Monthly Costs

[BrettGC]

Sigh... Why is it so hard to just respond to a simple request......  Either assist or not.  There's no need for all the baggage as well.

If this forum isn't here to assist each other (amongst other things) what's the point?

To those that have responded to the OP in the spirit it was intended a big thank you.  And to those that reminded me of other ongoing costs that I didn't think of at the time of posting a big thank you as well. 

For those that still wish to contribute that would be greatly appreciated. 

[Jack Peterson]

7 minutes ago, BrettGC said:

Sigh... Why is it so hard to just respond to a simple request......  Either assist or not.  There's no need for all the baggage as well.

 Brett my Friend, some members just feel the need to be a...holes which is why JGF is sorting them Out. IMHO.

 BUT just to add to my Costs we should never lose sight of the Little things sometimes. One I did forget was the Payment of Estate dues ie the Homeowners Association  dues which seem of late to fall to the Lease Holder on Subdivisions and Condos, Sorry but ....... Mine for instance is small but at 750 per month even though I own, Street Lights and Garbage collection Plus some other things it all adds up 

[Old55]

3 hours ago, bigpearl said:

Yep ,that's why we are here and as a senior member you will see the limitations of newbies such as myself and give the odd slap and  tickle but at the end of the day? Your forum will fall over without input from people like me, others. Control? Apparently, shoot me down if wrong but certainly appears JGF sided. Nice to know you all and if JGF has the balls to give further Christmas wishes? 

We are all individuals and I will certainly not be stifled here or any other site by ones apparently god given vision or lest.

 Cheers, Steve.

JGF, mate take stock.

No member is irreplaceable. Useful content is welcome. Drama and pettiness not so much. 

[Gator]

On 12/21/2017 at 2:03 AM, BrettGC said:

 

I'm after ball park figures on what you spend each month so if you could answer the following it would be great (PHP would be good - it's our common currency):

Let me preclude this by saying I'm only there about 4-6 months out of the year and we recently rented in October.

Quote

Town/Province: Cebu City (Mabolo)

Number of people in your residence: 2.5 (SO and 1 year old son)

Type of Residence (house, townhouse, unit, studio etc): Rent; 1BR approx 50sqm, concrete condo type building, new construction (we're first tenant)

Rent: 12K; includes parking garage for a bike; extra 1K for car

Electricity: 2,800

Water: 135

Gas (if applicable): not yet - cooking only - install next visit in Feb.

Internet: 1,500 - Globe broadband plus 1K for Sky cable 

Landline (if applicable): inc with internet

Mobile/Cell: 250 (500 when I'm there - Smart Mega 250)

Groceries (includes booze): up to you - ours about 3-5K

Car rego/insurance: not yet 

Fuel: n/a

 

 

Depending on the length of my stay I occasionally incur the cost of a tourist visa.

One thing to also consider is the initial set up cost - the place we rented was completely unfurnished (they offer furnished for 20-25k a month). All together I estimate I spent about 150 to 175K (have all the receipts, just too damn lazy to add them all up) for appliances, furniture and initial big grocery shopping (mostly at Fooda and S&R).

 2 window aircon's (Panasonic energy efficient type - 1.5hp for sala and Carrier 0.75hp for bedroom), Samsung inverter fridge, Panasonic HW heater in shower, furniture [most from Mandaue foam - reclining sofa, bed foam, etc], hot/cold/room temp child safe 5 gal water dispenser, pots, pans n dishes [already had most kitchen accessories and coffee pot], rice cooker, cleaning supplies, curtains, convection cooktop, 40" TV - Sony, no bologna!

Globe and Sky cable also charged 1,599 each for installation, HW heater I did myself, but bought a cheap drill with some drill bits (1,200), grounded electrical plug/wire and hardware (300). No charge for delivery and set up from Mandaue foam, but of course tipped the guys (500) who lugged all the stuff up to the 2nd floor. Appliances were bought a SM appliance - delivery fee was about 400. They arrived without calling first and naturally we were out; the building manager let them in; they simply left everything - no set up. SO and I unpacked and set it up ourselves. 

 

Edited December 22, 2017 by Gator

[Reboot]

Thanks for such a great and detailed report Gator. I padded all your numbers, doubled them, and it still came out to about $1200 US a month budget. That's pretty remarkable. And Mabolo is pretty well situated in the city, too. I'm bookmarking it for future reference.

Edited December 22, 2017 by Reboot

[Clermont]

 

9 hours ago, BrettGC said:

Sigh... Why is it so hard to just respond to a simple request......  Either assist or not.  There's no need for all the baggage as well.

Frugally you can live and rent on about $ 1200, a month, other costs that are mentioned are extras you can sort out along the track. If you receive a DVA pension + rental, you'll have enough for a comfortable living. If the indexed pension + rental is close to a current old age pension amount you'll be fine. Just watch the $ first up until you settle in, twig what you need and don't. Don't forget a lot of expats live on an old age pension over there and live the life of Riley. All the posts above are correct, but vary to suit individual circumstances and are all important issues to consider,( here it is) but they might not meet your situation.

 

 

[Gator]

3 hours ago, Reboot said:

Thanks for such a great and detailed report Gator. I padded all your numbers, doubled them, and it still came out to about $1200 US a month budget. That's pretty remarkable. And Mabolo is pretty well situated in the city, too. I'm bookmarking it for future reference.

You’re welcome. In retrospect I might be underestimating the groceries a bit, but even if I double the figure I’m still very pleased with my final budget. Plus I’m sure once I’m there a full month with my SO and kid the elctric bill will go up a bit as well. I only stayed there a little over a week before I had to return to the USA to work. 

[allancomeau]

3 hours ago, Clermont said:

Frugally you can live and rent on about $ 1200, a month,

Whilst it is a bit apples & oranges, that's over 50,000 PHP which exceeds the income of most middle class Filipinos. 

As was mentioned it depends a lot of the life-style. The closer you live to the local style the cheaper it gets, and vice versa.

 

A few things............

One member said he bought his produce at the supermarket whereas pinoys buy theirs at the wet market as it is cheaper & fresher.

Buy your appliances with insight and the best EER.

Do comparison shopping; the local brands can be as little as 1/2 the price of familiar brands.

 

*for example too small an A/C unit will have a higher running cost.  Avoid buying the largest fridge - get one suitable for actual need. 

 

[BrettGC]

6 hours ago, Clermont said:

 

Frugally you can live and rent on about $ 1200, a month, other costs that are mentioned are extras you can sort out along the track. If you receive a DVA pension + rental, you'll have enough for a comfortable living. If the indexed pension + rental is close to a current old age pension amount you'll be fine. Just watch the $ first up until you settle in, twig what you need and don't. Don't forget a lot of expats live on an old age pension over there and live the life of Riley. All the posts above are correct, but vary to suit individual circumstances and are all important issues to consider,( here it is) but they might not meet your situation.

 

 

Hi Mate, 

It's not the DVA pension but the old school pension entitlement for serving more than 20 years in the ADF and it's worth significantly more; based on a percentage of final salary at discharge (20 years service is 40% for life and it goes up from there for each year over 20 years served), I did just under 21 years, I left at the second-highest NCO rank.. if you do the research you'll be able to work it out ;).   It's administered by ComSuper and not DVA.  I am however in a battle with DVA to receive a partial TPI.  I won't go into the details but lets just say DVA have been nothing less than confrontational; unfortunately this is the case for many Australian vets with legitimate claims.... A topic for another post perhaps.

 

Edit:  Warrant Officer Class 2 Equivalent.

 

Edited December 23, 2017 by BrettGC

[stevewool]

Never mind the living cost that is confusing, all these different pensions from different countries blow my mind.