Costa Rica cost of living: A quick grocery trip to Mega-Super
Figuring out the actual cost of living has been hard since we’ve spent 8 days in essentially tourist areas. Cahuita was slow, laidback and quite small. Aside from the beach and national park, there’s nothing there. That fact, along with the distance from the Central Valley, made us realize that the Caribbean coast was not the place for us, at least not at this time. (We were in Puerto Viejo for a couple of days as well, but the whole party town vibe didn’t grab us either.)
Since it was a tourist-oriented area, we assumed that prices were a bit inflated. The mercados (grocery stores) were small by American standards, really more like big NYC bodegas. They were pretty well stocked with basics, and I don’t remember the prices too well. I do remember buying some Kellogg’s cereal for about $4-5 (they actually had a much larger selection of known American brands than loca cereals).
Today we arrived in Belen and I ran out for a quick shopping trip to ‘Mega-Super.’ I’m glad to see that they had some self control in naming their store, at least compared to the northern Manhattan Latino stalwart ‘Xtra-Super-Jumbo.’ (I’d love to know if there’s a store out in the world that’s taken this naming convention to an extreme, perhaps stringing 5 or 6 superlatives together)
Anyway, Mega-Super is basically a really modern supermarket and would not be out of place at all in the US, where we like to pick names that seem practical (Stop & Shop, Price Chopper) or neighborly (Wegman’s, Kroger’s). I don’t think it lacked for anything, though the selection of items was less (like a lot fewer spices). I did walk into a Mega-Super in downtown Alajuela the first day we were here and it was not as modern (this is a brand new store) and was overall smaller with a smaller selection as well.
We’re looking forward to catching a feria (farmer’s market) sometime soon as that’s where we expect to be buying a lot of our food. I don’t think we can go back to grocery store veggies since we joined the CSA, due to both taste and value. Here’s the list of stuff from Mega-Super, converted to dollars at 515 colones per dollar (the rate everyone seems to use right now for giving change in colones after being paid in dollars). NB: 454g = 1lb
- 1 liter milk $0.97
- 1 liter orange juice $1.19
- 400g canned plum tomatoes $1.13 (should’ve bought fresh)
- Nestle Corn Flakes $3.50 (least sugar of all cereals not expressly made to help people poop)
- 15 eggs $2.12 (they’re not refrigerated here – this one has an expiration date of Nov 20)
- large loaf of whole wheat bread $1.97 (I bet we get good hand-made bread for less elsewhere)
- 500g laundry detergent $1.41
- 500g pasta with protein $1.73 (more expensive than regular pasta but a great choice when you’ve got a kid who tends to eat plain pasta)
- 375g tilapia filets $3.91 (or $4.73/lb – better than the best sale price I’ve seen at home. I’m sure buying from a fisherman would be a lot better)
- 1 liter Cabernet $4.09 (I saw wine in a paper box the same as milk & OJ and just had to try it. It tastes way better than anything in the US that involves the words ‘box’ and ‘wine.’)
- 250ml probiotic yogurt drink $1.66
- 1 small shaker of salt $0.29 (is salt supposed to have flouride in it?)
- 400g can black beans $1.01
- 680g potatoes (ie 3 loose potatoes) $0.37
The prices aren’t tremendously lower, but still a bit better overall. As I’ve found out, getting veggies directly from a farm is much more cost-effective, so I’m quite interested to see a real feria and get a much better handle on the cost of food.
Ahhhh there you are! I was wondering if you had left for CR or just got too busy to blog. Sounds like you are enjoying the scenery with more to come. I am jealous!!!
Who is watching your ducks? Our girls are up to three eggs/day and I am going to make my first quiche for dinner tonight to stay ahead of them.
Cuidense,
Kelly
Actually, I don’t think we spend less on our CSA veggies now than we would from buying at a supermarket. We probably spend more on them than we would if we bought them at a supermarket. But we pay the *real cost* of production for the veggies, as opposed to subsidized cost + environmental damage that we get from supermarket veggies. With our CSA, I think we end up cutting down on our *overall cost of groceries* since we end up eating far more vegetables and whole foods and cut down on our prepackaged food portion of the bill, which is very expensive.
The prices listed above are for a lot of prepackaged foods, which are expensive, but good for traveling and using a small kitchenette with no spices. I’m not sure if buying veggies from farmers will make them cheap, but it will sure cut down on the amount of canned and bagged goods that we buy. We shall see what we find when we hit the San Ramon farmer’s market over the weekend!
I love hot chicks with brains & consciences
I love reading this “blog thing” It really tells me what you are experiencing in Costa Rica. Keep the updates coming! I can’t wait for the next one.
Miss you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[...] and meat – can be a lot cheaper if you opt to buy at farmer’s markets (ferias) instead of Western-style supermarkets. The overhead required to pay salaries for executives and rent for stores add quite a lot to the [...]
[...] and meat – can be a lot cheaper if you opt to buy at farmer’s markets (ferias) instead of Western-style supermarkets. The overhead required to pay salaries for executives and rent for stores add quite a lot to the [...]
Hello!! I;m going to Costa Rica NEXT WEEK.. for four months (for work). but for the first two weeks, my boyfriend will be there with me, And we’re looking forward to a wonderful and beautiful vacation, for that time. WE Had some ideas of renting a “cabina” a small, humble yet cozy little cabin by the beach. they have a washroom, and kitchenette, and Had the idea also of buying our own groceries, and cooking from there as much as possible, to save on money, and also to enjoy nice romantic picnics =)… SO THANKS!! for the information, I sure hope its all up to date, of course, I will be visiting other websites in search for food prices, for sure, to be safe. Also, this list however is assuming the colone is at 515 per canadian dollar, but the exchangerate.com site suggests it’s 448 right now, but i’m aware this is a constant changing thing.
But anywho, thanks again for your site, its been very informative and intuitive.
keep up the good work.
Leave your response!
Subscribe to Tiny Grass
A peek into our life
Advertisement
Recommended reading!
Meta
Archives
Categories
about art attachment parenting blogging blogroll books breastfeeding buying eyeglasses online child safety christmas community cool toys costa rica creativity culture DIY doing good dvd ecology education Elimination Communication environmentalism family featured feminism finances food fun games gardening getting rid of stuff haiku headline hiking homebirth homeschooling learning online learning Spanish Lego link list little house mid-life crisis monkeys mother earth music natural birth nature online resources parenting photos poetry politics pregnancy & birth public education raising ducks rant reading recipes reflections review selling a house simple living snakes socialization spirituality sustainability technology the geek speaks the great outdoors trampolines travel tutorial unschooling vegetarianism video wildlife wordpress wtf yarn crafts
Most Commented
Most Viewed