have a car. although i’d like to have the use of a car to explore the interior. i walk, take the bus, or ride the taxi. they’re all cheap.
if i was living alone, i could live on less. but i didn’t come all this way to live alone. the women of panama are amazing. alex and i live cheaper together in panama city than i could alone and divorced back in the states. and what price do you put on happiness?
outside panama city, the cost of living is even cheaper. you could live on $785 a month easy. especially if you were living with a family. many live on much less. that’s crazy money for some.
just remember, these natives are living very simply. they eat plantains and milk monkeys. they’re living out in the middle of nowhere. they have outhouses, cold showers, no air conditioning, fridge, or cable/internet. most don’t have a car. they ride a chiva into town for shopping. and if they have grave medical problems they’re not likely to get help fast.
i prefer the city. i’m a sucker for a good high speed internet connection. but it’s more of a challenge to live cheaply here. still, i’d be thrilled if i had an automatic $785 rolling in every month. because i know i can make another $500 - $1000 a month playing poker online.
i think the biggest challenge is making money in a country where you’re not allowed to work. in that regard you’re off to a good start. if i were you i’d look for ways to add to that income. sure, you can live on it. but a few hundred dollars more a month would be better.
i was going to suggest you become a man-whore. but teaching’s another way to go. people tell me the most profitable way to teach english is from your own home or apartment. put an ad in the paper and teach a few students at a time. you could easily add another $500 to your income doing that part time.
if you have medical issues you should be sure your medical coverage extends to Panama. this is the third world. social services are lacking. you’ll need to have some savings to get you started, or better, have enough savings to buy a modest flat. and be honest with yourself, how do you want to live, what kind of services you need? and will you really need all that viagra?
*sounds like you’d qualify for a pensionado visa. so you wouldn’t need to flee the country to costa rica every four and a half months.
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Esteemed reader - What Cojito says re: costs certainly coincides with what I’ve read elsewhere.
Cojito - Gracias por más argumentos que puedo usar para convencer mi esposa que panamá es el lugar para jubilar. Un brindis de Abuelo para Ud.
Comment by lakesdiver — April 11, 2007 @ 9:27 am
de nada lakesdiver.
Comment by cojito — April 11, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
I have managed to get by on $400. a month here in Panama, not counting a few extra dollars I make doing odd jobs (no, not that kind) here and there. I had already moved here, gotten residency, had a lot of friends and knew my way around. If I had not, I never would have made it.
Comment by vieja — April 11, 2007 @ 5:20 pm
$400? wow, that’s impressive. lol you must catch your own monkeys. is that rent included? or did you buy?
i’m sure i could live on a lot less. my needs are minimal. but when it comes to alex and her family - accommodations must be made.
Comment by cojito — April 11, 2007 @ 5:56 pm
Cojito,
Very thoughful article. Yes, $800/month is doable, not so sure about $400.
Comment by Patriccio — April 12, 2007 @ 4:22 am
vieja — $400 ??? I though you said you were fat! :) where do you live? a cardboard box?
seriously, i think a lot of us would like to see your itmeized expenses to see how you do it. $400 isn’t much.
Comment by marcopolo — April 12, 2007 @ 9:14 am
thanks patriccio.
patriccio or vieja - should my opening line read “never trust any woman that wants … or “never trust any woman who wants …” or are both correct?
Marco - lol vieja said she had a lot of boyfriends. maybe she makes them pick up the tab.
Comment by cojito — April 12, 2007 @ 11:37 am
maybe she stays at a different guy’s house every night — hence no rent ??? she gets more mysterious every time she writes.
vieja–
I’m coming back on the 28th — how about a drink?
or do i have to pay your rent…:)
Comment by marcopolo — April 12, 2007 @ 2:44 pm
No one pays my rent or anything else. If I ever meet any of you I will tell my story. I did not choose to live this way really. Just found myself with nothing but a suitcase one day. It has not been easy.
Comment by vieja — April 12, 2007 @ 6:24 pm
vieja; $ounds like your $tory could have value.
Comment by Fastfreddie — April 12, 2007 @ 7:05 pm
vieja — Fastfreddie has an excellent point. Sounds like you have a very interesting story. Can we meet in may? or are you going to continue to ignore my invitations? cojito knows me personally, he’ll testify that i am totally worthless and untrustworthy…what more could you want?
cojito is a writer and i am a photographer — maybe we can make you (in)famous??
Comment by marcopolo — April 12, 2007 @ 8:15 pm
I plan on writing it all up one day. If… I can figure out where it started and when it has an ending. Cojito know who I am now and can contact me. Just let me know when you are in Panama.
Comment by vieja — April 12, 2007 @ 8:45 pm
vieja - see you in may…
Comment by marcopolo — April 12, 2007 @ 9:21 pm
Cojito,
Hmmm, good question. I think “who wants” is more correct than “that wants”, but both are acceptable.
Comment by Patriccio — April 13, 2007 @ 4:45 am
I would seriously dissuade anyone moving to Panama JUST BECAUSE IT’S CHEAP!
You’ll inevitably run into snags that’ll cost you unexpected dollars–see flights out of the country until you get a visa, increasing land and real estate prices, the traditional costs associated with moving to a new country (ID, bank account, healthcare…etc). It’s really not fair to you or to Panama to move here solely because it’s cheap. Especially if, like most gringos moving down here, you’re going to expect to live really well—this ain’t candyland. I agree with whoever said it: go live like a KING in Nicaragua if that’s really waht you want. My advice: 1) Move to the interior of Panama to a small rural village and live like a campesino and you’ll be fine if that’s your cup of tea. Or, in most gringos cases, 2) Stay where you are. Don’t come down here, but rather find some small cheap housing or trailer in the states.
While it may have been true a few years ago, this country and specifically PTY is not CHEAPER THAN CHEAP anymore. Hell, I can barely find PTY $1 beers nowadays.
Comment by Alan — April 13, 2007 @ 7:58 am
alan - agreed. i tried to point that out. cheap’s not a sufficient reason to move to panama. there are much more affordable places to live if that’s your only criterion.
that said, coupon clipping retirees have transformed sun city az and the surrounding areas.
Comment by cojito — April 13, 2007 @ 11:20 am
If anyone wants to see what I make for extra money I can send a photo. I need all the exposure I can get. Or visit Panamacentric.com and look at the classified ads. My identity is revealed now………….
Comment by vieja — April 16, 2007 @ 10:23 am
vieja — send me the photo — marcopolo214@yahoo.com
Comment by marcopolo — April 16, 2007 @ 10:39 am
Photo sent. Feed a starving old gringa…. buy a tee shirt.
Comment by vieja — April 16, 2007 @ 1:22 pm
Native, third world, bro, i have hotwater, a/c pumping in my room, Fullhd LCD, DTS home theater, it tenderloin once a week, and dress well . . . and I’m a so called “Native”, 100% panamanian, not rich, but middle class, who the fuck a re you reffering to, not every “Native” lives like shit down here, and thirdworld, go to Haiti if you want to see real poverty, and the Public hospitals down here are better then in the Fucking US, so fuck off with your Aglo Arrogance, it fucking blinds you . . . fucking cracker
Comment by Ary — November 12, 2008 @ 3:11 am
I have an advice for you all, go back to the states, and just pay you credit cards, and suck it up . . . the third world is not for you, it’s to hot down here, to many Spicks, well there is a plane connecting to every main city in the us from tocumen . . . and by the way Fock Off
Comment by Ary — November 12, 2008 @ 3:17 am
!00% - I think you’ve misinterpreted the use of the term “native.” Look it up. It just means indigenous.
Comment by cojito — November 26, 2008 @ 4:49 pm