- Thread starter tlbaker78
- Start date
Need advice for moving to DR with theincome I have
Ok, thanks, But I have to ask Honestly... Will my $700 a month go Further In DR than it will in the USA? Granted there are many services, BUT I will have to live in housing projects, etc etc... Yes, I can do without things, I do without things now.. I live in Mexico, and have for 6 months.. But I dont find myself destitute like I would in USA.. so, From someone that Lives in DR, can you please tell me, Why would it be so hard to live on almost 3 times the averge DR monthly Salery?
That's the part where I would like a little more ... uhm ... 'fat' on the budget!
What is it these days? Is the DR1 on some forum as a 'cheap place to live'? Where do folks get this idea? Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of 'backpacker's paradise'. I just don't think the DR is it.
All these prospective new DR residents with under 1,000 US budgets .. Do you speak fluent Spanish?
Another thing that strikes me ... these folks are all from the US, saying they cannot live there any longer. Usually it was for other reasons, now it seems to be budgetary. Just noticing these issues. Any comments? Things are funny in the US at the moment.
lol... I am sorry but I really dont understand your comment Chris. Am I correct in saying that the amount of money People Native to DR live on is less than what a poor american lives on? I think we both know the answer to this, so that kind of answers your question about why people want to live there with a low budget. You know what, if you dont like it, too bad.. Its Fabulous that you are wealthy,and choose to live in DR, but not everyone is, But you know what, I think My $700 a month will be welcomed in DR, as it is in Mexico. And to the other poster, yes I can take the negativeness, But its really funny that there is so much of it... It amazes me... You people do not own DR... neither do I.... I have just as much right to live there as you, and enjoy "paradise" If your scared too many gringos will come and spoil or steal your paradise.. Get over it.. Again, its not yours to steall, now is it... again, I can handle rude people, BUT prefer not to, so if you have negative things to say , or "questions" as others put it, then keepo them to yourself.. If you are genually wondering, because you want to help me, then great.. I will answer.. But stay up in your ivory tower and worry about other little people, because I dont have time to listen to snobs and smart elicks.. Sorry o be offensive, But I have been offended here... I thought this place was designed to assist people, But it seems, a select few think they not only own the Island, But all rights to it..
Again... PLEASE do not talk to me if you are negative.... If you want to help fine, BUT dont wonder just cause your board... and want to start something... I have better things to do..
Noone knows all my business, But seem to think they know all my savings, all my investments, eytc.. YOU dont so BUTT OUT
Furthermore, I seem to make it fine in mexico ( a spanish speaking Nation) but no I dont speak FLUENT spanish, is that a MUST before you move there... NO
Thanks for all the support and kindness
Again... PLEASE do not talk to me if you are negative.... If you want to help fine, BUT dont wonder just cause your board... and want to start something... I have better things to do..
Noone knows all my business, But seem to think they know all my savings, all my investments, eytc.. YOU dont so BUTT OUT
Furthermore, I seem to make it fine in mexico ( a spanish speaking Nation) but no I dont speak FLUENT spanish, is that a MUST before you move there... NO
Thanks for all the support and kindness
A
apostropheman
Guest
AS a single person you would find it more difficult to live because you would not be contributing to a group situation and benefiting from shared expenses. Many people of the lower income share with family members, or perhaps a group of friends, each contributing and benefiting. You would only have whatever you can buy with your income and no help from others.
I trust that you can see the advantage of having the buying power of say 6 $5000 pesos incomes combined to make a wider variety of purchases and then sharing them. Other things such as well as spitting of rent, etc...also add to the equation.
I trust that you can see the advantage of having the buying power of say 6 $5000 pesos incomes combined to make a wider variety of purchases and then sharing them. Other things such as well as spitting of rent, etc...also add to the equation.
Well, I've never been to Mexico. So, perhaps I don't know sh!it about what makes things work in Mexico. But in the DR, I do know a few things. Why is it that you think that this statement will make it easier to adapt to the DR? Do you think all Spanish speaking nations are the same? Do you think because you 'learnt the ropes in Mexico', you will hit the ground running in the DR?. Things are different in the DR. In Mexico, good heaven's man, you can walk back to the US. There are around 12 consular presences. In the DR, by my own count, one and a little bit in Puerto Plata.
I still don't have it straight .. why is is that we are getting a spate of US citizens saying they cannot make it in the US and have to go to 3rd world countries to try and make a go of it. (Yes, I did see Sicko!)
The family relationship in the DR is one of the things that makes it a great place to be. The support of a larger group, instead of the nuclear family unit. This is a strange thing, but the loner, the 'one man band' is a little suspect because of it.
It's quite simple really, and I'm surprised that you don't already know after living in Mexico for 6 months.
You have no family here.
You don't have family owned mango trees in the backyard, nor a garden.
And when a Dominican is truly hungry and truly broke, he can just walk into the neighbour's house at eating time and share.
Is it not the same there in Mexico?
Perhaps not.
It is possible to survive on your $700 monthly, but what you have to ask yourself is will you be better off than where you presently live, or worse off.
This is a question that only you can answer by way of giving it a try.
There are no guarantees.
If you are unhappy where you are, then you have little to lose.
If you are simply looking for a better existence on your budget, I suspect that you will not find it here, but I don't know that for fact.
It depends on how meager an existence you are willing to accept, I suppose.
PS: I had not seen the part about not speaking Spanish.
That alone will triple your chances of failure.
A
apostropheman
Guest
I guess the short answer to your original question is yes it can be done. You're already doing it in a an expensive Mexican city so you know you can manage there and I doubt it's that different in the DR. Perhaps in some ways it's cheaper.
I'm really not sure why you think the DR is going to be more to your liking than Mexico.
There are plenty of threads here with current and accurate enough costs of you care to search.
One thing that is crystal clear to me is that in order to make it in the DR you need to be self sufficient and not take things personally.
If you're not able or willing to find the answers that are already available here on DR1 how can you think you'll manage, on your own, in the DR?:bunny::bunny:
)
No friends + no Spanish = almost certain longterm failure.
Perhaps you'd best start over on DR1 and cultivate a few buddies...you'll need them to make it.
I'm really not sure why you think the DR is going to be more to your liking than Mexico.
There are plenty of threads here with current and accurate enough costs of you care to search.
One thing that is crystal clear to me is that in order to make it in the DR you need to be self sufficient and not take things personally.
If you're not able or willing to find the answers that are already available here on DR1 how can you think you'll manage, on your own, in the DR?
:bunny::bunny:
I didn't see Rocky's post while I was writing mine. I totally agree with him. (and he's also more eloquent than I
)No friends + no Spanish = almost certain longterm failure.
Perhaps you'd best start over on DR1 and cultivate a few buddies...you'll need them to make it.
Last edited:
hi tlbaker78, i am a single guy living in santo domingo, have some money but don't spend much, i lived in cuba for few years and found that sometimes your richer needing the least than having the most. I know the grass always looks greener next door but if you have a 3 bedroom house over looking the ocean there, I would really think about my decision. I probably get blasted with another red dot beside my name for saying this but this place can be very much just about the money like in USA. I hope god I never run out of money here! If you determine to come please feel free to get in touch with me, I will help you out, show you around and even offer you a room for a while if you need it. I truly believe in helping each other as brother humans without always thinking about money. Good luck mate!
Let me spell it out. To live on a small amount of money in the DR, you need your infrastructure and your family. You do not have either infrastructure or family to depend on. Yes, it is possible, but it will be an existence where you won't really have the where-withall to report back to the board on how you are doing.
Good luck to you. (Why do we worry about this stuff?)
I believe the OP said that he wasn't fluent in Spanish, not that he could speak or get by in Spanish. The only way for him to find out is visit, explore the options, check out the prices himself. 23,000 pesos per month with 6-10,000 for rent leaves 13-15000 for everything else. If he is used to budgeting on his $700 it probably is possible for him, but he better have a nest-egg of a couple of thousand for medical reason, enough to get a ticket back to the states.
This was to drloca, yes? She wasn't being sarcastic. I know some people gave you a hard time at first, SKing, and this probably made you want to rush to the defense of tlbaker but your two situations are clearly totally different. Plus.........you, SKing, held up very well to some of the more negative posts you received. tlbaker, on the other hand, knows far less than you about the DR yet is trying to make out he knows far more.
The 'little bit' in Puerto Plata is a real good guy & achieving so much more in a few weeks than the previous incumbent...........
but I'd hate for him to get landed with newbies who think they know it all & have trouble listening so.............speaking personally, that is one of the reasons why I bothered to respond to the OP.
That's probably quite a useful prelude to listening and being able to learn. It is true we know nothing about you but equally you know nothing about a number of us. If you did you would know that you have received responses from people not in ivory towers, not filthy rich and from some who have survived being very poor here & as a result of that have some valuable insights to offer. But you have to be prepared to hear some responses which aren't congruent with what you're wanting to hear. If you're not 'tough' enough to handle that you'll get eaten for beakfast living here in the DR.
tlbaker78, hopefully once you get here you would have gotten rid of that chip that appears to be lingering near or on your shoulders, other than the comment about kinderguarden, everyone has been kind and sensative to your situation and the way you barked back, unnessasarally somewhat rude and demanding, when you are in the need of advise, which you have been getting, but your response appeared to be an attack with demands to be told what you want to hear, and you were told to come on down and stick your head in the lions mouth, maybe he won't bite your friendly head off. I thought after your second barking thread, that maybe you are not real, just wandering thru the websites, looking for someone to fight, and all the post have been on point, especially being advised that from where you are now, you can at least walk across the USA boarder line to recieve any much needed help, if nessessary. Not wishing you bad luck................ But to run out of money in a very poor country, I can't imagine and don't want to and to live amongst the natives with that fighting chip lingering over your shoulders, that's something else I wouldn't want................. and the only true friend you have really made has all those red things, even if it's one. Again , good luck....... ...And that's what you have attracted already and you haven't even gotten there yet and I can't wait to read his post. But you have survived Mexico for 6 months and you can buy a whole chicken for less than $4.00. So , chicken, beans and rice, now lets say it again, chicken, beans and rice, now in spanish, chicken , beans and rice and now, breakfast, lunch and dinner and so on and so on..............Again, don't drink the water, get prepaid ticket to USA ( home town ), don't get too sick, make friends without the red things and bring plenty of love for everyone...............Peace Out My Brother.....................
PS. Not trying to be offensive, but I have been offended ???????????????????
PS. Not trying to be offensive, but I have been offended ???????????????????
DEJAME PONER LA COSA CLARA...
I was not attacking drloca personally but the statement that she made that some people here are asking questions to gain insight...as I did not feel that that was the case. My statement was addressed to those people...maybe I should have said that.
The point here is that the man was asking a question and immediately received sarcasm. Now, deeper into the post, he has received alot of well meant advice (whether he likes the advice or not).
The only problem with DR1 that I see (besides the fact that I still cannot master the search function:ermm Is that when people come on this site they are usually bombarded with sarcasm, I am not using the word attacked only because it sounds a little strong for this situation here.
When I came on, I was basically told that I had been sankified and was a horrible mother, and crazy out of my mind. In the last 6 months I have been to DR 4 times...still no man...as a matter of fact, I might welcome a sanky at this point.
But I digress, I only suggest that people are treated with respect. Ask questions fairly and without sarcasm. Some of the questions that I have read here, I can literally see the icicles hanging off of the words. Like I said before, with this site I met some good people...a friend that I email regularly, and some good advice. But we are all innocent until proven guilty...gain insight politely and then...when you catch a lie or something strange...THEN, go for the throat!
I was not attacking drloca personally but the statement that she made that some people here are asking questions to gain insight...as I did not feel that that was the case. My statement was addressed to those people...maybe I should have said that.
The point here is that the man was asking a question and immediately received sarcasm. Now, deeper into the post, he has received alot of well meant advice (whether he likes the advice or not).
The only problem with DR1 that I see (besides the fact that I still cannot master the search function:ermm
Is that when people come on this site they are usually bombarded with sarcasm, I am not using the word attacked only because it sounds a little strong for this situation here.When I came on, I was basically told that I had been sankified and was a horrible mother, and crazy out of my mind. In the last 6 months I have been to DR 4 times...still no man...as a matter of fact, I might welcome a sanky at this point.
But I digress, I only suggest that people are treated with respect. Ask questions fairly and without sarcasm. Some of the questions that I have read here, I can literally see the icicles hanging off of the words. Like I said before, with this site I met some good people...a friend that I email regularly, and some good advice. But we are all innocent until proven guilty...gain insight politely and then...when you catch a lie or something strange...THEN, go for the throat!
Thank You
Thank you , AGAIN SKing, for that!
I do NOT know it all, and I realize that, BUT It just seemed to me, from the responses I received from this thread that people were assumuming, I was someone I am not. Not only have I lived in mexico for 6 months this time, I have lived here before. I DO not have family, therefore I am used to living and traveling, and adapting to situations alone! I do not have a chip on my shoulder, I dod come here with an open mind, hopeing to get good advice (Which I Certainly did from several people), but theres also those that say they want well, and say that they mean well, BUT are just busy body Snobs.
This is not my first time in a site like this (DIFFERNT PLACES) and this is not my first time moving to a starnge country, BUt Yes, your right.. Untill I go to DR, II Know absolutly NOTHING!!!
OK... about walking back to the US.. WEll, I have to fly or take a bus every month or so, to get back and it cosyt ALOT of money (Check any available map of mexico, and you will see, that walking from Acapulco, to Texas is not a light task)... But, my Friend , who is Dominican, and who has family there (Yes I know some people there) tells me it is very cheap to catch a ferry to Puerto Rico, which, last I checked is a US Territory, therefore, Enabling me to utilize certain services as an Amrican Citizen.
Yes, I may sound like I know it all, BUT I promise you I do not, BUT being alone, without family, and with only $700 a month, you have to go into defensive mode or survival mode sometimes. So If I have come across arogant, I appologise, I just askk that the posters who have made certain comments look at the way they said things... ( I may have taken it all wrong)
About running out of money.. well, Every month, on the 3rd, I get money direct deposited to my account.. Yes, its possible to run out before that time, BUt I do have other ventures... I do a few websites myself (wouldnt dare mention the name in this site) that sometimes, If Im lucky, give me a dollar or two extra a month..
Again, I meant no offense to noone, and for those genualiy concerned about my well being, and my ability, thank you! But please realize, like I said, I may sound Nieve, BUT I always find a way to survive.
Thanks
Thank you , AGAIN SKing, for that!
I do NOT know it all, and I realize that, BUT It just seemed to me, from the responses I received from this thread that people were assumuming, I was someone I am not. Not only have I lived in mexico for 6 months this time, I have lived here before. I DO not have family, therefore I am used to living and traveling, and adapting to situations alone! I do not have a chip on my shoulder, I dod come here with an open mind, hopeing to get good advice (Which I Certainly did from several people), but theres also those that say they want well, and say that they mean well, BUT are just busy body Snobs.
This is not my first time in a site like this (DIFFERNT PLACES) and this is not my first time moving to a starnge country, BUt Yes, your right.. Untill I go to DR, II Know absolutly NOTHING!!!
OK... about walking back to the US.. WEll, I have to fly or take a bus every month or so, to get back and it cosyt ALOT of money (Check any available map of mexico, and you will see, that walking from Acapulco, to Texas is not a light task)... But, my Friend , who is Dominican, and who has family there (Yes I know some people there) tells me it is very cheap to catch a ferry to Puerto Rico, which, last I checked is a US Territory, therefore, Enabling me to utilize certain services as an Amrican Citizen.
Yes, I may sound like I know it all, BUT I promise you I do not, BUT being alone, without family, and with only $700 a month, you have to go into defensive mode or survival mode sometimes. So If I have come across arogant, I appologise, I just askk that the posters who have made certain comments look at the way they said things... ( I may have taken it all wrong)
About running out of money.. well, Every month, on the 3rd, I get money direct deposited to my account.. Yes, its possible to run out before that time, BUt I do have other ventures... I do a few websites myself (wouldnt dare mention the name in this site) that sometimes, If Im lucky, give me a dollar or two extra a month..
Again, I meant no offense to noone, and for those genualiy concerned about my well being, and my ability, thank you! But please realize, like I said, I may sound Nieve, BUT I always find a way to survive.
Thanks
Have a question for you tlbaker
And I am not trying to be personal. I believe you said you where on a disability right? If so are you able to do any type of work? If so maybe if you talk a little about what you can do maybe someone can help point you in the right direction. Good luck to you either way.
And I am not trying to be personal. I believe you said you where on a disability right? If so are you able to do any type of work? If so maybe if you talk a little about what you can do maybe someone can help point you in the right direction. Good luck to you either way.
If you live like a Domincan, it can be done, this based on that you don't drink, or have other expensive habits. A decent apartment or house can be rented in nice areas here in Santiago for RD6k. Eating out on a daily basis at the local comedores will cost you between RD80-120 for lunch, maybe somewhat less for dinner if you like platano or eat light.
good luck
good luck
Thanks for the res[ponses! Yes, I am on disability, But yes I can do SOme work. Beleive it or not, I have a Bach. Degree from Vanderbilt in Sociology (Pre-Law) epahasis. But Mainly what I have done, all through school, and after is Hostel, hospitality business. I own a vacation rental website Now, (Along with some others) so my experience is in Travel, tourism, Hospitality. I can work SOME, but not full time.... Furthermore, I know my money isnt alot, BUt I dont want to work any more than I have to.. I want a simple, life, with no stress, in a buetifull setting, etc. Here in acapulco, I forgot thats what I wanted, and I started all these busineses with my partner ( No longer partner), and am realizing now, I dont want all this stress and responsability in my life. If I work, it will be part time, with little responsability, But I am a fast learner, so I can pretty much do anything!
try it....
Living on that money would be very easy for me, but for someone coming here new and not knowing their way around it could be a bit difficult. But..it can be done and if it doesn't work at least you have a guaranteed income every month and you can move on to another country and try that for a while.
Rent a room or a studio apartment in an area where you do not always need to be using public transportation. Walk everyplace. Eat locally and selectively ( a meal of typical beans rice and meat can last for 3 meals for me).
If it is something you really want it can be done. It is not easy at first but if it is something you want and you are adaptable living here, even if you don't have alot of money (I live here on maybe half that amount or less), can be great. Challenging at times but worth it for me.
I'll be sending you an email soon tlbaker.
Living on that money would be very easy for me, but for someone coming here new and not knowing their way around it could be a bit difficult. But..it can be done and if it doesn't work at least you have a guaranteed income every month and you can move on to another country and try that for a while.
Rent a room or a studio apartment in an area where you do not always need to be using public transportation. Walk everyplace. Eat locally and selectively ( a meal of typical beans rice and meat can last for 3 meals for me).
If it is something you really want it can be done. It is not easy at first but if it is something you want and you are adaptable living here, even if you don't have alot of money (I live here on maybe half that amount or less), can be great. Challenging at times but worth it for me.
I'll be sending you an email soon tlbaker.