Expat Community > Ecuador

joolee
Joined 2015
Posts: 2

Oddball Questions

9 years ago

Oddball Questions

I'm not completely new to being an expat. At 20 I randomly bought a ticket to England figuring once I land I'll figure out what to do next. Few weeks later I landed in Italy (with less than 200$ in my pocket) and ended up staying a little over a year.

Now I'm 43. After spending much of my professional life in Los Angeles battling traffic and insanely high COL, I moved to West Virigina with the idea of a MUCH simpler, quieter and cheaper life. I'm a self employed/freelance digital artist (3d Modeling and Animation). All of my income basically comes from the internet, all funneled into Paypal so it doesn't make a lick of difference where I live.

Despite the lower cost of living in WV, it's still really high and I'm considering another move and Ecuador seems to be a wonderful choice. I've spent hours and hours scouring the web for info but what seems to be in short supply is the CON list and I worry about the devil in the details.

In the last 5 years I've made it a point to DRASTICALLY simplify my life. Going from 80k a year to less than 20. My needs are super simple; don't care much about food (except for coffee and diet coke). I have a dog (a ridiculously well behaved Golden Retriever) and my work. So I guess the critical living requirements are HIGH speed SUPER RELIABLE internet, a vet bill that won't give me a heart attack and rent/utility bills that don't make me cry :P In the winter here I get 250+ gas bills.

These are my oddbal questions; what are the internet speeds like (Up/Down), the average vet bill for regualar issues, wont be taking a car so is it feasible to find inexpensive places to live that are in walking distance for groceries. My dog and I are basically joined at the hip, I walk him everywhere. Where I live he's welcome to be tied out while I run in for groceries so it would be a bummer to live somewhere dogs are frowned upon.

Residency. From all I've read this seems soooo tricky. I'm not a retiree, not a student, not a worker.... what category do I fall in?

Any answers, tips, advice would be so appreciated.

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SJB Global

SJB Global is a top-rated financial advisory firm specializing in expat financial advice worldwide, offering retirement planning & tax-efficient solutions with a regressive fee model.
Learn More

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SJB Global

SJB Global is a top-rated financial advisory firm specializing in expat financial advice worldwide, offering retirement planning & tax-efficient solutions with a regressive fee model.
Learn More

SJB Global

SJB Global is a top-rated financial advisory firm specializing in expat financial advice worldwide, offering retirement planning & tax-efficient solutions with a regressive fee model.
Learn More

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Expat Community > Ecuador

Oddball Questions

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