Too Little for a Sankie
It's doable (low life).
And you won't be able to afford a 'sankie'..... :lick:
donP
It's doable (low life).
And you won't be able to afford a 'sankie'..... :lick:
donP
- Thread starter Meghan Stepnowski
- Start date
Should I take a job at Punta Cana International School?(sure sounds good)
A
Chiri, given her posts about the sort of lifestyle she has in mind, what type of minimum budget would you recommend?
To the OP, how long do you intend to stay? Do you have additional funds (NOT from retirement accounts) you could draw on to make up for any shortfall?
And, if there's a guy involved that you met at or near a resort, be VERY careful. That seldom ends well.
Chiri, given her posts about the sort of lifestyle she has in mind, what type of minimum budget would you recommend?
To the OP, how long do you intend to stay? Do you have additional funds (NOT from retirement accounts) you could draw on to make up for any shortfall?
And, if there's a guy involved that you met at or near a resort, be VERY careful. That seldom ends well.
Go for it! As Chiri says, the salary is enough to live a no-frills lifestyle, of course no savings. But if you are a water person, then you will fully enjoy Punta Cana.
And the school is a no hardship school. Kids are interested in learning. As Chiri says, there are opportunities for tutoring for extra earnings.
To stretch your budget, you will need to cook most of your meals at home, but you will have time and energy to go to the beach. Macao Beach is reachable by public transport which is very low cost, can be your weekend outing. Other water sports are doable at nearby Playa Blanca. Bring your bicycle or buy one in the DR (could end up costing less -- get a used one through Aro y Pedal).
And with the many long weekends, you will want to see other parts in the Dominican Republic. I would budget for that. There are many small hotels that could fit within your budget.
And the school is a no hardship school. Kids are interested in learning. As Chiri says, there are opportunities for tutoring for extra earnings.
To stretch your budget, you will need to cook most of your meals at home, but you will have time and energy to go to the beach. Macao Beach is reachable by public transport which is very low cost, can be your weekend outing. Other water sports are doable at nearby Playa Blanca. Bring your bicycle or buy one in the DR (could end up costing less -- get a used one through Aro y Pedal).
And with the many long weekends, you will want to see other parts in the Dominican Republic. I would budget for that. There are many small hotels that could fit within your budget.
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If your housing , which most likely includes electricity is included $1200 is doable for a single person. Obviously you are going for the experience and not for the money. It sounds like a it would be wonderful.
Meghan,
Frankly, I hope you take the job. Life is short, and either way you can always resume your career in your home country. What you can't get back, however, is the life experience of a year or more in DR.
It may not be as convenient a lifestyle as a day at the Mall of America, but if you wanted that, you'd be in Minnesota, right? Most folk I know would love an opportunity like yours, take it.
Frankly, I hope you take the job. Life is short, and either way you can always resume your career in your home country. What you can't get back, however, is the life experience of a year or more in DR.
It may not be as convenient a lifestyle as a day at the Mall of America, but if you wanted that, you'd be in Minnesota, right? Most folk I know would love an opportunity like yours, take it.
I would definitely suggest a helmet if you ride a bike or a pasola. Hard on the hair, and hot, perhaps, but it takes practice to share the roads with others safely.
A guy I knew who works in construction (specializing in putting stucco on bloques) recently had a job that paid $7000 pesos, twice a month. That is $14000 pesos or $363 a month. I think he said he paid $1500 in rent, which I suspect is a coconut plank shack with a bucketflush toilet. I know the guy worked one Sunday on my house for 11 hours and earned $1500 (US$34) plus arroz & gandules for lunch and thought that was fair.
$51,000 pesos may not be a lot, but I bet it is two to three times what a man would earn slinging cement five daya a week even in Las Terrenas.
I used to work at PCIS, and spent 4 years living in the village. If you have any questions you can feel free to send me a pm and I can give you some insights. I can say that from the perspective of the teachers, the school has greatly improved over the past few years, as I have friends who are still working there. Punta Cana is a beautiful place and depending on what you are looking for, might be a great opportunity for you 
I moved to DR back in June to be with my husband and daughter while we wait for his green card interview. I can tell you the cell phone thing as mentioned above is true. the current exchange rate of money is about 43.25-43.4 right now, which is okay. So as for minutes on the cell phone, I definitely prefer the prepaid minutes--i put like 100 pesos on every few days (about $2.50) and it suits me fine. I mainly use my phone for texting, but I enjoy using the internet all the time--i have a smart phone. It's especially really good for whats-app if you can get WiFi, but what I would do is go to Tricom (or another company--but I have good experience with Tricom) and get yourself a portable WiFi modem. It connects to the 3G or 4G network and spits out the WiFi for you to use, locked with a password. It's limited, I pay about 1200 pesos a month for 10 GB, but it's nice to have for my job (as a teacher) because there is no WiFi at the school and I am always planning and researching at school. It's also really nice to have to bring with you because if you are on public transport, you can just turn it on, and use the WiFi to send messages via whats-app or whatever free texting service you use and save on your minutes on your phone. I use Skype and facebook all the time to keep in touch with my family back home and it's really nice, just the quality of the internet is not the best. Don't let that stop you though!
I don't live in Punta Cana, but from the times I visited there, I can also verify that it is expensive to go shopping all the times. I live in La Vega, but commute to work every day to Santiago, which is a really nice place and affordable too. You just have to know where to look, and especially ask for honest people's opinions because if they can, a lot of people will also try to scam you. But that being said, a lot of people here are VERY helpful and caring and will look out for you too.
I don't suggest wiring your money back home because those fees are very high (I worked in a bank back in the U.S. and can confirm this as all). Like the reply above, using Western Union is probably your best bet to get money over there. I have to send my paycheck to my sister and then have her deposit it for me in my bank back home. It's not that much of a hassle, but I wish there was a better way.
In general, yes, this is very true. I find that living here in a 3-bedroom apartment for about $200 a month is not too bad for my husband and daughter. Groceries can be expensive if you shop at the big food courts and malls, but if you go to a little colmado, you can get cheaper food items there. Transportation is the problem for me. But I commute to work in Santiago from La Vega