Part 2 - Can I Live On $2,000 A Month In The Philippines?

[Jollygoodfellow]

 

I spent 2 weeks living cheap

 

I hear ya Bob, but nothing personal either, but 2 weeks is a very short period of time. The amount of money spent increases as the quality of "living" increases. For me, myself and I its the little things that make life living, and not just "surviving". Yes for the first 8 months to a year I ate "local" tapsilog, longsilog, chicksilog, pancit, you name it and naturally rice.

 

Soon I desired a hotdog, got the local brand, but something was missing finally tried and settled on the "Angus beef" hotdog by pure food. Ah life is good.

 

Was eating hambugers at the local Minute Burger "Buy 1 take 1 for P40" good but something was missing,,,,got some ground beef at the local pelenki made my own, not quite there. Went to S&R and got 80% lean ground beef, whipped up my mom's ole reciepe. Ah life is better.

 

Got a hankering for Pizza, maid went and got a Hawaiian pizza (Filipino style) for P69, good but something missing again. Went to S&R got the New York style pizza, man just like home but P580. Life is now worth living :thumbsup: .

 

Deserts you ask? well we can have puto bong bong, or leche flan or any number of sweet local delights, but lets be honest nothing beats good old fashioned  ICE CREAM!!! and for Ice cream your gonna pay P260 to P340 a quart (about 1.5 ltrs I think)

 

Bottom line is that anyone can exist on a small amount in the Philippines if forced to by circumstance. But I was wondering after the first 6-8 months why I was wandering around like a cross bear. I think it was because of the little things that I grew up on that makes it LIVING and not just being ALIVE. :cheersty:

 

 

From this scenario if you bought one pizza a week,one tub of ice cream, hot dogs and quality ground beef then subtracted what you would have paid for the other hamburgers etc you may have increased your cost to less that $50 US a week for the quality of life you desired. So in my way of thinking and I know every $50 x 4 adds up but you got what makes you happy for an increase of $200 a month. So we should still come in under $2000 or $3000 or what ever a magic figure is.   :)

[i am bob]

And the way i lived would project out to around $1000 a month

Bob, I am not trying to contentious or argumentative. But I have though long and hard about if someone asked me ONE aspect of what made life "livable" and "enjoyable" here in the Philippines and I would have to say its the "little things" things that we are used to. Things that scratch that little itch you get. The things that a person cannot even describe, but he knows is missing and he is really not in a good mood until that itch is scratched. Just those little things like what you like to munch on while your watching TV at night, can a person do without it? You bet! Does it make watching TV more enjoyable? I think so.

Put it another way, you and I were both in the Service, and we both spent extended times in the field eating field rations. Well when we got back to the rear, the first thing we did wasn't to ask for an MRE, it was to head straight to the exchange and get a soda and a Slim Jim.

A silly thing that might also help put it in perspective. We live close to NAIA, my wife was raised here. And a lot of her batchmates and friends live overseas. Well when one of them returns for a visit they all get together for a party. But also they all hand the visitor a list of things to get at the Duty Free store that is nearby. Stuff that they all have gotten used to but can't get at the local store. Like Fritos, I would kill for a real Frito.

I don't know, I am rambling, but I really think that when a person asks that favorite question "Can I live on $XXXX" the answer is naturally a resounding "YES". It all depends on that person definition of "Living" and the only way that question can really be answered I suppose is by actually get the ole boots on the ground.

Excellent post sir!

[i am bob]

One of the things I'm learning here is that price is relevant only to the person who decides the price... An example? In Matina, you can rent a room in a house for P5000... Has a private CR the size of a small closet. 5 minutes away u can rent a 2 bedroom house that's just beautiful for P7000. Which would you take?

[Jack Peterson]

One of the things I'm learning here is that price is relevant only to the person who decides the price... An example? In Matina, you can rent a room in a house for P5000... Has a private CR the size of a small closet. 5 minutes away u can rent a 2 bedroom house that's just beautiful for P7000. Which would you take?

That, is just not a fair Question BOB :no:  but to stay with you, can I Phone a friend? 

 

 

OK now i really am going to bed.

 

JP :thumbsup:

[Thomas]

Interesting article I just read for a bit of perspective, remembering of course this is statistical data and can be a bit skewed but based on my filipino friends it's probably not too far off the mark:

 

 

An average Filipino family that has five members needs a monthly income of Php7,600 ($180.95) to breach poverty line, according to National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). It means that a family of five needs to have at least Php250.00 ($5.95) per day or a yearly income of Php91,289 ($2,173.54) to keep out of poverty. In 2012,

 

In the lowest provinces the law about minimum salaries for FULL time work is a bit LESS than that,

and many employers don't bother to gollow the law, some pay only HALF od what the law demands...  :bash:

Many GROWN UP children are forced to go on living with their parents, because of the terrible salaries... 

 

The amount of money spent increases as the quality of "living" increases.

Well. True to SOME extent   (= to afford minimum basics and some more)

BUT rich don't necesary mean happy. 

Just look at all SAD kids to RICH workaholic materalistic parents,

and all the HAPPY POOR (Filipin) kids, who's parents spend much time with them, giving them attention...  

i am going to move close to an S&R it looks like i will be happy shopping there

I suppouse cheaper living if you DON'T move close to a "happy shopping" place  :lol:   

[Dave Hounddriver]

I believe this thread is talking about USA dollars but we Canadians have been doing fine at CDN$2,000 a month, until now.  Up to now that CDN$2,000 a month has given me approximately 83,000 pesos a month to live on (has been running between 40 and 44 pesos to the dollar over the last 8 years).  I just got an online quote on what I will get this month and its down to approx 37 pesos to the CDN dollar so I will only get 74,300 and change.  The difference from 83,000 down to 74,000 is more than my rent payment.

 

I saw this happen to British friends and German friends over the years but thought the Canadian dollar was strong.  With the weak oil prices it is not.  I don't see an end in site.  Hope you other 'foreigners' have better luck with your currencies.  And keep this kind of thing in mind when planning a long term budget.

[stevewool]

Its true what you say about currencies, yes its great if the rate is so high but it can and it does come down too, again if you have so much coming in and you cont have to spend it all, save what you dont need for the top up days, yes it will not last for ever but it all helps,

This is the problem when your only income is coming from another country under another currency too,

[robert k]

I think the USA economy looks and is stronger with low oil prices. I think oil has a death grip on at least 20% of the US economy. When the price of oil goes down, people move/travel, buy more oil, more products in general and if it lasts a goodly length of time, employers will start hiring people again at wages people can live on. Of course the price of oil declining sharpish makes the US economy look stronger.

 

I have heard spin doctors saying that Saudi Arabia drove the price of oil down to hurt US production as they have done before, I can find no sign of this. Many speculate that the Saudi's have a large war chest because there have been a few stable years in which they earned more than they projected spending, but I don't think they figure the spending required by the promises of the royal house to stave off an Arab Spring style uprising. The Saudi's themselves need USD 85 per barrel to meet their commitments, I doubt the Saudi's are smiling at the discomfiture of western oil producers. A USD 30 dollar shortfall per barrel will erode years of chest filling in a single year. Some Canadian production can weather the low prices, sadly the Tar Sands cannot as the Tar Sands need at least USD 70 per barrel to break even.

 

I expect prices to rise to levels acceptable to the North American oil industry inside of a year due to lessened drilling in tight shale reservoirs and the rapid production decline, per well, in those same reservoirs. The drilling operators do not have to decrease production, just not complete new wells other than a single well to hold leases by production. If operators do lose some leases, they can usually lease the acreage again for less than 1% of it's actual value, Boo hoo, they just don't want to lose leased acreage because someone else may buy it out from under them for 1.1% of actual value so US operators will continue to drill single wells to prove leases. There are also some wells that are contracted to be drilled even if the area proves to be unproductive before the contracted well is drilled. The Chinese bought a lot of those. Permits to drill wells in the US are down, some say as much as 70%. Natural decline will take care of the oversupply. People in North America should enjoy it while it lasts. Peak Oil is no joke. Peak oil is not about running out of oil so much as it is not being able to get oil from the ground fast enough to meet needs, an oil company's idea of paradise, making more money for selling less oil. Sorry if this bored anyone, I haven't talked shop in awhile. :tiphat:

 

I did have at least 2k usd coming in but it declined with the price of oil. Other than startup costs, I have been trying to live on 1k usd a month now, and it seems ok, so far.

Edited December 27, 2014 by robert k

[John Mogusar]

One of the things I'm learning here is that price is relevant only to the person who decides the price... An example? In Matina, you can rent a room in a house for P5000... Has a private CR the size of a small closet. 5 minutes away u can rent a 2 bedroom house that's just beautiful for P7000. Which would you take?

I'll take the cheaper house...I can't do without a CR!

[jpbago]

One of the things I'm learning here is that price is relevant only to the person who decides the price... An example? In Matina, you can rent a room in a house for P5000... Has a private CR the size of a small closet. 5 minutes away u can rent a 2 bedroom house that's just beautiful for P7000. Which would you take?

 

Price is not everything in life. My friend has to move because shabu and croaky has moved next door, 24 hours/day. So in your example, I would chose the one furthest away from shabu and croaky.