Moving to the DR within the year

IMO opinion it would be impossible to live off of US1500 in any of the coastal areas although Jarabacoa it might be possible but you would need to make sacrifices depending on how much your house payment would be.

Most will depend on whether you guys can adapt enough. BTW, we are a family of 5 and are doing it on less in Santiago but I do not have a house payment.

Here's a couple of links:

dr1.com/realestate

dr1.com/directories/Real-Estate.htm

There is the option to build to. When and if you guys look at something permanent let me know and I'll give you a price to build a solid home to you specification.

Send a PM to "Cobraboy" in this forum. He lives in Jarabacoa and runs a small business there. I'm sure he'd be able to provide you with some solid numbers. I agree that $1500 for a family of three on the coast isn't close to realistic. Think at least twice that, especially during your first year.

To be honest, I lived in Jarabacoa for a year, before moving to the NC. I expected to pay a lot more for food, etc... and was pleasantly surprised. Actually, prices at Janet's in Cabarete were up to 30% cheaper.

One exception is the vegetable market in Jarabacoa... great produce for little money, and great people selling them.

DRob said:

Send a PM to "Cobraboy" in this forum. He lives in Jarabacoa and runs a small business there. I'm sure he'd be able to provide you with some solid numbers. I agree that $1500 for a family of three on the coast isn't close to realistic. Think at least twice that, especially during your first year.

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If you are not visting supermarkets etc. and live in a Dominican locality 1000 should be plenty. 2-300 for rent and the rest for food etc. JW generally do not drink, consume coffee, meat products and generally do not drive when visiting foreign countries since they do not want to stand out as other gringos do. A first century diet is readily available in the DR.
Christians belive in communal( shared) eating and very often in JH meetings there are donations of food from the more blessed in the community - sometimes in return for help gathering / harvesting food etc. Communal bradmaking is of course common nowadays for JW. The command is to have a common but innocent meal; and each member of the community contributes according to their means.

It was common when growing up for poorer JW,s to be left a small sack of flour to bake their bread and share with poor neighbors.

So once you get your living quarters the dictum ,god will provide, is appropriate and other expenses should be minimal.

Good luck!

pi2.

Jarabacoa is cheap, yes there are many with much but overall things are much cheaper. You can buy your meat and veg direct from the farmer and the prices in the Supermarket are the same as anywhere else. Rentals can be really cheap in Jarabacoa, I think that is what shock people, the place with all the money and the beautiful people also having a price for joe average.
But, as you are visiting the country you will be doing things out of the ordinary, when on a visit it is impossible not to, or the trip is pointless, so your budget will need to be increased considerably IMO.

JW's are held to a very high standard and even one drink or cerveza could be misinterpreted by the locals of your being a "bad" christian. So keep that in mind, when someone offers you a fria. They might actually be testing you to see if you take it. "Y dizque evangelico y tomando cerveza"....Don't wanna stumble nobody now, would ya?

Lando calrisian said:

JW's are held to a very high standard and even one drink or cerveza could be misinterpreted by the locals of your being a "bad" christian. So keep that in mind, when someone offers you a fria. They might actually be testing you to see if you take it. "Y dizque evangelico y tomando cerveza"....Don't wanna stumble nobody now, would ya?

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por eso la respuesta correcta es "soy cristiano catolico".

Vinsoninc3 said:

So, I guess there is no info on vacation rentals in the Puerto Plata area that are not AI?

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I posted some links sorry if they didn't help. I'm sure someone will chime in soon.

Did somebody say;"Pot-Luck-Supper"???????
"Meatloaf",(Not the Singer!) fried chicken,baked beans,potato salad,canned green bean Cambell's mushroom soup,Durkee's fried onion rings on top casserole,kind of "Pot-Luck-Supper?????
I'm in!
Cris Colon
Are "JW" the same as "Evangelicos" here in the DR?
My maid is "Evangelica",and she doesn't "drink","smoke","dance",or "LIE"!
But she sure can "EAT"!

One benefit that JW,s have is belief in slavery. If they fall on hard times they can obey God,s law and sell themselves to be slaves. Also land as private property in perpetuity is against their beliefs.

The latest Watchtower sums it up:



[h=4]A Law to Deal With Poverty[/h]Jehovah God gave the ancient nation of Israel a body of law that if obeyed would prevent most poverty. Under the Law, every family, apart from the priestly tribe of Levi, received an inheritance of land. The family inheritance was secure because land could not be sold in perpetuity. Every 50 years, all land was to be restored to its original owner or his family. (Leviticus 25:10, 23) If because of illness, disaster, or indolence anyone had to sell his land, it was to be returned to him without payment in the Jubilee year. No family would sink into generations of poverty.
Another merciful provision of God’s Law allowed a man who had suffered adversity to sell himself into slavery. He would receive the sale price in advance to pay off his debts. If he had not repurchased himself by the seventh year, he was to be set free and provided with seed and livestock in order for him to start farming again. In addition, if a poor person had to borrow money, the Law forbade fellow Israelites to charge interest. The Law also commanded the people to leave the edges of their fields unharvested so that poor people could glean. Thus, no Israelite would have to beg.—Deuteronomy 15:1-14; Leviticus 23:22.
History shows, however, that some Israelites did fall into poverty. Why did that happen? Israel did not obey Jehovah’s Law. Consequently, as in most lands, some people became rich landowners and others became landless poor. Poverty occurred among the Israelites because some individuals ignored God’s Law and put their own interests ahead of those of others.—Matthew 22:37-40.

Efforts to End Poverty - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site

Yes 1000 dollars a month should be more than enough: if all else fails there is slavery.


pi2.

Criss Colon said:

Did somebody say;"Pot-Luck-Supper"???????
"Meatloaf",(Not the Singer!) fried chicken,baked beans,potato salad,canned green bean Cambell's mushroom soup,Durkee's fried onion rings on top casserole,kind of "Pot-Luck-Supper?????
I'm in!
Cris Colon
Are "JW" the same as "Evangelicos" here in the DR?
My maid is "Evangelica",and she doesn't "drink","smoke","dance",or "LIE"!
But she sure can "EAT"!

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Many JW,s do not eat meat! Also do not drink.

pi2

Since you are JW and going to Jarabacoa your best source of information will be Molly-Ann and her Dominican husband.
Tropical Mountain Bed and Breakfast

Vinsoninc3 said:

So, I guess there is no info on vacation rentals in the Puerto Plata area that are not AI?

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Sosua and Cabarete are set up for vacation rentals. Not so much Puerto Plata which has a number of AI resorts and is a city with a smaller expat population. I would ask someone to report on the quality of the water at the beaches near Puerto Plata.