{"id":5446,"date":"2012-07-24T13:15:45","date_gmt":"2012-07-24T18:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/?p=5446"},"modified":"2012-07-24T13:15:45","modified_gmt":"2012-07-24T18:15:45","slug":"the-panama-guide-real-cost-of-living-survey-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/the-panama-guide-real-cost-of-living-survey-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"The Panama Guide &#8220;Real&#8221; Cost Of Living Survey &#8211; Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/dollars-and-cents.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5447\" title=\"dollars and cents\" src=\"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/dollars-and-cents.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"404\" height=\"303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/dollars-and-cents.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/dollars-and-cents-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 404px) 100vw, 404px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Don Winner at the Panama Guide just started a great survey asking people to tell him how much money it costs them to live in different areas and lifestyles in Panama and he will be following this with more as it comes in.\u00a0 His report is very detailed and a great guide to those who are preparing a retirement budget.\u00a0 Great job Don!!<\/p>\n<p>One of the first questions people ask when they are considering a move  to live in the Republic of Panama is about the cost of living. They want  to know how much things cost, and will they be able to get by on the  amount of income they have available. There are so many variables it&#8217;s  hard to answer this question in a manner that would apply to everyone.  Since the bottom line costs change according to the choices people make  in the way they want to live, I decided to take a different approach. I  asked my readers to give me a run-down of their monthly expenses, come  up with a total, and then divide that by the number of people in their  family. Some expenses are both fixed and highly variable. Electricity  for instance. Everyone here pays the same per kilowatt hour, but your  monthly bill will vary greatly depending on how much you use. Those of  us roasting down at the lower elevations run our air conditioners more  often than those who live in Boquete, Altos del Maria, or Cerro Azul.  Anyway, I&#8217;ve received enough responses to post the first installment on  this series of articles on the Real Cost of Living in Panama. I already  know this series is going to be a &#8220;classic&#8221; &#8211; widely read and quoted all  over the place by those who follow this sort of stuff. According to the  data received and my analysis of the data &#8211; and this surprised me &#8211; the  average cost of living in Panama for expatriates is about $1,130 per  month, per person. Don&#8217;t believe me? Read on&#8230; (more)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> This was the first article of a series. The second article was;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Second Set Of Data Pushes Average Cost Of Living in Panama Even Lower &#8211; 23 July 2012.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Methodology:<\/strong> On Friday, 20 July 2012, I asked  www.panama-guide.com readers to send me a snapshot of their regular  monthly living expenses as detailed in this article: The &#8220;Real&#8221; Cost Of Living in Panama &#8211; A Survey And Call For Input.  Their inputs and responses include a headcount or how many people live  under the roof. Then they provided details on their monthly costs for  housing, food, utilities, transportation, education, and any other  regular or routine expenses. Annual bills are divided by 12 to make it a  monthly number. Necessities are covered, while most discretionary is  not &#8211; this is a survey of cost of living, not spending habits. Then the  monthly expenses are added up, and divided by the number of people  living in that household. The bottom line result is a monthly cost, per  person, to live under that roof. Here&#8217;s the data and inputs received  from the first seven participants;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Living The High Life In Cerro Azul:<\/strong> A 61 year old male  lives alone in Cerro Azul, located about 40 minutes by car outside of  Panama City. He bought his house for $135,000 dollars by putting down  $35,000 in cash, and he financed the balance for 13 years at $900 per  month. He also dropped another $50,000 into the house to fix it up. He  only pays $150 per month on electricity because there&#8217;s no need for air  conditioning in Cerro Azul. Monthly water bill is $30 bucks, cable  television is $55, Internet access $15 per month (via Digicel USB  modem), monthly cell phone usage is $25 dollars (calls only, no data.)  Budgets $400 per month for food, eating out, and cleaning items. Fuel  for the car is $200 per month. There&#8217;s a $20 per month Home Owners  Association fee in Cerro Azul which pays for road upkeep and  maintenance. Car insurance is $100 per month on a ten year old car,  bought in cash for $10,000. Travel plans &#8211; two trips per year at $600  per ticket, $1,200 annual, or $100 per month. That puts him at a total  of $1,995 per month living expenses. Plus, he has a total of $95,000  invested in the purchase of the house, remodeling the house, and  purchase of the car. So the bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A single man lives alone in Cerro Azul for $1,995 per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A Retired Couple in Altos del Maria:<\/strong> Lloyd and  Linda Sherman live full time in Altos del Maria. They return to the US  about once a year. They are renting a house for $900 per month. They  purchase insurance on the contents of their home for $45 per year (or  $3.75 per month). They budget $600 per month for groceries which  includes regular trips to Price Mart for large package items and  cleaning supplies, and they spend an additional $300 per month or so  eating out. Their utilities are $65 per month for electricity, $8.50 per  month for water, $76 per month for cable TV (including movie channels),  $80 per month for Internet access, $6.99 per month for Skype with  unlimited calls to the US, $15 per month for cell phone on prepaid  cards. Domestic help $110 per month for part time maid and gardener.  Also, $15 per month for propane for cooking and hot water. They own two  cars, purchased in cash for $10,800 total. They spend a total of $240  per month on fuel, $26 per month for insurance on both vehicles, and  have a budget of $200 per month for repairs and maintenance on the  vehicles for parts and fixes. Other: $80 per month for mail services,  $125 per month for health insurance. They have budgeted $3,000 per year  or $250 per month for international travel. Added all together, their  monthly expenditures are about $3,112 per month or $1,556 per person.  So, the bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A retired couple lives in Altos del Maria for $1,556 per person, per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A Family of Three in Gamboa:<\/strong> An American man, his  Colombian wife, and their school aged daughter live in Gamboa, next to  the Panama Canal where the Chagres river enters Gatun Lake. They rent  their house for $750 per month, which includes all of their utilities &#8211;  gas, electricity, water, Internet, air conditioning, satellite  television, a gardener, garbage pick-up three times a week, and no  maintenance fees. Their daughter attends a public school, and they were  surprised and impressed with the school (free). They bought a car and  paid about $6,100 total for the purchase and needed repairs. As for  monthly costs, $80 for fuel for the car, $400 for food, $300 for  restaurants and eating out, $75 for cell phone service, $138 per month  for car insurance, and $200 per month for fuel for the boat (fishing)  and $40 for bait. Add $25 per month for the wife&#8217;s hair and nails, $5  per month for dad&#8217;s haircut, a budget of $50 per month for clothes for  their daughter, and $35 per month for prescription medicines. That  brings the monthly total to $2,058 for a family of three. So, the bottom  line is &#8211; <strong>A family of three lives in Gamboa for $686 per person, per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Swinging Single in Las Tablas:<\/strong> A 65 year old  retired American male lives in Las Tablas, in the Azuero region of  Panama. He&#8217;s been coming to Panama since 2001 but has been living here  full time for the past seven years and has not been back to the United  States. He rents a single family house (stand alone) in a respectable  neighborhood for $225 per month. His utilities are $32 per month for  electricity and $7.50 per month for water. He spends $400 per month on  groceries and cleaning supplies, and spends about $45 per month eating  out at restaurants. He spends another $30 per month on beer and  cigarettes. For telecommunications, he pays $11 per month for data on  his Blackberry cell phone, and an additional $15 per month on cell phone  cards. He owns a scooter for local transportation and spends about $5  per month on gas (with no insurance). Finally, he spends about $20 per  month for buses or taxis. His greatest expense is on prescription  medicines at $300 per month. So the bottom line is &#8211; his costs for  necessities is about $1,070 per month. But here&#8217;s the kicker. He gets a  check for about $2,500 per month and he blows the rest on &#8220;girlfriends  and casinos.&#8221; He spends all of his income, but he could get by for less  if he either had to or wanted to. So, the bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A single man lives in Las Tablas for $1,070 per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A Family of Three in Pedasi:<\/strong> This family, a 51  year old retired law enforcement officer, his 45 year old wife, and  their 12 year old son, moved to Pedasi in Los Santos after selling all  of their belongings in the United States. They moved to Panama and  rented for the first five months, but now they have purchased their home  and they have been in there for seven months, and live in Panama full  time. They bought the house cash for $125,000 and there are no HOA or  other scheduled maintenance fees. They pay $15 per month for homeowner&#8217;s  fire insurance on the house. They budget $750 per month for food and  household supplies, and another $150 per month for restaurants and  dining out. Monthly utilities are $150 for electricity, $8 for water,  $40 for Internet (via Claro USB stick and router), $8 for cell phone.  They don&#8217;t have cable TV or a landline telephone. They bought a used car  for $12,000 cash. Fuel costs are $180 per month, pay $58 per month for  maintenance, and $62 per month for insurance. They rarely use public  transportation. School for their son is done with a home schooling plan  through the Internet at $166 per month. Their costs are a little  elevated right now because their son needs braces &#8211; which will cost them  $105 per month over the next two years. So, the invested $125,000 for  the house plus $12,000 for the car, or a total of $137,000 going in.  Total monthly expenses are $1,669 for three people. So, the bottom line  is &#8211; <strong>A family of three lives in Pedasi for $556 per person, per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A Retireed Couple Living in Boquete:<\/strong> An American  couple in their 70&#8217;s purchased a two bedroom ground floor condominium in  a gated community in Boquete, in the Chiriqui province of Panama. They  paid $240,000 cash about two years ago. Their Home Owner&#8217;s Association  fees are $2,114 for the year or $176 per month, which covers security,  external maintenance, and landscaping of the common areas. They pays an  additional $18 per month for fire insurance. Utilities are $100 per  month for electricity (no air conditioning necessary at altitude), about  $5.80 per month on gas for cooking on a range top and oven. Water is  $4.50 per month, local service. Legal fees for a Panamanian corporation  $29 per month. Real estate tax is $2.50 per month. They have one bill  for $100 per month with Cable Onda for cable television, local  telephone, and Internet service. They spend about $105 per month on maid  service and a gardener. Health insurance is $350 per month because they  are over 70 years of age and have  large deductibles &#8211; this is for  catastrophic medical problems only. For transportation, they bought a  new SUV from the dealer in David, paying cash. Car insurance is $83 per  month, full coverage. Estimated monthly food costs: $600. The up front  investment for large ticket purchases was about $270,000 for the house  and car. Their total monthly expenses are $1,573 per month, for two  people. So, the bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A retired couple lives in Boquete for $786 per person, per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A Family of Five in Panama City:<\/strong> A family of five  &#8211; an adult man and wife, two grown children, and one small child all  live together in an apartment in Panama City. They purchased the home  with $11,000 down, financed the rest, and have invested about $50,000 in  upgrades and improvements to the property. The monthly mortgage is $640  and the condo maintenance fees are $150 per month. Utilities are $290  per month for electricity, $300 per month for Cable Onda which includes  full cable TV for four digital boxes, two local telephone numbers, and  high speed Internet access. The monthly water bill is $40 per month,  which also includes garbage collection. Cell phone is $150 per month,  broken down as one phone on a monthly plan, and several others using  prepaid cards. School and education expenses are $200 per month for a  private school. The two older kids are done with school. Food costs are  $600 per month for groceries and household supplies, plus another $400  per month for restaurants and dining out. There is one car payment of  $260 per month for a new car. Fuel expenses are $100 per month total.  Another $100 per month budgeted for repairs and maintenance as needed.  And another $120 per month for insurance. There was a total of $61,000  invested up front to make the move to Panama. These monthly expenses  come to $3,350 per month. So, the bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A family of five lives in Panama City for $670 per person, per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Analysis of the Data:<\/strong> First of all, thanks to the people who  have been generous with their time, who answered my call for input. As  you can see widely differing demographics are represented in this first  installment. There are two single men, two retired couples, and three  families represented, or a total of seventeen individuals &#8211; fourteen  adults and three children. They live in different parts of Panama, and  their monthly spending habits vary according to their needs and  lifestyles, as expected. Some rent their homes, while others have  purchased a house. I added together all of the bottom line &#8220;cost of  living per person, per month&#8221; totals in order to determine an average.  So far &#8211; according to the responses provided by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.panama-guide.com\">Panama-Guide.com<\/a> readers &#8211; the average cost of living in Panama is about $1,130 per  month, per person. The range is from a low of $556 per person with costs  spread out over a family, and a high of $1,995 for a single guy living  alone in Cerro Azul.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Please Keep It Coming:<\/strong> With this article you should be  getting an idea of what I&#8217;m trying to accomplish with this series of  articles on the &#8220;real&#8221; cost of living in Panama. You can tell me enough  about your regular and routine spending habits to allow me to write this  kind of a summary without violating your personal privacy. This sort of  information about monthly cost of living is critically important to  those who are thinking about moving to the Republic of Panama to join  our community of English speaking expatriates. If you are already living  here, and if you&#8217;ve been here long enough to establish these sorts of  spending patterns and habits, then please share. If you see something  you think to be way out of line with your own personal experience, then  of course by all means &#8211; give me your feedback &#8211; and at the same time  give me your &#8220;snapshot&#8221; details so I can include your situation to be  included in the overall strategic view. So, please send me your input.<\/p>\n<p><strong>There Is No &#8220;Right Answer&#8221;<\/strong> &#8211; Everyone living here makes  their daily decisions depending on their wants, needs, and desires. I  loved the input from the guy in Las Tablas who recognized he&#8217;s actually  getting by on about $1,000 a month and blowing the rest on  &#8220;discretionary spending&#8221; &#8211; chicks, booze, and casinos. Another  participant had budgeted for fuel for the fishing boat and bait &#8211; first  things first, right? I think these kinds of details are what&#8217;s going to  make this series of reports both different and more important than  others that have been done in the past. There&#8217;s an undeniable &#8220;real  world&#8221; factor which stems from the value, honesty, and integrity of the  data going in. It might not be a perfect formula, but I bet you know  more about the true costs of living in the Republic of Panama, now that  you&#8217;ve read this article.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Second Set Of Data Pushes Average Cost Of Living in Panama Even Lower<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Here&#8217;s The Second Batch:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Retiree Has High &#8220;Burn Rate&#8221; in Panama City:<\/strong> A 70 year  old single American male has been living in Panama full time since  2000. A full time girlfriend lives with him, so these monthly expenses  are for two people. He bought a new SUV in 2004 for $30,000 in cash. He  bought a nice 280 square meter oceanfront condo in 2005 for $270,000  cash. He spends $4,000 per year ($333 per month) for major medical  insurance. He reports spending $1,500 per month on &#8220;groceries and booze&#8221;  and another $650 per month on &#8220;restaurants and fun.&#8221; He lists another  $500 per month for &#8220;stuff.&#8221; His monthly condo fee is $370 per month for  operations and maintenance for the building, as well as security, common  water, gas, and garbage collection. For utilities he spends $120 per  month on electricity, $130 per month for cable television and Internet,  and $330 per month for two cell phones. So the total comes to $3,933 per  month for two people, or $1,966 per person. There was a total upfront  investment in cash of $300,000 dollars to buy the condo and his vehicle.  So, the bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A retired man and his girlfriend live in downtown Panama City for $1,966 per person, per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Living On A Farm in Boquete:<\/strong> A single American  man lives on his farm in Boquete. He has a live-in girlfriend who spends  a lot of time with him, especially on weekends, so these expenses are  for two people. He bought a working (income producing) four acre coffee  and citrus farm upfront for $350,000 in cash, and he also bought a new  car for $21,000 in cash. Property taxes are $150 per month. Utilities  are $5.35 per month for propane gas, $40 per month for electricity,  $2.50 per month for water, $8.95 per month for Netflix, $25 per month  for a cellphone contract and unlimited data. He spends $200 per month  for fuel, $50 per month for auto insurance, $20 per month for home  insurance, $300 per month for groceries, and another $300 per month on  restaurants, entertainment, and dining out. There is also a $60 per  month cost for a wireless Internet connection &#8211; more expensive because  of the relatively remote farm location. One half-time farm worker costs  $260 per month, including Social Security payments as required by law  for an employee. Other costs for $50 per month were listed as  &#8220;miscellaneous&#8221;. There was an up-front investment of $371,000 to buy the  farm and the car. Their total monthly expenses are only $1,471. So, the  bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A retired man and his girlfriend live on a working coffee and citrus farm in Boquete for $735 per month, per person.&#8221;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A Retired Couple Living On The Beach:<\/strong> A 55 year  old man and his 45 year old wife live in Ojo de Agua, which is near the  Playa Venao on the Azuero Peninsula, Panama. They bought their house for  $27,000 cash about six years ago and invested another $10,000 in cash  to remodel the house while they both continued to work in the US, before  they could retire. They bought a truck for $12,000 cash in 2009, and  they both have been living here full time for the past two years. They  pay $56 per month for vehicle insurance, full coverage. Utilities are  $40 per month for electricity, $11 for water, $55 for Skye TV, $25 for  Internet through a Cable &amp; Wireless USB connection, $30 in cell  phone cards, and $60 for life insurance. They spend about $160 per month  for fuel, used to drive to Las Tablas, visit friends, or to go to the  different beaches in the area. They spend $200 per month on groceries  and household supplies, and another $300 per month on restaurants,  dining out, and &#8220;my husband&#8217;s cerveza.&#8221; They budget about $2,000 per  year for international travel to visit the United States. &#8220;Give or take  an ice cream here and there our living expenses for Panama is $550 a  month per person. It would be more affordable if my husband would give  up the Atlas and if we stopped eating at the beach everytime we go!  But  it is for those things that we love it here!!&#8221; I see an initial cash  investment of $49,000 for the house, remodeling, and car. Their monthly  expenses are just over $1,100 total. So, the bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A retired couple lives on the beach in Panama for $550 per month, per person.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A Retired Man Lives On His Social Security Check in Downtown Panama City:<\/strong> A retired American male has been living in Panama City for the past  five years. He bought a new two bedroom condo in El Cangrejo for  $150,000 dollars cash, so there&#8217;s no monthly mortgage payment. He also  bought a new car for $18,500 and a motorcycle for $1,500 dollars in  cash, so no monthly payments there either. His only source of income his  his monthly Social Security check, so he has to &#8220;watch every dollar.&#8221;  His monthly expenses are $126 in condo fees, $75 for Internet and cable  television, $65 for electricity, $300 for food, $60 for gas for both the  car and motorcycle, and $24 for insurance. He lists another $100 per  month as &#8220;miscellaneous&#8221; monthly expenses. He said &#8220;I live very  comfortably on $750 per month, and I don&#8217;t skimp.&#8221; He spends the  remainder on discretionary items such as travel and partying. His total  up-front cash investment was $170,000 for the apartment, car, and  motorcycle. So, the bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A retired man lives alone in his apartment in Panama City for $750 per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Off The Grid in Bocas del Toro:<\/strong> A retired husband  and wife live on an island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago in the  Republic of Panama. They spend $100,000 to buy the property and another  $150,000 to build their home. They have no monthly utility bills because  they live &#8220;off grid&#8221; using solar electricity and a rainwater catchment  system. They report regular monthly expenses of $100 month for  transportation (truck and boat); fuel and maintenance; $450 month food  costs (groceries, beer, wine &amp; eating out); $150 month for yard,  agricultural work; $100 month lawyer fees for &#8220;typical Bocas stuff&#8221;, and  $20 month for propane. They had an initial up front investment of  $250,000 for the property and to build the house. Their total monthly  expenses are $820 per month. So, the bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A retired couple lives on an island in Bocas del Toro for $410 per person, per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A Family of Five in Veracruz:<\/strong> A young working  couple and their three kids live in a house they bought in Veracruz,  located just outside of Panama City. They paid $23,000 or 10% down to  buy the house, and then spent an additional $60,000 on repairs,  remodeling, and upgrades. They spent $24,000 cash to buy two cars, one  of which is paid off and there&#8217;s still a loan on the other one. Their  monthly expenses are $1,600 for the mortgage, $257 for life insurance  (related to the mortgage), $90 for fire\/flood\/content insurance as  required for mortgage, real estate taxes $165. Monthly car payment $330  which includes insurance. Insurance on the second car is $100 per month.  Diesel for both cars $280 per month. Health insurance is $120 for the  entire family. Private schools cost $600 for three kids. Electricity is  $350 per month. Garbage pick up $12 per month. Internet is $30 per  month. They spend $130 per month for Satellite TV, and subscribe to two  different services. Food and household supplies $1200 per month. A maid  costs $200 per month, five days a week, mornings only. And a gardener is  $80 per month, only one day per week, full day. They put down $107,000  to buy the house, fix it up, and buy two cars. Their total cost of  living expenses are $5,544 per month. So, the bottom line is &#8211; <strong>A working couple and their three children live in Veracruz for $1,108 per person, per month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Analysis And Crunching The Numbers:<\/strong> It&#8217;s becoming pretty clear  two primary factors have the greatest impact on the bottom line cost of  living in Panama. The first is how much money you are able to invest up  front. If you can afford to buy your home and car in cash, then that  eliminates a lot of monthly fees for mortgage payments and the  associated insurance required when you have a bank loan. So, buy putting  more down up front greatly reduces your monthly expenses. No real  surprise there, but it&#8217;s interesting to see that fact reflected in the  monthly spending habits being reported. The second greatest factor is  how the monthly &#8220;burn rate&#8221; changes depending on how people choose to  live. If you buy your groceries in the supermarket, do your cooking at  home, and don&#8217;t spend too much on restaurants or dining out then you can  greatly reduce the monthly cost of living in Panama.  Conversely,  there&#8217;s literally no limit to how much you can spend, if you want to.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How Many People And Average Cost Per Month:<\/strong> This second  installment covers the living and spending habits of fourteen people in  the Republic of Panama, in six different family groups. Of those, eleven  are adults, and three are children. There&#8217;s one single man, two guys  living with their girlfriends, two retired couples, and a family of  five. Their average per person monthly living expenses range from a low  of $410 in Bocas del Toro to a high of $1,966 for an ocean view condo in  Panama City. The average per person monthly cost of living for this  group was $919 dollars. That&#8217;s slightly lower than what was reported in  the first group. And so far the average between the two groups &#8211;  covering a total of thirteen families and 31 individuals &#8211; is a monthly  cost of living in Panama of $1,024 per person, per month.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don&#8217;t Agree? Are Your Numbers Different?<\/strong> If you&#8217;re reading  these articles and if the situations being described and their  associated costs of living vary greatly from your own experience, then  by all means please send me an email and let me know.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keep Those Reports Coming:<\/strong> I think this is some great  stuff. More reporting will make the analysis more accurate. Please  remember to include the total number of people living under your roof.  Let me know your cash expenditure up front for big ticket items, spent  to buy your home or cars. Then break down your actual monthly expenses,  add them up, and divide by the headcount. It&#8217;s a pretty simple formula,  actually, and I&#8217;m really liking the results so far. Thanks again to  those who have participated. I&#8217;ll do another update when I get about six  or seven more inputs. Keep &#8217;em coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don Winner at the Panama Guide just started a great survey asking people to tell him how much<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8,40,38,10,12,39,46,34,33,82,62,21,42,16,29,27,18,22,19,47,26,49,14,219,11,6,20,51,25,50,31,7,32,15,44,37,35,43],"class_list":["post-5446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-articles-panama-perpsective","tag-azuero-penninsula","tag-beach","tag-boca-chica","tag-bocas-del-toro","tag-boquete","tag-buenaventura","tag-caribbean","tag-casco-antiguo","tag-casco-viejo","tag-coffee","tag-coffee-in-panama","tag-energy","tag-estate-homes-in-panama","tag-estate-planning","tag-exchange-property-in-panama","tag-fantasy-island","tag-foundations","tag-hydro-electric","tag-investments-in-panama","tag-island-property","tag-islands","tag-labor-in-panama","tag-legal-issues","tag-move-to-panama","tag-offshore-real-estate","tag-panama","tag-panama-economics","tag-panama-hotels","tag-panama-jazz-fest","tag-panama-metro-system","tag-panama-property-exchange","tag-panama-real-estate","tag-pedasi","tag-tax-issues","tag-travel-to-panama","tag-venado","tag-venao","tag-whale-watching"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.0 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Panama Guide &quot;Real&quot; Cost Of Living Survey - Part One -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/the-panama-guide-real-cost-of-living-survey-part-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Panama Guide &quot;Real&quot; Cost Of Living Survey - Part One\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don Winner at the Panama Guide just started a great survey asking people to tell him how much\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/the-panama-guide-real-cost-of-living-survey-part-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100088396493750\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-07-24T18:15:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/dollars-and-cents.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adrian Prozzo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adrian Prozzo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"22 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/the-panama-guide-real-cost-of-living-survey-part-one\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/the-panama-guide-real-cost-of-living-survey-part-one\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adrian Prozzo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6c118309f214f7da81db90c9905c5e69\"},\"headline\":\"The Panama Guide &#8220;Real&#8221; 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