Gonna Jump In With Both Feet Here .....

[MikeB]

Looks like the whole thing got deleted ...... I tried to delete the first one and I guess you deleted the next one ...... :thumbsup: :hystery: ....... I think I saved a copy on Wordperfect ..... let me see ...... sh&t happens ...... :hystery: :hystery:

It's back. Sorry.

[Mike S]

OK as promised here is our expenses for Nov. 2011 ..... now keep in mind that no two families can live the same so your expenses may be lower or higher than ours ....the rent for our apartment (2 bedroom with large covered private wash area out back) includes cable and WiFi ......I chose to add the DSL because it is more secure but I do hook-up my tablet to it but the laptop and desktop are on DSL .....I don't use the cell-phone and my asawa uses the Smart UNLI25 (25p) .... one day unlimited text and calls Smart to Smart ...... 20 free text to other networks .....We don't eat out very much ..... the eating out category includes stuff like chicken .... pork or other dishes that we get that are already prepared from stands near the apt. ..... did I forget to mention that I eat lots of native foods ..... but we check first to make sure they don't use sugar or salt the Filipino way ..... most of the time my asawa cooks at home so we can regulate the ingredients and the way it is cooked ..... we only eat at Casa Verde at SM because they have IMHO good surf & turf and also because of no carbs (sugar) and salt ..... SM has a great salad bar near the grocery store for my outings when we go there ..... I will do another post sometime on sugar-free stuff and where to find foods close to those from the US ..... but that is laterMarket is where we buy most of our meats .... chicken ans fish and some veggiesBottled water is for drinking only ..... cooking and coffee is tap waterElectricity is with-out Aircon ... don't need it ...don't use it .... bill is a little high as we are on a sub-meter but it stay's relatively the same with no surprisesEverything else is pretty self explanatory ...... but as I said this is just OUR way of living ..... this is just an example of how it COULD be done ...... at current dollar to peso rate it is roughly $1000 per month US ...... again some months may be more ...... some less ..... Bills:Bottled Water.......................... 240.00 Bills:Cellular................................... 625.00 Bills:DSL & Phone............................1,300.00 Bills:Electricity..................................2,574.18 Bills:Gasul....................................... 798.00 Bills:Rent.......................................10,500.00 Clothing:Accesories......................... 507.00 Clothing:Clothes.............................. 750.00 Entertainment:Misc............................150.00 Food:Eating Out...............................3,935.75 Food:Groceries...............................10,288.95 Food:Market..................................... 1,540.00 Healthcare:Supplements.................... 685.72 Household:Hardware.......................... 217.75 Household:Kitchen..............................876.25 Household:Tools................................3,051.25 Miscellaneous:Supplies....................... 546.40 Personal:Other.................................... 995.00 Support..............................................1,560.00 Transportation:Taxi.............................1,605.00 -------------------------TOTAL............................................42,742 p Hope this helps

[Mike S]

Looks like the whole thing got deleted ...... I tried to delete the first one and I guess you deleted the next one ...... :thumbsup: :hystery: ....... I think I saved a copy on Wordperfect ..... let me see ...... sh&t happens ...... :hystery: :hystery:

It's back. Sorry.

Hey Mike .... I'm gonna get the heck out of this thread and let you fix it ...... hahahahahaha ...... sorry for meddling ..... looks like I'm to quick on the draw and you guys are very fast in modding (like you are supposed to do .... and I never was) :hystery: :hystery: :hystery:

[volstateguy]

OK as promised here is our expenses for Nov. 2011 ..... now keep in mind that no two families can live the same so your expenses may be lower or higher than ours ....the rent for our apartment (2 bedroom with large covered private wash area out back) includes cable and WiFi ......I chose to add the DSL because it is more secure but I do hook-up my tablet to it but the laptop and desktop are on DSL .....I don't use the cell-phone and my asawa uses the Smart UNLI25 (25p) .... one day unlimited text and calls Smart to Smart ...... 20 free text to other networks .....We don't eat out very much ..... the eating out category includes stuff like chicken .... pork or other dishes that we get that are already prepared from stands near the apt. ..... did I forget to mention that I eat lots of native foods ..... but we check first to make sure they don't use sugar or salt the Filipino way ..... most of the time my asawa cooks at home so we can regulate the ingredients and the way it is cooked ..... we only eat at Casa Verde at SM because they have IMHO good surf & turf and also because of no carbs (sugar) and salt ..... SM has a great salad bar near the grocery store for my outings when we go there ..... I will do another post sometime on sugar-free stuff and where to find foods close to those from the US ..... but that is lateriMarket is where we buy most of our meats .... chicken ans fish and some veggiesBottled water is for drinking only ..... cooking and coffee is tap waterElectricity is with-out Aircon ... don't need it ...don't use it .... bill is a little high as we are on a sub-meter but it stay's relatively the same with no surprisesEverything else is pretty self explanatory ...... but as I said this is just OUR way of living ..... this is just an example of how it COULD be done ...... at current dollar to peso rate it is roughly $1000 per month US ...... again some months may be more ...... some less .....Bills:Bottled Water.......................... 240.00Bills:Cellular................................... 625.00Bills:DSL & Phone............................1,300.00Bills:Electricity..................................2,574.18Bills:Gasul....................................... 798.00Bills:Rent.......................................10,500.00Clothing:Accesories......................... 507.00Clothing:Clothes.............................. 750.00Entertainment:Misc............................150.00Food:Eating Out...............................3,935.75Food:Groceries...............................10,288.95Food:Market..................................... 1,540.00Healthcare:Supplements.................... 685.72Household:Hardware.......................... 217.75Household:Kitchen..............................876.25Household:Tools................................3,051.25Miscellaneous:Supplies....................... 546.40Personal:Other.................................... 995.00Support..............................................1,560.00Transportation:Taxi.............................1,605.00-------------------------TOTAL............................................42,742 pHope this helps

Thanks for the update Mike! Looks like you're spending roughly P5000 more than you were in 2008.

[Mugs]

OK as promised here is our expenses for Nov. 2011 ..... now keep in mind that no two families can live the same so your expenses may be lower or higher than ours ....the rent for our apartment (2 bedroom with large covered private wash area out back) includes cable and WiFi ......I chose to add the DSL because it is more secure but I do hook-up my tablet to it but the laptop and desktop are on DSL .....I don't use the cell-phone and my asawa uses the Smart UNLI25 (25p) .... one day unlimited text and calls Smart to Smart ...... 20 free text to other networks .....We don't eat out very much ..... the eating out category includes stuff like chicken .... pork or other dishes that we get that are already prepared from stands near the apt. ..... did I forget to mention that I eat lots of native foods ..... but we check first to make sure they don't use sugar or salt the Filipino way ..... most of the time my asawa cooks at home so we can regulate the ingredients and the way it is cooked ..... we only eat at Casa Verde at SM because they have IMHO good surf & turf and also because of no carbs (sugar) and salt ..... SM has a great salad bar near the grocery store for my outings when we go there ..... I will do another post sometime on sugar-free stuff and where to find foods close to those from the US ..... but that is laterMarket is where we buy most of our meats .... chicken ans fish and some veggiesBottled water is for drinking only ..... cooking and coffee is tap waterElectricity is with-out Aircon ... don't need it ...don't use it .... bill is a little high as we are on a sub-meter but it stay's relatively the same with no surprisesEverything else is pretty self explanatory ...... but as I said this is just OUR way of living ..... this is just an example of how it COULD be done ...... at current dollar to peso rate it is roughly $1000 per month US ...... again some months may be more ...... some less ..... Bills:Bottled Water.......................... 240.00 Bills:Cellular................................... 625.00 Bills:DSL & Phone............................1,300.00 Bills:Electricity..................................2,574.18 Bills:Gasul....................................... 798.00 Bills:Rent.......................................10,500.00 Clothing:Accesories......................... 507.00 Clothing:Clothes.............................. 750.00 Entertainment:Misc............................150.00 Food:Eating Out...............................3,935.75 Food:Groceries...............................10,288.95 Food:Market..................................... 1,540.00 Healthcare:Supplements.................... 685.72 Household:Hardware.......................... 217.75 Household:Kitchen..............................876.25 Household:Tools................................3,051.25 Miscellaneous:Supplies....................... 546.40 Personal:Other.................................... 995.00 Support..............................................1,560.00 Transportation:Taxi.............................1,605.00 -------------------------TOTAL............................................42,742 pHope this helps

thank you.

[Bundy]

Thankyou for taking the time to post this Mike.I'm sure it is of interest and help to a lot of people.You have just proven that you can live in the heart of Cebu City for a month on less than what it would cost to rent a small unfurnished two bedroom unit here in country Queensland for the same time period.A couple of questions mate. What are you referring to when you say "Household tools.......P3,051.25?" and also i don't see any mention of any health insurance listed.

[Mike S]

Oh ..... one thing I would like to explain about is the tools ..... I love to work with wood (mostly hand tools) so I budget myself a certain amount each month for that ..... working with wood here can be a challenge for a number of reasons ...... if anyone else likes that hobby give me a shout and we can compare notes