My mom would like to spend her retirement in the DR, doable?

[Rattus_Rattus]

I own a small place. pays almost nothing, 2200peso in monthly fee to the condominium. I save more money living in this country than in the socalled "civilized" countries.

It all depends what you "think" you "must" have to survive here.

 

[Harleysrock]

2200 canadian is 2000 us dollars, more than adequate money for a single person. this is not yabadabadu (RIP) kind of budget, this is normal money.

Actually the Canadian Dollar is worth more than the US Dollar in Canada, so it's 2200 US is actually over $2,300US.
I exchanged all my US $ in Canada and made a decent amount in the Winter.

I don't know how easy it would be to exchange the money in Canada every month if here. Bank stuff stresses me out!

 

[artistdani]

Actually the Canadian Dollar is worth more than the US Dollar in Canada, so it's 2200 US is actually over $2,300US.
I exchanged all my US $ in Canada and made a decent amount in the Winter.

The current exchange rate for US$ at Scotiabank in Ottawa right now is 1.0765. So you did really well Harleysrock!

 

[Harleysrock]

Damn my $ convertor is not working??!!

 

[artistdani]

Damn my $ convertor is not working??!!

Hey - I would take your rate anyday AND give you a commission! Where do I get it????

 

[La Rubia]

She will live well on $2200 unless she decides to have herself a young play toy.

Resistance is futile.

The ones that are dead set against it are the ones that fall the hardest!

And can we stop talking like 52 is old!

Damn, I'm jealous, because she's lucky enough to retire young and knows what she wants to do!

 

[pauleast]

She will live well on $2200 unless she decides to have herself a young play toy. I am single and live on the north coast full time. Here are my expenses not including entertainment or clothing:

Food 8000
rent 20000
health insurance 1400
car insurance 550
fuel 4000
cell phone 500
--------
total 34,450RD or US$ 825

I live in a nice apartment in a gated community with internet and tv included. As you can see, basic living is very inexpensive. As long as she doesn't befriend people who have no income, she will be fine.

7.00 U.S a day for food !! Man that's better than the slim fast diet.

 

[the gorgon]

She will live well on $2200 unless she decides to have herself a young play toy. I am single and live on the north coast full time. Here are my expenses not including entertainment or clothing:

Food 8000
rent 20000
health insurance 1400
car insurance 550
fuel 4000
cell phone 500
--------
total 34,450RD or US$ 825

I live in a nice apartment in a gated community with internet and tv included. As you can see, basic living is very inexpensive. As long as she doesn't befriend people who have no income, she will be fine.

stay away from some Dominican man, and 2000 dollars is a lovely life.

 

[wayne]

It works for me, buy local food only and it is more than enough, add a few thousands pesos and it's still cheap. Food is cheap here compared to other countries, unless of course you need to have imported items. I'm not saying I have to live on this amount, I just choose to, it works for me and I'm a very active person with a healthy appetite so definitely not starving myself.

7.00 U.S a day for food !! Man that's better than the slim fast diet.

 

[mountainannie]

The biggest issue is gonna be the rent since she is going to come in wanting a furnished apartment. My advice would be to just do that for a couple of years and not get too comfortable but save up to buy her own furnishings and appliances so that she can find a place that rents in pesos. Any place that rents furnished is going to keep raising the rents to keep looking for the foreign money. And figure out how to drive a moped. And get local health insurance. She is not going to have a lot left over every month but she should budget her life at $1500 so that she has a nest egg for traveling back to visit, getting residencia, etc.

 

[dv8]

7.00 U.S a day for food !! Man that's better than the slim fast diet.

we spend 100 dollars a week for two people. that comes to about 8 dollars a day per person. we eat well, some local, some imported stuff. of course i cook every day.

 

[bronzeallspice]

It works for me, buy local food only and it is more than enough, add a few thousands pesos and it's still cheap. Food is cheap here compared to other countries, unless of course you need to have imported items. I'm not saying I have to live on this amount, I just choose to, it works for me and I'm a very active person with a healthy appetite so definitely not starving myself.

Buying local food is fine if you can stomach eating rice, beans, platanos, yuca, etc. every single day. Some people can't adjust to that diet.

 

[pauleast]

That sounds like an episode from that show "extreme couponing" I spend that at the local coffee/pastry shop in Santiago a week.
I hear people live off coconuts and sugar cane sold from the guy pushing the wheel barrel. Throw in some nuts that have been dried out on the road and you got a real culinary extravaganza. That's exactly how a 52 year old woman should live.

 

[dv8]

ha ha ha. we eat normal food. no rice because i do not eat rice ever. lots of veggies. meat or fish every day. we get lots of local produce (platanos, bananas, yuca) for free.

 

[Castle]

We spend about 4-5k DOP every 15 days on food, for two people. We go to Super Nacional, and not really pay much attention to prices, because it is always roughly the same total, regardless. I do, however, have to complete once a week things like bread, fruit, etc, but that never exceeds DOP$ 500 per week. Food prices have never been a problem here. Gasoline and services prices are another matter.
My mother lives alone (well, with 3 cats ) and she goes by with RD$ 4,000 a month on food.

 

[La Rubia]

She is smart with her money and not a big spender, she likes to stay at home mostly.

That sounds like an episode from that show "extreme couponing" I spend that at the local coffee/pastry shop in Santiago a week.
I hear people live off coconuts and sugar cane sold from the guy pushing the wheel barrel. Throw in some nuts that have been dried out on the road and you got a real culinary extravaganza. That's exactly how a 52 year old woman should live.

To each his own. I suspect the two of you would have very different needs and budgets wherever you live.

Fresh coconuts are very healthy!

You can pay $1.00-$3.00 in the US for a 12 oz pasteurized coconut water. How much are fresh in the DR these days?

 

[dv8]

i will also add that every now and then we buy 500 pesos of chicken from carniceria (i sort it and freeze it) and few thousand pesos in fish (mainly salmon). and occasionally when we are in santiago we shop in pricesmart and spend fro 5k to 10k pesos (but then those are things that last, dog food, washing powder, huge can of olive oil and so on).

 

[bronzeallspice]

ha ha ha. we eat normal food. no rice because i do not eat rice ever. lots of veggies. meat or fish every day. we get lots of local produce (platanos, bananas, yuca) for free.

My neighbors would bring me platanos, guineos, yuca that they grew in their garden. It used to rot because I just could not eat it all the time, too starchy. I cooked it when I make ensalada de bacalao.

 

[dv8]

good tip: peel everything (does not apply to yellow plantains). cut in smaller chunks (yuka, batatas and similar), pack in a bag and freeze. we do it all the time. miesposo brings the stuff from work already peeled and washed, i stuff it in the freezer. note that the bag needs to be thick because all that stuff freezes into a big clump. i hit the bag on the wall to break the clump into individual pieces.

 

[AlterEgo]

Good suggestion dv8. I actually saw a frozen bag of all the fixins' for sancocho in the latin supermarket near me. Had it all, yuca, name, yautia [both kinds], calabasa, even little corn cobs [which I personally don't use in sancocho]. Didn't buy it, so don't know how it tastes, was just surprised to see it!