Becoming more conservative

easygoin

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I've always wanted to ask this question to ex pat's. Most all board members are there for the beauty of the country... but yet almost everyone is concerned about cost. Were you actually concerned about cost before, or was it changed by the society that you now live in?
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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It was changed for many of us because we have less income than we did before. This is especially true of the many retired people who are here.

And I disgree with your assumption we are all here for the beauty of the country. That is probably one of them, but certainly not the main reason for many.
 

easygoin

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Jan 2, 2005
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Ken said:
It was changed for many of us because we have less income than we did before. This is especially true of the many retired people who are here.

And I disgree with your assumption we are all here for the beauty of the country. That is probably one of them, but certainly not the main reason for many.


Thank's for your reply

That's what I do not understand. Posters say what a beautiful country first off wanting to move their from their pensions, and then you hear about expensive cost-of-living due to security, education, healthcare, gas prices, electric, costs and so on. Then I hear about more headaches in everyday life as far as, waiting for processing documents, home building, environmental problems...the posts goes on and on and on.


Is it that people just move their without doing their homework, for retirement, employment? From what I read from everyday life , it seems like no picnic and most are caught in a rut and don't want to admit it?;)
 

Chris

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easygoin said:
Is it that people just move their without doing their homework, for retirement, employment? From what I read from everyday life , it seems like no picnic and most are caught in a rut and don't want to admit it?;)

I don?t think so. Many people do their homework but circumstances change. The cost of living in the DR has increased quite significantly. Anyone on a fixed income would feel it.
 

MommC

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Some come to 'stretch' their retirement income then find it costs more than they expected to maintain the lifestyle they had in their "native" country.
Some come expecting to invest then discover they've been 'taken' and their investment is gone.
Some come prepared to make the best of it and they don't have a back-up plan in case they 'can't hack it!'
Some come fully prepared then find their income base eroded by gov't policies, world oil prices, and economic factors beyond their control.
Many come expecting paradise based on 'holidays' without a real understanding of the life outside the resorts or knowledge of the country, culture and language.

Some 'make' it and some don't! Some adapt and some 'make do' and some 'cop out'.

That's the way the world goes round!
 

easygoin

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OK, so if the cost-of-living has increased for fixed income, how does someone try to lower their costs and still maintain the same quality, without pulling from investments whatever they may be? I totally understand American concept but would like to know what different approaches would be taken here?
 

Snuffy

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May 3, 2002
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Cost of living is going up in dollar terms. Food is more expensive but you gotta eat, right. If you own the place you live in, that is a big help. If you own your vehicle that helps. Petro is expensive. Consumables are expensive. One time purchases are expensive. Land has gone through the roof. Land in Gurabo that two years ago went for 400 pesos per meter is now at 1300 per meter. Cement has come down in price.

If this country can hold together for another 10 years without experiencing another Hipolito...prices here will be in line with other Carribe locations. It is a beautiful country. But there are obstacles to overcome once you arrive here to live. Money is the lubricant. If you have money you should have an easy go of it. Who knows what the future holds but I sense, and I have been slow coming around to this conclusion, that this country will stay on track and continue to build out. If it ever reaches critical mass where you have Americans accepting this country as an equal to other Caribe locales then there will be an enormous boom.

I recently visited the Sosua area. Sosua has come a long way in a very short time. It's probably not for me...but I have to admit it did look more promising when I was there.

If I had the vision that others had just three years ago.

Big problem here is corruption. If you don't hook up with the right people you can easily be taken and then you are turned off and want to leave. If you can make it through the first two years without losing a lot of money then you should be fine.

Those in Real Estate and other occupations that cater to New Expats should form some kind of a Welcoming Group that takes new arrivals and essentially holds their hand for the first two years. One negative experience gets the loudspeaker.
 

Mirador

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Snuffy said:
... If this country can hold together for another 10 years without experiencing another Hipolito...


You don't need a crystal ball or have an economics/political science PhD degree to know that this country cannot hold together under the present system for another 10 years, and much less can sustain another Hipolito, not in a post 9/11 world. This country is headed toward dictatorship. If I was an expat, I would seriously consider other countries, like Costa Rica....
 

indiana16

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Jan 5, 2006
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It's true that the prices of things has increased over the years in DR. and the cost of living can be on the high side depending on what your expenses are. If you mostly purchase imported products as opposed to locally made products, luxury items, drive a new yipeta instead of used fuel efficient car, have air conditioners in every room, eat out often in expensive restaurants,have 3 girlfriends to support,drink lots of presidente 7 days a week. Of course, your cost of living will be high. Some people complain that the money they make is not enough. But often people spend on things they don't really need or could do without.
 

carina

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Mar 13, 2005
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indiana16 said:
and the cost of living can be on the high side depending on what your expenses are.

This is a very strange sentence...:tired:

Poor Dominican or wealthy expat the prices are higher compared to 5 years ago, on anything from gas, petrol, food, electricity, phone, schools etc.
There are new taxes on certain products, and so on.

As for expats, no one moved here to live like a poor person, or to lower their basic lifestyle. Maybe to find other qualities, and also to change the lifestyle around and above the basic, but not to be a survivor.

I personally buy 99 % local produced items and food, as well as services, and the prices are higher of cost of living, compared to 5 years back, no matter who you are.
 

indiana16

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Jan 5, 2006
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carina said:
This is a very strange sentence...:tired:

Poor Dominican or wealthy expat the prices are higher compared to 5 years ago, on anything from gas, petrol, food, electricity, phone, schools etc.
There are new taxes on certain products, and so on.

As for expats, no one moved here to live like a poor person, or to lower their basic lifestyle. Maybe to find other qualities, and also to change the lifestyle around and above the basic, but not to be a survivor.

I personally buy 99 % local produced items and food, as well as services, and the prices are higher of cost of living, compared to 5 years back, no matter who you are.

I don't disagree
 

Snuffy

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May 3, 2002
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No........I want to understand your reasoning Mirador. I would appreciate you sharing your insight.

Thanks.
 
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Rocky

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I must be on another page.
Very little of what anybody has said makes any sense to me, nor do I share the same doomed view of this country's future.
1st, I find most things cheaper now than when I moved here.
It used to cost me $1.25 US to call Canada for 1 minute, and now it costs me 10 cents.
in 1991, cars cost 300% to 330%, compared to North america. Now they are approx. 140%.
My 1st cellphone, half the size of a briefcase, cost me $200 US, used !!!
Now, you can pick up a used StarTac for $30.
When I wanted to buy an imported food, or cosmetic, it was 5 times the American price, and now it is double.
Services are no more expensive today than they were when I arrived, if you compare them in US dollars.
Those items like gasoline & propane gas that have risen so much, also rose on the international market and are no reflection on this country. We still pay half what most Europeans pay for gas.
Even real estate has not risen like people would have you believe.
15 years ago, it was just as expensive, if not more.
Then tourism went to pot, some odd 8 years ago, and the market plummeted to an all time low, and it is back up now, but no more than it was then.
When I bought my first vehicle here, I bought an 8 year old Toyota pick up with 80,000 miles on it, no AC, no power windows, as plain jane as one could find, and I paid $18,000 US. Now I drive a 6 year old Lexus GS 300 with 40,000 miles, for the same amount of money.
So what's all this talk about higher cost of living?
As for moving here because it's a beautiful country, well, that had nothing to do with it, for me. It was a bonus, nothing more.
I moved here to escape cold weather.
To escape high taxation, stress, being a number instead of a person, health, beaches, friendly people, slow pace of life, etc.
To summarize, happiness.
I feel priviledged that I was able to find paradise at such an affordable price.
 

Potato_Salad

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Oct 13, 2005
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indiana16 said:
It's true that the prices of things has increased over the years in DR. and the cost of living can be on the high side depending on what your expenses are. If you mostly purchase imported products as opposed to locally made products, luxury items, drive a new yipeta instead of used fuel efficient car, have air conditioners in every room, eat out often in expensive restaurants,have 3 girlfriends to support,drink lots of presidente 7 days a week. Of course, your cost of living will be high. Some people complain that the money they make is not enough. But often people spend on things they don't really need or could do without.

I'm sure having only one girlfriend will save a LOT of money! ;)
 

Potato_Salad

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Rocky said:
I must be on another page.
Very little of what anybody has said makes any sense to me, nor do I share the same doomed view of this country's future.
1st, I find most things cheaper now than when I moved here.
It used to cost me $1.25 US to call Canada for 1 minute, and now it costs me 10 cents.
in 1991, cars cost 300% to 330%, compared to North america. Now they are approx. 140%.
My 1st cellphone, half the size of a briefcase, cost me $200 US, used !!!
Now, you can pick up a used StarTac for $30.
When I wanted to buy an imported food, or cosmetic, it was 5 times the American price, and now it is double.
Services are no more expensive today than they were when I arrived, if you compare them in US dollars.
Those items like gasoline & propane gas that have risen so much, also rose on the international market and are no reflection on this country. We still pay half what most Europeans pay for gas.
Even real estate has not risen like people would have you believe.
15 years ago, it was just as expensive, if not more.
Then tourism went to pot, some odd 8 years ago, and the market plummeted to an all time low, and it is back up now, but no more than it was then.
When I bought my first vehicle here, I bought an 8 year old Toyota pick up with 80,000 miles on it, no AC, no power windows, as plain jane as one could find, and I paid $18,000 US. Now I drive a 6 year old Lexus GS 300 with 40,000 miles, for the same amount of money.
So what's all this talk about higher cost of living?
As for moving here because it's a beautiful country, well, that had nothing to do with it, for me. It was a bonus, nothing more.
I moved here to escape cold weather.
To escape high taxation, stress, being a number instead of a person, health, beaches, friendly people, slow pace of life, etc.
To summarize, happiness.
I feel priviledged that I was able to find paradise at such an affordable price.

Rocky, you got yourself a bargain!!! :)

A 6-year-old GS300 for only $18,000!!! Nice find!!! :classic:
 

Malibook

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I guess it depends on what people spend their money on and how far back they are comparing.
The phone example is ridiculous though. That's like comparing today's computer prices.
When the peso went up to over 50 to the US$, many prices went up and it didn't feel like things were a proportional fraction of the price they used to be.
The problem is that when the peso went back down to 30, not only did the prices not come down but many actually went up, some way up.
I remember buying an MGD at Mountainview for 50P when it was 50:1.
A couple of years later the peso is back to 30:1 and the price is 90P.
 

Rocky

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Malibook said:
I guess it depends on what people spend their money on and how far back they are comparing.
This is true

Malibook said:
The phone example is ridiculous though. That's like comparing today's computer prices.
This is false. When I was paying over 1 buck US to call Canada, Canadians were paying 10 cents to call me. They still pay 10 cents to call me, and so do I, to call them.
Therefore my cost reduced itself by 90%, and theirs remained the same.
The only ridiculous part here, is how much the phone company was charging us in those days, and your lack of mathematical skills.

Malibook said:
When the peso went up to over 50 to the US$, many prices went up and it didn't feel like things were a proportional fraction of the price they used to be.
The problem is that when the peso went back down to 30, not only did the prices not come down but many actually went up, some way up.
I remember buying an MGD at Mountainview for 50P when it was 50:1.
A couple of years later the peso is back to 30:1 and the price is 90P.
We who have US dollars, all benefitted from the devalued pesos, during that period of time, and it has nothing to do with the subject at hand.
It had to do with Hippolito taking his last shot at robbing the country blind, before handing over power to the new government.

Sorry for being so rude with my answers, but I was just matching yours, only with factual data.
 

Malibook

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Phone example refers to this.
"My 1st cellphone, half the size of a briefcase, cost me $200 US, used !!!
Now, you can pick up a used StarTac for $30."
I did not say phone service but sorry for the confusion.
Like I said, this is ridiculous.
It is like telling us how much better and cheaper your computers are now, or the memory for your computer, or your digital camera, or the memory for the camera, or your flat screen monitor, or your LCD or plasma TV, ...etc

You are quite hyper-sensitive.
I am no mathematician but surely you can do better than attack my math skills.
 

Rocky

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Malibook said:
Phone example refers to this.
"My 1st cellphone, half the size of a briefcase, cost me $200 US, used !!!
Now, you can pick up a used StarTac for $30."
I did not say phone service but sorry for the confusion.
Like I said, this is ridiculous.
It is like telling us how much better and cheaper your computers are now, or the memory for your computer, or your digital camera, or the memory for the camera, or your flat screen monitor, or your LCD or plasma TV, ...etc

You are quite hyper-sensitive.
I am no mathematician but surely you can do better than attack my math skills.
Sorry Dude,
You are correct.
I was only halfway through my second coffee, and suffering from greatly reduced IQ.
I did not read your post well enough.
I apologize profusely.
 

ColoradoGirl

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Jan 30, 2005
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I think that many think they will move here and pay next to nothing for everything because it is a 3rd world country. I know I thought that when I moved here. I was very frustrated.

However, When I weight in things like my maid, how little we shop here (mainly because there is not a Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond on every corner) the over all inexpensive cost of daily things its well worth it.

We have much more in savings now and also have a great income coming in from our company we own in the states. Life is awesome here!!!!! We are also very young in our early 30's so we are not just living off a pension. We are actually living not exsisting.

I do think that many are worried about being "taken" so are much more careful. Its more difficult being an ex-pat here. Everyone sees you as rich. We do not live in an area that is surrounded by ex-pats. We are very much involved in the community and because of that many of our friends and businesses treat us as a local. Its all in who you know and how you treat them! I was just told the other day by some locals who I see on a daily basis that I am fitting in so well they almost forget that I am American.

With that said, I am still always on my guard but enjoying the country and the occational overprices imported items when I crave them!