I'm still kind of considering the DR, and it seemed that November to early December is a good time to go. The prices were still very affordable (seemed to start going up around Christmas and stayed up through April or May), but the chances of rain are a LOT lower since it is a little removed from the official hurricane season. I don't have the website with me since it's on my work computer, but you can do a search and find the average rainfall for each month. September and October were still pretty high, but it dropped off in November. However, my sister lived there for about a year and a half, and she said even if it did rain, it would be a short 5-10 minute rain/downpour and that would be it for the day. As for which resorts are the most affordable, I think it all depends on what 'affordable' means to you and what you're looking for. Like Aumiller said, I would suggest just doing a search on Orbitz or something and then seeing what comes up! Agreed, it's a tough decision and all the info can be soooo overwhelming!!!! Good luck!