Thought I Would Share My Situation

[Thomas]

will be staying thru until the end of December so about 6 weeks. This will be a good trial run as I will be treating as a test on the budget

Note one thing, when you compare 6 weeks with staying permanent:

In the best rent deals I have seen, the landlords normaly demand minimum 12 months renting,

so I suppouse you can reduce your rent cost MUCH for similar living, if/when you will stay long time.

(I have seen rent offers for 7000-8000p/month,

sometimes even down to 3500p but in some more doubtful sorounding then,

for NICE appartments and even houses with more than one room and private carport.)

[wingmanPI]

 

will be staying thru until the end of December so about 6 weeks. This will be a good trial run as I will be treating as a test on the budget

Note one thing, when you compare 6 weeks with staying permanent:

In the best rent deals I have seen, the landlords normaly demand minimum 12 months renting,

so I suppouse you can reduce your rent cost MUCH for similar living, if/when you will stay long time.

(I have seen rent offers for 7000-8000p/month,

sometimes even down to 3500p but in some more doubtful sorounding then,

for NICE appartments and even houses with more than one room and private carport.)

 

 

very true. I will be tracking everything except rent exactly for that reason.  when I am there for 6 weeks

my rent is about 20K per month plus electric. once I am there permanently I am budgeting 12-15K per

month plus electric. If I can find a place cheaper then great but I think my range will give me some

decent options to start with.  I am sure the longer I am there I will be able to fine tune exactly where

I want to live and what is acceptable/unacceptable.

[robert k]

I say go for it, Wingman. You, l and Brett seem to be in the same situation and while each of us has our individual plusses and minuses, we have all done our research and should do ok. As for being 39 and still working, l see it as a plus, the prime earning potential years it seems for a man. If things dont work out.....l lost everything 6 years ago and could no longer do what l used to do for a living, l'm 47 now. Motivated and in your prime you can rebuild your life in short order if misfortune happens.

One can be amazingly comfortable, although still not as comfortable as some would like, once you acclimatize. I will post my cost of living estimate one day for an area remote enough that even the carabao are shocked to see a foriegner and stare at you.

[Fred & Mimi]

you feel more at home eating lechon manok with your hands than eating at a 4 star restaurant,  its time to move....

 

My partner feeds me heheh, seems to be the local custom. I'm not complaining :)

[Thomas]

 

 

will be staying thru until the end of December so about 6 weeks. This will be a good trial run as I will be treating as a test on the budget

Note one thing, when you compare 6 weeks with staying permanent:

In the best rent deals I have seen, the landlords normaly demand minimum 12 months renting,

so I suppouse you can reduce your rent cost MUCH for similar living, if/when you will stay long time.

(I have seen rent offers for 7000-8000p/month,

sometimes even down to 3500p but in some more doubtful sorounding then,

for NICE appartments and even houses with more than one room and private carport.)

 

 

very true. I will be tracking everything except rent exactly for that reason.  when I am there for 6 weeks

my rent is about 20K per month plus electric. once I am there permanently I am budgeting 12-15K per

month plus electric. If I can find a place cheaper then great but I think my range will give me some

decent options to start with.  I am sure the longer I am there I will be able to fine tune exactly where

I want to live and what is acceptable/unacceptable.

The values I wrote are for big cities (=Metro Cebu and Cagayan de Oro) in standards I find OK to live myself (at least the 7-8000) and I don't want very small, one of them is even in a nice beach house!  So I suppouse you can budget lower than 12-15k for long staying.

[byrnanthony]

Will try and make this short and to the point.  After 7 years of visiting PI and the last 3 years going

twice a year for 6 weeks each time,  I am finally ready to make the jump.  I am only 39 and sadly,

I did not create Facebook so it's gonna be a situation that is FAR from a perfect scenario when 

moving abroad.  I will be working and will NEED to work to pay the bills.  Therefore I am doing 3

budgets.  

 

$1,000 per month (can do it if I have to)

 

$1,500 per month (comfortable but gotta be careful)

 

$2,000 per month (all things considered fairly comfortable with a little bit of flex room to spare)

 

I have read through all the info here and on other forums and it can be done it just depends how

aware you are and obviously staying out of the bars and drinking every day.  I will need to be

working 5 days a week so will have a few beers on the weekend but bars etc. will not be on the

list for me.  I pretty much have the "vacation mentality" worked out of me after spending so much

time there over the last few years.  

 

Bottom line for me is I am making a lifestyle decision.  All I am doing in the US is "existing".  About

20 times a week EVERY week for the last 4 years I have had this voice in my head saying "I don't

belong here"  I am not a miserable person but living in the US for me pretty much sucks.  I am at a

point in my life where i am no longer interested in chasing the dream of being a millionaire.  I am

fine with living a fairly simple but comfortable life.  Anyway it should be a great adventure,  hopefully

I will meet some of you along the way.  cheers!

Well i finally have it figured out now. After spending like crazy after i got here digging into my savings each month i finally started to keep track of my money and realized how much it costs to have my life style here. For all the necessaries of my life style here the rent $375, electric $125, AC rental & water bill $18, visa renewal $25, food for 2 people $300, cellphone load $15, gas for the little 150 cc motorcycle $120, ATM $85, internet $50 ,and cigarettes $40. That doesn't include entertainment, eating out, clothes ect. Well i guess that depends on you. Of course i buy fruit on the street and stay away from buying stuff at the malls as much as possible. My apartment is a new 500 sq. ft. 2 bedroom apartment with gated entry and security. that's why it's so much. But being a foreigner here you have to protect yourself from street things just like in any big city. Oh and i had my 7 rotten teeth removed and got dentures for only $500 and went to the doctor to get an X-ray Just $22. So now i just need to cut down on my gigantic entertainment bill and i should be able to live comfortably on $1900 a month. I have to talk to some people to get a bank account here cause very few banks let foreigners have bank accounts here. That's why the ATM cost is so high. You can live cheap over here but you have to figure out how to do it. Maybe if i came on vacation over here before i would spend $1500 or more easily in 13 days. But with what i know now i would only spend about $800 if even that. That would come from knowing how to dress not to get in trouble so i could take the buses or jeepnees in stead of taxis when safe to do so. Buy things in the street instead of everything at the mall. Know the price of things so i could barter correctly and know when something is way over priced, and knowing where and how things are done here. Well just one strong short aftershock tonight. I guess i know now what those people who live in California go through with earthquakes. To me there's just one big caution. Entertaining yourself here can quickly add over $1000 to your budget each month quickly. Learn to be thrifty here like you would in your home town and you should have no problem. 

[russellmania]

You will do fine with the budgets you plan.

Stay out of girly and strip bars (you can find a million girlfriends here, no need for girly bars) prefer the normal bars, keep far from fancy restaurants and cook a bit home.  

Rent a moderate place and do not waste your money to the lavish high end ones.

Avoid supporting the mama, papa, children, roosters dogs and cats of any potential girlfriend.

Then the 2000$ will take you a long way even at the heart of Manila.

Yeah Joe but sooner or later he will run into a beautiful filipina that he cares about and don't want to lose. For you guys that have longtime girlfriends or wives and she has a sick mother or father,sister or brother that has emergency hospitalization and you don't offer one centavo to help? That maganda loving filipina that used to wait on you hand and foot,will do a 180 degree turn on you.Who wants to see their girl crying and sad on a daily basis? I think the word is called TAMBO here,and from what I'm told it can be very frustrating to live with a filipina at that time. Happy wife=Happy life!!!

[wingmanPI]

 

You will do fine with the budgets you plan.

Stay out of girly and strip bars (you can find a million girlfriends here, no need for girly bars) prefer the normal bars, keep far from fancy restaurants and cook a bit home.  

Rent a moderate place and do not waste your money to the lavish high end ones.

Avoid supporting the mama, papa, children, roosters dogs and cats of any potential girlfriend.

Then the 2000$ will take you a long way even at the heart of Manila.

Yeah Joe but sooner or later he will run into a beautiful filipina that he cares about and don't want to lose. For you guys that have longtime girlfriends or wives and she has a sick mother or father,sister or brother that has emergency hospitalization and you don't offer one centavo to help? That maganda loving filipina that used to wait on you hand and foot,will do a 180 degree turn on you.Who wants to see their girl crying and sad on a daily basis? I think the word is called TAMBO here,and from what I'm told it can be very frustrating to live with a filipina at that time. Happy wife=Happy life!!!

 

 

Too late I already met her 3 years ago, LOL!! I accept the fact that being involved in a relationship with a filipina will more than

likely involve some financial support. I have already helped my girl and her family in limited amounts over the last several years.

If I had to put a number on it I would say my assistance probably equates to 5,000+- php per month on average. Some months

it is zero and some months it might be 5 or 6,000. I have made the effort to spend time with her family and lucky for me (to this

point) they seem to be solid. father is self employed as an HVAC tech and mom runs the family sari sari with all the kids getting

educated or employed to one degree or another.

 

Is it possible that my girl could turn into a greedy lunatic once I arrive full time? Sure anything is possible. However the amount of

time I have spent with her in PI around 40 weeks in 3 years and the amount of money she has received would not suggest that.

Furthermore, I am young, decent looking and have a lot going for myself. I communicate exactly and clearly upfront what my

expectations of the relationship are and what I will and won't live with. Additionally if any relationship in my life becomes negative

then it will be ended very quickly. I have had too much experience with crappy relationships in my life and 10 years ago decided

they were counter productive to my happiness. 

 

If someone is sick or is in a bad situation would I help? Yes. Would I help to the point that it put myself, my future financial stability

and my future family at risk? Absolutely not. I love my girl like crazy and care for her deeply but if she became unreasonable then

she would need to go away. I do not subscribe to the theory that there is only one person in the world that can be your partner.

One way or another my girl would be fine without me and I without her, after all we made it this far without each other. Certainly as

time passes and family commitments become stronger this can be a bit more complex but I have found if you set reasonable and

CLEAR expectations upfront you can avoid many issues.

 

The whole idea that because you love someone you need to sacrifice by throwing yourself in front of a speeding trike to prove

your love is ridiculous. If I don't take care of myself then I can;t take care of anyone else. While I think communicating and

understanding each other in a relationship is VERY important there are certain times (especially in a multi-cultural relationship)

my girl doesn't have to agree or understand my reasons on certain decisions. She just needs to know it is one of my very limited

non negotiable decisions. If she can't live with it then I won't be angry or upset but I will show her the door that she needs to exit

through.

[BrettGC]

Were you going to be living mate?  I think you and I need to have a beer.. Lot in common it seems.

[wingmanPI]

Were you going to be living mate?  I think you and I need to have a beer.. Lot in common it seems.

 

I will start off in subic for at least the first year or two I would imagine. After that who knows. I will be there in 12 days for 6 weeks,

can't wait!!