The Price of Paradise – Our living expenses in Panama

Well, here we are living the dream in beautiful Panama. But, at what cost? To repeat a little background for context, I retired the end of May and Mike retired the end of July. We have currently decided to live in Panama for a good portion of the year while still maintaining our home in central Texas. Our first couple of months in Panama were characterized by being in the city to start the process to establish residency here, then finding a place to rent for the rest of the four months we are here this trip. During that time, we tracked our expenses but don’t feel it is a good indication of the true cost of living. We feel like our expenses once we were settled in our condo for a full month would be the best to establish a benchmark.

Some other background information that will be useful for those interested in this breakdown: we did not want to purchase a car or rent one long-term, we chose a place to live that is very walkable, we wanted to live right on the beach, we do not really eat out much, and have already explored much of the country on previous trips. We have been following numerous Facebook groups, have taken a relocation tour, and have decided that we would rather rent a property than purchase at this time (the saying here is it’s easy to buy, hard to sell).

Here is a breakdown of our monthly expenses:

Rent is $1100 per month. This includes utilities except electricity and internet. Our condo is a one bedroom, two bath with a large living and dining area, full kitchen, washer/dryer, and walk-in closet. It was originally listed for $1400/mo. during low season and $1600/mo. during high season, but we were able to negotiate it down to the $1100.

Our electricity and internet runs around $115 per month. The internet is around $51 and the electricity will vary some depending on how often we use the AC. We are on the nineteenth floor and are able to open the windows to take advantage of the cool ocean breezes, therefore, we do not run the AC very often. On the occasional day the breezes are not blowing, we will turn on the AC. We have split units (one in the bedroom, one in the living area). We also use a drying rack for laundry and only use the dryer to fluff clothes once they are dry (at the request of the owner).

Entertainment, miscellaneous expenses and eating out runs us about $800 per month. We usually eat out about four times a week. I do line dancing every Tuesday afternoon ($5), we go out on Thursday evenings for karaoke and dancing (no cover, but we have drinks and sometimes dinner), we often go out for karaoke fun on Fridays at a different location, and often find some live music or entertainment on Saturdays.

Groceries usually run us around $400 or less a month. We take a weekly trip to the grocery store and purchase additional items we may need between shopping trips at the nearby Mini-Mart.

Travel costs around $80 per month. This includes taxi, shuttle, and bus rides. Transportation to and frum the shopping area costs from $4 to $6 round trip. A trip to and from the city for both of us is about $15, plus any Uber or Metro rides while we are there. Uber within the city is usually $3-$5, and the Metro is 35 cents each.

Ultimately, we have found we can live easily here on $2500 a month.

Rent: $1100

Utilities: $115

Entertainment/Misc.: $800

Groceries: $400

Transportation: $80

TOTAL: $2495

Some considerations as we begin to evaluate how we will do things long-term:

1. What will we do with our almost paid for home in central Texas? It is a property that would be impossible to replace, so it’s very doubtful we will sell. Our current house payment is about the same as our rent here with an additional $4000 a year in taxes and insurance. We are considering either renting it long-term while we are here or possibly doing short-term such as AirBnB or an executive rental.

2. We own a rental property that is completely paid for that almost covers the cost of our rent in Panama, however we do have several thousand a year for taxes and insurance on that property. We could sell the rental and purchase a property here, however, appreciation is much better in the states, so over time it seems that keeping the rental at home is wiser.

3. We currently still have to maintain utilities at our home in Texas as well as cover insurance costs ($80 water, about $150 electricity, about $175 for cable/internet, cell phone $125, and about $450 for various insurances).

4. Clarifying all of these expenses, plus living part-time or almost full-time overseas will be important for us moving forward.

Hopefully, someone will find this information useful. We know we could save at least $500 a month in Panama if we chose to live away from the beach. We could also save money if we did not go out as often, but honestly we have met so many people by socializing that we are glad we splurge in this area. Other than that, we figure we would be spending on the same things at home, and it would be costing us a lot more. We estimate we save at least 20% on groceries and would be spending probably three times in gas as what we are spending on transportation here. We are definitely returning here in the Spring, hopefully with a plan for our home in Texas. Stay tuned for updates!