Mistakes expats make in Puerto Rico

Tseweam wrote:

How do people save money when need a new car when average price is 27000  dollars. I refuse any financing. How do we all do that here. Guessing we all pay with a check and drove off in your car with 5 miles on speedometer. That's how think it's done here

A lot of people drive 20 year old cars and most that buy new, buy a Toyota Yaris.

Tseweam wrote:

How is your home maintenance bill only 25 a month when we need a new roof every three years for 2500 dollars. And car maintenance when average car repair is 500 bucks. Any way to cut roofing costs down? Unlike new York pay like 5000 dollars for a roof but don't have to do again in like 25 years. One big expense here. O those taxes are so low. Here it's about 450 a year. But did file for exemption. Don't know when it starts and how long it lasts. Value 75k house

People use handy man or they do it themselves. Concrete roof should last a life time, and a reseal every 5 years or so. Resealing it your self cost around 500.

For Cars you use a local friendly mechanic, cars don't break every year, specially new ones. You save what you don't need and apply it to years you need it. I have a 2014 car that all it has needed so far are breaks every 3-4 years and wipers every 6-10 months. You can do the brakes yourself or have a friend come over for a 6 pack.

Tseweam wrote:

Meant 55 without drinks is my average dinner bill out

You. must be buying 3 pound lobster dinner or going to a high price place. Depending on my fancy, I can have dinner for 8 to 16 bucks. I don't go to fancy places normally. The less you eat out the more you save. There is nothing wrong with going to Subway and taking a 6 dollar sub home, no tips, drink at the house a beer that cost less than 1 dollar.

Tseweam wrote:

Am I right don't buy an air conditioner. Don't listen to the push of AC

It all depends on how well you can take the heat. I use air conditioner for sleeping and take the heat the rest of the day. Many locals sleep with a fan instead of air conditioner. Not only are air conditioners an expensive gadget, but they use up giants amounts of electricity and electricity is very expensive in PR. Somewhere between 2 to 3 times what you would pay in the US for the same usage. So minimizing use of electricity can save you money.

The most efficient units are called inverters or split units, they are expensive to buy and require installation, but they use a lot less electricity than a window unit or a rolling movable unit.

The average native in the island makes around 1700 a month to support a family of 3. There are people living hire making 850 or so, those have a very hard time making ends meet.

You need to decide which things are important to you and either cut the ones that are not important or cut down on them. Do you need 200-400 tv channels versus a subscription to Netflix? Can you make a sandwich at home instead of eating out, maybe make a soup. When I was working I would go out to lunch every day in the states, it was costing me about 14 dollar for lunch every single working day or 280 dollars a month (20 days) or 3,360 a year. So I decided to save money, and started making a sandwich at home and take it to my work which gave me 3,360 dollars a year to pay other bills or invest.

You have identified Dinner as being around 55 dollars a day on average, that is 1,650 dollars a month for dinner, or 19,800 a year. You can go to the supermarket and buy about 400 dollars worth of groceries for a single person for a whole month or 500-600 for a family of 3 for a whole month.

You could save a lot of money by hiring somebody to cook for you a lunch and dinner and reheat it later in the day. 8-10 bucks an hour plus your supermarket bill will still save you a lot of money instead of 55 for dinner.

Using LED light bulbs instead of incandescent, using a propane stove instead of electric, using a fan instead of an air conditioner, organizing your trips to the store so you go out 1 to 2 times a week instead of daily can save you gas, tear and wear on your car and maybe also save on tolls and traffic tickets. There are lots of ways to save money and live well and make your 3k stretch not only to cover expenses, but also to save for emergencies like car repairs.

If your land cannot be planted, maybe you can talk to somebody with good land and plant your own vegetables for free or for a percent of the crop and save money on your grocery bill and eat fresher food.

You can also fish or snorkel for your fresh seafood, have fun and save at the same time. Raise chicken for meat, lots of things.

Think about it

Tseweam wrote:

Found need to cut down on craft beers when out. That ends up very quickly at like 7 to 10 dollars for one. I decided pick the specials instead . As I see would save a lot if I learned to stick to like medeella or basic beers. Part of my big expense is wanting to a craft beer type of bar. That easier eat up 50 bucks in one night. Trying to cut back on it.now I see why most just ask for medella or Coors light vs picking up draft beers . In new York used to easily spend 500 a month to go out to night life ordering them.  Me learning now must cut back on them. Like mostly get the basic beers only. No longer can be ordering a ten dollar beers often. Vs get a medella for two dollars . But I know drink less of them as they are stronger reason why more flavor. Some of them can be equal to two beers. So evens out to 5 dollars. Average beer is 5 percent alcohol. I always read the level to know how many it equals to. Last thing I need is a dwi

At the house I have some beers in the fridge and on average, I have 2 of them a month. I like them, but they don't call to me, almost freezing water is what I crave all day, but it has to be to the point that is starting to turn into ice. Once in a while I go out to dinner and will have one beer then switch to a coke.