The following published in International Living Magazine, 10/08/2008
Re: Live on $600 per Month in the Mayberry of the Andes
Dear International Living Reader,
I know two people who are living well in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen on half their Social Security checks.
Find out how they do it below.
Dan Prescher
Publisher, International Living
Dear International Living Reader,
It’s a beautiful, sunny southern, California morning outside, but the 250 people crowded into the Hilton ballroom don’t seem to notice.
They’re hanging on to the words of Suzan Haskins as she tells them about her friends Lee and Peggy Carper, who live comfortably in one of the most beautiful spots in the world on $600 per month.
Where in the world can you live comfortably on half your Social Security check? In Ecuador.
The Harpers rent a three-bedroom apartment in the mountain town of Cotacachi for $150 per month. They pay $250 for food…$50 for medicine…$40 for maid service…and $24 to have all their laundry done. Their combined bill for water and gas? $19 a month.
With $2 haircuts, $2 manicures, $2.50 four-course dinners, $10 doctor’s visits…it’s hard to go broke in Ecuador, even if you try.
Welcome to the “Mayberry of the Andes”
Cotacachi (population 2,000) is a peaceful town frozen in time. Strolling through its central square one evening, Suzan found six teenage boys playing the guitar and singing. That’s the sort of thing teenagers do for fun in Cotacachi. No wonder she calls it the “Mayberry of the Andes.”
Nearby you can soak in natural hot springs with breathtaking views of the mountains and valleys. Or go to one of the largest open-air markets in South America. Suzan swears it is the most fun she’s ever had shopping.
It’s a land of eternal spring, sunny in the day and pleasantly cool at night. There’s something special in the crisp Andean air…and in the ground, too. The produce grows freakishly large all year long. You’ll find cabbage the size of pumpkins. Carrots the size of your arm.
But there’s so much more to Ecuador that it’s hard to decide what sounds best. Is it the vast unspoiled Pacific coast where you can ride horses on the beach for miles without crossing a soul? The colonial city of Cuenca with its charming wrought-iron balconies? The magical valley of Vilcabamba with its tales of incredible longevity? Modern, sophisticated Quito (which Coldwell Banker declared to be the cheapest major city in world)? Or a mountain village like Cotacachi, where you can live a small-town 1950s lifestyle that has all but disappeared from North America?
As Suzan tells us about the wide variety of properties in Ecuador, I feel like a kid in a candy store…and the candy’s on sale!
Just $46,000 for a 1,100-square-foot penthouse in Cotacachi.
You can fly anywhere within the country for about $65, so it’s an easy place to get to know.
If you want to stay on for a while, it’s also easy to get residency in Ecuador. And the government tosses in discounts on travel and Ecuadorian health care for anyone over 65. Not that you’ll need it. Suzan’s husband, IL Publisher Dan Prescher, paid $2,200 for shoulder surgery in Quito that would have cost him $15,000 in the States.
