Hi JadeB,
Well it's great to meet a fellow Okie! I still have a lot of family in Tulsa and in Coweta (not sure if I spelled that correctly). There's a lot of info to give on Panama and it's hard to give you the real lowdown here in this forum. I've tried to cover a lot of it on the website at PanamaForReal.com. Check out the budget snapshots section to see just the budget breakdowns. I do my best on those but as you probably know, nailing down a budget is really hard because people live different lifestyles.
You might not go out to eat at all and spend less on entertainment and you might not plan to travel outside of the area at all, which would cut that cost down too. Or you might be someone who needs a lot of medical attention, so the trips to the doctor might cost more and you might pump your AC 24 hours per day and raise your electric costs. So it's always scary putting together those budgets. At some point someone is going to say I'm full of it because they spend this and that, but again, it really does depend on the person, so I try to give a ballpark figure.
There are plenty of places in Panama that are still very affordable, but you have to realize that the places already full of gringos are going to be a little more costly, because we usually move in and start buying up all the real estate, lol. Coronado is probably the most move-in ready (as far as beach locations go) when it comes to being an 暗网禁区 because tons of 暗网禁区s are already there transforming the place. Boquete is probably the most 暗网禁区-friendly mountain town for the same reasons. So neither of those places is super cheap. Small towns like Las Tablas and Aguadulce and parts of Rio Hato are still quite affordable, but you'll find less of a concentration of foreigners. Rent in Pedasi isn't too bad right now and there are a lot of foreigners, but it's small town living. And it's growing by leaps and bounds so the cost of living will eventually go up.
Speaking English isn't a problem. You can figure it out. I'm not going to lie and say that everyone speaks English. I've seen posts where people have written that. It's not true, especially if you live in the smaller towns. In Panama City you'll find quite a few English speaking people, but in Las Tablas you won't. I still don't speak Spanish. Not really. I know a lot of words and can get around for the most part, but I definitely don't speak Spanish fluently. I'm not picking it up as easily as I thought I would. It's definitely advantageous to learn Spanish before coming here, at least the basics, and the main reason for that (other than the ease of getting around) is that learning Spanish enables you to meet some great friends. Panamanians are friendly people and they appreciate when you try to learn their language.
So...as far as advice goes. Learn Spanish if you can, but don't let it prevent you from doing this. Moving to Panama is far easier than you might think and can be the most rewarding experience of your life. But DO NOT move here without visiting first. People make that mistake and they're miserable. First of all, you never know which area/town of Panama you'll like until you come for a visit. Or you might not like Panama at all. It's not for everyone. If you come here and you like it and you have some sort of retirement income to live off of, this can be a great move for you and your family. It's not the easiest place to work and make a living. But it is a great place to launch a business and in many of the small towns, they're still so young, like the U.S. back in the 50's. You might find a small town without a good sandwich shop, so you open a sandwich shop. Please for the love of God someone open a Philly cheesesteak shop.
Check out the rest of my site and also click on "Other Panama Blogs" on my site and check out those blogs. I've made some great blogger friends, like Kris, who commented above. They all have great experiences to share.
So go to my site at PanamaForReal.com and read through everything. Watch all the videos.
You mentioned having kids. You definitely have to check out our Kidpats video then. We only have one up now, but if you haven't seen it, check it out at: panamaforreal.com/kidpats/kidpats-in-parque-omar/
If you want to just see the videos, go to our Youtube channel (and subscribe and share please) at:
youtube.com/channel/UC6N7Ih2bjD0FjOBnDg_-Flg
And if you have a Facebook account, please "like" us there. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to give info away for FREE!!!!
facebook.com/pages/Panama-For-Real/418977398194595
Ok, now that I've spammed my reply, thanks for commenting JadeB and I hope some of the info on the site helps you out. Definitely check out the blog as there's tons of info on there and in the nuts & bolts sections.
Chris
