yes Sabra,
i'm pretty sure she is happy with the once a week job at your household, and getting extra support for her own kiddies out of it.
Mountainannie:
that's a post i completely agree with, Lindisfarn was trying to answer to the OP, which is impossible to answer for too many unknown variables/missing details about expected lifestyle, like CCCCCChris said early on the thread right away.
so Lindisfarn gave an idea of HER lifestyle and the costs for it, i appreciate that she brought it on the thread, there's no reason to offend her for beeing open and post truely her family's expenses, she was the first one on the thread trying to give a real and complete idea of a lifestyle to the OP, thanks to her for that.
i spend myself a 10-12000 pesos a month for gas only for my private car to be around my business where ever needed, so all on the thread who really LIFE here and know local workers, that's much more than an average monthly salary on a job, only for gas.
the island has areas which are more expensive on anything(rent, food aso) and some which are more reasonable priced, you may look for a beach front apparment or villa with a large private pool or maybe you wanna get in the dominican lifestyle of some barrios, renting a wooden hut with the toilet to share with a dozen of neighbours.
i don't know the rates all over the island, i lived just a few months in puerto plata(13 years ago), i have Ranch Property in Bayaguana, and i have family living in a poor barrio in San Pedro de Macorix, while i work and live myself in Punta Cana.
over here on the east coast, for an foreigner as a firsttimer who want's to check out if the island will be the right spot for him to seddle down pemanently(that anyways should be done first, not just 20 visits on a few weeks of vacations), i would recommend to rent at the residence named Pueblo Bavaro(not the only one here, but a good example). 2 bedroom Appartments, fully furnited, run $400.-/month ahead, plus electricity(24/7 here, no inversores needed), to hang out/go shopping aso in PC you drive long ways, it is not a town like Sosua or Puerto Plata where you find the stuff nearby, maybe in walking distance), so a $30.-/week for gas will be a must to operate a own car.
as a newbie from an foreign country who makes his own cooking at home add to the above mentioned expenses for byuing food aso an additional 20%, till you found out where to buy which sort of things for the best rates.
eating off the house (if you don't want to eat at dominican comedores) at restaurants serving international food/seafood aso PC is more expensive than my homecountry Germany.
i spend here monthly:
10-12000 Gas(most i drive for running my business, just private count 1000 a week)
10000 shopping for the household, food, water aso(we rarely eat out of the house)
4000 medicare, insurance for me and wife(Platin Plan of Humano)
4000 cigarettes, i smoke a pack/day myself, wife much less
7000 extras on the road, grab a beer here and there, drink a jugo over there, the stuff you buy off the house when on the street all day long
6000 maintenance of the car, tyres, oil changes, repairs, insurance aso
1000 electricity, 24/7 here, so no planta or inversor maintenance
i only run ven's in the house, freezer, fridge, tv, no AC(makes sick)
7000 rent of non furnited app, it is a cheap rent for that place, owned by a partner of mine, usually 1room+bathroom, no furniture, in a very cheap builded building in a barrio starts at 6000 pesos/month, mine would be a 15000)
600 propane for the kitchen, hard to calculate exactly, i use 3 big tanks, so i refill after a long while, never checked exactly how long a tank really lasts
---no pool, no maid, no gardener----
my wife's allowance isn't limited, she takes what she needs/wants to spend for clothing, hair, meeting friends aso, she's always running a low budget by her own rules, never had to say "stop it".
YES, she is Dominican, from Santiago, she doen't work because i don't want that.
she spends maybe a 5000 pesos a month for own private things(and saves me the money for a 24/7 Maid and Cookie, lol)
round it up on a 60.000.- pesos a month, because there's always something out of the ordinary to buy, a broken ventilator here and there aso.
that's for 2 persons.
i could efford the rent for a fancy beachside appartment or a whole house, but won't do anything too big til i know for sure my business is established in the way i want it to, still doing with the very most of my incoming money investments in my own company.
maybe in an other 2 years we will move to an bigger appartment in the area, maybe one with access to a pool.
the difference?, that would just be a higher rent, we are happy with our lifestyle, we aren't millionaires, but we can pay for anything needed and for anything in case we want it. i spend usually much more money for some birthday/christmas aso presents for neighbour's kiddies/playstation games for employees kiddies aso than for myself. of course we eat sometimes off the house, pay a $300.-(US) for a top dinner for 2 with the best vines available, that's sometimes, we are the kind of persons who enjoy each other's company or the visit of friends for a nice dinner at home over fancy places just to get seen there.
you will never find me at the local disotheuques, if we wanna grab a beer we do so at the next car wash or an other bar right on the street where we can get local company.
with a $2.000.- (US) a couple of expats can live even here on the bit pricy east coast comfortable if doing their own cooking and if they don't need a new Hummer every 6months. i drive a modified Honda Accord '98, never needed more than the normal stuff like tires, oil change, a new front window(hit a nice pothole on the way to otra Banda, you know them 'Rubio', lol), brake pads, spark plugs, once the generator replaced, twice the battery replaced(dam generator fu..the 1st new battery after 1 week), now the aircondition needs a facelift(not urgent because i don't like AC for myself, just when driving with passengers), for that kind of car like also for Honda Civic, Toyota Camry and Toyota Corolla you get any sparepart anywhere in the country, i would not recommend to buy any 'exotic' brand of car until you are willing to pay big $$$for even little spareparts.
the OP not been detailed enough to give him detailed advice for HIS needs, but when it started i liked the idea of listing what we expats live like, what we spend money for, it is a interesting thread showing the very different needs/interests/points of view about "comfortable" aso of the very different foreigners living here since a while, keep it coming.
forgot one point:
residency:
my lawyer takes at the moment 25.000.- pesos for all including the med exam aso, that is the provisional one for 1 year, then the same procedure again for the same price to get the permanent one which has to be renewed every 2 years(there are plans to change that, but at the moment it is still every 2 years).
i renewed the last time november 2006 for 4000.- pesos including my lawyers expenses, didn't have to go to St Dgo aso, just sent the old card to her by Metro and 3 days later received the renewed new one back. this Lady(lawyer) works for me since around 10 years, running all my business related stuff where a 'legal' is needed.
have a great weekend in our caribbean rain
Mike
Up here on the north coast they also put pork chop rind and fat with it as well as the ends off T-bone steak and charge 12 pesos a pound but it's still terrific value. We mix it raw with the dry dog chow and Bachata loves it almost as much as she likes higado de pollo which I do cook. Similarly, it isn't always available although I, too, have a 'lad' who works in my best interests. Interestingly, at my source it isn't called hueso molido. Must be the regional variation 