Looking at Dominican Republic for a long term holiday

Karlitos

1000 euros/ month, for a family of 4 ?

First off welcome.  That will be very tight for a family of four.

What part of the country do you plan on staying  in as this will make a difference in the budget

Just pay the over stay fees when you leave in 6 months which will be $4000 RD (about $90US) per person (man, woman or child)

Bob K

Welcome to the forums.  Your budget is doable in some areas and not in others.  Don't try to find accommodations before arriving,  book into a cheap hotel or apartahotel for a few days and look around. We can suggest areas and give you some contacts.  Often what you find on the internet is NOT what it appears to be.  Gated community is a term that can be used loosely.  My office is in a gated community that is supervised 10 hours a day but not at night. Not my definition of a gated community.

Some inexpensive areas:  Costambar (near Puerto Plata)  Luperon,  Samana/ Las Terrenas, some places in Sosua and Cabarete, - all north and north east coast.   La Romana - South Coast. 

Wildlife -  we are a tropical island and it comes complete with bugs.  Very very few are dangerous, probably fewer then where you live.

Nappies - load up your luggage as they are somewhat expensive here.  If you live and eat more like a local you will find it less expensive. I hope you like white rice... LOL  But lots of good fruits and vegetables, chicken and pork.  Stay away from the beef unless you know how to cook shoe leather.... ( I have not mastered it.)

What's up with the local beef? I don't get it. Why is it sometimes so bad?

Because you are used to corn fed and special feed beef.  Here it is open grazing and just basically grass and some bad grass at that.  Also the steers are very lean (nothing to fatten them up) so the beef is tough.

For local beef you have to marinate it and best if slow roasted or even crock pot cooked.  BBQ beef always seems to taste a bit like the last pair of leather shoes I had.  Any BBQ beef we eat is of the imported kind (my one weakness to imported foods....ok maybe two more).

Bob K

There was a huge problem with cows and some parasite,  stopped them from gaining weight properly.  Not sure if that is still an issue.

I think they just don't know how to breed the animals. There are dozens of varieties of animals that can be grown for beef but the locals don't know anything about that.

There must be really good beef here. They probably export it all out so us locals are left with the scraps

No beef is exported from here.

There is no and I mean NO beef here that has the quality needed for export.

Bob K

thanks all.

We have stayed in Punta Cana before but our research priced us out of that area. I have been looking online (for example sublet.com/spider/supplydetails.asp?supplyid=217975 - searched today) and they are usually around the Punta Plata area or thereabouts. I really don't care north, south or east but not city or too far from a beach. I like the idea of communal pools, etc. Don't want to be just isolated all the time.

I should also probable explain that the 1000 a month is for essentials such as food, bills, rent. If your including social funds were closer to 1500 euro a month   savings. The reason I say 1000 is so we can pay the essentials and still be able to enjoy a social life (but neither of us smoke and I dont drink so were a cheap date anyway)

im not crazy on white rice unless theres a tasty sauce on top but as both the doctor and wife are on my case about the belly (increasing at a monthly rate since i stopped working) I am having to get used to it anyway.