Can One Live Comfortably With $1200 A Month?

HOWMAR

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Jan 28, 2004
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Comfortably on whose standard? Certainly no on an American standard. No on a upper middle class Dominican standard (especially if you want a car). Yes on a Dominican barrio standard.
 

jojo2130

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May 30, 2005
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Or in a Small town. Dont try the Barrio/Campo thing .What you save in costs, they will steal ! You could live in Gaspar Hernandez (Where I Live) For even less than that but as Howmar Said, Not in an Upper Middle class way....... ......
Lotsa Rice , Pollo and Chuletas !

Monthly Needs
Rent about 5000 to 6000 Pesos Depending (It is a Good time to buy here)
Electric 1200-1500 Pesos
Food 2-4000 Pesos
Telephone 1000 Pesos
Health Insurance 1800 Pesos
Cable 250 per Month (For the Moment)

Total About 15,000 (500 US A Month)

Transportation is a consideration.
We have Caritas and Guaguas. (Public Transportation)

Options

Internet 1200 pesos
gas For Car ????? or Public Transport Or Buy a Scooter (Pasola) and
make monthly Payments.
Insurance for Car (Depending But I Pay about 800 pesos Month)
Beer ! (Could bust the Budget)

There are some sacrifices living outside the more
North Americanized way like Electricity , If you do not have at least an Inverter you could go a lil wacky. And An Inverter which will run your house AND fridge can cost Upwards of 2000 US with sufficient batteries

I Know That I could make it on that !

Joe
 

AZB

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
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After the initial investment of buying a car and furniture and inverter, you can easily live on that amount in santiago and other near by cities. Don't listen to some hot shots on this board, they only talk big and some of them take conchos and local gua guas for transportation yet they talk big money on the net. (note I am not refering to jojo etc).
AZB
 

jojo2130

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May 30, 2005
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Not in a Million Years !

la_barbie said:
You forgot about $1000 a month for beer.... but that may be justmy budget :)


Check again ! Its there !

1000 / Month In tourist areas ! Move to GH And a Grande is 50 Pesos at the Colmado , 44 when you buy a Case ! 90 Pesos for a Pequinia in Sosua and Cabarete ........

Lemme See 1000 Dollars = 32,000 Pesos = 727 Grandes Here , = 24 Grandes per day .... Yeah thats about right ! (Sosua that = 6 beers) !

AHhhhhhhhhhh Small town living ! Sell the bottles for a Peso each and you are good for another Case !
 

Larry

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Mar 22, 2002
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I think in most small towns, you could live comfortably on $1,200 per month with money to spare. Touristy areas are much more expensive. The capital is expensive too. I live in the capital and I could live on that amount but would definately have to cut some corners to do so.

Larry
 
Jan 5, 2006
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It all depends on what you have already and how you want to live. If you have a place to live (no rent), you can live comfortably on $1,200 USD a month. You'll even be able to go out and party, as long as you're not going to the fancy, high rate places.
 

Larry

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Mar 22, 2002
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Hipocrito Mejia said:
It all depends on what you have already and how you want to live. If you have a place to live (no rent), you can live comfortably on $1,200 USD a month. You'll even be able to go out and party, as long as you're not going to the fancy, high rate places.
Yeah, you could spend as much as you want to here if money isn't an object. For example, myself and friends have gone to the Porterhouse restaurant on Lincoln in SD and spent well over 2K pesos each for dinner and drinks. I have also had a great meal at a little chinese restaurant I like to go to on the corner of Santiago and Pasteur in Gazcue for 120 pesos which includes a big plate of food and a beer.

You could definately live on less than $1,200 dollars per month if you budget and stay away from pricey places.

Larry
 

MrMike

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Mar 2, 2003
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www.azconatechnologies.com
For those with families I would say

That in Santiago and similar areas (not the capital)

1200US/mo is about right PER PERSON. Any less than that and you will be scrambling to get basic bills paid and stressing over inevitable eventualities.

More is "funner" (not a word but works for me.)
 

mamichula24

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Mar 28, 2006
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$1200 sounds reasonable to live on. I'm planning on moving to the DR in the spring of '07. I have been doing a lot of reading on this site as well as other, and it seems like I'm not to expect very much salary wise. Which is fine with me, I don't have it in my head that I'm going to get rich moving out there. But according to what I've heard $1200/month is a lot of money for Dominicans. What type of work can a white tri-lingual Canadian get in the Dominican that will make me $1200/month. It doens't seem like there are very many options that are open to me. I'm planning on bringing enoug money to support myself for a few months until I find some work. Does any one have any suggestions on what type of work I could do out there? And unfortunately I can't bring my job along with me....I'll be starting from scratch.
 

HOWMAR

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Jan 28, 2004
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mamichula24 said:
$1200 sounds reasonable to live on. I'm planning on moving to the DR in the spring of '07. I have been doing a lot of reading on this site as well as other, and it seems like I'm not to expect very much salary wise. Which is fine with me, I don't have it in my head that I'm going to get rich moving out there. But according to what I've heard $1200/month is a lot of money for Dominicans. What type of work can a white tri-lingual Canadian get in the Dominican that will make me $1200/month. It doens't seem like there are very many options that are open to me. I'm planning on bringing enoug money to support myself for a few months until I find some work. Does any one have any suggestions on what type of work I could do out there? And unfortunately I can't bring my job along with me....I'll be starting from scratch.
Cautionary note #!. You are planning your move in the Spring of '07. That is after the high tourist season and amid layoffs in the industry. Don't expect to find much work in a tourism related field.
 

mamichula24

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Mar 28, 2006
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Very good to know....when is the best time to make the move? I want to go back one more time before I do move. This way I can get everthing started...maybe look for a job...get an apartment. This way when I do move, then at least I have place to stay.
 

AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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Here's a thread about what people are getting paid

http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43363


Mamichula most people that post about moving seem to want to move in the spring or summer which I've never been able to understand why because as howmar said it's the end of the season. If you take lots of money with you it could be a good time to get a cheap apartment and take your time getting to know pople and looking for a job but the tourist season starts around Nov. and ends after semana santa (april)
 
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mamichula24

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Mar 28, 2006
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Well the main reason for me to move out in the spring, was to give myself enough time to save up some money. I figured if I gave myself a year, then I could probably have enough to support myself for a while. The only thing I'm really worried about is finding a job. Now looking back, I guess it's not the wisest thing to move in spring. Are there any good websites that advertise jobs in the dr? I haven't been able to find any besides the local news paper websites, which doesn't give very much.
 

fightingirish

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Dec 8, 2005
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Motorcycle/Scooter -- monthly payments and insurance?

What does that run ya?

The advice is much appreciated! I will budget in a bit more to buy you a beer for the help!

Grant