Moving to Philippines

[Ash1984]

Hey all. Im currently looking to relocate to a new Country (well, atleast when this covid situation is more under control) .

Quick backstory: im a 36 years old male from Norway, living on disability money from the state (roughly $2000 a month) Im a modest man that doesn't require luxury, but a decent lifestyle in western eyes would be preferable. 

So far my research has set my eye on philippines due to a warmer climate and cheaper living. 

Cebu seems like a viable option, would my budget be enough (again, roughly $2000 usd) 

Any and all information or tips is very much welcomed 

-Ash

[Mike J]

Welcome Ash.  $2000 should be fine for a single person living a moderate life style.  But you will need some emergency savings for any emergency or to return home if you decide the Philippines is not what you expected. 

[Ash1984]

Thanks for the reply, so far the idea is to make use of something like airbnb for a few months, to see if i like it there or not. And selling my house and possessions i have no use for should give me some savings that i plan to have as a backup /emergency 

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, Mike J said:

  But you will need some emergency savings for any emergency

This is a very important point and I suspect often not part of people's planning.  You could easily be looking at a 500,000 php or more hospital bill put of nowhere.

[Ash1984]

44 minutes ago, hk blues said:

This is a very important point and I suspect often not part of people's planning.  You could easily be looking at a 500,000 php or more hospital bill put of nowhere.

Hmm, this is a valid point. As a Norwegian its easy to forget that a stay at a hospital costs money 

[scott h]

2 hours ago, Ash1984 said:

living on disability money from the state

Welcome to the forum Ash. You will get lots of info here. Normally 2k usd would be ample for a modest life style (very modest, but thats just me )

A red flag for me is you mentioned a disability. As said above about medical care if you need continual care and your insurance does not travel with you it could get real expensive real fast for quality medical care.

Also if it is a mobility disability, well just to be blunt, the Philippines is not a good place to be. Unless you are in a very upscale area (and pay the price that entails) the Philippines is a very hard place to move around in.

Just more info to throw into the mix 

[Ash1984]

55 minutes ago, scott h said:

Welcome to the forum Ash. You will get lots of info here. Normally 2k usd would be ample for a modest life style (very modest, but thats just me )

A red flag for me is you mentioned a disability. As said above about medical care if you need continual care and your insurance does not travel with you it could get real expensive real fast for quality medical care.

Also if it is a mobility disability, well just to be blunt, the Philippines is not a good place to be. Unless you are in a very upscale area (and pay the price that entails) the Philippines is a very hard place to move around in.

Just more info to throw into the mix 

Regarding the financials, i imagine i would get more pr $ than i do here in Norway anyway 😂

The health situation requires very little to no medical care, so any expenses there would be if i break an arm or something similar 😂

[Jollygoodfellow]

5 hours ago, Ash1984 said:

The health situation requires very little to no medical care, so any expenses there would be if i break an arm or something similar 😂

So what's the disability you have as it makes a big difference when actually living here? 

 

[hk blues]

15 hours ago, Ash1984 said:

Hmm, this is a valid point. As a Norwegian its easy to forget that a stay at a hospital costs money 

Without Insurance, it's nigh impossible to legislate for medical bills - the best you can do is have a pot of money accessible and hope it's emough.

As for your 2k budget - it's enough and many ex-pats are here on that or less. That said, if you want to live here at the same standard as back home you will find it's actually as expensive here for many things i.e. mobile phone bill/internet/western food/western restaurants etc. Long and short of it is if you are really looking to downsize/simplify life you can do it here and get by more easily than you could in Norway but if you're looking to transplant your Norwegian lifestyle here you will struggle with the finances.

[Ash1984]

12 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

So what's the disability you have as it makes a big difference when actually living here? 

 

PTSD, so there is some medicine, but it's not a big expense (but for all i know, it might be in PH?)