If you buy bulk food, you can save on average 30%. Also if you know how, when, where, what etc. you save a lots of money.
If I know a pizza deal is 2x1 on Thursdays, and for my house I need to buy 2, I buy pizza for dinner on Thursdays. You save 300 pesos. In a month - it's 1200 pesos. That doesn't mean that if I have a craving for pizza on Monday I won't buy it - I buy what I have craving for. But knowing when how what when is a way of planning things.
When I lived with my ex and 2 kids, our food bill was about 12,000 per month, and that was mainly in-home cooking, breakfast + 2 meals, and fridge was always full, I am a meat person so it was meat every day.
But I bought meat in a bulk in a market, bought rice, cooking oil, vegetables, and non-perishables in bulk in almacen, etc. This amount also includes some basic cleaning supplies (we buy 50 pounds bags of Ace at 500 pesos, lasts about 6 wks - 2 months), Clorox, Mistolin, etc.
I paid the maid 5000, was live-in, now I pay 3,500 and she comes every other day for half day.
My APT rent was 8,500 and now is 10,000 after August hike.
2,800 codetel with Internet. My cellphone rounds off at 8,000 max, usually 5-6,000 per month, includes international LD. But it's mainly a business expense.
Cable is free (aster) but I also pay a digital cable, 450 per month.
Electricity was about 4,000 per month.
On average I spend about 2,000 weekly on entertainment, and that includes 3x weekly going out, and drinking good whiskey at home. I almost don't drink beer. It's also worth to say that in one place (disco) I don't need to pay because of special arrangements.
I don't run around town in a car, I use my passola instead. I do about 400 kms a month of in-town travel (who would say that for Higuey?) That way I save about 1000 pesos per month on gasoline. Not only it's cheaper, but quicker, and parking is plentyful (personally I hate driving in Higuey because there's so many motorcycles like in China, and you really get by faster on a motorbike/passola than in a car). For out of town travel, I spend about 4,000 monthly on gas/gasoline , when I do weekly runs to Santo Domingo.
When I was with my ex she spent about 10.000 per month, and kids spent another 3,000 including school and supplies and some pocket money.
Let's put another 4,500 for other stuff, including some clothing (mine), small repairs, etc.
It's things like those mentioned (e.g. pizza, gasoline) that make a small individual, but large cumulative difference.
Totalling the above, it WAS about 65,000 per month, that was 2 adults, 2 kids, a dog, and a maid.
TODAY, my expenses run around the same minus (food 8000, ex 10000, kids 3000, maid 1500, electricity 1000) plus additional 1,000 cost health insurance (mine) = 41,500 or about US$1270.
............................................. EDITED: ..................................................
Forgot: Passola and car is fully paid for.
Including car insurance and contingencies for repairs, it's about 5,000 per month additional = US$150
I don't have debts and don't owe any "pagares" on anything.
Looks like this confirms that a sole gringo living quite comfortably needs about 1500 US$ per month, renting
AND I AGREE ONE THING that one of the posters said: Here the money goes and you don't see where.
