Living Costs in the Dominican Republic

[Commander Ooh La La USN]

depends completely on your car, what size(power/Crans) it needs and aside of the electrical powers also the room-size. high powered batteries smallest on room-size are the most expensive to get.
you get a no name brand average battery for a old 4 cylinder car(no super music engine to maintain) for 3.000.- pesos and maybe even less. for other cars you start at 6K pesos for the low quality brands and go up from there.
for my Detroit Diesels the "cheapies"start at 14K each and the engines demand 2 each, the top brands run for 1K+US$ each, just to give an idea of differences.
what car/engine/equipment you wanna power/aliment with da battery??

Mike

POS battery for a Toyota Corrolla.

 

[william webster]

Is it 'Wild Goose' or 'Grey Goose' we're chasing here

The Commander will expropriate said battery from the QuarterMaster.

side note

My father was I in a German prison camp (from Dieppe, 1942) and a certain person always arranged plays.
He always cast himself as the lead.... hence the nickname ....Ham

In latter years, when James Bond films became popular, my father and I went to the first one.
When a certain actor came on .... my father almost broke my rib with his elbow.

That's effing Ham, he said.....................right Dad

We sat through all of the credits... lights were on ... people gone

Way down on the list was his name ... Desmond Llewelyn

He played 'Q'.....
and a ham he was ... upstaging every actor that ever came on screen

every James Bond curtsied to him

My Dad called it from movie one... watch this guy steal the show.

The other guy there was Michael Langham
Look him up for your self if you want

What a life those boys had.....

 

[MikeFisher]

Is it 'Wild Goose' or 'Grey Goose' we're chasing here

The Commander will expropriate said battery from the QuarterMaster.

side note

My father was I in a German prison camp (from Dieppe, 1942) and a certain person always arranged plays.
He always cast himself as the lead.... hence the nickname ....Ham

In latter years, when James Bond films became popular, my father and I went to the first one.
When a certain actor came on .... my father almost broke my rib with his elbow.

That's effing Ham, he said.....................right Dad

We sat through all of the credits... lights were on ... people gone

Way down on the list was his name ... Desmond Llewelyn

He played 'Q'.....
and a ham he was ... upstaging every actor that ever came on screen

every James Bond curtsied to him

My Dad called it from movie one... watch this guy steal the show.

The other guy there was Michael Langham
Look him up for your self if you want

What a life those boys had.....

don't know what kinda battery-brand that may at the end be.

Commander,
for a Corolla a simple battery in the 2.500-3.000.- range is fine, you get that at every Taller on the street where ever you live here on the Isle.

Mike

 

[Tallman1818]

Not fully- not a great life style- I say that from two of my Dominican friends who are both single, both making 54,000 a month, which is about $1200, neither pays rent - one owns, one lives with her mother.. although she contributes.. BOTH have health insurance through work And BOTH say that they are just making it -- just getting by

So it gets you a .. well - DECENT life.. Not a GREAT life.

That is here in Santo Domingo - which is probably the most expensive place outside of perhaps Las Terrenas.

I pay $550 US in rent and my Dominican friends tell me to hang on to the place since the rents in the neighborhood for similar apartments are closer to $1k...

For one person, it is a decent life - better perhaps than you can get in the US.. IF you appreciate things like having a maid, whih is cheap here.

But.. as others have said - maybe there are rents in Santiago at $175 but not in good neighborhoods in SD.

Rent in a safe area would start at around $400, I would think
add phone and internet for $50
add medical insurance for $ 60
add electric for $75 (no AC - if AC it will be 150 or more)
add cable for $50 (oh.. you wanted HBO? ESPN - then it is $80)
add food for $300 (oh .. you are a single Male..? then add another WHATever for the chicas... as in whatever you have left)

ok .. still looks like you have $500 a month to play with --on paper

the trick is actually FINDING it at the end of the month.

because the electric will end up being $120
and the colmado will be $150
and the medical will be $100 or more


You would qualify for the visa - for the retirement visa .. and if you are single.. you would do ok.

but you need to have a nest egg set aside for trips back to wherever - and .. well whatevers..

so a qualified yes -- outside of SD..

(does not include a trip home every year ..)

Yeah, that income will be coming from the states but, I might also be able to get a job at a call center to have pocket money for chicas and so on, I am looking in Santiago I like that city its a lot cooler than Santo Domingo and less traffic too...

 

[Commander Ooh La La USN]

Yeah, that income will be coming from the states but, I might also be able to get a job at a call center to have pocket money for chicas and so on, I am looking in Santiago I like that city its a lot cooler than Santo Domingo and less traffic too...

Dont think there are any call center jobs in santiago

 

[bob saunders]

Dont think there are any call center jobs in santiago

I don't know about jobs but there are a few call centers in Santiago.

 

[Mauricio]

It just struck me that it is incredible that when living a normal life in DR with a medium sized company you have no money left save if you make USD6,000 a month.

Something is really wrong here, some people are getting very rich over the backs of the middle class.

 

[DRob]

It just struck me that it is incredible that when living a normal life in DR with a medium sized company you have no money left save if you make USD6,000 a month.

Something is really wrong here, some people are getting very rich over the backs of the middle class.

Your last sentence is true, but unfortunately applicable pretty much everywhere these days.

That said, the reality is DR remains comparatively cheap among desirable caribbean islands. For example a couple with two kids in Grand Cayman can expect expenses of at least double what you're paying. And that's on an island that's not quite half the size of Santo Domingo.

For caribbean living, you get an awful lot of bang for your buck in DR. That's why it remains so popular.

 

[MikeFisher]

It just struck me that it is incredible that when living a normal life in DR with a medium sized company you have no money left save if you make USD6,000 a month.

Something is really wrong here, some people are getting very rich over the backs of the middle class.

it's what Islandlife on a comfy level costs.
but hey, 6K a month is not "mid sized", it is a small sized company i would say.

Mike

 

[Mauricio]

it's what Islandlife on a comfy level costs.
but hey, 6K a month is not "mid sized", it is a small sized company i would say.

Mike

I don't know why I wrote company, I meant family.....

 

[rfp]

There are lots of folks making a killing here. Us middle class folks are just hanging on. The sad thing is that most of us who are young really depend on our jobs. Jobs that pay in the 45-100 k range a year are not easy to find in SD even with family connections. If we lose our jobs its not like in real countries in Europe or the US where you can find something in a couple of months. I would have to minimize expenses, tap into savings and hope that something else would come along fast. The last couple of years have gone well but my fear of losing my job has made us keep our expenses at the low middle class level even though I am making pretty good money now. Now that we are planning on going back to the States I have loosened the purse strings a little bit because I dont have that constant fear of being stuck here without the funds to maintain our lifestyle.

This type of financial stress is why so many folks cut corners and get into shady stuff.

 

[dv8]

Something is really wrong here, some people are getting very rich over the backs of the middle class.

note dominican impuestos sobre la renta (tax on earnings). currently there are three steps/levels. taxes start at about 400,000 pesos a year so most of the population pays nada. then taxes change with the income of about 600,000 pesos a year and again at 833,000. all three tax levels are so close and all aim exactly at middles class.

 

[MikeFisher]

I don't know why I wrote company, I meant family.....

haha, then of course total agreement, lol

Mike

 

[Mauricio]

note dominican impuestos sobre la renta (tax on earnings). currently there are three steps/levels. taxes start at about 400,000 pesos a year so most of the population pays nada. then taxes change with the income of about 600,000 pesos a year and again at 833,000. all three tax levels are so close and all aim exactly at middles class.

And after paying that tax you have to:

- look for private security
- look for private power backup
- fix your car every 6 months because of bad roads
- look for a private school
- look for an expensive private hospital or doctor
Etc. etc.

 

[dv8]

those who pay no income tax are the ones who use all forms of social help offered by the government. those who pay the tax need to fork out additional money for what others get free...

 

[rfp]

And after paying that tax you have to:

- look for private security
- look for private power backup
- fix your car every 6 months because of bad roads
- look for a private school
- look for an expensive private hospital or doctor
Etc. etc.

This is why we are leaving, we pay taxes here and dont even get a penny back. This place is great for a beach vacation and hanging out once you have things made in life. For the rest of us who need to work, you can do better pretty much anywhere else.

 

[william webster]

note dominican impuestos sobre la renta (tax on earnings). currently there are three steps/levels. taxes start at about 400,000 pesos a year so most of the population pays nada. then taxes change with the income of about 600,000 pesos a year and again at 833,000. all three tax levels are so close and all aim exactly at middles class.

I can't think of a country that does anything else - the middle class carry the luggage in most (if not every) country.

The lower echelons suck up all the benefits in most countries too.

The high income earners are not the major contributors to the tax coffers.....
there aren't enough of them, to start with.

 

[Mauricio]

I can't think of a country that does anything else - the middle class carry the luggage in most (if not every) country.

The lower echelons suck up all the benefits in most countries too.

The high income earners are not the major contributors to the tax coffers.....
there aren't enough of them, to start with.

You're probably right, but in DR the balance is lost and it's not only the taxes. It's also the vision of many enterpreneurs, business owners, land owners, etc. they need to get rich in 3 to 4 years. Probably it snow ball effect, or better said, a vicious circle. They need to have a 50 - 80% margin on what they sell, else they can't pay for the normal things like good education, health care, etc. In europe competition would quickly run out of business any business owner charging exorbitant prices, not in DR. I'm not sure why.

 

[robbiee]

hahah over backs of middle class ?
and why average/ poor Dominicans pay more for beer here than in Netherlands ? why they pay more for decent food more than in Netherlands ? why pay more for roads than in Netherlands ? why pay more for electricity than in Netherlands ?
etc. etc.
people here are robbed with prices on almost everything.
and other posters - please dont start that "Dominicans dont pay for electricity" - because - many of them, not even fro middle class- do pay.

Something is really wrong here, some people are getting very rich over the backs of the middle class.

 

[Mauricio]

hahah over backs of middle class ?
and why average/ poor Dominicans pay more for beer here than in Netherlands ? why they pay more for decent food more than in Netherlands ? why pay more for roads than in Netherlands ? why pay more for electricity than in Netherlands ?
etc. etc.
people here are robbed with prices on almost everything.
and other posters - please dont start that "Dominicans dont pay for electricity" - because - many of them, not even fro middle class- do pay.

The 'please don't start....' frase to block me from appointing to the flaw in your argument is so lame.