The Fallacy of Low Prices in the DR

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FritoBandito

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Generally speaking, about the only things cheaper in the DR are the 3 B's:
booze, broads, and 'bacco......
:cheeky:

Food....nope...I was usually paying close to 500 pesos for a decent meal ...I can go to a buffet in the States and eat my fill for $10 or less....

....electricity.....nope...I hear you at least as twice as much as it costs in the States.....

Apartments....nope....about the same cost as the States....gasoline....nope...higher in DR...

...taxes are lower in the DR...but look at the government services provided....lacking to be sure....

....for someone who wants to retire to the DR, I say you can live cheaply in the DR, that is to say if you want to live in the barrio and live like a lower-class Dominican....
 
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BermudaRum

BermudaRum

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FritoBandito said:
Generally speaking, about the only things cheaper in the DR are the 3 B's:
booze, broads, and 'bacco......
:cheeky:

....for someone who wants to retire to the DR, I say you can live cheaply in the DR, that is to say if you want to live in the barrio and live like a lower-class Dominican....
Click to expand...


You?re absolutely right; I?ve found the pricing cheaper for the 3 B?s in the barrio as well. :cheeky:
 
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Anastacio

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Booze (apart from rum) is cheaper in the uk. My living costs are much higher than in my native land, England, which is bloody funny when you think this country likes to call itself a third world country when it suits.
 
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ExtremeR

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Where the hell are you paying $500 bucks for a meal. In SD there are several places where you will eat good with $200 or less.
 
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Anastacio

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A good Aberdeen Angus steak with a beer comes in at around 500 on the malecon, best steak in town as well.
 
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ExtremeR

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Anastacio said:
A good Aberdeen Angus steak with a beer comes in at around 500 on the malecon, best steak in town as well.
Click to expand...

Do you have to eat that everyday?? Like Comida de las 12 every day?? Please, that's a treat and I'll pay more than that for a treat but eating daily? forget about it...
 
genistar

genistar

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I must disagree!

Living costs overall are much cheaper in DR. Gasoline is higher. Luxuries are higher. Basics are much less than in Canada. (Can't speak for the US because I don't live there.) Would be interesting to see some cost of living breakdowns for the average month. My wife lives in Santo Domingo - en Don Gregorio (Pantoja). Expenses are aprox:

Rent (3 bdr home): 7800
Electricity: 500
Water: 200
Health Insurance for my wife: 1500
Transportation (guaguas & taxis) 4500
Food (groceries & occasional eating out & alchohol): 5000
Phone (landline + prepaid cell cards): 1000
Salon: 1000

RD$21500 x 34.8832 = $616.342 CAD or x 36.500 = $589.041 USD
***These are today's exchange rates according to xe.com***

Now I don't know about the US... but here in Toronto, you can't even get a decent 1 bedroom apartment for less than $1000 per month. Enough said.
 
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iangillis

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that works out at 385 pound sterling, just over half my rent here in the UK! Here's my equivalent costs in RD$:

Rent (3 bdr home): 34,200
Electricity (& Gas): 2,850
Water: 2,793
Health Insurance (our combined National Insurance tax): 12,540
Transportation (taxis, buses) 6,042
Food (groceries & occasional eating out & alchohol): 8,550
Phone, broadband, cells 3,420
Salon: she won't tell me!

WITHOUT including Income tax and council tax... that adds up to RD$70,395....
 
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iangillis

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Forgot to add:
TV license - 741
Pet Insurance - 684
Sky satellite subscription - 2166
NEW TOTAL - 73,986

anyone want to swap??
 
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DR Mpe

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genistar said:
Living costs overall are much cheaper in DR. Gasoline is higher. Luxuries are higher. Basics are much less than in Canada. (Can't speak for the US because I don't live there.) Would be interesting to see some cost of living breakdowns for the average month. My wife lives in Santo Domingo - en Don Gregorio (Pantoja). Expenses are aprox:

Rent (3 bdr home): 7800
Electricity: 500
Water: 200
Health Insurance for my wife: 1500
Transportation (guaguas & taxis) 4500
Food (groceries & occasional eating out & alchohol): 5000
Phone (landline + prepaid cell cards): 1000
Salon: 1000

RD$21500 x 34.8832 = $616.342 CAD or x 36.500 = $589.041 USD
***These are today's exchange rates according to xe.com***

Now I don't know about the US... but here in Toronto, you can't even get a decent 1 bedroom apartment for less than $1000 per month. Enough said.
Click to expand...

7800 pesos for a 3 bedroom?

Well then u should add expenses for cockroach spray and ear plugs
 
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genistar

genistar

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Nope. Very quiet and I've yet to see a cockroach. Here's a news flash: There are good homes in good neighbourhoods that don't cost a small fortune to rent. It just takes some research and legwork; things too many people are just too lazy to do - Dominicans and ex-pats alike.
 
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pedrochemical

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Aug 22, 2008
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4 quid for a pint?

Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs!
I don't know what this country's coming to....


Eckeethump,
 
AlterEgo

AlterEgo

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ExtremeR said:
Where the hell are you paying $500 bucks for a meal. In SD there are several places where you will eat good with $200 or less.
Click to expand...

Exactly, and several places where you can get a 'plate of the day' for 80 pesos. One place we stop gives you a choice of meats, a salad, rice and beans and a couple of tostones for that price. Eat in or take out.

AE
 
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CFA123

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FritoBandito said:
.... I say you can live cheaply in the DR, that is to say if you want to live in the barrio and live like a lower-class Dominican....
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Yup, that's right.

But different people have different standards of living well. For some it means a small studio, cheap food, and a few beers daily, which can be done not so expensively.

If you want 2010 North American/European middle class or better living, it ain't cheap.
 
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mountainannie

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I, too, disagree with the OP. Just got back from a visit to the States and OMG the COFFEE is $12 a pound!! Taxis are about $2 a second. Rents are -- well--forget a two bedroom with balconies for $600.

But the delight of life here is that you can get STAFF-- which gives a level of luxury that only the very rich in the States have!! Maybe the men here do not notice it as much if they are used to having a wife who does the house work - but for a woman-- to have a regular housecleaner-- wowowooo-- HEAVEN.

And if there is something that needs fixing around the place - electric, plumbing, -- I can call my trusted fixer guy and he is delighted to work for $20 or $35 bucks a DAY.

Plus travel about the country is amazingly beautiful and inexpensive. The buses cost maybe $10 buck and you can find a hotel almost anywhere for $40. Try finding a hotel for less than $100 bucks in the States!

So while I will agree that it is not dirt cheap here, I know that I live twice the lifestyle here on half the money.
 
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Redscot

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All depends on your lifestyle I suppose. My life here is undoubtedly cheaper than it would be in the states (especially NYC, my home town).

Kids go to an accredited bilingual school which places kids all over US colleges for a fraction of what the equivalent private school would cost.

House cleaner, I wouldn't be able to afford in the states. Gardener for 300 pesos a week. All sorts of repairs for a fraction of US costs as well.

Instead of Johnsonville sausages at $275 a pack, I buy homemade longaniza for a 1/3rd of the cost.

Instead of eating out at the Marisco centro, I'll take the family to playa ensenada and eat fresh fish for $100 peso's a person.

Fruits and vegetables year round and cheap! My quality of life here is better at half the price of NYC.

It's all about the choices you make, it could also be very expensive down here.
 
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waytogo

waytogo

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Apr 3, 2009
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Redscot said:
Instead of eating out at the Marisco centro, I'll take the family to playa ensenada and eat fresh fish for $100 peso's a person.
Click to expand...

Where is this restaurant????
Sounds great...for 100 peso's per person, fresh fish.
I live 1 minute from the Monument, is it close to this part of town?
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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CFA123 said:
If you want 2010 North American/European middle class or better living, it ain't cheap.
Click to expand...
In fact, it's MORE expensive here than there.

Rule of Thumb:

1) If it's material intensive it is expensive. The more materials are imported, the more expensive it is.

If it's labor intensive, and the labor is domestic, it's less expensive.
 
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