Twenty yrs. ago things were a lot cheaper , when I first came here the peso was 6 to 1 US and I got 10 to 1 on the black market , You could eat at a nice place" Vesuvio" for example and have a couple of drinks for about $ 10 US , In the last 7-8 yrs price have really jumped , somebody has to pay for those new jeepetas .
- Thread starter tommeyers
- Start date
DR Cost of Living - worldwide comparison
If you try to "import" your life from wherever you came from then of course things will be much more expensive. For instance drsix says food is way more than back home. The only way that's true is if you're trying to eat the same stuff you used to eat back home. I expect rent is also cheaper than most other places, but the problem is you have people who used to live in some podunk little town or some $hitty town back home and now they live in a nice area in Punta Cana or Santo Domingo complaining rent is more.
Understand that Santo Domingo is to The DR what Washington DC or New York is to The US. Punta Cana is to The DR what Newport Beach or some other California area is to The US...and then maybe you'll get some perspective.
Mauricio says that prices for food are comparable...but let's be honest 'Plato del dia' is pretty d@mn good. For the same price in Holland I would have to be eating fries with...mayo...someone please pass the barf bucket.:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
Understand that Santo Domingo is to The DR what Washington DC or New York is to The US. Punta Cana is to The DR what Newport Beach or some other California area is to The US...and then maybe you'll get some perspective.
Mauricio says that prices for food are comparable...but let's be honest 'Plato del dia' is pretty d@mn good. For the same price in Holland I would have to be eating fries with...mayo...someone please pass the barf bucket.:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
Ever notice how these, "Cost of Living in ???????????????" guides are never published by an entity in "??????????????"!???
My statement STILL Stands, If you have little money to spend, "It's CHEAP to live in the DR"!!!!!!
If you have a LOT of money to spend, "It's Expensive to live in the DR"!!!!!!!!
We all tend to SPEND all we HAVE to spend!!!!!
Therefore, "I Been RICH, & I Been POOR,... and "RICH" is BETTER"!!!!!!
BUT no matter how much I had, it was NEVER enough, and I spent it all, sometimes, make that "OFTEN",(But ONLY In The USA!) I spent MORE!!!!
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ps.,....AND, ONLY those of us who actually live here in the DR can make valid comments anyway!
Case in point,...Those "25 Peso Bananas" sold in a colmado here, we were told about, from MIAMI!!!!!!
My statement STILL Stands, If you have little money to spend, "It's CHEAP to live in the DR"!!!!!!
If you have a LOT of money to spend, "It's Expensive to live in the DR"!!!!!!!!
We all tend to SPEND all we HAVE to spend!!!!!
Therefore, "I Been RICH, & I Been POOR,... and "RICH" is BETTER"!!!!!!
BUT no matter how much I had, it was NEVER enough, and I spent it all, sometimes, make that "OFTEN",(But ONLY In The USA!) I spent MORE!!!!
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ps.,....AND, ONLY those of us who actually live here in the DR can make valid comments anyway!
Case in point,...Those "25 Peso Bananas" sold in a colmado here, we were told about, from MIAMI!!!!!!
My wife and I spent the month of February in Cabrera. I kept all receipts and apart from a quick 4 day trip to an AI these were our costs. All prices are US $ and used a conversion avg. of 40 pesos = 1.00 US
Rent that included electric, gas, internet and 1 free botellon de agua = 375.00 (air conditioner in the BR)
Food and alcohol purchased mostly at Plaza Garcia 245.75
Eating out. Mostly at Katalina, chori pan and once in Abreu 250.00
Orange used a lot of texting and Magic Jack. Skype, facetime 15.00
Public transportation 12.00
Very satisfied with the living conditions 2 br apartment. Walking a lot, parque central, malecon, etc
Lights went out a lot but had an inversor
Talked to quite a few here who also budgeted 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 per month and were happy with that.
Rent that included electric, gas, internet and 1 free botellon de agua = 375.00 (air conditioner in the BR)
Food and alcohol purchased mostly at Plaza Garcia 245.75
Eating out. Mostly at Katalina, chori pan and once in Abreu 250.00
Orange used a lot of texting and Magic Jack. Skype, facetime 15.00
Public transportation 12.00
Very satisfied with the living conditions 2 br apartment. Walking a lot, parque central, malecon, etc
Lights went out a lot but had an inversor
Talked to quite a few here who also budgeted 1,000.00 - 1,200.00 per month and were happy with that.
this is not exactly correct. i come from poland so "eating the same stuff you used to eat back home" is irrelevant because most of the things i know from back home are not available here. but cheese/ham made in poland and sold in the supermarkets is cheaper than cheese/ham made in DR and sold here (not talking about the cheapest queso amarillo or jamon cocido). chocolate and sweets are cheaper in poland. basic good, like face creams and soaps are cheaper in poland.
DR has plato del dia and poland has bar mleczny (literally "milk bar"): cheap traditional polish food, equivalent of dominican rice/beans/chicken combo. a dinner plate cost from 1 to 3 dollars(depending on what you eat).
so a quality local food in DR is more expensive than quality local food in poland. and even then the "quality" is questionable because you cannot compare dominican "sausage" to polish kielbasa, sorry.
Yes, I come from the midwest, just outside of Minneapolis though, so not quite podunk. My mortgage is less then my rent here, but I am renting my old house for more than what my rent is here. I also got a steal of a deal because the house I am renting had been sitting for a while and needed some TLC. Rent is cheaper than most other places, as it should be. This isn't NYC, or DC, or Newport Beach. There are constant headaches here that do not exist in those places. The rent needs to be less, because the city services/government/ease of living is less. I'll deal with strife for a discount! You cannot compare the DR to those places because they are two different worlds. People don't build gigantic brand new houses in the ghettos or trailer parks for a reason.
As for food, we do need to get better about shopping around, buying off carts, and eating less processed crap. I think the biggest shocker has been how long things last here. Whether that is because of preservatives, refrigeration, climate I dunno, but things just don't last as long. Still, my grocery bill is more per month for the same amount of people.
My wife and I budget approx $1500 US per month and live very comfortably. The biggest differences I find are real food is less but junk food like potatoe chips, soft drinks etc are very high compared to Canada. Alcohol is way less here. A 1.75 liter bottle of rum is approx $35us less here. Also I find electricity to be less here as you only pay the kilowatt hour fee. Everywhere else there is line charges, distribution charges, administration charges, you wearing the wrong color sock charges etc, etc.
I should also note that we own our property so we only pay a monthly condo fee for all sevices except power.
Overall I find the costs similar between the DR and Canada.
I should also note that we own our property so we only pay a monthly condo fee for all sevices except power.
Overall I find the costs similar between the DR and Canada.
The list does not include the prices for meats. I wonder why?:cheeky: Also the local cheese
$5.96 lb.? ( if you like vinegary, salty cheese) is still very expensive! I can find mozzarella
cheese here in southern NJ for less that that! I was fortunate to have found a good local
cheese but it was/still is more expensive. Also the milk (unless you like drinking powdered
milk or non fresh milk). Again, I was able to find fresh milk one time and the price was the
same as in my state.
I lived in the DR (SD) for one year and I can tell you that I spent more money there than I
did in the states. Yes, a lot of things are cheap, but like I said before, it adds up!
$5.96 lb.? ( if you like vinegary, salty cheese) is still very expensive! I can find mozzarella
cheese here in southern NJ for less that that! I was fortunate to have found a good local
cheese but it was/still is more expensive. Also the milk (unless you like drinking powdered
milk or non fresh milk). Again, I was able to find fresh milk one time and the price was the
same as in my state.
I lived in the DR (SD) for one year and I can tell you that I spent more money there than I
did in the states. Yes, a lot of things are cheap, but like I said before, it adds up!
but then everywhere else has uninterrupted power. and no, i do not accept "in DR some areas have uninterrupted power" explanation. in poland all areas have uninterrupted power. you don't have to live in privileged zones where the rich or votes reside in order to have 24/7 power. i pay here for a month what my parents in poland pay in three months. granted, they live in an apartment and i live in a house but i have no air con here and there is only 2 of us (versus 3 people at my parents' place).
All I can say is,...Electricity costs in Canada must be astronomical!!!!!!!
I doubt you have actually compared the final costs between there, and here!!!!!!!!!
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I doubt you have actually compared the final costs between there, and here!!!!!!!!!
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I guess the point I tried to make went right over some people's heads here. Maybe I didn't explain myself clearly, but DV8 the point is that by trying to compare hams and cheeses that are made in Poland vs. those made in The DR is exactly what I'm talking about when I say trying to "import" your old life. Dominicans as a rule don't eat a lot of those cheeses and hams, thus is not something I would expect to be cheap. Now if you're talking about "queso de freir" and "Salami Induveca" then that's pretty cheap I think. Let's compare our Platanos, mangoes, avocados, etc with those you get in Poland...I would imagine you'd see the opposite as with cheeses and hams.
Bottom line if you eat what Dominicans eat then your food bill will be relatively cheap. If I was in Poland and tried to have my daily Mangu with Induveca I'm sure I would cost me an arm and a leg.
Drsix: I don't think you got my point either. If you come from Minnesota you should try to compare to the "minnesota" of The DR. I think Cotui will fit the bill, it's in the middle of the country and we even have a lake :cheeky: Right now you're living in what would be in Dominican terms the equivalent of Seattle in The US.
Bottom line if you eat what Dominicans eat then your food bill will be relatively cheap. If I was in Poland and tried to have my daily Mangu with Induveca I'm sure I would cost me an arm and a leg.
Drsix: I don't think you got my point either. If you come from Minnesota you should try to compare to the "minnesota" of The DR. I think Cotui will fit the bill, it's in the middle of the country and we even have a lake :cheeky: Right now you're living in what would be in Dominican terms the equivalent of Seattle in The US.
"Queso de Freir", Y "Queso Amarillo" are STILL expensive HERE!!!!
"Freir is about $3.00 US a pound,and "Amarillo"(A DR yellow,Fake, plastic, tasteless salty, $HIT cheese) is about the same, EVEN in the Colmado!!!!
Salami is about $2.00 US a pund, and the LAW states that it MUST contain 5% meat!!!!!!
As for te REST, We Don't Want To Know!!!!!
Pork from the DR, costs more than imported US pork in the "Supers"!
Suarzen, I KNOW you are a Dominicano, but I think you live in NYC, VERY HIGH FOOD COSTS, and don't buy food here in the DR on a frequent schedule.
I feed, at LEAST 8 people EVERYDAY.
I Food Shop, almost everyday.
I buy food when it's "On Sale", it costs MUCH more to buy food here than in Boston.
And, I'm not talking imported brands, I'm talking beans/rice/ plantains/milk, etc!
I bought "Platanos" at 5 for a dollar in Boston, they are more here!
Ulless you count those TINY ones!
I cry when I go to the big food stores there, and have to be removed by paramedics when I go to the Discount/food club Supers!!!!!
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"Freir is about $3.00 US a pound,and "Amarillo"(A DR yellow,Fake, plastic, tasteless salty, $HIT cheese) is about the same, EVEN in the Colmado!!!!
Salami is about $2.00 US a pund, and the LAW states that it MUST contain 5% meat!!!!!!
As for te REST, We Don't Want To Know!!!!!
Pork from the DR, costs more than imported US pork in the "Supers"!
Suarzen, I KNOW you are a Dominicano, but I think you live in NYC, VERY HIGH FOOD COSTS, and don't buy food here in the DR on a frequent schedule.
I feed, at LEAST 8 people EVERYDAY.
I Food Shop, almost everyday.
I buy food when it's "On Sale", it costs MUCH more to buy food here than in Boston.
And, I'm not talking imported brands, I'm talking beans/rice/ plantains/milk, etc!
I bought "Platanos" at 5 for a dollar in Boston, they are more here!
Ulless you count those TINY ones!
I cry when I go to the big food stores there, and have to be removed by paramedics when I go to the Discount/food club Supers!!!!!
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i think it is my point that goes over your head. i am not comparing a box of american cereal in america and the same cereal in DR. i am comparing LOCAL produce with LOCAL produce. cheese and ham is just an example. it does not matter what average dominican eats. one, i am not an average dominican and two, i am comparing PRICES and not stomach content.
by bringing to the game platanos i can easily beat you with apples. platanos are imported so they will be expensive in poland, not to mention that no one will eat them. apples are also imported so they are expensive in DR. easy. polaks will eat mostly potatoes and grains, including bread, and they are cheaper than rice.
I live a half hour from Punta Cana. The power is what I would call uninterrupted. We are not in what you would call a privileged zone like Casa De Campo or PC Village. We are just regular customers of CEPM who is the power provider. From what I understand they are a million times better than Eden Norte.
Well of course I get your point. This isn't brain surgery. I am in the Dominican Republic and if I eat like a Dominican, things will be cheaper! Duh... Anywho, what I am saying is that your point, albeit valid, is pointless to me and my point is that I didn't come here to live like a Dominican. Yes, imported 'tastes of home' are more expensive, and that does not surprise. I don't much care if Dominicans think where I am living is the white house, it's all about perspective, and to me, I am living in a nice house plopped smack in the ghetto. Why am I here, for the adventure, something different, and yes, so that I can afford to live in a nice house with a pool by the ocean. The thing is, I have no ties here, can live anywhere in the world that has an airport, and could afford to live in a nice home with a pool in Florida or California. Mostly because my wife, who is currently not working, has as much earning potential as me. I move back to the US, my income doubles.
You cannot plop a mansion in the ghetto and say that "Well, if this place were in the nice neighborhood is would cost three times as much". It's not in Florida, and if I choose to go to Florida, I can.
Terms like 'great investment', 'up and coming neighborhood', 'potential hotel site' mean nothing to me cause I got options. Slapping a multi million dollar price tag on an empty piece of property in the jungle is ridiculous to me.
I have compared them several times. The actual cost of a kilowatt hour is substantially less in Canada. Where they screw you over is on all the add on charges. The actual monthly cost is less in the DR if we use similar amounts as they haven't yet invented all the ridiculous service and administration fees yet. Im sure its coming just not right now.
but you live in a privileged area because you are on an A circuit. the rest of DR is not. even if you pay more in additional charges in canada - you get what you pay for. i fork out my bills for years and i still had 10 hours of blackouts a day until i became a chosen a A circuiter.
FIRST OF ALL: Don't ever criticize 'patatje met'. That's the single best cheap meal in the worlds, especially if accompanied by a 'frikandel speciaal'
For the rest: I think we are comparing where life is cheaper per country, not when live is cheaper: living like a clochard or living decent...
I find cheeses and meat products (hams, etc.) more expensive in the DR than in my country. I am talking about comparing locally produced cheese (Danes, Gouda, etc.) with a similar style cheese in my home country. Also hams, produced by e.g. Induveca, compared to hams there (mid-range hams, like Caserio, Jamon de Pavo, Jamon de Pollo, etc., not a flour filled ham like Popular). Both cheeses and hams/meat products are more expensive in the DR. Also hot dogs/frankfurters, etc. And when it comes to SALAMI (and I mean real salami like those below, those are like 2-3x more expensive in the DR than back home).
Nice site. I have done some comparisons and find it to be fairly accurate. It isn't perfect but it is a good barometer.
This is always a passionate subject for me when I'm talking with my friends because I have done well here and I am amazed at how many people can't make it work. I understand the frustrations with a lot of things but from a purely monetary perspective I always do well.
I have always found it to be overall cheaper here. Some things are definitely more expensive here but overall I have saved a lot of money in 8 years on the island. I came here not needing to live on a budget but trying to be smart and frugal and at least not pay the gringo price for everything and for me it has been great.
What I find with a lot of people (not everyone, but a lot of them) that complain about how expensive it is here is that they are still paying the inflated gringo price for everything they buy, insist on living in the most expensive gated community they can find in their town because they don't feel safe anywhere else and drive at least one gas guzzler. It just doesn't take all that to live good and decent. I live very well and don't have a want for anything. I have a very nice house that rents way cheaper than one like it would in almost any town in the U.S. where I came from let alone an oceanfront town. But its not in a gated community. If it was I'd be paying 3x - 4x more for it.
Everybody is different. Everybody has a different level of comfort. Comparisons like this site are based on "averages". If you were living what is considered "average" where you came from and then come down here and want to live on the "top end" like a king with the gated community, personal attendants for everything, housekeeping, cooks, gardeners, shopping at the gringo-only market, etc. you are going to find the numbers will skew on you very fast and you will feel like you are hemorrhaging money every day. Think about that. Did you have a housekeeper where you came from? And if you did how much would she cost? But some people wouldn't have it any other way and if that makes them happy then so be it.
Now let's be honest. Nobody would want to live "average" here and I certainly don't do that myself. I am living well above average but well below top end royalty at the same time.
The only thing that really gets to me here is how hard it is to find good quality products. It really takes some effort and time. And sometimes you just have to ship it which will definitely raise your costs. But despite all of that I'm still able to do very well here.
I believe many expats who move here will find it to be much cheaper, many will find it much more expensive and many will find it to be about the same. It is all in how you live and go about your business here. But think about a Dominican moving to a place like the U.S. Most Dominicans would find it much more expensive to live in the U.S. I don't think too many would tell you it is cheaper.
But one thing about this is very important. Even if it is say 1/2 the cost to live here as wherever you came from. If you are earning your living here you will definitely earn much, much less than 1/2 of what you earned for the same work wherever you came from. In my work I'd only earn about 10% of what I made back in the States if I had work here. This move worked out for me because I was able to continue my work in the States while living here via the Internet. If a condition for moving was that I'd have to find work here I would never have been able to do it. So if you are living on first-world U.S./Canada/Europe income things can be good here depending on how you live. If you need to find work here you will struggle.
This is always a passionate subject for me when I'm talking with my friends because I have done well here and I am amazed at how many people can't make it work. I understand the frustrations with a lot of things but from a purely monetary perspective I always do well.
I have always found it to be overall cheaper here. Some things are definitely more expensive here but overall I have saved a lot of money in 8 years on the island. I came here not needing to live on a budget but trying to be smart and frugal and at least not pay the gringo price for everything and for me it has been great.
What I find with a lot of people (not everyone, but a lot of them) that complain about how expensive it is here is that they are still paying the inflated gringo price for everything they buy, insist on living in the most expensive gated community they can find in their town because they don't feel safe anywhere else and drive at least one gas guzzler. It just doesn't take all that to live good and decent. I live very well and don't have a want for anything. I have a very nice house that rents way cheaper than one like it would in almost any town in the U.S. where I came from let alone an oceanfront town. But its not in a gated community. If it was I'd be paying 3x - 4x more for it.
Everybody is different. Everybody has a different level of comfort. Comparisons like this site are based on "averages". If you were living what is considered "average" where you came from and then come down here and want to live on the "top end" like a king with the gated community, personal attendants for everything, housekeeping, cooks, gardeners, shopping at the gringo-only market, etc. you are going to find the numbers will skew on you very fast and you will feel like you are hemorrhaging money every day. Think about that. Did you have a housekeeper where you came from? And if you did how much would she cost? But some people wouldn't have it any other way and if that makes them happy then so be it.
Now let's be honest. Nobody would want to live "average" here and I certainly don't do that myself. I am living well above average but well below top end royalty at the same time.
The only thing that really gets to me here is how hard it is to find good quality products. It really takes some effort and time. And sometimes you just have to ship it which will definitely raise your costs. But despite all of that I'm still able to do very well here.
I believe many expats who move here will find it to be much cheaper, many will find it much more expensive and many will find it to be about the same. It is all in how you live and go about your business here. But think about a Dominican moving to a place like the U.S. Most Dominicans would find it much more expensive to live in the U.S. I don't think too many would tell you it is cheaper.
But one thing about this is very important. Even if it is say 1/2 the cost to live here as wherever you came from. If you are earning your living here you will definitely earn much, much less than 1/2 of what you earned for the same work wherever you came from. In my work I'd only earn about 10% of what I made back in the States if I had work here. This move worked out for me because I was able to continue my work in the States while living here via the Internet. If a condition for moving was that I'd have to find work here I would never have been able to do it. So if you are living on first-world U.S./Canada/Europe income things can be good here depending on how you live. If you need to find work here you will struggle.