Once again time to revisit the ever popular, “What does it cost to live in the Philippines” question. I’m the first one to admit I do not do much in the budgeting line. I never was big on budgeting and my circumstances are currently such that I’m ‘comfortable’. I also need to put in a plug here for one of my favorite themes … how much it costs to live in the Philippines, especially as a retiree is one of the last questions you should be asking, not the first. If you are alive and reading these words in the US today, you can live cheaper in the Philippines, that much is for certain. Can you live ‘the same’? Can you live as comfortably … more comfortably? Can you even ‘fir in’ here in the Philippines as a foreigner? Those are the million-dollar questions, friends, not how much is a bottle of San Miguel beer (about 40cents in the corner store, 60 cents up to the sky is the limit in bars).
Philippine Cost of Living — US retiree, Metro Manila area, May 2009
Given that I already mentioned I wasn’t big on keeping a budget, I spent a couple hours the other day doing my best to actively go though the last couple months bills and get a good handle on where our money is going. One reason for this is we have a new member of the household, one of our nieces will be staying with us while she goes to college in Manila. The other reason is we are going to be investing a lot in our Zambales properties over the next few years and I wanted to be sure I had a comfortable cushion. So I really gave it the old college try to pin down just about all i could account for. (I already noticed something I left off .. cell phone charges about P150 a month for me and P300 a month for my wife). If there are any other glaring omissions, or things you aren’t sure of, just contact me and I’ll do my best tor straighten it up. (Just click the image below and the whole spreadsheet will open in an easy to view size.)
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Hi Dave – in response to the ever popular post, I’d like to give my ever popular reply – Thanks!!
I see a few things being different for us, as I’m sure most would, but overall it provides a good basis. I’m pretty sure I’d have to go with a faster (read more expensive) internet plan, as I’m used to much, much faster. I suspect that the speed to price ratio will continue to improve there, as it has here. So by the time we’re ready to settle, it most likely won’t be a concern.
What does the p100 PhilHealth plan get you?
Hi Randy, thanks for reading and for your comments. I did get a heck of a chuckle out of this one, though. Apparently you think I’m using this Internet provide rplan becuase it’s cheap? ha ha ha. There are ways to pay more for DSL plans, either wired or wireless, but they don’t really go any faster. Believe me, if I could find a better plan I’d be on it .. I paid a little over twice what I pay here when I was in the States for 10 or 20 times the speed and I would dearly love to pay that much again .. if it was actually available. In general there _is_ no high speed Internet.
Here’s the deal. There are plans that charge you more for a higher speed between you home and the provider’s router, but those are pointless. A very simple traceroute test shows where the delay is, and it isn’t in the ‘last mile’ link. In point of fact my nominal 256k runs at multi-mega byte speed between my house and the first server … but that’s where the speed ends.
Like everything else on the Internet YMMV, buI don’t think you’re going to find anything faster. The main Internet rrunks to the Philippines are just too small, in my opinion, coupled with the fact that some many companies here have their servers in the US (cheaper that way), so every time someone clicks a mouse here, the data has to travel to the US and then back again, 24-7.
Yeah, I did figure you were using a slower plan to save money. That’s not a pretty picture you painted. Good thing, at least in regards to this, that I’m not planning on moving anytime soon. It can only get better (at least I think so)
Hi Randy – Like Dave, I chuckled when I read this… Dave is exactly right, Dave (and I) are subscribed at this speed, because that is what you can get! I had a similar conversation with another friend yesterday who recently moved to the Philippines. He is paying for a 512k plan, and was upset that his actual throughput was only about 200k. Well… my friend… I am sorry, but what you are getting is typical.
Yep, Randy, what Dave says is exactly right.
Thanks for ‘rining in’ Bob. I thought I recalled an earlier converstaion when you discivered that after actually being forced to use a lower speed service you found you never had been gettiing the high speed service you had been payingfor in the first place … but I didn’t want to get my fcats twisted. Truly, the Internet situation here is one of the only things htat have made me seriously consider moving back to the States ..and it is one of the primary reasons I’m moving a lot of my efforts into off0-line things.
It’s a significant issue and there is no immediate relief in sight, becuase as far as the ‘big three’ internet providers are cncerned they are doing just fine, raking in the cash.
I don’t even think it is a case of greed or crookedness to a large extent it is just the fact that many high level folks in the Internet business here would not know good service if they saw it … they honestly think they are providing good service and to the letter of the law they actually are.
The ISP’s job is to connect subscribers from their home to the Internet backbone, and my provider does that, often at speeds much higher than my plan calls for..
After you enter the higher level Internet backbone you are not the ISP’s responsibility, indeed the ISP is just another ‘user’.anyway. … no one ‘owns’ the Internet and no one is truly iin charge of it.
Dave
I appreciate the detailed expense account, I got a good laugh out of the pedicure funds.
What type of housing does that get you? Do you have to put all your stuff up on milk crates when it Rains/Floods?
Hi Neal,
Thanks for dropping by … yes it’s pretty nice to have the manicure/pedicure/hair stylist lady come by on a regular basis …and no she gets no money from me with her hair talents
Our house is part of a purpose-built subdivision from the1980′s to provide affordable housing for Central Bank and other government employees. The house is common reinforced hollow block construction with a GI roof and steel casement windows. The living area is works out to about 1,000 square feet, three bedrooms, one bath, walled (tiny) lot and room for two cars off street. All our strets are paved, curbed, storm-drained, street lir, etc. Our particular street is closed by a gate (which I have a key for) at ne end to eliminate noisy ‘pass through traffic, it’s now very quiet and effectively a cul-de-sac for residents only. We are about 2 km drive from an SM mall and 2km from an intercgange with the North Luzon Expressway. When, as an if the once fully funded North Rail system gets completed we’ll be 2 kn from the nearest light rail station, “If Only”.
Flooding is an iten of concern all over the Philippines. This street does not flood … in 30 years it hasn’t, anyway. Other streets, even nearby have significant problems in heavy rain … again this is common, you must _ask_ before you rent or buy.
Dave – great job on the way you did the expense list, best I’ve ever seen.
TY Bob, except for the stuff I forgot it worked well, didn’t it?
That’s straight from Excel and I tried to remember to ‘normalize’ everything to monthly costs ..in other words is you pay weekly the only accurate thing to do is multiply by 52 and then divide by 12, since months have differing numbers of weeks. I actually came to realize i am spending more than I thought LoL
I’m actually waiting for some commnts on my ‘savings first’ idea, some accountants wouldn’t even want it presented that way, but it does refelct the way I work … everyhting that comes into my US bank immediately gets a percentage ransferred to a special savings accunt that my AM card can’t access. If people wait to see what’s left at the end of the month there won’t be any savings… and there is no better feeling than having a few shekels in the bank … makes life a lot more relaxed
Nice Dave our budget is slightly smaller but i have three in school and yes Bob i am upgrading to the wired 2 mbps for 1995 grrr
Thanks, Tommy. Hope the higher speed service works for you, it wouldn’t be of much value for me, I don’t think, as the throughput won’t be any higher.
If you care to .. general terms are fine .. where is your monthly budget less? One of the biggest budget questions is always ‘is it cheaper in or near the bg cities’, or in the provinces’? And the answer really always seems to be … it depends.
well Dave i did do some comparison and for instance, our monthly rent for a 2bd 1 ba home is 4000, no yard maint, no vehicle hence no costs no tolls here, no prescription costs but balikbayan every three months but that send alot including scripts free so 100 us every three months slightly higher food costs but then again we are feeding 6 plus visitors but it all averages out in my opinion your guideis a realistic good one,
Phil that looks pretty accurate to me, but of course so much depends on on personal tastes and expectations. You’ve left out the unexpected, which always seem to come out at 5 – 10,000 a month at our place. This year I can think of new super-duper quality denture for my partner (9K and worth every peso), new puppy (10K), vet’s fees for said puppy before the poor little bugger succumbed to the distemper she was allegedly immunised against (5K), and so on. None of these was essential, strictly speaking, but life would be pretty grim if we couldn’t afford them.
Plus help for the family of course, not in response to demands but just for the pleasure of making their lives a bit better. That normally runs about 5K a month but I’m sure there’ll be major emergency sooner or later that will cost a motza (getting the stepfather-in-law our of jail cost 3K a while back … I was quite happy to leave him there indefinitely but the family was rather agitated).
Then again I don’t regard saving as part of my budget; I save from my Australian income in $A and make a budget for spending in pesos from what is left over. My bottom line is 40K a month. If I can’t afford that, I’d have to go back to Australia with its welfare safety net. Fortunately that doesn’t appear likely unless the global economy does a repeat of 2008.
Ingat, Ken