At the soda they tell you it's “dos rojos”, the woman at the pulpería asks if you have “menudo”, and a friend says he isn't going out because he is “pelado”. It is all money, but no textbook says it like that.
I'm José Cardoza, a Spanish teacher in Santa Teresa. These are the words Costa Ricans use for money, and the phrases you need to pay without getting lost.
Notes and coins
Un rojo
A ₡1,000 note, named after its red colour. Twenty thousand colones are “veinte rojos”.
Example: Son dos rojos, por favor. — That's two thousand colones, please.
Una teja
Literally “roof tile”: ₡100. Five hundred colones are “cinco tejas”.
Example: Me faltan dos tejas. — I'm two hundred colones short.
Media teja
Half a teja: ₡50.
Example: Me sobró media teja. — I had fifty colones left over.
Un melón
Literally “a melon”: a million colones.
Example: Se ganó diez melones en la lotería. — He won ten million colones in the lottery.
Peso
Another name for the colón, from the currency Costa Rica had before 1896.
Example: No tengo ni un peso. — I don't have a single colón.
Money in general
Plata
Literally “silver”: money in general. The word you will hear most.
Example: ¿Tiene plata para el almuerzo? — Do you have money for lunch?
Harina
Literally “flour”: money.
Example: Hoy no salgo, no tengo harina. — I'm not going out today, I have no money.
Hacer una vaca
Literally “to make a cow”: to put money together as a group.
Example: Hagamos una vaca para la pizza. — Let's all chip in for the pizza.
Hacer buchaca
To save money, to put it aside. You will hear it more in San Carlos and La Fortuna than here.
Example: Estoy haciendo buchaca para el viaje. — I'm saving up for the trip.
With money, without money
Estar pelado
Literally “peeled”: broke.
Example: Estoy pelado hasta el viernes. — I'm broke until Friday.
Estar limpio, estar lavado
Literally “clean” or “washed”: with no money left.
Example: Después del fin de semana quedé limpio. — After the weekend I was broke.
No valer ni un cinco
Literally “not worth a five”: to have nothing at all.
Example: Ando sin nada, no valgo ni un cinco. — I've got nothing, not a single cent.
Codo, agarrado
Literally “elbow” and “grabbed”: stingy.
Example: No sea codo, pague una ronda. — Don't be stingy, buy a round.
Botado
Generous, someone who pays for everyone. More common in the countryside than in the city.
Example: Mi tío es botado: siempre invita a todos. — My uncle is generous: he always treats everyone.
El que quiere celeste, que le cueste
“If you want sky blue, it will cost you”: anything worth having takes effort, or money.
Example: ¿Quiere hablar español? El que quiere celeste, que le cueste. — You want to speak Spanish? Nothing good comes free.
Paying at the soda or the pulpería
¿Cuánto es? ¿Cuánto le debo?
“How much is it?” and “How much do I owe you?”. The second one is very Tico, and you'll hear it at every soda.
Example: —¿Cuánto le debo? —Son cuatro rojos. — —How much do I owe you? —Four thousand colones.
¿Es en colones o en dólares?
“Is it in colones or dollars?”. In Santa Teresa both currencies are accepted, so it is worth asking which one the price is in.
Example: ¿Ese precio es en colones o en dólares? — Is that price in colones or in dollars?
Menudo
Small change: coins and small notes. In Nicaragua they say “sencillo” for the same thing.
Example: ¿Tiene menudo? Solo tengo un billete de diez mil. — Do you have small change? I only have a ten-thousand note.
El vuelto
The change you get back.
Example: Quédese con el vuelto. — Keep the change.
The animals on the notes
Every Costa Rican note has an animal: a white-tailed deer on the ₡1,000, a bull shark on the ₡2,000, a white-faced capuchin monkey on the ₡5,000, a sloth on the ₡10,000, a hummingbird on the ₡20,000 and a morpho butterfly on the ₡50,000. And if you want to know which animals Ticos use to describe people, I wrote about that too.
To practise
Next time you pay, try “¿Cuánto le debo?” and listen to the answer. If they say “tres rojos”, you already know what to do.
In my classes we practise real situations like this one, in Santa Teresa or online.
20 Costa Rican phrases you'll actually hear →
Rata, sapo, gato: animal words Ticos use for people →
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