Cost Of Living Comparables

[brock]

I went to the local market today, And the Meat, Eggs,All vegatables,Were as expensive and in some cases more so than back in England, And we are not talking imported stuff here, this is local grown, And I,m sorry Steve, But if you think you can live here on 150 a month then you are in cloud cuckoo land, only my opinion mind you, no offence.

[stevewool]

no offence taken, thats what this site is all about helping and lots of advice good or bad

[stevewool]

if as you say the prices was the same as they would be in england, well yes you are right in one way, the shops i go to here are the local shops, no ASDA or TESCO and those likes for me, the farmfoods, the pakshop and so on and yes my food bills are £100 to 150 a month thats for 4 people in the phils its going to be just the two of us, so really i dont see a problem eating well and for less too

[Thomas]

I really dont know where people get these percentages from, Yes if you want to eat dried fish and rice everday it will be cheaper in the Philippines, And some things are cheaper, Land, houses, rents, beer,fags,Taxis, girls company for the night...You are not going to live a decent lifestye cheap here, unless you go native, If you want any kind of a life here, It is going to cost you money, Most everyday things here are the same if not more than in England, A steak meal for 2 people in Cebu can cost you 3 or 4 times as much as England for the same quality, A pizza can also cost more, A roast chicken 180peso here, 2 for a fiver back in England, And I,m not on about just imported stuff. Prices are not as cheap as everyone makes out, Do any of you guys actually look at the prices of things here when you buy ?...Dont send the wife, YOU go food shopping for yourself.

Sure SOME things are expensive in Phili

BUT sure some other things cost much less in Phili as e g several fruits and vegetabilies. And rice cost almost 5 times more in Sweden than in Phili.

And labor can be much cheaper in Phili :santa_smiley:

[JJReyes]

Apples to apples comparison here. They are not specific; it shows apples = 148/kilo (2.2 pounds actually) which may be accurate for delicious or brand name fuji, but I buy asian fuji at 90/kilo if I remember right. You see, even comparing apples to apples is not a comparison of 2 like items.

I recently did a comparison of papaya prices per pound and it was $1.48 in California compared to $ .34 in the Phiippines. If I factor in the income differential, the price was proportionally similar. Of course, with a US retirement income, the papaya is much cheaper in the Philippines.

[i am bob]

I know I upset some people when I go on about being able to live and eat in the Philippines. But you can! If where somebody shops the prices are similar to your home country, you are either going to the wrong place to shop, are buying mostly imported products to match your "home" diet, or they are charging you the Kano prices.

One interesting thing I have noticed here in Canada - over the last year or two, the prices of the local products have gone up by a large margin while many of the food products imported from South Asia are much less expensive. Now I am a price-concious shopper so I checked my cupboard... About half of the foods I have that shows country of origin indicate a South Asian country. Knock off the cost of shipping and shouldn't it be cheaper there?

[stevewool]

like anything in life if you want it you buy it, now if you want it and cant afford it well you either shop some where else or go without, by the way , you dont upset me about going on about living and eating in the phils,plus the people who live there surely know better then us who are thinking of living there the true cost, the cost does rise every year, can anyone break down there weekly or monthly bills, thats if you have lots of time on your hands to help do that

[Thomas]

like anything in life if you want it you buy it, now if you want it and cant afford it well you either shop some where else or go without, by the way , you dont upset me about going on about living and eating in the phils,plus the people who live there surely know better then us who are thinking of living there the true cost, the cost does rise every year, can anyone break down there weekly or monthly bills, thats if you have lots of time on your hands to help do that

A lot of things in life are free :santa_smiley:

Joke aside - You are corect, many costs go up. Inflation is rather much higher in the Philippines than in most "kano countries". But when the national economies develops equaly good/bad, then inflation differences are "compensated" by currency change. So you need to adjust down the prices change difference, if anyone compare PESO prices today with PESO prices some years ago.

Several expats have specified their living costs rather recently. I believe it was in the two topics about if it's possible to have 800 $ or 1000 $ mounthly costs..

[GregZ]

... you can always prepare the foods the way you did at home while reducing your costs at the same time. So why not?

I've given up on preparing anything the way I did in the USA because the spices, condiments & secondary recipe items (like cream and GOOD cheese) are just not available at reasonable prices. In other words all the rich, fattening components that make things so tasty cost too much. So I am getting slimmer every day. :chickendance: :santa_trumpet:

Before I moved to the Philippines I drank a LOT of 2% milk. This CrAp UHT milk is nasty & makes my stomach disco, so I don't drink any milk now. I mainly drink water and a little soda besides my staple of Emperador. :cheersty:

Edited December 26, 2012 by GregZ

[stevewool]

it seems to me what ever the cost is compared to where ever you live, its all worth moving still to the phils