living in sosua

injanga

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Sep 25, 2004
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Hi I have been offered a job in Sosua earning approx. $1000 US a month, plus free schooling for my niece. I am concerned however, that this would be insufficient to live on. I will need to rent accomodation. So far I have been unable to find anything other than holiday rentals. These would be too expensive. I would be renting for one year and then hopefully when I know the DR a little better I am hoping to purchase a property. Can anyone give advice on the cost of living and any contacts for reasonable accomodation.
Many thanks
 

Tor

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Jan 1, 2002
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Impossible question. It totally depends of your lifestyle and needs. I could not do it, I guess others could.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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As Tor has said, it would depend on your life style. It can be done because there are Dominican families living on less, but few foreigners could make the transition to that life style from what they are accustomed to.

It could be a very good experience for you and your niece, especially if you have some additional resources that you can draw on.
 

Rocky

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Apr 4, 2002
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If the $1,000 is in US funds and is your net, you could do it, but you would have to live modestly. If the thought of doing it appeals to you in a big way, go for it. If it's just a whim, you might want to reconsider.
PS: Check into a hotel for a few days and check out long term rentals yourself. It will save you money and you will find what best suits you, according to your budget.
 

paddy

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Oct 4, 2003
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Rocky said:
If the $1,000 is in US funds and is your net, you could do it, but you would have to live modestly. If the thought of doing it appeals to you in a big way, go for it. If it's just a whim, you might want to reconsider.
PS: Check into a hotel for a few days and check out long term rentals yourself. It will save you money and you will find what best suits you, according to your budget.
$1000.00 us dollars = $26,500.00 peso..twenty six thousand and five hundred pesos....is that correct??..and that figure flucuates..the peso goes up and down all the time..so i guess you have to allow for this when you decide to move. am i right?
 

sweetdbt

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Sep 17, 2004
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If you're planning

on purchasing a property in a year, I'd surmise you have some other resources. At 18% interest (not hard to get), each $10,000 in a peso account will generate an extra $150/mth without touching the principal. You could live modestly on $1000, but it looks to me like you might not need to.
 

Escott

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Jan 14, 2002
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Good advice but I would like to add that I don't think putting a lot of money in Pesos is a good idea at the present. I would recommend making less money and putting it in Dollars/Euros/Pounds instead to help out with the budget.

Escott
 

Rocky

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Apr 4, 2002
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paddy said:
$1000.00 us dollars = $26,500.00 peso..twenty six thousand and five hundred pesos....is that correct??..and that figure flucuates..the peso goes up and down all the time..so i guess you have to allow for this when you decide to move. am i right?
As it stands right now, you should be able to get a bit over 28 to 1, specially when changing larger amounts.
You can get in touch with us (Sosua expats) when you arrive, to get the necessary info for getting the best exchange rates, best supermarkets, transport prices, leads on where to find long term affordable apartment rentals, inexpensive activities, etc.
 

Mr_DR

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May 12, 2002
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Escott said:
Good advice but I would like to add that I don't think putting a lot of money in Pesos is a good idea at the present. I would recommend making less money and putting it in Dollars/Euros/Pounds instead to help out with the budget.

Escott
I don't want to hijack this thread but believe it or not Escott,
now is the perfect time to invest in pesos while we have someone like LF to keep it from devaluating any farther.

Or do you think that the best time would be at the time Hippo takes office again in 2008 so that you can really lose your investment by ending up with worthless pesos?

For the wise investors the perfect timing is now, not manana with HIPPO.
 

Rocky

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Hijack away.

Mr_DR said:
Or do you think that the best time would be at the time Hippo takes office again in 2008
You have to be joking.
You don't really believe that the people would elect that mental midget back into office again, do you?
 

Mr_DR

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May 12, 2002
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Rocky said:
You have to be joking.
You don't really believe that the people would elect that mental midget back into office again, do you?
You just have to remember that DR is mostly made up mostly by the poor and one thing about these people is that they only think about today, not tomorrow or yesterday. They will give their votes to whatever candidate is feeding their bellies the most while campaigning.

Don't under estimate Hippo,
He knows that very well. And it is part of the reason why he stole so much money because he knows that he is going to have to re-invest some of it back into a few bags of chickens and rice to earn these people's votes.

If LF does not comes up with a few bags of chicken and rice of his own to give to these people, he will have a very low chance for re- election.

Heck, the guy has not even being gone for a year yet and many of these people already forgot about how bad they had it and their campaign slogan is
"WE WERE BETTER WITH HIM" Now can you imagine these people once the HIPPO would give them access to a free bag of beans, rice and a chicken?
 

carina

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Mar 13, 2005
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Mr_DR, I agree with you!
Before the last election, I happened to be at Plaza de los Bomberos in POP, close to where I live, and the HIPPO team were giving out free bikes to the kids that play there in the afternoons and on weekends... Parents were all lyric in their words about HIPPO... then it became quiet.. Now when I pass there to pick up my son sometimes and have a chat with many parents there, many of them are sure HIPPO would have done a better job... They are unhappy with the non-light situation ( not that all of them have contracts for light - but that is not important...lol ), that food is not cheaper in comparence to the promises. One man even thought it was Leonels fault that his car had been stolen, as the security is low and people have become so poor they have to steal.. He did not get many to stand by his side on that one though..

But still...Heck, go with rise, beans and chickens when its time for new election of president and YOU will become the next president! ;)