Moving to St. Croix

Yep, your desires may be a bit unrealistic.

Sometimes there's great deals where you can find a "package" deal including utilities, but that will reflect in the rent price. The $700 ballpark range will either land you in a tiny place, or in a bad neighborhood.

Most apartments in town wouldn't be what I called safe. Especially for a single young female. The best route is to find a roommate (or 2) and split the cost for a larger condo in a safer neighborhood.

It's also much more fun to have a car on St.Croix
Noah

Hi Abbigail,

Welcome to the forum and St. Croix! I have a small apartment coming up the first of September. It's really cute and clean, safe, etc. It IS small, but well equipped. We are located 3 miles west of Christiansted, so you would definitely need a car, but like Noah said, it's more fun to have a car and pretty much necessary for just about anywhere you live.

The apartment is $750 per month and that includes Dish TV, Internet and garbage removal on site. Electric and water are additional. You can check out our website and take a look at the pictures for Efficiency 1B. http://www.virginislandsrentals.com

We also accept pets, with some restrictions.

Please send me an email at casita37@hotmail.com, if you would like more info, and good luck to you.

I'm going to be the dissenting voice here and say that whether you need a car really depends on where you live and where you work. I've been here since January, and I've gotten along fine without a car, with the exception of a few times I've had to beg rides.But I live right in town (C'sted) and work at Radio Shack at Sunny Isle, so it's not a big deal for me.

My recommendation: rent someplace short term, and get a copy of the Sunday/Monday edition of the Avis to look at the classifieds for a permanent place. The average price of the rentals listed online is higher than the average price in the paper, by my figures, so you'll get a better deal that way, as well as being able to actually see what you're getting.

Stephyih- I've been on this board for a week as well , and I find it strange that most people recommend a car when they get here. Why the lack of interest in other forms of transportation : ie; motorcycles, mopeds, or bicycles? For all conversations regarding how expensive everything is on the islands, and how small their salary's are , I would think the car would be the first thing to go?? what am i missing here??

Also, it would be nice to know if a person who wanted to live a 'Bare Bones" (yet safe) life style down here, could live off of a salary , at let's say a retail job like you have at radio shack or a job in the tourism sector? could it all be done for under 1200 a month?? just curious and maybe naive.

Thanks for your help guys!

I know I am asking for a lot.. but it was worth a shot 8-)...

I will be going down with a friend who spends the winters there, and her family is there... So they are keeping their eyes out for us.. But I just wanted to see what you all thought about it.. I figured my standards were high... I just wanted to see what I could get :p

Either way, out side of Christinasted is preferred (sorry I didn't specify that before), and if you know of anything good please let me know 🙂 I am trying to keep my options open..

Also, I am thinking about a scooter or dirt bike or something along those lines for transportation.. something cheep and efficient. I am nervous to bring my car down because it is an '06 Jetta and I would HATE to have something happen to it. Second to my dog, its my baby 🙂

I wouldn't do the scooter/dirt bike idea. There are just way too many potholes, blind curves, fast drivers, drunk drivers, etc. Even in my car, I've been run off the road by a vehicle that crossed the center line onto my side while going around a curve. My boyfriend is an avid motorcyclist, and even he left all six of his motorcycles in storage on the mainland.

Most people will discourage you from using motorcycles, mopeds, or bicycles because we have narrow, windy, hilly, brushy, pot-holey roads with no shoulders, and bad (but courteous) drivers. Also, it can rain anytime.

If you're dealing with short distances, and can choose when to ride or not ride (like when it rains), then motorcycles, mopeds, or bicycles might work.

But there are very few two-wheelers here. They're also easy to steal, and there are a lot of "teefs" here.

I just spoke with a potential landlord, and she said the same thing... perhaps I will buy a "junker" and sell my car back home once I have committed to stick with it.. which for now is what my heart is pulling me towards, but "you never know until you try" 😀

I am selling most of my furniture, and coming down with a duffel bag and a back pack.. Can't wait to start the adventure of my life 🙂

Thanks for all of your help!

Correction; They're not called 'junkers' here. They are 'Island Cars". I bought mine from the classified board right here along with my first place to hang my hat. Two wheels, very dangerous. Four, less so (but not by much). And remember, keep left! Good luck!

Anything on two wheels is a pretty bad idea here. But between the buses and taxis, depending on where you live and work, it's not that hard to get around until you can afford a car.

1200/month is going to be a stretch. I live with some friends at the moment, because I can't afford to live on my own, and several of my coworkers live in public housing. If you've got a cushion of savings, it wouldn't be that bad--I mean, deposits are really expensive. If you had a roommate, it would come out a lot cheaper.

ck1, did you really say you could live on 1200 a month here?? seems a bit low to me.

$1200 a month just doesn't seem doable to me. For instance...I have apartments, and my absolute least expensive is $650 per month, plus electric and water, so say you're really conservative and use $100 in utilities, that's $750 per month out of your $1200, leaving about $100 a week for EVERYTHING else. Once you are on island, you might be able to find an apartment that's less expensive. To do so via Internet may be possible, but difficult, and do be cautious. And, without a car, public transportation isn't free. If you are able to locate on a route, still plan on spending a few dollars a day, so say another $20-$25 a week (minimum) out of the $100 you have left. If you do have a car, well you know the expenses associated with that. Food is expensive too, and you still need all the usual "health and beauty aids". You can do a search on here for grocery prices. There have been some good threads with actual prices posted. Even if you eat beans and rice, you won't have any money left for fun or savings to fly off island to visit or anything else. I say NO, you can't do it on $1200.

I only spend about $1000 per month when I am there.8-)

Oh, I forgot, I own my condo.:-o
Oh, I forgot the monthly Assoc. fees.:-o
Oh, I forgot the cost of insurance for the condo and the cars.:-o

I say NO, you can't do it on $1200.

That makes quite a statement, doesn't it? It would certainly make for a bare bones, meager existence, no? Many of the jobs here offer very low wages. Benefits are seldom offered. Housing costs are high. Living costs are high.

OK, now take take all those truths and apply them to the local population and the youth in particular. If someone who is willing to work hard at an honest job is incapable of supporting themselves, it kinda goes a long way towards explaining some of the huge problems we see here, no?

I don't think $1,200 is enough. Even if you were able to get all your living needs (rent, wapa, phone, cable, iternet) for $750 a month, that leaves you $15 a day for EVERYTHING else. Assuming you'd like to leave the island eventually, you won't even have enough $$ for plane fare.

Aussie, I agree with you about our youth, but at least they usually have family or some other support system giving them a bed and watching their back. On St. Croix even adults with full time jobs often have small businesses they do on the weekends, lawn maintenance, general construction, etc.

If someone who is willing to work hard at an honest job is incapable of supporting themselves, it kinda goes a long way towards explaining some of the huge problems we see here, no?

Aussie, unfortunately this problem is applying to more and more of the mainland as well. I have a college education and am well on my way to Master's degree. I work full time for a university and my husband works full time as a maintenance director of a sports park. We still live WELL BELOW the "poverty level" for Oklahoma. In fact, that's a large part of the reason we are considering moving to the island. During the time we've spent there, life there has seemed much simpler and more relaxed - not nearly the pressure to "keep up with the Jones'." Our biggest problem right now is figuring out exactly what we can survive on. I've been applying at the university there, thinking that $27,000 - $30,000 per year would be "decent money." Now I'm really not sure. I'd dance in the streets to make $30,000/yr in OK, but I'm realizing it might not be enough to keep me off the streets on the island.

If you're total income is $52,000, before taxes, about $1,000 a week, you and your spouse could probably live here confortable. That is assuming you are not bringing a lot of debt with you.

No one, and I MEAN no one, worries about keeping up with the neighbors. People spend what they have, be it a lot or a little, very much to suit themselves, and not to maintain any kind of appearances.

If you can do it on $1200 then go for it. You could probably write a book about the experience. With the right living situation it may be possible.
I lived in Rincon PR for a couple of years with roommates. Every month we would get a big bags of rice, beans, buy the markdown produce and go commando harvesting wild fruit. There was a place you could get 1/2 a chicken and bread for $4.
Just make sure you have a stash with enough $ for a return ticket if the bubble bursts. Good luck

Just to clarify here, I never said all I had was 1200$$ That's just way to much for me to pay for in rent on my own.. I might as well move to a city up here for that price.. so you are all jumping to conclusions saying that i will have $110/week to spend..

So now that I have all of that cleared up.. I have found a place through an islander that's a pretty good deal.. unbeatable it sounds like.. and it kinda seems like you all are down with discouraging people.. maybe to keep people from coming...? I am not trying to live a glorious life there.. just have fun in the sun.. and work hard.

Regardless thank you all for your help.. If I expect things to be more pricey than they are, the better off I will be.

Anyway.. Cheers! And perhaps I will meet some of you in a few weeks 🙂

Abigail, the $1,200 responses were to CK1, who asked if he/she could live on that amount, which can't be done.

Those answers were not unfriendly. If anything, they were honest attempts to dissuade someone from trying to do the impossible. Sorry you misunderstood.

Glad you found a place that might work for you. We usually caution not to put any money on a place until you actually see it. What might work for someone else, might not work for you.

Good luck on your move. We are usually at Off the Wall on Friday nights, if you see us please stop and say hi.

Hi Abbi,

Glad to hear you found a place! Things usually do work out when you want them to! Can't wait to see you sometime soon!