In a recent question by Tim C asked he posted the following: Hi... new to the group Expats of Granada. I have been searching various forums to get as much information as I can on life in Granada. I am thinking about moving there with my wife. We both lead a very simple life. Would it be reasonable to expect that we could live on a fixed income of $1000 ~ $1100 a month if we were to lead a fairly frugal existence? We just want a small place, some good food and maybe a bottle of wine a week :-) Thank you for your thoughts on the subject.
Melissa B Lombardo, Manager at Condominium Xalteva stated the following "that is a reasonable amount for 2 people. I recommend renting prior to purchasing and coming down for 1 to 3 months. Stay in different locations to get to know different neighborhoods.
You might want to think about things like residency, if you need a car, doctor visits, visa border runs, if you need a/c, medical and special dietary requirements if any, as well as plane fare if you will travel back to your home country. Hopefully you will also budget travel in country to see all the beautiful places Nicaragua has to offer.
You are taking a good first step through this forum. I also recommend you sending us line items so that on your end you can fill in your own chart. You can pose other questions such as, how much for a dental cleaning, rental prices for a one bedroom small house, bus fare to Managua, visas.
I am sure that between all of us members we can give you a good idea.
As for street food, I would recommend getting to know vendors and their hygiene standards prior to purchasing/eating. I refer more so to cooked food since fruits and veggies can be disinfected at home. Regarding prices, the best way to go about it is to ask different vendors prices to get an idea of what things cost. I do this until i find a few that offer the best price/quality.
Hope this helps."
We agree with Melissa, you need to have a chart so you can enter all the various numbers, so you have an indication what for example the various vegetable names and prices are that was one of the first things we did. We also stayed at several locations prior to buying our home to get a feel for the community, street noise, activities and just the vibe.
There are in our opinion to two types of expats those that desire to live in a town and those that wish to live in smaller farm communities.
We like Granada but for us the noises, the hustle and bustle is not what we wanted. We also wanted a cooler climate with lots of wind, and a area where we could grow our own vegetables and fruit so we moved to Diria on a small acreage where we have peace ad quiet and can go to Granada, Masaya or Managua whenever we need to. We feel this is more of a central location for us. Rental prices in our Dira, Diriomo, Catarina for same size home is half that from Granada.
We own our own home and life comfortably with one thousand a month budget, which includes two helpers one for house cleaning and one for the property. Our utilities per month including cable is less than two hundred per month. Internet is expensive since we have a business account that’s another sixty per month.
The expats in Granada love the community interaction with other expats and the entertainment area, colonial homes, ease of shopping and no need to have a transportation.
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