QUOTE - Piranha
Would really appreciate your feedback & thoughts...
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Sorry to be a pain, but further to my earlier post. I would really appreciate your feedback on my specific circumstances and potential costs. Please!
All costs are per month.
Rent (Inc maintenance fees) US$650
Food US$100
Fuel (TBC - Subject to mileage)
Electricity (Inc air con) US$50
Telephone US$15
Water ???
Health insurance (Fully comprehensive) US$70
Dental costs US$15
Shopping (Clothes etc) US$50
Motoring (Servicing & maintenance) US$50
Entertainment (Socialising) US$300
Motor insurance ???
Home insurance (Comprehensive) ???
And if not included within US$650 Rent:
Cable TV US$20
Internet (High speed) US$60
- Please tell me, are my figures above realistic?
- Any other expenses which should be included?
- Any realistic estimates on the ‘???’?
(For your reference, I am a single guy, living on my own. I will be out at work 6/7 days a week (7.30-5.30), so I will only be home in the evenings. I will own a budget car that is paid for. I will be able to eat breakfast / lunch and dinner at my workplace. I will socialise a couple of evenings a week, involving a reasonable meal in restaurant and a few beers. I am looking to rent a 1 or, if possible, 2 bedroom apartment in the Punta Cana / Bavaro area with the following facilities: fully furnished, all appliances (washing machine, refrigerator, oven etc), air conditioning, fast internet, telephone, cable TV, shower, burglar alarm, inverter / generator and parking - in a secure & safe complex / neighbourhood).
Thanks very much.
END QUOTE------
Sorry, don't have many folks here from the Punta Cana area. I have no idea on rent there.
In Santo Domingo, I use Aster high speed cable for internet and cable TV - RD$2300 a month.
Telephone - US$15 a month may pay the cost to maintain a cell phone as active. This # might be OK if oyu are planning on just having an active cell phone in case of emergency, but other than that - this son't include many calls -Nobody to call in the UK?? A telephone in the house starts at about RD$500 a month just to have it active, no calls.
Car insurance for responsibilidad civil may run RD$500 a month, but no collision or comprehensive coverage included. Including those coverages, maybe RD$1500 a month these days, if your car value is RD$300k.
House insurance (comprehenxive) in Santo Domingo - a rough estimate of annual cost is 0.7% of the value you insure it for (including the government taxes) - i.e. RD$3 million value of house and contents = about RD$21,000 a year for insurance.
Yopu may need to buy an inverter, and batteries. Inverter of 1500 watts runs about RD$18,000 I think. Batteries run about $2800 each for the good ones, and less for the not-so-good batteries. If you have 4 batteries, that's another RD$10k, and it still won't run your refrigerator or washing machine, or A/C unit, just the fans.
Very few people pay more than RD$50 a month for water and garbage service in Santo Domingo.
Burglar alarm? That's another goody that you will probably need to buy on your own.
When you go looking for an apartment, ask the people living in the area how good their electricity and water service is, and how often they go out, and for how long.
Good Luck.
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