- Thread starter Chip
- Start date
Living in the DR is cheap
We live in Santiago and I take the kids to school in our car or my motorcycle - it's only about 1/2 mile from the house.
We've had minimal medical expenses so far this year, knock on wood.
Here's some costs of the things I buy on a monthly basis:
meat RD60-75/lb
chicken RD42/lb
rice RD18/lb
beans RD24/lb
gal fresh oj RD160 (we squeeze it)
lg loaf of bread RD85
can of corn RD25
box of cheap imported cereal RD59 (La Sirena)
2500g dried milk RD700
2 liter coke RD50
5 gal water RD35
10lb ice RD35
small spaghetti RD12
16 ox homemade spaghetti sauce RD40
tomatoes RD25/lb
plantain RD7
yucca RD15/lb
small chocolate RD12
turkey ham RD120/lb
mozzarella/cheddar cheese RD120/lb
kalamata olives for papi RD170 (oops! last me two months, jeje)
beer RD55
rum RD105(lasts a week or more)
italian bread RD35 (Dominican version at Francepan)
local bread RD5 (pan de sobao)
tortillas RD60 for 10
taco sauce RD135
sour cream RD65
avacado RD10-25
imported sausage for papi RD200 (oops, last me a month - will start getting even better ones from TheHun)
hotdogs RD225-275 for 32 (all meat, Checo or Emilio)
dried soup RD15 - 35
club crackers RD25
cookies RD40
mayonaise RD65 (RD90 for xlarge at La Sirena)
We usually do a once a month shopping spree at La Sirena as they really have some good deals. It runs around RD5k.
meat RD60-75/lb
chicken RD42/lb
rice RD18/lb
beans RD24/lb
gal fresh oj RD160 (we squeeze it)
lg loaf of bread RD85
can of corn RD25
box of cheap imported cereal RD59 (La Sirena)
2500g dried milk RD700
2 liter coke RD50
5 gal water RD35
10lb ice RD35
small spaghetti RD12
16 ox homemade spaghetti sauce RD40
tomatoes RD25/lb
plantain RD7
yucca RD15/lb
small chocolate RD12
turkey ham RD120/lb
mozzarella/cheddar cheese RD120/lb
kalamata olives for papi RD170 (oops! last me two months, jeje)
beer RD55
rum RD105(lasts a week or more)
italian bread RD35 (Dominican version at Francepan)
local bread RD5 (pan de sobao)
tortillas RD60 for 10
taco sauce RD135
sour cream RD65
avacado RD10-25
imported sausage for papi RD200 (oops, last me a month - will start getting even better ones from TheHun)
hotdogs RD225-275 for 32 (all meat, Checo or Emilio)
dried soup RD15 - 35
club crackers RD25
cookies RD40
mayonaise RD65 (RD90 for xlarge at La Sirena)
We usually do a once a month shopping spree at La Sirena as they really have some good deals. It runs around RD5k.
here is a better idea (if its not too late):
Do not get married.
No live in girlfriends.
No supporting anyone's family.
No new car (old in good condition is fine as long as its paid off).
Learn how to cook good and cook at home.
No eating out in tourists places.
No kids and certainly not supporting someone else's kids.
Avoid living in tourists towns.
Oh, did I mention: do not impregnate a hooker in any circumstance.
if you follow AZB's rules, you will do just fine economically in almost any budget and live worry free in DR. This means, you will live happily. Stay single and live longer. this is my moto for this year.
AZB
Do not get married.
No live in girlfriends.
No supporting anyone's family.
No new car (old in good condition is fine as long as its paid off).
Learn how to cook good and cook at home.
No eating out in tourists places.
No kids and certainly not supporting someone else's kids.
Avoid living in tourists towns.
Oh, did I mention: do not impregnate a hooker in any circumstance.
if you follow AZB's rules, you will do just fine economically in almost any budget and live worry free in DR. This means, you will live happily. Stay single and live longer. this is my moto for this year.
AZB
hey hey,
* if you don't have to work all day long, o.k., then you may live without a cookie and a cleaning maid and a ..., means without a GF in the house.
* no live in GF means no family to support, i hope you are financially well prepared for when the time comes and you are too old to do all that on your own/too old to make money/too old or due age or a accident for a while or permanently handicapped and depending on someones help, because down here it is exactly that family that does all that stuff when you yourself can't.
* the car, depends what each likes/needs/can efford etc. i had myself enough new and fast cars in younger years, it is no longer important to myself, so i don't waste anymore too much money on cars. at the moment i drive a 12 years ole Honda Accord since 4 1/2 years, never had to spend significant money on any repairs during the years, been a good lucky deal, i guess end of this year he will get switched to something a bit newer. if somebody makes the bucks to pay off easily for a brand new car, why not? it is the same as it is at home, people should stay within the limits of their own fiancial possibilities, but of course here the same than at home a very large percentage of people overdo it a lot and then they cry for regulations by the Gubmin to better their overdone credit/credit card bills or overdone mortgage on the too big and too fancy properties/houses.
* total agreement on homecooking. even that i have myself not the time to bring 3 meals a day on the table on my own, but hey, that's why i disagreed on the point with the live in maid/cookie ..., ha ha, so all is done always and great while i can concentrate on my job. i don't like out of the house eating much, it just tatstes better at home and is much more comfortable. but such depends of course on everyubody's own tastes.
* tourist places. all right, everything there is more expensive than in rural areas, but consider that we are talking expats, in most cases they do not speak spanish, so to get the vibe of the country and start to learn to live in a strange new country i would recommend they should for the first time live in areas/residences/towns/communities where they can stay in touch with other expats and where they have better chances that their homelanguage gets understood, and they also depend in most cases on finding a job to make the needed bucks to pay their monthly 'cheap' Bills, so such newly expats in very most cases could not survive in non turisty areas. they need to go to puerto plata, sosus, cabarete, punta cana. sure there are possibilities in the mayor cities like St Domingo and Santiago, less touristy for sure, but a big City is not everybody's place. i would myself hate to live even in a small City like Higuey, would never consider such, the caribbean dream would be over at the same moment, so a Mayor City would be completely out of question.
* hookers. agreement. some need such experiences, nothing worthy gained over the lifetime at home they come hot and hungry on a caribbean Island where they can leave all homemade morals overboard and exploit some poor underaged chics for pennies, but each has his/her own morals and history of lifestyle etc. who had a healthy non-marriage sex-live at home will not have any problem to find his/her way to the same here on the Island, without the need of hookers or any paid services.
in general i agree to Chips OP.
compared to home/the so selfcalled 1st world, to maintain the same lifestyle in the same society class such can be done here on the Island cheaper than at home, after some starting experiences once you navegate through the Islands every days life thingies comfortable.
but new expats/the ones considering to move down here, should not forget some simple little extremely important differences.
* people write often they do not wanna live costy, they did not live costy or fancy at home, so they ask for needed monthly money to live simple/non fancy etc down here.
at home simplnon fancy i would say sounds like a 1st worlds ''working class''. that means at home people in such class make as employees on one or several steady jobs the bucks to pay the monthly appartment/house rent, or after long time employment they may get approofed for a loan to start to build a own lil place which will be under debt for the next 30-50 years of course, they can pay for usual/noamal food, once in a while eating out of the house at a tasty Mc Donalds or Wndy's etc, they get the loan approofed to get the needed credit for a car, usually not for a brand new one.
*** so a person from such "working class" wanna settle down in the DR, of course depending on money made by a JOB down here on the Island. the simple lifestyle of a typical working class dominican employee, which will be the one effordable for the 1st world working class employee, is to life in a rented very small place nowhere in the center of a large city or such, the typical simple worker here does not have make the money to purchase a car, any car/age, eating out of the houes a plate of rice and beans and pollo frito is done every day at cheap street feeding places, because the costs to cook at home for himself/herself would be too high on one side, and as a working class employee he/she of course is out of the house on WPORK all day long anyways, from very early morning til late evening, after long years of steady employement a worker may be able to purchase a old 70 or 90cc Bike which will be considered luxury in the 'hood. after long years of employment at the same company he may be one of the high wages earners in his 'hood making may be 10-12000 pesos a month, the ones with 15K are the more rare topdogs in the working class crowd, IF they have a steady long years lasting employment anyways.
so if newly-future Expats coming from a 1st world working class calculate to live a simple easy life with just 10-12 hrs per day out of the house for work, 300-max400 US$ monthly salary AFTER Looong years of employment at the same job here, no car, one room appartment with own bathroom and kittchen/living room/sleeping place in the same room, then they can make it.
of course it is very different if somebody worked at home since decades, made savings, has a filled retirement plan, that would be a completely different theme and such person has of course completely different possibilities.
but the young guns coming over with nothing in the pocket, looking for a job, mostly not even speaking spanish, no emergency savings at home over a few thousand dollars, heck, has any of you even started to think about simple side effects/occurances like for example a little simple accident or illness? do they calculate the costs for an inmsurance plus the bucks needed for costs not covered by the insurances here?
i don't think so.
reading some questions from future may be expats shows clearly that many never really thought about 'what's needed', what could happen, what's the real cost for this and that, what kind a job could i get?, what kind of job i am really good at and experienced to get a job in the first place? and guys, you would not get a job in the first place out of the touristy areas.
sure i know there are exceptions, some came with nothing, jumped into the middle of some Campo, and did it all completely all right, live a good life which they are completely happy with, even built up own business there etc etc etc.
but let's be truthfull,
those guys and gals are the big exceptions within the large clueless failing crowd.
yes Chip,
i agree on the 1.100.- per month.
me and the Mrs spend around 1.500.- per month when i count all business expenses out and only see our private costs for living, and we live it good.
i am sure we could do it for 1.100.- or 1.000.- without a problem. even that we live alone here actually, i have also school costs included in my expenses. but of course no simple employee will earn such money down here. you need to have the money on the bank at home due prior jobs/business etc or you need to run a own business which makes this amount of monthly money plus what you need as something like a ''private retirement plan'', plus back up for medical emergencies.
your living style/level, Chip,
is absolutely not effordable for a young 1st world working class newbie or student etc etc etc. compared to their possibilities you live a comfortable mid class lifestyle, not representable for new youngguns.
great thread so far
Mike
It sounds like you are doing everything right. My girlfriend and her 11 year old niece live with me and I don't even want to post what I spend every month, it would make me sound like a financial idiot. After seeing what you are doing I am going to make some changes immediately. Good job man, you have inspired me to make some major changes in my very expensive ridiculous lifestyle here. I owe you one.
A wise man once said;
If I give up drinking, smoking and messing around with women, taking nice holidays, wearing expensive clothes, living in a nice apartment, eating rich food, gambling and driving nice cars, - will I live any longer?
No, it just feels like it!
If I give up drinking, smoking and messing around with women, taking nice holidays, wearing expensive clothes, living in a nice apartment, eating rich food, gambling and driving nice cars, - will I live any longer?
No, it just feels like it!
We live very well on around $1500 a month, including rent. The only "luxury" we don't have is cable/sat TV, but includes golf club membership with unlimited play. We don't eat out much by choice. We have a/c in the bedroom.
It CAN be done.
It CAN be done.
Chip, does your calculation include your housekeeper or did you have to let her go?
And the kids are counting on the BBQ! I would come back now if the baby's father didn't think that the world was going to end if he's not born in the US!
I mismanaged money BADLY last year but it's either "Get disciplined, or stay in the States" and I am definitely not staying here
SHALENA
And the kids are counting on the BBQ! I would come back now if the baby's father didn't think that the world was going to end if he's not born in the US!
I mismanaged money BADLY last year but it's either "Get disciplined, or stay in the States" and I am definitely not staying here
SHALENA
Great post Chip! I think there are two keys things that Chip is doing right so that his family can live within their means – 1) they have a budget and are sticking to it and 2) knowing the difference between needs and wants. Good job! You are obviously a very responsible father and it would do a lot of people living in the DR (locals and ex-pats) a ton of good to take a few lessons from what you are doing right. Not having a budget and just spending money willy-nilly every day on whatever you want is what a lot of people do and once you are in that habit, it’s incredibly hard to break. I wish I could get my husband to recognize the difference between what we NEED to live and what are luxuries and to stick to a budget!
I don?t budget very well, but have observed that DR can be done cheaply. Some things that I find inexpensive are rent, alcohol, hired help/services and local food staples, although the cost of food is on the rise. For example, prices of 7 RD for a plantino & 4-5 RD for a plantinito are higher than they were a year ago, when they were 5 & 3 RD respectively.
Things that I find expensive in DR is pretty much everything else. Topping the list of expensive things is anything that you need to plug into an electric socket followed by anything with a motor.
Wow, there is a term to describe somebody that I haven?t heard since I left the good ?ol USA. Boy do I miss the Jerry Springer Show sometimes. :ermm:
Things that I find expensive in DR is pretty much everything else. Topping the list of expensive things is anything that you need to plug into an electric socket followed by anything with a motor.
Wow, there is a term to describe somebody that I haven?t heard since I left the good ?ol USA. Boy do I miss the Jerry Springer Show sometimes. :ermm: