Listen to Ken,and listen to "Escott"!
They have no "Axe to Grind",and nothing to "sell" you!
House,furniture,car,and electricity are the big expenses here.Once you buy,or rent a place you will know how much that expense will be.Good furniture is expensive.Better to buy good quality,it will last a long time,and is cheap to re-apollster.Car is expensive,as Ken says,but necessary for "Escott" since he is out and about all day!Electricity is very very expensive,and intermittent.You will need a "UPS" system with batteries,a generator ,or better still, both!My electric bill has been as high as 300 US a month.Air conditioners, water heaters,and clothes irons are the "killers"!
Let me put my vote in for SOSUA! I have been there twice in the last few months,and am going to "ESCOTTS' Big Thanksgiving Dinner in November! There are a group of foreigners there who make you feel right at home! It is close to Puerto Plata and Cabarete,and only 45 minutes over the mountain to Santiago(I swear! Scott left my hotel at 0800 and we arrived in Santiago at 0845!)Robert's knuckles are still white!!I don't know what color his "knickers" were!
Due to the devaluation of the dominican peso over the last 8 years,I now make about 2000 US a month less than when I moved here,but I have 3 1/2 more children to provide for! I have a nice house that is paid for,and a 17 year old Ford Van for transportation.You can do just fine on 30,000 US a year! The 10 of us in my house do!
CC