www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Sorry about the size and resolution, but you can see the graph in the VIP photo section under 'funny fotos' # 12563

Inflation is at about 300% over 10 years, according to this chart. It was in Oct 8, 2009 edition of AM Costa Rica as part of a story about how the local chamber of commerce is upset that wages rising faster than inflation.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

Sorry as I am to see CR inflation at about 35% a year and as much as that negatively impacts local CRT Brothers on fixed incomes, how again does that relate to the out-of-towners cost for hotels, beer and p^ssy? Sorry if I'm being a buster here.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I have no idea how they devised that chart but it is misleading to say the least. I have lived here for 6 years and can state that the highest inflation rate in that period was in 2008 when it came close to 15%. The majority of the years it was about 10% that figure was almost matched exactly by the devaluation of the colon which resulted in no change to most retirees here whose income is in U.S. dollars. This year, primarily due to the worldwide economic downturn, the rate is estimated to be between 4 and 5%.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Biggest rising cost I see is electric bills. My usage has been fairly constant but my bill has gone from an average c50,000 to around c80,000 in 18 months. Can't say that I have noticed the rise in anything else.

Meat is expensive. Everything else is pretty reasonable especially if you shop the fairia for fruits and veggies.

_________________
"Your love gives me such a thrill
but your love don't pay my bills,
I NEED THE MONEY!" - John Lee Hooker

Disclaimer: The above is merely the opinion of the author unless specific scientific data is included.
Your mileage may vary. https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewto ... 978#206978

The forum is not only about out of towners, hotels, beer and pusssy. I don't expect everyone to be interested in this subject, but some are. Perhaps I should have posted it in the Living in Costa Rica section, but we do get general questions about exchange rates and inflation here from time to time.

ID, it may well be true that inflation has never exceeded 15% in any given year, but it compounds over the years so that the resulting average over say a 10 year period is higher than any of the individual one-year inflation rates. I'm not a math whiz, but I think you get my drift.

_________________
"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

I am sure you are correct in taking in to consideration the compounding effect. However the problem is that many do not and come to the erroneous and frighting conclusion that prices increase 35% a year, on average, in Costa Rica.

That is why so many cost comparisons that compare cost today against costs some years back us "today's dollar" conversion to level the playing field any make the numbers reflect reality.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Can any of you ex-pats say what is the price per kilowatt/hour. Example I pay 11.9 cents per kilowatt hour in Texas.


MY BLOOD RUNS COLD
MY MEMORY HAS JUST BEEN SOLD
MY ANGEL IS A PIRATE CLUB PUTA

It depends on usage for a particular month. The more you use the more you pay. I use the latest service that they offer which charges different rates at different times of the day. The highest rate is from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM and then again from 5:30 to 8:00 PM. The medium rate is from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM and then from 12:30 to 5:00 PM. The lowest rate is from 8:00 PM to 6:00 AM.

In the examples all charges are for H/M/L periods.If you use 300 KWH or less the rates are (all in cents) .20/8.2/3.6. 301 to 500 KWH 22.8/9.8/4.0 and above 500 KWH 26.6/10.6/4.8. There is a small charge for your neighborhood street lights if installed and 13% sales tax on the total. By planning your use of certain appliances you can save significant amount each month. I save about 10,000 colones a month with this meter as opposed to my old one which charged the same rate per hour 24 hours a day within the usage framework.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I am not sure but dont they have different rates for different areas also?


BKTUNA
I am never going home

Yes. Same as everywhere. Different providers set there own rates subject to regulatory approval. My provider is CNFL ( a subsidiary of ICE) and there are other providers. All buy the electricity from ICE who also provide retail service to some areas as well.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

My usage last month was 862KWH for c74,645 or c88 per KWH which is 14.9 cents per KWH.

_________________
"Your love gives me such a thrill
but your love don't pay my bills,
I NEED THE MONEY!" - John Lee Hooker

Disclaimer: The above is merely the opinion of the author unless specific scientific data is included.
Your mileage may vary. https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewto ... 978#206978

if you take a base of 100 as an index and use 15% annual inflation for 10 years you end up at an index of 351. This would mean something that costs 1000 colones 10 years ago on average would cost 3500 colones now. A 15% annual inflation rate is huge. The exchange rate is a good example. Roughly a year ago? it dropped to a low of 486 and now is around 580.

Good news for tourists or expats who get dollars as income is that prices do not seem to rise as fast as the currency devalues, there is always some lag.

BKTUNA
I am never going home

While that sounds horrendous a look at the chart shows that the minimum wage has, by a very small margin, risen faster then the inflation rate.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

The article that included that chart was about the local Chamber of Commerce lamenting that very fact. If the gap were the other way around, I suspect they would be quite happy. I am not an economist, and even less a Costa Rican economist, but if their measure of inflation is anything like that in the USA, it's probably skewed to make inflation look less awful than it really is.

_________________
"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis