How to save money in Puerto Rico

Using Amazon to buy pet food in bulk. Petsmart and even Walmart is unusually expensive.  I only shop Petsmart when I catch a sale and then I try to stock up.

Otherwise tbh, so far everything else with the exception of dairy products (I don't buy red meat, poultry or pork) seems to be on par with my shopping expenses back in PA, or cheaper.  So in a way, just living here I've been able to save money on rent and utilities, car insurance, entertainment etc.  with the economy I expect that may change but so far so good.

I buy in bulk and go to costco. I also go to www.shop.pr where you search for any item to see where is it on sale if available and I use amazon prime alot to purchase a variety of things.

We used Gustazos quite a bit and got good deals on snorkeling trips, hotel stays, etc.

trekrider520 wrote:

We used Gustazos quite a bit and got good deals on snorkeling trips, hotel stays, etc.

I totally forgot about that one too. I use Gustazos all the time. For my anniversary a few months ago we stayed in El Conquistador Resort in Fajardo with extras for less than  $350 for 3 nights. You could also add extra nights!

Which is best in PR, Cosco, Sam's or BJs?

Rey, They're all pretty much the same. What varies is he membership. I think Costco is $10 more.  They all carry organic produce and bulk items but NOT everything is a bargain. You have to be very careful in what you buy because sometimes you could get a better prices in your local supermarket.
For example:
*I buy ham/turkey for $9-$12 (3 pack) where in the supermarket is about $4-$6 for one.
*Organic Coconut oil for a big container $19
*Organic Lettuce, Spinach $5
*Organic fresh Vegetables: $5-$9
*Organic juice for kids 40 pk $10
*Cramberry juice, Carrot,.... 2 pack $5-$7
..........The Meat are excellent quality so you pay for what you get.

Here out in the boonies we eat a lot from what is grown by several people around like pana, yautia, ñame, bananas, platanos, avocados, mangos.
We grow and share bananas, platanos and pana ourselves. Yautia is on our list to start growing.
Some neighbors have chickens and sell or give away eggs, others raise and slaughter a pig every now and then and sell meat, sausages etc.
There are road stands where locals sell what they grow for very reasonable prices.

Gary wrote:

Here out in the boonies we eat a lot from what is grown by several people around like pana, yautia, ñame, bananas, platanos, avocados, mangos.
We grow and share bananas, platanos and pana ourselves. Yautia is on our list to start growing.
Some neighbors have chickens and sell or give away eggs, others raise and slaughter a pig every now and then and sell meat, sausages etc.
There are road stands where locals sell what they grow for very reasonable prices.

Lol....I'm not a vianda guy but I love mofongo and tostones. In utuado or in the country side you could see that alot. You could save alot of $$$ by growing your own stuff. PR has the best land, in facebook you could find different groups where they cultivate, gives tips and also tell you where to buy great seeds "no monsanto".

The best way to get the right seeds or "baby" plants is from your neighbors who have been growing stuff for generations. I've been living out here in the boonies for more than 15 years and we and the neighbors (all locals)  grow more than we can eat.

(and sorry, I don't do facebook. they're too big and digging too much into their user's lives)

Looking for good home grown tomatoes -  need a vendor in the Hatillo area.

What are the "boonies"... outside of San Juan or middle of nowhere?  Just curious... 

annabfalter wrote:

What are the "boonies"... outside of San Juan or middle of nowhere?  Just curious... 

Middle of nowhere.. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=boonies

To find acommodations at great value visit Airbnb.com..... which is an excellent and easy to use app.

There are local produce markets, in SJ and in Luquillo that I visit, produce in stores here is expensive...ie 2 acorn squash at Ralphs were $11 and a watermelon was $9. If you can grow your own it helps, I grow herbs but not having much luck with other stuff yet. The cost of power and goods is higher here so we cut back everywhere we can. I like Costco and Sams but haven't heard of BJ's. Don't be afraid to go with a small hotel or local venders, you can save some money and meet some awesome people!

We have avocados, panas, bananas, coconuts and some others small fruits and vegetables growing on our property. Started to raise chickens and rabbits, we will soon have eggs and meat. We built a vegetable greenery and started to grow tomatoes, peppers and spices.

Rabbit drops makes for a great fertilizer.

As to places to buy, we go to the local stores. Been only me and the wife, it is a waist to buy food in bulk. We go to Sams for non perishable items.

We found a local guy that raise pigs, he slaughter a pig a week and sell the meat at $2/pound, so I buy that from him. He raise them on feed, so the meat is lean. Same guy sells us the rabbit and chicken feed in bulk.

Also, we have plenty of iguanas around the property, so may start selling iguana meat. LOL

adlin20 wrote:

Also, we have plenty of iguanas around the property, so may start selling iguana meat. LOL

The iguanas are not eating your plants?
What sort of stuff the iguanas usually go after?

ReyP wrote:

adlin20 wrote:

Also, we have plenty of iguanas around the property, so may start selling iguana meat. LOL

The iguanas are not eating your plants?
What sort of stuff the iguanas usually go after?

They're eating my parcha plants and the wife's flowers. BUT I got my revenge today, my new pellets gun arrived yesterday, now I am iguana hunting!!

13 and counting. 

adlin20 wrote:

Also, we have plenty of iguanas around the property, so may start selling iguana meat. LOL

Not a bad idea  -- someone told me that in parts of central America the iguana is becoming rare due to harvesting of the "tree chickens"   Could it be true??   

They can come to the island, it's estimated that we have a close to 10 million iguanas in the island now. Some farmers in the valley have started to hire iguana exterminador. Fancy word for guys with pellets guns.

We have our share of issues problems with them around the house. Now I am fighting back! Lol

put a couple of them in the BBQ
or start your own "Road Kill Cafe" Newhart - Vermont Today show

We are still waiting to close on our property which has bananas, plantains and a big avacado tree.   Hoping to grow tomatoes, too.  Has anyone had luck with tomatoes?

annabfalter wrote:

We are still waiting to close on our property which has bananas, plantains and a big avacado tree.   Hoping to grow tomatoes, too.  Has anyone had luck with tomatoes?

You need to plant several plants so they stimulate each other's. If you have iguanas, and most of us do, you may want to enclose them since the iguanas love the flowers and leaves.

What's for Dinner?   Iguana!

Someone said it "tastes like chicken"  ...??   I've never had it, wonder what it is like?

I have had a few weird things to eat in the past ( alligator tail, warthog, rattlesnake meat, rocky mountain oysters, and other odd things, but never Iguana).

I'll bet Rey has sampled it, even if he won't admit it.   

Have not tried iguana yet but would if served. Unfortunately there is not that much meat on them.
Who knows, in a soup or taco or alcapurria is hard to know if the meat is chicken or iguana.

Most vegetables grow very easily in Puerto Rico. One of the biggest problems may be too much water. Mold can develop. I think this is why most farming is done in the drier side of the island as long as there is access to water when needed.

Someone said it "tastes like chicken"  ...?? 

Columbus said that... around six hundred years ago.  Really.

You gotta be s***en me!   

Well, those sailers were no doubt hungey for something fresh after the voyage!

I see all the commercials about cars, how I could save money by taking all those specials at the car dealers and I think to my self that if I keep my old car, I save even more.

Costco is by far better,   Better products better customer service that are shopping experience, of course that's my opinion.

Growing your fruits, vegetables and spices can save you a lot of money and also gives you fresh produce whose source you know. Raising chickens for eggs and meat, again you know how fresh it is and how they were raised, and little chicks are so cute!

Spencerazac wrote:

Costco is by far better,   Better products better customer service that are shopping experience, of course that's my opinion.

I agree. Costco is a better shopping experience in my opinion and volume purchases of necessary products do indeed save money...such as toilet paper, laundry detergent...etc. and not so much because of discount but in repeated transportation costs to purchase lesser quantities of the same products. It took some doing to convince my woman of that fact.....besides I was sick of being sent to the store for dish washer detergent, toilet paper, garbage bags & Midol.

As I have repeatedly told most beloved wife:  " The best way to save $ is to not spend $".....which has (sadly) been advice futility-received.... for 40 looooooooooo...ng years.

you can use leaves instead of toilet paper😂

I would agree that Costco has better products. We had cards for both Costco and Sam's for some time but since the Costco closest to us is the one in Caguas, Plaza Centro we stopped using it. Plaza Centro is a nice strip mall once you're there but getting in and out is a pain in the behind. Infrastructural disaster! It easliy takes up to 15 minutes to get in and another 15 to get outta there.
There's a Sam's in Humacao where we go once a month or so for the big shopping. The rest we get in supermarkets 'round the corner.

ReyP wrote:

you can use leaves instead of toilet paper😂

Actually done that Rey ( I am an outdoor-type) but find that even large tough leaves such as Sycamore tend to be quite scratchy and not as effective as I like.  They easily punch-through at the index finger point....resulting in...well...you can imagine.
Socks and underwear work far better when without T.P.  (when one is not in a civilized location)....unless one has a  secluded swimmable body of water nearby....such as a stream or the ocean.

You can always harvest  iguana,  i've never had it before, but I've been told it's good meat,  and it seems like they're everywhere,  raise chickens grow your own food, be completely self-sufficient,  collect the water that falls on your roof into barrels for water storage, ECT....with a little imagination you can discover many ways to save

Spencerazac wrote:

You can always harvest  iguana,  i've never had it before, but I've been told it's good meat,  and it seems like they're everywhere,  raise chickens grow your own food, be completely self-sufficient,  collect the water that falls on your roof into barrels for water storage, ECT....with a little imagination you can discover many ways to save

"Harvest Iguana". Funny.

They say Iguana "tastes like chicken" but every time I've eaten something that is said to "taste like chicken" but wasn't actually chicken....tasted really really really nasty. Like decayed old goat.

Personally.... chicken prepared P.R. style doesn't even taste like chicken... to me.
By the way - anyone living in Culebra that starves to death is either extremely lazy or very stupid because there are chickens everywhere....and Iguanas....which of course to those that like eatin lizzard-meat that "tastes just like chicken".

One way of saving money here in Puerto Rico  is by changing all of your lights to LED, the electricity prices are pretty high here, and LED uses very little,  each bulb can be a little pricey depending on where you get them but they last a very long time,  and the prices have been going down on them.  Im able to run  every light in my house including my refrigerator on a 3500 Watt generator, I could never do that with incandescent lights I would blow the fuse.

According to my husband, iguana is good if you like greasy, gamey chicken.  Not sure how he knows this, but he was a sailor for many years

annabfalter wrote:

According to my husband, iguana is good if you like greasy, gamey chicken.  Not sure how he knows this, but he was a sailor for many years

Never tried it, weird that it would be greasy unless it was due to how it was cooked. I assume in a stew it would be different.