Is It Really Cheaper To Live In The Phils

[Travis]

I found that with all things taken into account that it was not really cheaper to live in Cebu City so I would like to hear from others what areas might be as nice & less expensive to live? I found rents expensive for what I got & electric in Cebu expensive compared to the US & I wonder if it was the a/c I was using that caused it to be so high? the place I was in had florescent lights & a water heater for the shower only & I had a small refrig & a hot plate to cook on & a microwave that I used most of the time to heat water & food & cook in but I still got large electric bills in a pretty small place of 35 sq meters or was it 38 sq meters :89:

[sjp52]

The electric bill is high because you always need the aircon running all year long. I own a house in a small city (100,000 pop ) in Canada and if I wanted to I could rent it out I could for $1100 us per month. The same house in the Philippines you can rent for around $700 a month. Its still cheaper to live in the Philippines but not as cheap as it was before. Seems the Philippines keeps raising there prices and some day in the future it may not be cheaper. I know a lot of us foreigners complain about the prices here in the Philippines but can you imagine what its like for the Filipinos having to pay these prices in their own country. I would love to know what the average Filipino makes including the ones that work outside the country.Ive checked prices in Cebu and compared them to where I am in CDO and CDO is a little cheaper but not much. If it weren,t for my wife, I think I would be living in Cebu. I think if you want all the luxury's you have in the west you will be paying for it here in the Philippines. The only way you will live cheap here is to rent a small broken down place and buy street food. Of course it is always cheaper to live outside of the city, A lot cheaper.

[Dave Hounddriver]

The only way you will live cheap here is to rent a small broken down place and buy street food. Of course it is always cheaper to live outside of the city, A lot cheaper.

I live in a new (2 years old now) 4Plex unit. Its built like row housing. That means two stories high with 2 bedrooms and CR upstairs and open kitchen, dining, living area plus a second CR downstairs. The rent is 10,000 pesos a month and it is pretty standard pricing for these units. You can often find older ones at 8,000 Pesos per month. There is nothing wrong with the unit except that a lot of foreigners don't like to live in this type of housing and that keeps the price down. (That being said, 3 of the 4 units here are occupied by foreigners).My utilities run about 7,000 a month for elec, water, cable, phone and internet. 17,000 total pesos is only $400 Canadian so I am wondering where you can find this in Canada?Eating western style food costs me about 25K pesos a month so that part is the same. My conclusion is you can live cheap here, (or most other countries) if you have some flexibility as to where and how you want to eat and reside.

[sjp52]

The only way you will live cheap here is to rent a small broken down place and buy street food. Of course it is always cheaper to live outside of the city, A lot cheaper.

I live in a new (2 years old now) 4Plex unit. Its built like row housing. That means two stories high with 2 bedrooms and CR upstairs and open kitchen, dining, living area plus a second CR downstairs. The rent is 10,000 pesos a month and it is pretty standard pricing for these units. You can often find older ones at 8,000 Pesos per month. There is nothing wrong with the unit except that a lot of foreigners don't like to live in this type of housing and that keeps the price down. (That being said, 3 of the 4 units here are occupied by foreigners).My utilities run about 7,000 a month for elec, water, cable, phone and internet. 17,000 total pesos is only $400 Canadian so I am wondering where you can find this in Canada?Eating western style food costs me about 25K pesos a month so that part is the same. My conclusion is you can live cheap here, (or most other countries) if you have some flexibility as to where and how you want to eat and reside.

I,m glad you found such cheap accommodations. I was just trying to compare apples to apples. I can live in Canada in a 2 bedroom appartment with all utilities included for 500 a month but I don,t want to. Every one has there own tastes and choose the way they wish to live. I think you have found a great deal with your place. I did say in my post that it is cheaper still to live in the Philippines, Just that its not as cheap as it use too be. My findings of the cost of Living in the Philippines is that it is not as cheap as I thought it would be considering most Filipinos don,t make very much money. It seems like this country is geared more towards foreigners than its own people with some of the prices they charge.

[Art2ro]

I will admit that with our spending habits of today, a $1,000 a month pension wouldn't even be close enough for me and my wife to live on no matter where we lived in the Philippines or even in the U.S. for that matter unless we lived in an area or state where everything was depressed economy wise! But there is an exception, by changing our spending habits and live out in the province, it could be possible to survive on $1,000 a month, but that's still a big if considering of all of the other what ifs! What if you got sick? What if you have no savings to file for your visa extensions? What if your wife or girlfriend's habits are bigger than your wallet? What if you still can't control your own spending habits (Star Buck coffee every day, imported steaks, beer tab etc)? The list goes on! But fortunately my wife and I don't have to live like that! All I can say is that it's possible to live on a $1,000 a month as long one keeps a tight budget and can make changes to their life style & spending habits! Well Travis, sounds like you are planning on returning to the Philippines some day soon and give it another shot! It's all in the planning and it's always a matter of money! Good luck!

Edited December 6, 2010 by Fil/AmArt

[Jim Sibbick]

I found that with all things taken into account that it was not really cheaper to live in Cebu City so I would like to hear from others what areas might be as nice & less expensive to live? I found rents expensive for what I got & electric in Cebu expensive compared to the US & I wonder if it was the a/c I was using that caused it to be so high? the place I was in had florescent lights & a water heater for the shower only & I had a small refrig & a hot plate to cook on & a microwave that I used most of the time to heat water & food & cook in but I still got large electric bills in a pretty small place of 35 sq meters or was it 38 sq meters :Policeman:

Comparing apples with apples. Ie same quality accommodation and living the same lifestyle, it is definitely cheaper in Cebu City than in the same size city in Australia.Regards: Jim

[Art2ro]

Never been to Australia, just seen pictures and TV shows! So, I don't know how their apples compare with the Philippine apples! BTW, is Australia a 3rd world country? I don't think so! Maybe out in the bush outbacks eh! No pun intended, because I really don't know!

[Jollygoodfellow]

Never been to Australia, just seen pictures and TV shows! So, I don't know how their apples compare with the Philippine apples! BTW, is Australia a 3rd world country? I don't think so! Maybe out in the bush outbacks eh! No pun intended, because I really don't know!

Australia a third world country,lolNot sure what TV shows you watch but Australia is very similar to the US, Our economy is in better shape than the US.Our city's are just like yours.The bush outbacks as you call them are just like your out back Texas as Ive seen Texas on TV. So for example if you were downtown Florida (not sure where you came from) and I blind folded you,put you on a plane,after landing In my City Brisbane, removing the blind fold you would probably think you were still in Florida. If you drove about an hour from where I live to the Gold Coast as its called, I would take you to the suburb called Miami which is on the beach , why is it called that? Just to add, never been to the US but seen lots on TV and no Australia is not a third world country.We even use a knife and fork,the spoon if for desert.

[Art2ro]

Never been to Australia, just seen pictures and TV shows! So, I don't know how their apples compare with the Philippine apples! BTW, is Australia a 3rd world country? I don't think so! Maybe out in the bush outbacks eh! No pun intended, because I really don't know!

Australia a third world country,lolNot sure what TV shows you watch but Australia is very similar to the US, Our economy is in better shape than the US.Our city's are just like yours.The bush outbacks as you call them are just like your out back Texas as Ive seen Texas on TV. So for example if you were downtown Florida (not sure where you came from) and I blind folded you,put you on a plane,after landing In my City Brisbane, removing the blind fold you would probably think you were still in Florida. If you drove about an hour from where I live to the Gold Coast as its called, I would take you to the suburb called Miami which is on the beach , why is it called that? Just to add, never been to the US but seen lots on TV and no Australia is not a third world country.We even use a knife and fork,the spoon if for desert.

But Jim was comparing an Australian City to Cebu City and not the U.S.!! I know Australia isn't a 3rd world country (just kidding) from what I've seen on TV.!

[MikeB]

Never been to Australia, just seen pictures and TV shows! So, I don't know how their apples compare with the Philippine apples! BTW, is Australia a 3rd world country? I don't think so! Maybe out in the bush outbacks eh! No pun intended, because I really don't know!

Australia a third world country,lolNot sure what TV shows you watch but Australia is very similar to the US, Our economy is in better shape than the US.Our city's are just like yours.The bush outbacks as you call them are just like your out back Texas as Ive seen Texas on TV. So for example if you were downtown Florida (not sure where you came from) and I blind folded you,put you on a plane,after landing In my City Brisbane, removing the blind fold you would probably think you were still in Florida. If you drove about an hour from where I live to the Gold Coast as its called, I would take you to the suburb called Miami which is on the beach , why is it called that? Just to add, never been to the US but seen lots on TV and no Australia is not a third world country.We even use a knife and fork,the spoon if for desert.

But Jim was comparing an Australian City to Cebu City and not the U.S.!! I know Australia isn't a 3rd world country (just kidding) from what I've seen on TV.!

I'm very familiar with Australia because I saw all 3 Crocodile Dundee movies. Nothing like Florida aka Puerto Rico. They all carry big knives and wrestle crocs. And speak English.