An interesting discussion seems to have come up here about living in the Philippines on $770 USD per month. A reader on another venue asked me my opinion as to him living here in the Philippines on US $770 a month and my response was, “well, not knowing how many people you are talking about, your ‘money smarts’ in general or the level of convenience you call ‘normal’ or ‘modest’ in your life, it might be problematical.
Some great comments from reader Paul and others have kind if pointed out to me that the fellow is not as far off the mark with a $770 income as my first reaction might indicate. If you look at some of the articles I have written on the cost of living in the Philippines in 2009 and deduct the amounts I spend on car maintenance and savings (which a number of folks have told me they don’t think should be included), my wife and I are living a pretty decent lifestyle on close to $770 a month, USD.
I was reminded recently that perhaps I ought to be a little more ‘slack’ on what I thought was adequate or ‘safe enough’ buy a post from a blogging associate of mine what has nothing to do with the Philippines directly, but really pointed out just how bad things are getting in the US … we Americans living in the Philippines are pretty isolated from what’s going on back home, it seems.
The reason I chose to take note of my friend Don’s blog is because I have seen so much hand-wr9inging over dramatization on my rare glimpses of US media that I was automatically tuning things out. But Don is a down-to-earth guy like me, with no political or economic axe to grind, and like me a long-time Federal employee living on a comfortable pension … the kind that Federal workers don’t get any more. I’ll excerpt a couple paragraph’s from Don’s blog, you ought to read the whole thing as well, if you want some interesting views on what might be wrong or right back there in the US of A:
211 – No, that isn’t tonight’s numbers for the lottery. It’s a new telephone number, along the lines of 411 for information. 211 is for information also. It’s run by United Way of Georgia and is for information on how to survive poverty in Georgia.
I was riding around looking for something to photograph (I’m still struggling with digital photography) and I was listening to WPBA — Atlanta’s Public Radio station. They had a program on about Georgia’s mortgage crisis. Georgia’s economy is in the dumps too but the mortgage problem is among the worst in the country. As the program said, Georgia is a “non-traditional” State when it comes to bankruptcy. In short, banks have had their way with the State regulators. Good for mortgage companies. Bad for consumers. And — as it turns out — bad for Georgia. Who would have thunk it ?
Anyway, if you find yourself in the ranks of the newly poor, take note. This service was started just for you. It turns out that a lot of people are entering poverty for the first time and they don’t know where to turn. They don’t know who to call for help when they lose their job and can’t pay their mortgage. That, of course, ruins their credit rating which means no one will rent them an apartment. Hopefully they won’t get sick too because I’m sure they lost their health insurance at work (or can’t afford to pay it if they’ve lost their house.) …
Wow is about all I can say. As mentioned, Don is no alarmist. His article made me realize just how many things I have to be thankful for living here in the Philippines:
- … they lose their job: Don’t have to worry about that, I work for myself and I don’t need a job. I can not be laid off or fired, and I don’t have to go to any particular work location or be at anyone’s beck and call, except for that of the livestock on or nascent farm. Pigs are much easier to deal with than people.
- … can’t pay their mortgage: Ain’t got one of those either. Don’t intend to have one. I sold out of the real estate bubble in the US in 2005. Anyone who couldn’t see it coming could not read a high school text book on economics. I feel sorry for those who have hung on, thinking that a home is an investment. It is a beast and a burden, pure and simple. I rent a perfectly adequate 3 bedroom house here in the outskirts of Manila for about $146 USD per month (there are more houses available at those sort of rates as well), tell me why I would want to go back into the abyss of debt, hoping property values will climb and make me rich? No thinks.
- … ruins their credit rating: Ain’t got one of those, either. Well, yes of course I do, but it means absolutely nothing here in the Philippines. Philippine banking secrecy laws are stronger even than Switzerland’s and there is no sharing of information. I don’t know what my FICO score was in 2006 when I moved here, and I have no idea what it is today … why on earth should I care? I have no debt. I pay cash. Highly recommended.
- … no one will rent them an apartment: See the comment above. Here renting an apartment involves convincing the landlord you have a source of income and will pay him. First month, last month and one month security deposit is the norm. Period. Many rental deals and other debt arrangements here are handled with post dated checks (really they are “pre-dated” checks, but why be a stickler for the meaning of words … it’s Filipino English and we are, after all, living in the Philippines) … you write a year’s worth of checks, written for the correct payment dates in future months and the landlord deposits them as time passes. I don’t care for the practice itself, and since I have no Philippine checking account the point is moot. I hand my landlord’s agent 7 PhP 1,000 notes on the fifth of every month, he hands me back a receipt with a smile and that is that.
- … lost their health insurance at work: Well my wife and I are blessed with good health, but it is inevitable that we are going to have medical bills sooner or later. I had an excellent health insurance program based on my Federal employment (I can’t believe how hard people in the US are fighting to keep from getting under a decently run government plan, but the health care lobby certainly is still a huge force engaged in picking America’s pockets … hope you wake up from the dream someday soon.) Anyway, I sad I ‘had’ the plan but technically it is in ‘suspended status’ right now … in case something happens that I might have to go back to the US. In the meantime, I pay cash. Medical care is cheap. My plan would cost $169 USD a month this year, way more than my rent, and I pay so little for doctor’s visits now I have no need. There is also government health insurance here for Filipinos and their spouses that runs about $2 USD per month, and commercial plans from familiar carriers like Blue Cross (Philippines) that are very cheap for the options that cover care in the Philippine sonly.
All in all, as I said, my wife (who is also a US citizen … we are living in the Philippines by choice, not because of immigration issues) and I have a lot to be thankful for. And when I look at our bank accounts this year versus what the balances were three years ago, we have even more to be thankful for.
Sounds like things are much worse than I thought back in the USA … moving to the Philippines to make a ’soft landing’ may not turn out to be your best choice, but I certainly think you ought to give it serious, objective consideration. There’s a lot more available here than a silly ‘211’ number.
Popularity: 28% [?]
I think for many people, “Can I live on $X a month?” is the wrong question, since rightly or wrongly they believe their income is fixed and beyond their control. A better question would be “How would my standard of living on $X be compared to my home country?”
That’s a very hard question to answer, because so much depends on personal priorities. Support from family is also a major factor; if I didn’t have a local family network to tell me how things work I would probably be paying much more than I do now.
My advice to people is always spend a few months in the place where you are considering living and take an intelligent interest in what things cost. Then you’ll have a reasonable grasp of what you can expect for your income. But unless you have very unusual spending needs or priorities, you will always have more for your money in Phils than in Australia, USA, Japan or most European countries.
.-= Ken Lovell´s last blog ..Doing body counts =-.
Hi Ken, indeed I think your comments are spot on, sir. Overall I think you can always get more for your money here in the Philippines.
My three living brothers in the U.S. of A., have all asked if my house in the P.I. has devalued? My answer! “Damn if I know, as I know what it cost to build (paid cash, and have no intention of selling!” Well if some guy drove up and made an offer that turned my head… Who knows! Two of my brothers have a small morgage left on their houses and are not effected by the U.S. Housing decline. My youngest brother has tried to live off his house during the bubble and is now going to lose it. He is being a man about it , and freely admits “It’s his fault.” He’s single and can adjust to apartment life again.
Mr. Lovell’s comments above are spot on! It’s not how much you’ve got, It’s how are you going to use it to live? Dave tell the guy if he’s got the airfare to hop a plane today, and join the ranks of us happy ExPats.
I believe your optimism is well founded, Paul, based on my expereince. I think the patron saint/theme sond for expats here ought to be Roger Miller …
“… you can’t roller skate in a buffalo herd, but you can be happy, if you’ve a mind to.”
Living in the philippines on $770.00 a month.
Living and surviving are not the same thing.
My philipino wife and I own our home( came with the wife) she probably owns it and lets me think I own it, hey what’s the big deal we live there rent/morgage free.
$200 a month covers all the normal household expences,water,lights,phone,internet,cable tv. and yes trash pick-up.
Golf membership=$500.00 a year
public transportation= cheap and eficient
food and beverage=$100.00 week
medical expences are reasonable, $10. for an office call + medication and any required lab work(also cheap by US standards)
Can one live on $770.00 a month, yes just be prepared to adjust your style of living accordingly.
We spend as least double that much every month but, that is what our life style requires, golf a couple times x2 people,trips to the beach at least once a week, movies, dinner out on the town, all of these things are what we consider normal living activities.
If a person, single person(US citizen) were to try and make it on $770 a month it would be a challenge. A Philipino wife is almost without question required, and she will need to be a strong / street smart Lady that can make things work and keep your little bit of money from sliping through your fingers.
Most philipino’s think all Americans are rich($$$$$) and they have no problem charging you at least double the going fair price, for everything. It’s part of the adventure of living here, and I would not live anywhere else. My wife keeps us in the game, she has lived here all her life, knows whats fair and what is a rip-off, you and I will not see it coming, well for the first few years anyway.
As has been stated earlier, the vast majority of philipino’s live, and live well on a whole lot less, and you will never meet a happier bunch of people anywhere in the world.
Excellent info, Homer. Thanks for dropping by and for taking the time to comment. Our experiences are pretty well in paralell, except I don’t feel the ‘double up the price’ for fotrigners has affected me as much as it has some. But then again, maybe I have been cheated more times than I know about
Whatever, ignorance is bliss, so they say, and I accidentally shocked anew Filipino freind I met yeatserday … he was amazed I had lived here nearly three years now and he asked ‘why’? Without even giving it much thought I replied, “because I don’t like living in the US’.
I saw th shock on his face. I softened my response a little with an explanation which I actually feel quite strongly. “The US of today is not the US I was born in. It has evolved in ways I frankly just don’t like.”
Homer, you are a lucky guy (house comes with your wife) I built mine, but what you said rings true, the monthly nut is still cheap You have people that pick up your trash? I burn mine, and pay a kid to haul ash (no pun intended). I could live on $770.00 a month but I would’nt want to. I still remember starting out in life, without the pot to piss in, and never want to live like that again. (Got a few pots now!) As for charging double, that’s happened to me many times, but as you said, “Just walk away!” Or as I put it “Voting with my feet”. It is fruitless to stand and argue with the vendor, as he’ll never understand anyway, and will continue to shoot himself in the foot every day of his life.
‘Most philipino’s think all Americans are rich($$$$$) and they have no problem charging you at least double the going fair price, for everything.’
As an Australian I can only say I SOMETIMES get asked to pay more than the going price, but I simply refuse to pay it and go elsewhere. Perhaps Americans get a different deal but I seriously doubt it … most locals think I’m Americano anyway until I tell them otherwise.
It does mean I make the minimal effort to know what the going prices actually are, but that is a basic requirement for participating in a market anywhere in the world unless one favours a socialist model where the government regulates the prices of everything. There is no such thing as a ‘fair’ price – goods are worth what someone is prepared to pay for them.
Sorry if I sound a bit snarky but the myth that foreigners always get ripped off and should never try to buy something unassisted starts to grate after a while. It simply does not accord with my experience. Then again I am not in any doubt about who owns the home I live in and it’s not me
.
I don’t think your advice is snarky at all, Paul. I feel you are very much on target. For every time I have found I was “gouged” for something, I can find a dozen times I got a good deal … or here is the really strange art … I often can’t buy something no matter what the price. Many merchants and eveb large businbess3es here in the Philippines make it darn hard to spend your money. They almost seem to be apologizing for being inthe business of selling something and seem ready to tell you that your broken watch is, after all, exactly on time twice a day, rather than trying to sell you a nice replacement.
As you mention, doing proper research is only the smart thing to do in any country … but perhaps one of the things many foreigners run afoul of is bargaining. Of Course the first price you get quoted is going to be “sobra mahal”.
You think the merchant doesn’t start high with his Filipino customers as well? This is not even a Filipino ‘thing’, it’s pretty much an ‘all Asian’ thing … if you want to live here you have to remember that it is not only your right to bargain, it is your responsibility … it’s part of the ‘game of life’ … and a game is no fun if the people don’t play.
I can say this with assurance. If I truly thought that it was a standard thing’ to screw the foreigner here in the Philippines, I would leave tomorrow. I would not find it enjoyable to live somewhere where that was truly the way of life … and there are way to many other countries that I could choose from.
hi ,
yes , it is true that pilipinos most often charge foriegners higher than anybody else , local government has no extra people to help stop these kind of game , most local vendors are not even registered . in short you people from other countries you need to do a lot of research . in order to get the right price , sometimes you need to pretend that you already know the cost of fare ( for example ) but also you can ask secretely to a fellow passenger ( if you dont know ) . there is a sitting limits of fare cost but but only followed by honest people, do not ask too many question to the drivers , instead go to a near by store and ask question , they are the best help you can get . also the nicer you show to them the better you get a favor .
All good advice. I really think your last sentence ought to be printed on a card and handed to all vsitors when they leave the airport. If you don’t think you are getting charged the right price, ask a third party, in a polite, non-confrontational way … and if you think a vendor is trying to rip you off, based on knowledge of what it should cost, just talk to him or her … even with a smile or a joke thrown in. Getting mad never helps, if they won’t change their price, then just walk off .. it’s not worth an argument. It’s nothing personal, and it isn’t even always foreigner-related either … I could write a sozen articles about things I have observed where Filipinos are shamelessly ripping off other Filipinos. Theerare bad people everywhere, and they may not even care or even notice you are a foreigner. And often another Filipino will go out of their way to jump in and defend the foreigner … I’m very grateful already for afew times when this has happened to me, directly … some stranger jumping and and saying, “Sir, that’s not the right price”
Can’t say I have never been ripped off, I’m sure I have been, but overall, I enjoy shopping and doing business here. The honest and helpful people, in my own expereince anyway, have far outnumbered the ’scalawags’.
Philly , Ken , Homer , Paul ,what part of philippines are you in? I really appreciate to hear people say a good thing about my country but also need to be said the other side of it so other people that would like to visit or stay in my country will have enough clue about the place . hope you guys have a good time during your stay and be careful wherever you go because philippines is not the same as it use to be during my childhood , you maybe not know about the changes but yes , it is true .
Hi Julie, thanks for visiting and for your comments. Yes I am sure the Philippines has changed … all countries do, certainly my own beloved USA is so different than when i was a child that it almost seems foreign to me now … but what particularly are you advising us to be careful of here in the Philippines?
Some time back I recall writing a post on relative safety here and in the US .. I think I need to write another. In the three years (nearly) I’ve lived here a lot of ‘crimes’ have happened around me. The Tanod came out and hualed a guy off for slapping his wife around, a car got ‘carnapped’ while a neighbor left it running in front of his house, I left an old padlock unlocked and hanging on my front gate and it ‘walked away’. Quite a few incidents like that. In the same time, how many school shootings, gym shootings, shopping mall shootings, even (just this morning) how many bored toll tellers had their heads bown off in the US becuase someone was PO’d and took out their frustration with a gun?
You know, something bad could happen t me or anyone else … none of us can predict the future … but one of the reasons I choose not to live in the US any more is the level of violence and angry frustration most Americans have grown to think of as normal. Personally, I feel a lot safer here.