Can I Really Live On $1000 A Month In The Philippines

[Jack Peterson]

I can understand why living close to the beach would be attractive but we aren't talking California here. Storm surge and waves can be pretty fierce.

 

 

 

 

:hystery:  :hystery:  :hystery:  :unsure:  Don't forget the rubbish!  

 

 

 Oooooooooooops Sorry :lol:    

My bad, just in a good mood that's all. (But you gotta tell the truth sometimes)  :rolleyes:

 

Morning All  :tiphat:  :morning1:

[Dave Hounddriver]

Jake, you seem like you have been in phillipines awhile,

 

:mocking:  :hystery:  On the left of each person's post you will see 'location'.  It shows that Jake lives in Southern California.

 

You will be fine with $2,000 a month but it will take a while to adjust to living in a different country.  It would really be helpful to you if you came with at least 6 months budget in advance.  The only 'best' answer is to come and stay in a hotel/pension house/apartment for a few months while you get your feet under you.  Yes that costs more (in the short term) than moving right into a low cost rental but in the long term you will come out ahead because you are less likely to get ripped off and more likely to find a place that suits your needs.  So just pick a city/area that sounds good to you and come on down.

 

PS I followed my own advice and have been here for 7 years, moved a bit but quite happy on a similar budget to what you propose.  Just don't expect to live like a king.

[Thomas]

Ideally I would like to be a smaller city, that I could get to cebu city or manilla if needed. I would like somewhere close to the beach, and where it's easier to meet quality women, for a wife

As said, it can be dangerous to live by the beach, or in areas which can be flooded quickly by big rivers, but if you want to live by the beach anyway, you can live at the "leeward" side  (= west /north) somewhere where the coast is hilly, so you can live by the coast, but at a higher level anyway. There are such places e g at the west side of Cebu island and the north side of Panay island.

 

You can do a "reduced island hoping"  = Visit a FEW islands. E g you can land in Cebu city, go over the mountains to the west coast, follow the coast down,

ferry over to Negros island, cross it to the most south part of the northwest side, follow the coast up (some of it is to low),

cross to Panay island and follow the NORTH coast there. Up there in northwest there are nice hilly type of coast.  

(If you aren't satisfied yet  :)  you can go on follow the west coast at that island too.   North/northwest side of Bohol can be interesting too, but suit less good to the route.)

 

Of the coast I have listed above, it's some risk for tsunami hit at the west coast of Cebu. As far as I know there are no such risk in any of the others, because they are (rather) good protected from tsunamis by other islands or by the island the coast is on.

 

 

There are good - and bad   :)   - wife material everywhere. E g there are many hard working women from the Cebu island mountains.

LOOK UP at the start at the northwest coast of Negros, so you don't end up with one of the MEN, pretending to be women :)  - if there are any left outside prison, of the gang specialiced in scamming through Internet dating sites.

[robert k]

I think Thomas made several good points. Elevation is a good thing, it could be a little cooler. I think Cebu island is a good choice. The suburbs frequently have some kind of mall, supermarkets and wet markets for daily needs and then there is always the big city. I believe that Cebu city is the second largest market, International airport on Mactan just across the bridge from Cebu. There are more flights to more places, and I believe there are cheaper flights from the second largest market to the largest market, if you need to go to Manila.

 

 Here is the kicker, frequently it is mentioned that someone who lives in Bacolod or Dumaguete might still have to travel to Cebu city for imigration or to find something they want and don't want to wait to have it shipped to them. I believe that Bacolod is mentioned to be a city of "I think" 300,000. Google and Wiki are your friends, you may not find the place to be but you can eliminate the places that on the face of them are unsuitable. Travel in the Philippines by bus and ferry is cheap but time consuming and if you can't get there in 20 hours from start to finish, I would plan to get a room somewhere along the way, booking online is generally cheaper.

 

Another good source is something like Expatistan cost of living index. :)

[Steve & Myrlita]

Bacolod is closer to 500k.

[robert k]

Thank you Steve and Myrlita. :)

[Steve & Myrlita]

You are most welcome.

[Ynot]

Ive answered this question before and mentioned that it really depends on your expectations.  However, the more I look into this, Im not 100% sure that the Philippines is the right place.  The woman is, but the location may not be right, the costs of living in the bigger cities like Cebu rivals the major cities of Australia. Especially for rentals and even building costs of  a home. And then there is the danger of buying a property and someone can appear from no where and lay claim to it.   Having enjoyed Thailand, even with a coup Thailand may be the place to go with your filipina girl.  Rents are cheaper and you can buy if you wish (30 year lease) and the food is cheap and tasty.  Wages are similar, the basic wage in thailand is 300 baht, the base wage in Philippines depends on where you work but is approaching the 380 or 400 peso mark.   So I suggest take your filipino to Thailand, no brown outs, good medical and no typhoons. Just a thought, still coming to Phil in December though!!!

[Thomas]

the base wage in Philippines depends on where you work but is approaching the 380 or 400 peso mark.

Well. I have switched my focus from Thailand TO Philippines   :)   because I found the Filipin laws and fees less bad for settling.  I DIDN'T check condos, because I don't want to live in such anyway, but I checked owning land on rented land, other situations including VISA and owning business.

 

It's HUGE difference between Manila and the cheapest provinces, the minimum salaries are around half, and many employers don't even pay that... 

(That's workers.  Minimum salaries for domestic helpers are much less 1500/2000/2500p per MONTH, but plus sleep place and food.)

[frosty (chris)]

Ive answered this question before and mentioned that it really depends on your expectations.  However, the more I look into this, Im not 100% sure that the Philippines is the right place.  The woman is, but the location may not be right, the costs of living in the bigger cities like Cebu rivals the major cities of Australia. Especially for rentals and even building costs of  a home. And then there is the danger of buying a property and someone can appear from no where and lay claim to it.   Having enjoyed Thailand, even with a coup Thailand may be the place to go with your filipina girl.  Rents are cheaper and you can buy if you wish (30 year lease) and the food is cheap and tasty.  Wages are similar, the basic wage in thailand is 300 baht, the base wage in Philippines depends on where you work but is approaching the 380 or 400 peso mark.   So I suggest take your filipino to Thailand, no brown outs, good medical and no typhoons. Just a thought, still coming to Phil in December though!!!i

I agree to a certain extent, food prices here are much the same as Perth, but what you tend to do is by the local product which is much the same but is cheaper, a bit like home brand in the supermarkets there. As for rentals, when I was in Perth I rented a 3 b/room house in Craigie, cost me 56,000 pesos a month and I was getting it on the cheap as a mate of mine owned the place, here I have a 2 b/room for 8000 a month, water is 300 pesos pm, power for 3 is 811 pesos pm (on my own 480 pesos) gas was 950 for the bottle and is still going after 5 months. The kicker for me is eating out here, super cheap and the food so far has been great, Also how's this, 3 of us went to the local sari store, 4 sml for me, 4 sml apple's for the daughter, the g/f had a fruit juice, a packet of cigs, 2 packets of chips, 385 pesos thank you very much, doesn't get much better than that.

Edited June 3, 2014 by frosty (chris)