The Cost Of The Philippine Dream

[i am bob]

I was just watching a video on Yahoo Finance where it was shown that the yearly cost of the American Dream has now risen to a point requiring an annual salary of just over $130,000 USD.  I imagine the home country for most of our members would be similar in cost. 

 

I was wondering if members would be interested in sharing some information...   What did it cost you a year in your home country to live your life as compared to the Philippines.  Total to total.  And, if there is a big disparity in costs, could you state what the big changes were to account for this.  Once the responses slow down, I want to chart the figures and put them on the site for every body to see.  It will be totally anonymous at that point as I will only be using numbers.   And I will update the figures every year or so from any new numbers that come in.

 

I am hoping that this might help show why some people can live on P1000 or less while others say P2000 or more.  If you want to maintain anonymity, PM it to me and I will just add it to the list.  Remember - I have my medical pension from the military for no short term memory so, after I delete your PM, how long do you think I"ll remember what you wrote?

 

So...  Former yearly cost of living in your home country

 

                                     vs

 

         Present yearly cost of living in the Philippines!

 

Anybody?     :rolleyes:  :mocking:

[Mike S]

Wow ..... this could require a book to write all the reasons why I spend less here than in the States .... but I'll give it a try ....

 

In the US I earned appox. $47,800 per year or a bit more with overtime ..... for those trying to figure it out that is $23 per hour times 2080 (the average number of hours one works in a year)

 

Here we live on $13,200 .....

 

Biggest difference is the cost of housing .... toys .... insurance and food .... here I have to watch what I spend but back there I just bought what ever I wanted ..... and lived outside my budget as I knew I could always work extra overtime to make extra money .... here that is not the case I have to live with in my budget because there is no other way for me to make extra money and I refuse to touch my savings .... in the US it was much to easy just to charge everything on my CC's and worry about paying later .... it took me 3 years to pay them all off before I moved here .....

 

I won't go into all the toys or hobbies I had because that is all water under the bridge now ....

 

Anyway Bob that is a start .... good luck .... :thumbsup:

:cheersty:

[i am bob]

Thanks Mike!

 

Would you say that, disregarding the number of toys, your quality of life is the same?  

 

:thumbsup:

[Tukaram (Tim)]

In the US I was a single dad, lived in Texas, was paying for 3 bedroom house, had a car payment (Toyota Matrix), and a vacation condo in Orlando, FL.  I did this on $45,000 a year.  Oh, and the kids were both in private school.  You can do it if you budget ha ha

 

Here I am living ok.  Brick apartment in the city (moved out of the nipa hut), no car, too many trips to the mall and fast food. Lots of vacations.  Spending a bout $10,000 a year.

 

Of course the living conditions here are a lot more primitive - but that was part of the appeal of moving here.    :tiphat:

[earthdome]

I was just watching a video on Yahoo Finance where it was shown that the yearly cost of the American Dream has now risen to a point requiring an annual salary of just over $130,000 USD.  I imagine the home country for most of our members would be similar in cost. 

 

I wonder what the requirements were for the American Dream. That seems very high to me. I looked up some data on household incomes and in 2011 only 11% of households had income of $130,000 or more. The median household income was $45k - $50k.

 

Regarding my personal situation. My lifestyle is completely different retired in the Philippines than when I was working fulltime. Back when I was working fulltime I was putting away a nice percentage of my salary into retirement savings and had less time to spend money. Now I am trying to enjoy my retirement. I am spending more overall but spending less on day to day expenses and spending more on travel and entertainment.

[jon1]

For me, I never got ahead until I started working overseas. I was able to get out of debt, pay off the Ex and get started properly. Now my dream would cost me 40-50% in the US vs what I have now here.  It is costly getting set up but once that is done it is significantly lower than the day to day in the US.

[ITSMRBILL]

that's what im looking at I MUST get the monkey off my back finally...if I don't they will take from my future wife as added income and I will pay more per month for the back child support bill and my new wife too ...that ruined marriage 2 and 3 of mine. it wont happen again because when I get there I will have no monkey to worry about. I figure on onetime costs too. anything I get I will be happy for and feel blessed because its more than I will ever have here-that's the way I figure it. I was thinking about Cebu or Davao city or san rafeal bulaclan? I know some ppl (girls) there and they all want me to come to them lol.

[i am bob]

 

I was just watching a video on Yahoo Finance where it was shown that the yearly cost of the American Dream has now risen to a point requiring an annual salary of just over $130,000 USD.  I imagine the home country for most of our members would be similar in cost. 

 

I wonder what the requirements were for the American Dream. That seems very high to me. I looked up some data on household incomes and in 2011 only 11% of households had income of $130,000 or more. The median household income was $45k - $50k.

 

Regarding my personal situation. My lifestyle is completely different retired in the Philippines than when I was working fulltime. Back when I was working fulltime I was putting away a nice percentage of my salary into retirement savings and had less time to spend money. Now I am trying to enjoy my retirement. I am spending more overall but spending less on day to day expenses and spending more on travel and entertainment.

 

 

What was the American Dream?

 

I don't have the article any more (deleted by accident while cleaning out my machine ) but it was about having a house the white picket fence, nice furniture, recent vehicle to drive, family with 2.4 kids, monthly saving for vacation, retirement and college for the kids, and the food they ate.  Basically the 1950s American Dream.

 

Or in other words emoticons...:

 

:photo-109:  :bedtime2:  :3_8_14[1]:  :3_12_31[1]:  :1 (72):  :508:  :36_1_68[1]:  :714_full_of_crap:  :17403:  :chickendance:

 

I myself like Chicken Dance...   :mocking:

[JJReyes]

The following information may help when doing a cost comparison with the Philippines. It represents a typical middle class American family annual budget for a household with 2,5 children. 

 

Housing – shelter – $10,023

Pensions, Social Security – $5,027

Housing – utilities, fuels, public services – $3,477

Food – food at home – $3,465

Transportation – vehicle purchases – $3,244

Transportation – other expenses and transportation – $3,130

Healthcare – $2,853

Entertainment – $2,698

Food – food away from home – $2,668

Transportation – gasoline, motor oil – $2,384

Apparel and Services – $1,881

Cash Contributions (optional retirement and cash savings) – $1,821

Housing – household furnishings, equipment – $1,797

Education – $945

Housing – household operations – $984

Miscellaneous – $808

Housing – housekeeping supplies – $639

Alcoholic Beverages – $457

Personal Care – $588

Life, other personal insurance – $309

Reading – $118

[robert k]

$49,316. So others don't have to.