MJ, $10K per month for service is pretty high IMO; does she live with you?
Yes - she is a live-in (in the service room) and also helps with nanny duties, especially needed for all the time I travel back to the states for work. So - it is actually not that high for 6 days a week.
Many of the Dominican families I know have also lived on less per month. But, if I ask them about some of the expenses, they do not have it - for example, no health insurance, no car insurance, no internet, only one TV with cable, no AC, pay for cell phone minutes only when they need it (incoming calls are free), no service lady, kids in public school, no savings for miscellaneous (they "borrow" from other family at times of need) - and some times have a few other family members move in to help offset some costs...
So - if you can deal with the heat even during the summer, don't watch much TV, use the cell phone minimally, go to the internet center only when needed, maintain everything yourself, homeschool the kids for what they do not get in public school, do not intend to have to go to the hospital or clinic, will never get into a fender-bender with the car, only go out to eat on special occasions and have family that you borrow from when you are short money - then yes, you can live like the middle class Dominican family.
But as a foreigner, you are the "family" that has money to "borrow" from (even if you do not have it).
My guess is that CC actually has a pretty tight budget based on the number of people he states in the household.
My work is a pro and a con - it enables us to have a few more luxuries that would make us considered upper middle class, but because of work I need some of the additional expenses like service lady, good internet and phone service, good car to get around.
Other things I want, like AC, but also good health insurance, car insurance and a good school so the kids will be able to qualify for a good school/university in the US later...
One time, before I had gotten health insurance, my wife had to go to a clinic. We went to a respectable clinic. She stayed for "observation" for two days (in the US, she probably would have gone home the same night). I was thinking, ok, better safe than sorry. She had some basic treatment and a lot of "observation" - the bill ended up being around 35,000 pesos.
My son went to the hospital at night for high fever, got basic meds, stayed until the morning for "observation" - it still cost us almost 20,000 pesos.
An older car, that I used to have, had developed an oil leak - the mechanic wanted 10,000 plus parts - ok... well, the problem was not fixed - another 10,000 and more parts. The problem was fixed for a while... tired of the cycle, so had to get a different car.
The driveway gate was broken once - that cost 10,000.
The plumbing was having issues - had a friend fix it and only gave him 4,000 pesos, but the parts cost me over 10,000 pesos.
I mention this because there are so many things that seem like only a little here and there, but those "additional" costs add up - and happen more frequently in the DR, because much of the materials are usually not of a good quality.
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