Make The Money Make Sense - Costa Rica Move
Everybody wants to know about Costa Rica.
How in the absolute hell I can afford to live here for the next 9 months.
What I did to afford my condo in the states while saving for the move.
If I really paid 9 months of rent in advance.
If this lifestyle is sustainable.
Basically, yawl got questions and I'm not mad at it.
So first off, yes.
As of January 2023, while still living full time in the states, my rent was paid in Costa Rica and Colombia for April 18, 2023 - January 16, 2024.
To answer the how can I afford it question; it's actually pretty funny.
With the money I currently have in the bank, I can't.
Honestly, with the money I currently have baby I'm choosing between groceries items and monthly subscriptions.
But Po'Girl from September 2022 - January 2023 who was on a mission....
She was out here grinding with purpose and got it done.
The simple answer to the question of how I could afford to move out of the country is:
I knew what I wanted to make happen and that I'd be the only thing to stop me from getting it.
That reality alone was enough to scare me into action.
The quickest little story.
I brought my son to Costa Rica twice last year; in April and again in June.
At that point I'd visited twice without him; 2019 and 2021.
I stayed 2 weeks the first trip and 3 weeks the second.
Moving here had been on my spirit since that first trip in 2019 so I knew it was coming.
It was always just a matter of when.
Covid shut all that down for 2020 and 2021.
Still, my son had to experience it before such a big decision was made that also effected him.
Two trips were planned; one to the Nicoya and the other to the Caribbean.
Me and shorty are a team so we had to be in agreement.
While at the airport before the April trip I spoke with my daddy about my mindset on life going into year 30 and how I wouldn't let another year go by not being where I wanted to be.
My daddy was on the other end encouraging me to LIVE.
Both trips happened as planned - so much fun was had.
It's a no brainer but we chose the Caribbean Coast.
July (my birthday month) rolls around and I start thinking about the conversation I had with my daddy in the airport in April so I decided my birthday present was going to be the move to Costa Rica.
Not a single dollar was saved toward the move at that point so my actual present was a pre-planning / strategy session.
With a solid plan; what could hold me back from making it happen?
My rider was already on board.
The only person who has ever supported me out loud, my daddy, was on board.
Again, I'd be the ONLY thing that would stop me from getting to Central America.
On my birthday I put a 6 month plan together to get here and acted on it.
The first thing I did was purchase our 1 way tickets.
There was no real method to choosing when we would leave.
I looked at the flight calendar and chose one of the cheapest dates I saw.
The only things I knew I wanted to accomplish before leaving the United States is shifting my mindset, saving money, paying some bills down and seeing family.
On August 19, 2022 I purchase 2 one way tickets.
On that day I knew I would be moving to Costa Rica on April 18th, 2023.
Those 2 tickets cost $237.
With the move solidified - next there was housing and rent to concern myself with.
I'm deep in my soft girl era so 'figuring it out' while out of the country wasn't what I wanted to do - at all.
Whatever needed to happen money wise; I had until April 18th to do it.
I pulled a few of the old survival tools from the toolbelt:
I learned a long time ago to assign jobs to everything that was needed and wanted in my life.
Regardless of what it was, big or small, if it was a need or a want;
there was a job (source of income) specifically for that.
That was to make sure I was never using my essentials money (house, car, bills) on other things.
In my last post I touched on what 6 On 6 Off was;
during this time I re-adopted that mindset to make everything happen.
Quick tell about 6 On 6 Off:
When I got sick back in 2016 I made a plan to only work hard 6 months out the year.
For 6 months I would work as many jobs as I could handle and the other 6 months I would only work 1.
The 6 hardworking months would go to saving for bills and travel for the laxed 6 months.
This was my normal for years, only deterring from the plan if I had something big to pay for.
I kept this as my action plan until I began to work task force for Marriott.
Working task force allowed me to travel in a way where I could stay in a city for 6-8 months on contract and work other jobs if it fit with my schedule.
When I wasn't on contract my son and I would be wherever, doing whatever.
Applying that same process, in August of 2022, I picked up 4 part time jobs.
My fulltime overnight job paid for my normal things while the other 4 jobs went straight to CR.
In the 4.5 months I worked I was able to save $12,000 with my part-time jobs only.
I spent $4000 of it on moving into and paying for a beachfront condo for our last 4 months of living in Myrtle Beach.
Some people will say that was a waste of money but for me it was necessary.
We started our move to Myrtle Beach in an oceanfront place and I wanted to end our time there the same way.
We weren't comfortable in the employee housing set up we'd been in but it was cheap enough that I didn't have to work often - it made sense while it did.
Once the extra money was coming in I wanted something better for us.
Anyways. Sustainability.
By October I'd moved into the condo and money was flowing in steadily.
I made a plan: every $2000 saved I could book one of the 3 Airbnb's needed.
At that time my intention was to be out of the country for 9 months, come back to the states for 3 months to re-up and do it all again.
With that plan in mind I gave myself 2 years of that set up.
By 2025 I wanted to have figured out how to make money without having to go back to the United States.
I'm speaking in past tense here because the plan has since changed.
Now I am looking for a part-time online job to start paying toward rent for January - July so we can go straight into next years moves versus going to the states to save money.
I was able to save $12k in 4.5 months working 4 part-time jobs.
The reason I worked this hard is because I didn't want to HAVE to get a job while I was away.
If I got a job I wanted it to be for play money or for future plans.
I am serious when I say making money to just pay bills cannot and will not be my life on this planet.
Just so we're clear; that is not shade to anyone in any situation that isn't appealing to them;
I am only speaking my truth as it effects me and my lifestyle.
At the same time, if I can change my outlook and do what needs to be done then so can you.
For me, regardless of how paycheck to paycheck my situation is...
Making money only to pay bills is a very unattractive lifestyle that I cannot accept for myself.
I did it for years and it did not look good on me.
I made a decision to always make sure the money I make is working for me in a bigger way than just paying bills.
In my opinion, if you are willing to spend money on things that sit inside your house knowing you don't have enough time or energy to enjoy them...
Why not invest in things you know will make you truly happy.
MAKE THE MONEY MAKE SENSE.
At every turn I ask myself does the money make sense?
Mind you, here I am with no money but wealthy in spirit because I am where I want to be, doing what I love doing with no worries.
In the next post I will talk about the bills I am responsible for and why I worked 4.5 months vs the full 6.
But for now:
Incase you forgot; I do offer lifestyle coaching for those looking to make a change.
I also have a travel agency if you're looking to book a sabbatical trip of your own.