Living Costs in the Dominican Republic

[Criss Colon]

The DR Peso Is At 38 to 1,To The USA Dollar.

Gasoline is at 200 peso per gallon "Regular",($5 US) and 220 pesos per gallon,"Premium".($5.50 US)

Crude Oil on the International "Spot" market has been about $100US for the past week.

Lets see how these figures change month-by-month in the future????

I know that "Anna C" can pull anything out of the DR1 archives(Be careful what you post,Anna can dig it up!)

Anna can bring up this post every 30 days to see whats going on.

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"WOW!",...THAT felt GOOD! A post about the DR,.on DR1! That's a switch!

 

[Criss Colon]

What's a "BUDGET"???????????????????????

When it's gone,I stop spending,until I get some MORE!!!

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[AnnaC]

Gasoline is at 200 peso per gallon "Regular",($5 US) and 220 pesos per gallon,"Premium".($5.50 US)

Crude Oil on the International "Spot" market has been about $100US for the past week.

Lets see how these figures change month-by-month in the future????

I know that "Anna C" can pull anything out of the DR1 archives(Be careful what you post,Anna can dig it up!)

Anna can bring up this post every 30 days to see whats going on.

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"WOW!",...THAT felt GOOD! A post about the DR,.on DR1! That's a switch!

Almost back to the 2003 exchange rates except that gas prices were lower

They are selling at 37 to 1.That "spread" would indicate that there is still pressure on the peso to decline in value against the dollar.Under more "normal" conditions,the "spread" is about 1 peso.Cris Colon:bandit:

Above quote from June 2003:squareeye

 

[Hillbilly]

While this may work for some or many, the poster Chicagoan asked about living on 1500 a month. I think it is doable. And the idea of this thread is to inform people as to costs of living here. For example a 100 pound tank of propane cylinder is now around RD$2400 delivered to your door, and you can't be sure it has 100 pounds of gas unless you weigh it before and after.
Cable TV is around RD$600 a month (all these are plus or minus) and a land line with DSL data service and 1000 minutes of local calls, no 1 or 0 access is about RD$2500 a month. If you up your data plan the rate goes up...They also offer (CLARO) Cable TV.
Newspapers=Listin Diario, are around RD$3500 a year delivered each day to your door plus RD$100 at Christmas time for the guy. Diario Libre is free and they deliver also!!

HB

 

[bri777]

Sure if I want to eat like a squirrel

YouTube - ‪Squirrel eating nuts (full HD)‬‏

Manu

 

[bri777]

well
since I graduated from Watts/Galveston

my low mentality ? or less than sqirrel intelligence
still tells me

that you are the insulting one
by posting that an older lady should get on a motorcycle to refill a gas tank

not gonna happen ,bud
I will take my SUV ,
10 mpg lol
and then I will get my paper delivered and I ll have a maid to clean up behind me !

and you cant stop me


always fun talking to you
Manu

 

[bri777]

.... and then I buy some BEEF and put it on a smoker,while you try to raise Tilapia in a swimming pool

Smooches
Manu

 

[RacerX]

While this may work for some or many, the poster Chicagoan asked about living on 1500 a month. I think it is doable. And the idea of this thread is to inform people as to costs of living here. For example a 100 pound tank of propane cylinder is now around RD$2400 delivered to your door, and you can't be sure it has 100 pounds of gas unless you weigh it before and after.
Cable TV is around RD$600 a month (all these are plus or minus) and a land line with DSL data service and 1000 minutes of local calls, no 1 or 0 access is about RD$2500 a month. If you up your data plan the rate goes up...They also offer (CLARO) Cable TV.
Newspapers=Listin Diario, are around RD$3500 a year delivered each day to your door plus RD$100 at Christmas time for the guy. Diario Libre is free and they deliver also!!

HB

The thing about cable is if you can get a proxy server I was told you can watch the shows on Hulu and other webcast channels. Premium Hulu is $8/month. Netflix Basic is $9/month.

 

[RacerX]

When you budget your expenses do you also include the cost of trips back home? I still have family in the US (parents, brother) and of course I go to visit. Depending on the time of the year I travel the trip home (Midwest) can set me back $600+.

Yea this could be expensive if you are not flying directly and solely into 1. NYC, 2. MIA/FLL and 3. BOS.

 

[mountainannie]

We never know who we are dealing with when we answer posters on this Board but I think that we need to be really clear that there are levels of lifestyle here just as there were in the States. And the reality of life here for a true EX PAT.. ie Gringo.. ie NON Spanish speaker from the US or France or Poland or Bosnia or Canada is going to be completely and absolutely different from someone who has Dominican roots, even if they are second generation Dominican and have never lived here as an adult but want to return to retire/

So we have
1. Returning Dominicans of any form
2. Adventursome foreigners.. who are not at retirement age but want to come for a time and check it out
3. Retirees who have a nest egg and a fixed income and want to live here full time
4 Folks who live in the cold north and are looking for a half time get away or planning to return home every year or two
5. Folks who are coming down to study or do mission work
6. Folks who have a secure internet based business and solid income stream who can live anywhere and are coming down for the good life in the tropics

.. and .. various criminals.... who come up with tide....and are most likely (one can only hope) not asking questions here on DR1


have I left any one out?

So it will be very helpful for all of us if posters can tell us what category they are in.. so that we can better inform

Most of us who live here have agreed that we have a better quality of life than we did where we came from .. for less money... but that there are some sacrifices in the form of aggravations, irritations, or outright dangers that we would not have if we were at home.

For myself, I am wary of encouraging anyone to move here who is on a very limited budget.. and by that I mean less than $1500 a month per person... without a substantial back up that they can dip into for fear that they will be stranded here without any friends or relatives or any services should something go wrong,,, as things do go wrong as one ages.

Prices are going up. The odds of finding paid work are slim. Unless they are Dominican, it will take them years before they are settled into any sort of a net who will help them.. and I know foreigners who have been here for 20 years and still have no net.

While you can get local insurance here, it is limited to either 360,000 pesos a year or 3 million pesos for the life of a policy. It is not Medicare or any of the free health service available to most Europeans or Canadians. So if you are ok with that... ok. But understand it.

If someone is living on $1700 a month in Chicago, spending $400 a month on a car, can they live on $1000 here? Sure. Unless they hook up with a local who scams them out of their nest egg.. or buys a house in a bad neighborhood... or has a heart attack.. etc etc.. etc..

 

[bri777]

Ma
you are absolutely right

and at the same token, yanandu has some good points in showing one how to save a $ or more by eating yams or nuts

nothing wrong with that
but I am not going to "paradise" to haul gas on a moto or make my own flip flops

Manu

 

[AlterEgo]

but I am not going to "paradise" to haul gas on a moto or make my own flip flops

Manu

I sure agree with that 1000%. I doubt many other 'retirees' would disagree with you Manu

AE

 

[bri777]

..and I m bringing my dogs
not trade them in for a new model
because its cheaper!

Yan
your idea of paradise sucks
Manu

 

[Criss Colon]

"YANA-DOGGY-ADUDU"Asks,"Whats the price of oil got to do with the DR anyway?"

You MUST be joking,or the most ignorant person on EARTH!

"OIL" affects the price of almost everything we eat,wear,go,see,touch,...............etc.!

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[rfp]

I have my base in la Julia in sd and make over 4 k a month with no car payment or mortgage. After the novelty of chEap rum wears off the reality is that a middle class life might be cheaper inthe states. Private schOol is expensive so is eating out. There is very little that is cheaper here. We are here short term and enjoying the experience but it is not cheap if you want to hang out with scum of the earth poor people and eat rice and beans you can save money

 

[Hillbilly]

RFP: I believe that the US embassy has a very generous "hardship" pay schedule for Santo Domingo. That is because they do not expect their employees to live like Dominicans.

However, if you own your home, even with a mortgage, send your child to a Dominican private school, not cheap but not Carol Morgan or New Horizons either, shop for everyday items at Nacional or PriceSmart, and lead a reasonable simple social life, you can certainly live on $2500 in Santo Domingo...

What you cannot do is live like a US citizen in Miami or St. Louis or Seattle. There are no Walmarts, there are no Home Depots, so you have to adjust. Which is "other-speak" for 'cut back on some things'. You don't have to buy a box of microwave popcorn, or the really good cheese...Lots of little things..

But you are here short-term so enjoy...if you got out of town and went to places like Bani or La Romana or La Vega you could see how you could live on much less....the capital is expensive.

Have fun, take pictures and remember how much fun you had...

HB

I just had a local "errand guy" take a check to be cashed, buy some flowers for a couple of nice women and make a deposit, all for $60 pesos. Okay, I live here and this is a special case, but things like this go on all the time inside living here.

 

[NY-DR Commuter]

Besides the fact that I think you should rethink your final destination, you have to understand the "quality of life"issues.Since you seem to be anxious to learn, look around these pages for things like health services, hospitals and so forth. Towards the end of one's life they get to be more important than the beach or "other" things.While "Margaritaville" might work for Jimmy Buffet, it gets boring after a while. You need more than bars, hos, and disgruntled, sunburned, wrinkled up old ex-pats, who repeat the same old war stories time after time.
Also, if you are at all "cooth" you will be able to integrate somewhat into the Dominican society in larger, more cosmopolitan cities like Santiago, La Vega or San Francisco de Macoris. And cities like Mao, Moca, Salcedo, Jarabacoa have a lot going for them. In such a situation you would be invited to weddings and birthdays and other social events and meet real, every day people.

Just some thoughts..

Simple and TO THE POINT. This is some of the best advice one can receive, "quality of life" and "standard of living" are VERY IMPORTANT. The "COST" of Living is not ALL dollars and cents (pesos y centavos).

An aside to the Moderators or Robert,
I tried to click on (Like) for this post and several others on this thread, but it did not register. I noticed that there was already a (dislike) appearing on each post, posted by another member, when I went to click (like), however my (like) would not register. This has happend before. Just thought I'd let you know.

 

[Chirimoya]

An aside to the Moderators or Robert,
I tried to click on (Like) for this post and several others on this thread, but it did not register. I noticed that there was already a (dislike) appearing on each post, posted by another member, when I went to click (like), however my (like) would not register. This has happend before. Just thought I'd let you know.

You're right. The "Like" does not register once someone has disliked the post - it doesn't make sense.

 

[Robert]

An aside to the Moderators or Robert,
I tried to click on (Like) for this post and several others on this thread, but it did not register. I noticed that there was already a (dislike) appearing on each post, posted by another member, when I went to click (like), however my (like) would not register. This has happend before. Just thought I'd let you know.

Opps, my bad!!! Thanks for pointing it out, looks like it's working as it should right now.

I tried it on the post, don't take it personally, I think you're wonderful

 

[mountainannie]

I We are here short term and enjoying the experience but it is not cheap if you want to hang out with scum of the earth poor people and eat rice and beans you can save money

Gee... hope you are not working for UNICEF or the UN or another NGO...