Cost of living comparison

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amparocorp

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Aug 11, 2002
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thanks for the link, but, these numbers are based on a basket of goods and services that an expatriate would purchase and i don't think they take into account that if you lived a little more like a local life would be much more inexpensive. for example caracas is more expensive than NY, huh? gasoline in venezuela is almost free, rent has to be less than NYC as well as electric, maid/babysitter has to be cheaper too. i'd like to know what is in this basket. are they assuming one must drink budweiser at all these locations? angola more expensive than NY? that must be due to the high cost of ballet lessons...........
 
Apr 3, 2009
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Yahoo!!

Thanks for the post. I guess I am either retiring to St. Lucia (ranked #247) or Buenos Aires (ranked #257)!!

Ciao!
BB :bunny:
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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I am sorry, I could not find a better link or explanation of what was in the "basket". Some of these don't make a lot of sense, as amparacorp pointed out. But I certainly would not make any travel plans based on this! I have heard from Argentinians here that the DR is MUCH more expensive than their home. But I would wonder about St.Lucia? Would seem to be one of the small islands with lots of imports. And then, of course, there is always the issue of WILL they let you stay, and medical facilities, etc.

I thought it was most interesting for people in the States since it has different cities and might help.
 

AK74

On Vacation!
Jun 18, 2007
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All quality goods and services are more expensive in DR than in NYC.

Cars (even with questionable mileage and accident history)

Gasoline.

Flat screen TV (if you ever find one that is not refurbished)

Home appliances. (if you ever find one that is not refurbished)

Food in restaurants. (at a lower quality than in NYC)

Prices in supermarkets (beware of expired or spoiled food!)

Quality furniture.

Quality medical help in serious cases.

Decent schools for international and Dominican elite children.

Computers (if you ever find one that is not refurbished)

Taxi ($25 from POP airport to Sosua, 4 miles. $6US a mile)

If living a life with quality comparable to quality of life in NYC, in DR it will cost twice.

If to downgrade the life to a cheaper and poorer one - it will be cheaper.

******************

Women are cheaper in DR.

House workers/ cleaners/maids are cheaper in DR, up to the moment when you decide to fire him/her and have to pay liquidation.

Papaya, bananas and oranges are a bit cheaper in DR.

Rent for appartments in comparable safe areas are about the same in NYC (Riverdale for example) and in safe areas of DR where people from the First World countries and Dominican elite live.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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Actually,I pay less for my 2 bedroom apartment here in Gazcue, which I certainly consider a safe area, than the average cost of keeping a car in NYC. And I have a parking space.

No car yet, though, you are right about the car prices!

And I can take a taxi anywhere inside Santo Domingo for $5 no matter how long I am stuck in traffic. In NYC, I think the meter clicks to that at the first red light, no?

Plus I have a maid. My entire monthly expense for everything (rent, maintenance, utilities including cable, spa and pool membership) excluding food is less than I paid for rent and a garage in NYC twenty years ago.

But I lived in the Village, not in Riverdale, which many of us simply never considered NYC but more like, where? Yonkers, perhaps.

I not only had top notch medical care at Clinic Abreu, I had a card with the doctor's cell phone number on it. I shudder to think of what my stay would have cost in the States, but
you are right, it was not for brain surgery...

Fortunately, I do not have a taste for the large flat screen TVs which could hardly be considered a "cost of living", could they?

But I know that you, AK47, oops 74, are not a fan of the DR, since I do not recall your ever having posted one single positive thing about it....... One only wonders what your motivations are for staying and from whence the bitterness?

Ah..a deportee, perhaps?

I feel your pain.
 

AK74

On Vacation!
Jun 18, 2007
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Actually,I pay less for my 2 bedroom apartment here in Gazcue, which I certainly consider a safe area, than the average cost of keeping a car in NYC. And I have a parking space.

No car yet, though, you are right about the car prices!

And I can take a taxi anywhere inside Santo Domingo for $5 no matter how long I am stuck in traffic. In NYC, I think the meter clicks to that at the first red light, no?

Plus I have a maid. My entire monthly expense for everything (rent, maintenance, utilities including cable, spa and pool membership) excluding food is less than I paid for rent and a garage in NYC twenty years ago.

But I lived in the Village, not in Riverdale, which many of us simply never considered NYC but more like, where? Yonkers, perhaps.

I not only had top notch medical care at Clinic Abreu, I had a card with the doctor's cell phone number on it. I shudder to think of what my stay would have cost in the States, but
you are right, it was not for brain surgery...

Fortunately, I do not have a taste for the large flat screen TVs which could hardly be considered a "cost of living", could they?

But I know that you, AK47, oops 74, are not a fan of the DR, since I do not recall your ever having posted one single positive thing about it....... One only wonders what your motivations are for staying and from whence the bitterness?

Ah..a deportee, perhaps?

I feel your pain.


If a person tells the truth about prices (that is not welcome to RE people and hotel/restaurant owners who need tourists/expats desperately) he immediatelly must be attacked personally, accused of motivation, called names and accused of being a deportee?

OK...

No prob...

Cars are cheaper in DR than in NYC

Gasoline is cheaper in DR than in NYC

Home appliances, video, computers, stereo systems, photo cameras and cell phones are better and cheaper than in NYC. (And not store returns or refurbished ones unloaded by NY`s stores)

Food is of better quality and cheaper than in Shop Rite and Stop and Shop. And organic food stores are on each corners.

Taxi from POP aeroport to Sosua is not $25US ( for 4 miles) but $25 RD , my mistake!

Every Dominican public school is better than public schools of Ardsly and Dobbs Ferry.
And so on...

Do I sound as "fan" of DR now? Thank you. We are all happy!
 

AlaninDR

Mr. Chunky Skin
Dec 17, 2002
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If a person tells the truth about prices (that is not welcome to RE people and hotel/restaurant owners who need tourists/expats desperately) he immediatelly must be attacked personally, accused of motivation, called names and accused of being a deportee?

OK...

No prob...

Cars are cheaper in DR than in NYC

Gasoline is cheaper in DR than in NYC

Home appliances, video, computers, stereo systems, photo cameras and cell phones are better and cheaper than in NYC. (And not store returns or refurbished ones unloaded by NY`s stores)

Food is of better quality and cheaper than in Shop Rite and Stop and Shop. And organic food stores are on each corners.

Taxi from POP aeroport to Sosua is not $25US ( for 4 miles) but $25 RD , my mistake!

Every Dominican public school is better than public schools of Ardsly and Dobbs Ferry.
And so on...

Do I sound as "fan" of DR now? Thank you. We are all happy!

Each post you make reveals more of the same about you. Pitiful imo. Are you sad that Cuba didn't make the list?
 
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AK74

On Vacation!
Jun 18, 2007
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Each post you make reveals more of the same about you. Pitiful imo. Are you sad that Cuba didn't make the list?

All names, calls, obsenities and personal attacks are welcome, RE gentelmen!

As long as you cannot deny and contradict the well known cold facts at least try to distract potential expats/tourists to lynching of the SOB who dares to tell the truth.

Good try. I wish you luck with it and many trusting and uninformed readers of this Forum who cannot see true motivations and vested interests in this dire times of crashed RE prices and free falling economy of the island.:bunny:
 

AlaninDR

Mr. Chunky Skin
Dec 17, 2002
702
135
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All names, calls, obsenities and personal attacks are welcome, RE gentelmen!

As long as you cannot deny and contradict the well known cold facts at least try to distract potential expats/tourists to lynching of the SOB who dares to tell the truth.

Good try. I wish you luck with it and many trusting and uninformed readers of this Forum who cannot see true motivations and vested interests in this dire times of crashed RE prices and free falling economy of the island.:bunny:

You continue to speak as a person that has shorted the Dominican economy. If this country is bad as you always say, that makes you a "rubber necker" that always has to look at car wrecks. You have nothing good or positive to say and yet you stay here.
Will you be the last body in this country? Will you stay until the last dog is dead? Are you that civic minded? No, you're simply a pitiful individual that for whatever reason cannot leave DR. You live a miserable life and you want company. Probably many people that are here left their country to get away from eternally negative people like you.
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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Who has an agenda?

As long as you cannot deny and contradict the well known cold facts at least try to distract potential expats/tourists to lynching of the SOB who dares to tell the truth.

When have you posted anything close to the truth on this forum?
You have been spewing negativity since the BULL market in real estate began in this country 10 years ago. What's the matter, did you miss the boat?
 

AK74

On Vacation!
Jun 18, 2007
842
36
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If this country is bad as you always say,. You have nothing good or positive to say and yet you stay here.

*********************************

You are kidding, aren`t you!

This country is beautiful and I love it.

Where else (in this close proximity) one can find this beautiful total lack of any law and order?! No cops. No LE. Nobody is watching your every step to slap you for this and for that with hundred dollars fines and tickets.

Where else you can freely park under "No Parking" sign?! Where else you can drive against all traffic on a one way street totally drunk without driving license, without matricula, with 2005 inspection and insurance that expired two years ago?! And when stopped give him three hundred pesos and keep goin...

Freeeeedom my man... Freeeeedom!!

So many young beautiful intelligent and skillfull ladies... and all and each of them is yours... Each of them desires you and fights for you...

Paradise on Earth...

Beautiful beaches ( at least those few that still remains free from pollution and degradation caused by smart guys like Millenium or future huge ocean port in Sosua Bay)

The island is beautiful!! One can and may do whatever he wants and wishes!! Just to make a small donation and everyone looks away...

Great! Nice! And beautiful!

And this beauty way outweighs such little thigs like astronomical prices , rip-off of newbies here and there, RE manipulations and irregularities...

Who cares?

We have freedom and women here.

We are happy here.

(And we know how to live on fifteen bucks a day...;) )

Relax folks! Every minute a sucker is born and you sell your villas and condos sooner or later.

I promise!!! :bunny:
 
A

apostropheman

Guest
Wow, where do you get this crap?

You seem to be more delusional tonight than normal!

All quality goods and services are more expensive in DR than in NYC. That's quite a sweeping and incorrect statement. Think again!

Cars (even with questionable mileage and accident history)
Nonsense! http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/92970-marketing-car-prices.html#post767861
Gasoline.
If you can afford a vehicle it's silly to complain about the price of fuel. If you don't like it or cannot afford it then sell and take a guagua :)
Flat screen TV (if you ever find one that is not refurbished)
Who needs it and they are luxury items and are priced accordingly.
Home appliances. (if you ever find one that is not refurbished)
Nonsense again. There are plenty of new, high quality appliances available. If you shop carefully they can be found at reasonable prices, relative to their luxury status.
Food in restaurants. (at a lower quality than in NYC)
When did NYC become Mecca? I luv NYC but it's hardly the centre of the universe! There are plenty of well know/famous places in NYC that do not live up to the hype. There are also many fine restaurants in the DR at comparable pricing or better. Perhaps you need to get out more!
Prices in supermarkets (beware of expired or spoiled food!)
It all depends on what you are buying and of course where you are shopping. If you insist on buying imported good you have to accept the fact that they will cost more due to being imported. You do know that the DR is an island and imports a lot of stuff that they cannot produce themselves...don't ya? ;):cheeky::bunny::bunny:
Quality furniture.
Nonsense yet again! A trip to Santiago or Santo Domingo will prove you wrong very quickly
Quality medical help in serious cases.
Ridiculous! It's available, just not free :paranoid::cheeky:
Decent schools for international and Dominican elite children.
You can't be serious. I should imagine that the "elite" can afford to send their kids to whatever schools they consider to be "decent" regardless of location.
Computers (if you ever find one that is not refurbished)
Come on! Ever heard of ordering one online? :cheeky: Then again I have seen, and used, computers built in the DR from parts purchased in the DR that were more than adequate for anything I need to do with them...and at very reasonable prices too. Not cutting edge to be sure but I'm not working on quantum mechanics...and neither are you I'd bet! :D
Taxi ($25 from POP airport to Sosua, 4 miles. $6US a mile)
It's a cartel/monopoly. You can't win, or even fight, every battle. Live with it!
If living a life with quality comparable to quality of life in NYC, in DR it will cost twice.
Hopefully most people that come to live in the DR are not interested in living like they may, probably wrongly, think people in NY live. I know that's not my plan!!!
If to downgrade the life to a cheaper and poorer one - it will be cheaper.
Just because something costs less does not make it poorer or of lower quality. It may in fact be far more satisfying!
******************

Women are cheaper in DR.
I'll defer to your experience in this matter :chinese:
House workers/ cleaners/maids are cheaper in DR, up to the moment when you decide to fire him/her and have to pay liquidation.
They are entitled by law. Do you have a problem with that?
Papaya, bananas and oranges are a bit cheaper in DR.
Mangos fall free from the trees...if you know where to look :D
Rent for appartments in comparable safe areas are about the same in NYC (Riverdale for example) and in safe areas of DR where people from the First World countries and Dominican elite live. Define safe. Break ins can and appear to happen just about anywhere. I can think of a few examples in and around Sosua that I would consider "safe", with proper precautions taken, that can be had for as low as $200 USD per month. That might not even get you a parking spot in Manhattan!

And who is this "elite" you keep referring to? What about normal and average people, don't they count? ;)
I know the OP won't get it but I can't help myself! :D
 
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Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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Unfortunately what could have been an interesting and constructive thread has degenerated into slurs and bickering. Closed.
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
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What makes me laugh, is that AK74 lives in Sosua. Sosua is about as representative of the Dominican Republic as Katmandu.

Take AK74's posts for what they are worth, about RD$6 at last count.

yawn.jpg
 
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