Monthly cost for 2 children with 1 parent living in Europe

Caliente

New member
May 24, 2005
5
0
0
Recently I had a discussion with my dominican husband about the costs for his 2 girls living in DR.

We calculated with (according to him) recent prices for motoconcho and other transport costs as well as costs for the food and a reserve for medicine and so on and ende up with 25'000 pesos for the 2 of them per month.

From what I read on different sites I know that living in DR can be expensive, but I think that this amount is rather high and like this I'm wondering how other people can survive there.

What do you think about that? Or can I find somewhere a list in the Net? Thank you for answering me.

Have a nice day, Caliente
 

Bartolomeo67

Newbie
Mar 18, 2004
592
2
18
57
Hi Caliente,
if I understand your situation correctly, you are saying that you and your dominican husband live in Europe and his 2 little girls from a previous dominican relationship are living in the DR with their mother (?) and you want to support them.
25,000 R$ is really a lot! Are they living in a penthouse appartment on the SD malecon? ;) A lot of dominican families are surviving on less than 10,000 R$.
I understand your concern for their well-being and education but I think you need to specify a bit more about the girls in order for the board members to give you better information: age groups, where do they live and who do they live with, school tuition, etc.
Assuming that the girls live with the mother, imo I would make arrangements with her and tell her what you want to pay for (school tuition, transport, medication) and what not (food, etc). Otherwise you might end up supporting someone else's entire family. No matter how much money your husband sends from Europe to the DR, he needs to realize that he can never 'control' his daughters' lives from such a long distance.
Assuming that your husband will visit his girls from time to time, I think it's better to send money for specific items and to be generous when he's there and sees for himself what their needs are (toys, a passola, improving housing conditions - all depending on their age group).
Bartolomeo
 

Caliente

New member
May 24, 2005
5
0
0
Hi Bartolomeo

Thank you for your reply. Yes, you understood correctly that we support the 2 daughters from a former relationship from my husband.

To clarify the things, they are born in 93 and 95 and live in Maimon, Puerto Plata, in a house built by my husband (with my help regarding the money) with their mother who's not working. They both go to public school and are taking computer classes as well as english classes.

I agree with you Bartolomeo that he can never control his daughters and I already told him that money is not worth anything.

And yes, he wants to see his girls at least one time per year (what I completely understand).

The most difficult part is the communication with my husband explaining him that I am not willing to pay for anything there and especially I will not support other people than his daughters. I am not a millionaire and have to work very hard for my money.

Hope this clarifys things for your opinions.

Have a nice day. Caliente
 

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
4,056
7
0
dr1.com
Hi Caliente.....

Most "average" Dominican workers earn in the 5-10,000 peso a month range so if you are sending any more than this you are indeed supporting more than his two children. Seeing that they have a house to live in without having to pay rent and are attending public school I would suggest you send clothing twice a year (rather than money for such that will most likely NOT be spent on clothing), School supplies (someone else on the board can give you a better idea of this- maybe carina who I believe has a child in school or maybe Chiri) and approx. $90 Euro (not sure where you live so I'm using Euro's) per month for food,medical, misc. Also when your husband is there to visit (do you go with him?) he can arrange to pay one year's medical insurance at a time for both of them so you can reduce the monthly money amount sent.

You sound like a wise person to me and anything you can arrange that will provide suffieciently for the children without supporting the rest of his Dominican family is a good move on your part.

Cuidate!
 
Last edited:

juanita

Bronze
Apr 22, 2004
1,893
115
0
57
Way too much!

Welcome to the board Caliente!

Bartolomeo is right on the spot. $25,000 per month is WAY too much. I think that ?mom? has her eyes on a new lifestyle for herself, and all paid by YOU. If the girls go to public school, most of them are free or less than RD$2000 a month, school books cost me less than RD$2,500 a year. Transportation, is also very cheap (motoconchos are like $10-20 pesos)! If you are paying ONLY for the 2 kids, RD$8000 a month would be MORE than enough! Good luck and keep reading on the board, you'll find lots of info!
 

deejboram

New member
Sep 15, 2004
13
0
0
this post is the exact opposite of the "other" post where people said you'll "struggle" or "barely get by" in the DR on $4,000US per month.
 

juanita

Bronze
Apr 22, 2004
1,893
115
0
57
deejboram said:
this post is the exact opposite of the "other" post where people said you'll "struggle" or "barely get by" in the DR on $4,000US per month.

Remember that we are talking about 2 Dominican kids here, not some foreigners moving into a new country, so the numbers are different.
 

carina

Silver
Mar 13, 2005
2,691
4
0
MommC... Juanita is very correct in her post.
And your post is very accurate!

A public school is FREE, apart from books and uniforms.
Uniforms is shirt, skirt, socks, shoes and also something for sports.
A private local school is about 2000 per month.
Books about 2500-4000 pesos depending if the school is private or public.
That is for a year incl. pencils, notebooks etc.

Motoconcho is maximum 15 pesos per way and child.
Guagua or publico is 5 pesos per way if they have uniform.

All as Juanita already posted.
But as said, it all depends on what you want to pay for, if you pay 8000 pesos per month, then you pay for the whole family, and if you can do that, then the kids will have a good, local standard, if the mother provides something too.

In addition, afternoon activites are around 150 pesos per year and 10 pesos per week. Uniforms ( sports like dancing, basket etc ) is from free up to 200 pesos.
 
Oct 13, 2003
2,789
90
48
instagram.com
What do you want to pay for?

Dear Caliente,

RD$ 25,000 is way too much.

Consider the following:

A normal worker gets between RD$ 4,000 and RD$ 10,000 a months. With around RD$ 8,000 to RD$ 10,000 a complete family can be supported, including housing.These people already have a home and therefore have only basic living needs.

So in order to support themselves in a normal way they might need RD$ 8,000 a month.

So ask yourself:

Why does your husband want you to pay more money? Who's interest is he looking after?


If you want to support the two kids I have two suggestions for you:

1) Pay only for bills you see directly and pay them yourself to the appropriate authorities.

2) Bring goods with you form Europe or buy them yourself in the DR

These two suggestions will ensure you only pay for the items/services you think are appropriate and not for other things.

Implementing these two suggestions also implies you need to go there as well once a year, so you can accompany your husband on his visit to his family. That way you'll combine a nice holiday with charity and get to know his family a bit better. If your husband objects to this reasonable proposal you have to consider why he refuses this and wants you to pay more than a reasonable amount...

Cheers,

MD
 

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
4,056
7
0
dr1.com
To give you an idea of what $25,000pesos/month covers

let me tell you a little about my (Canadian) lifestyle when I live in the DR.
I own a luxury condo with gardener,swimming pool, parking , 2 bdrms, 2 baths in a gated complex. Therefore I don't pay rent but I do pay a RD$1500 peso/month condo fee. I pay roughly $1000 pesos per month for my electric bill (depending on how much I use my air-conditioners) and RD1000 pesos per month for my phone with internet service. I pay RD$1500 pesos /month for our golf club membership fees. We spend about RD$9000 pesos /month for food as I have dinner guests at least 5 days per week (up to 8 ppl per meal) plus my maid gets RD$5000 per month. We spend about $RD3000 for gasoline for our vehicle and RD$3000 /month for things like coffee and drinks at local bars and coffee shops.
That adds up to $RD25000 pesos.
Now we also eat out 2x per weeks, take little trips to other areas of the island, buy the odd bit of clothing or shoes etc so I usually spend closer to RD$45000 per month HOWEVER I am living a North American lifestyle.
Now my next door neighbour lives a very "Dominican" lifestyle and only spends about $RD10,000 pesos per month. They have only a 'pay as you go' cell phone, use only one light at night (in whatever room they happen to be in) so their electric bill is about $RD300 (we compare bills often as they think they pay too much!), eat a lot of rice & beans/pasta etc, don't eat out or go for coffee twice a day, don't take trips or golf or go to movies in the capital etc.
So you see $RD25,000 will give a North American like me a VERY GOOD lifestyle once basic housing costs are covered. If you own a place and don't have to pay rent you can live quite nicely at a North American level for $RD10,000 pesos.
True we don't have children to send to school however my maid had three children in private school with full medical coverage and paid all her living expenses on her small salary of $RD5000!
I hope you've gotten the 'picture' and if your husband is still insisting he needs to send $25000 pesos per month you need to get down there to find out exactly what it is you're being asked to pay for! :eek:
 
Last edited: