The case for Santiago:
1. Like SPM we have the Aguilas baseball team (SPM has the 2018-2019 Champ Estrellas!! Yea!!!!)
2. Santiago is a real city, not a dependency of the sugar industry and Santo Domingo
3. Health care is very important for us kids, and Santiago has very good medical facilities.
4. Entertainment: there are tons of places to get into trouble.
5. You are less than an hour from pine forests and cool air, and a bit over an hour from dozens of beaches, with the best beaches in the country, I have to say.
6. I don't have any places in mind, but there are places that rent out for $400- $600 a month, and perhaps less, that are in safe neighborhoods, that are quiet, but not far from markets, entertainment, and health services.
I bought a house, downsizing a WHOLE lot, and our expenses for my wife, me, 4 dogs and a cat are pretty much as follows:
1500 Maintenance fee (gated community)
1200 Electricity (24/7) a bit more in summer and a bit less in the winter (No A/C used since October)
1000 Water/Sewage/garbage
6000 Cell phones, internet etc ( we use a Fire Stick for TV) I have 20 Mb of internet, a land line, two cell phones and a wifi gadget
30,000 for food (we eat out a lot
8-10,000 for gasoline (about 2000 a week most weeks. Nice, safe Subaru Outback..nothing fancy. Kia has cars that get 30kpg on propane
So that is about 50,000 a month. or $1000 US.
And there are other options: Jarabacoa, San José de las Matas are small towns with good access to major centers.
Beach options include Monticristi; Puerto Plata (Coastmbar area), Cabarete ( a bit hectic IMO), Gaspar Hernandez and Río San Juan....all of which are certainly doable on $2500 a month or less.
Hope this helps
HB
1. Like SPM we have the Aguilas baseball team (SPM has the 2018-2019 Champ Estrellas!! Yea!!!!)
2. Santiago is a real city, not a dependency of the sugar industry and Santo Domingo
3. Health care is very important for us kids, and Santiago has very good medical facilities.
4. Entertainment: there are tons of places to get into trouble.
5. You are less than an hour from pine forests and cool air, and a bit over an hour from dozens of beaches, with the best beaches in the country, I have to say.
6. I don't have any places in mind, but there are places that rent out for $400- $600 a month, and perhaps less, that are in safe neighborhoods, that are quiet, but not far from markets, entertainment, and health services.
I bought a house, downsizing a WHOLE lot, and our expenses for my wife, me, 4 dogs and a cat are pretty much as follows:
1500 Maintenance fee (gated community)
1200 Electricity (24/7) a bit more in summer and a bit less in the winter (No A/C used since October)
1000 Water/Sewage/garbage
6000 Cell phones, internet etc ( we use a Fire Stick for TV) I have 20 Mb of internet, a land line, two cell phones and a wifi gadget
30,000 for food (we eat out a lot
8-10,000 for gasoline (about 2000 a week most weeks. Nice, safe Subaru Outback..nothing fancy. Kia has cars that get 30kpg on propane
So that is about 50,000 a month. or $1000 US.
And there are other options: Jarabacoa, San José de las Matas are small towns with good access to major centers.
Beach options include Monticristi; Puerto Plata (Coastmbar area), Cabarete ( a bit hectic IMO), Gaspar Hernandez and Río San Juan....all of which are certainly doable on $2500 a month or less.
Hope this helps
HB