One of the things people always come here looking for are up to date costs. Here are a few items, from a sale circular I just picked up at the local SM Hypermarket. SM is the largest chain of department stores in the Philippines … here’s a map with the current locations … I think they opened two more already since I made this map … and Hypermarket is sort of their Wal*Mart equivalent … a discount store in most all of the SM Malls, with particular emphasis on food … it’s where we do the majority of our food shopping and a great many Filipinos do, too. The prices are in Philippine pesos, of course. The bank exchange rate today is right at 42 Pesos to the US dollar, 86.9 Pesos to the GBP, 61.7 to the Euro and 36.8 to the Australian dollar. This is the best place online for conversion rates: www.xe.com/ucc/ … better that you convert as you’re reading becuase the exchange rate is liable to change much faster than the prices in Philippine Pesos.
Promac 29" true-flat TV, cable ready, stereo ……………. 10,999
Promac 16 inch, 3-speed desktop fan ……………………. 599
Dowell 18 inch floor fan, 3 speed …………………………. 899
Nikon 4 cup rise cooker …………………………………… 499
Marubishi 2 burner counter top gas stove ………………. 499
American Home .7 cu ft microwave oven ……………….. 2,499
Camel 3 cycle washing machine ………………………….. 1,999
Alonah living room set, 2 armchairs, 3 pax sofa …………. 10,999
Kachina bedroom set, queen bed, night tables, wardrobe 12,999
Kachina kids study desk …………………………………… 1,299
Mariah 4 seat dining set … table, 4 chairs ………………. 4,499
Uratex thin foam mattress, queen ……………………….. 2,699
Cozy Denime folding playpen ……………………………… 2,300
100g M&M candy ————————————————— 60
Alactagrow toddlers formula mix . 800g ………………….. 270
Coke, 1.5 liter bottle ……………………………………… 32
Magnolia 1 liter "fresh’ milk … tetrapack ……………….. 65
Pampers, newborn size, 18 pack ………………………… 170
Pampers, large baby size, 38 pack ……………………….. 255
Colgate toothpaste, 150 gram ……………………………. 75
Cook Best vegetable oil, 1 liter ………………………….. 70
Golden Valley whole kernal canned corn 425g ………….. 25
Cubed pork, 500g …………………………………………. 68
Ground pork, 500g ……………………………………….. 70
Cut up chicken parts, 500g ………………………………. 58
Pullman white bread, 500g loaf ………………………….. 42
Small cantaloupe ………………………………………….. 60
Tide detergent, 1,5 kilo plastic pack ……………………. 182
Tricycle ride to and from the store, each way …………. 30
Shell Dieselline, 1 liter, (in case you drive yourself as I do 37
Last month’s water bill, came in today …………………… 354
This month’s cable TV bill …………………………………. 550
Last month’s electric bill …………………………………. 4,230
Anyway, enough for now. This is kind of a random selection that will give you ideas, if anyone wants specific prices I will try to dig them up for you. Just don’t ask me "the budget for an "average" family" … what you will spend and what i will spend per month will vary widely. Let me know if this helped anyone.
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Thanks for that. I’ll update my spreadsheet.
Hi Philly – I found one thing very interesting in your price list above. Notice that SM is now advertising meats in quantities of 500g! In the past, they always advertised in 1Kg quantities. However, prices on meat have gone up so much that in order to make the price look good, they advertise half the quantity. The prices that you show for 500g are roughly the same as a kilogram was when I first moved to the Philippines about 7 1/2 years ago.
Hello Laurence, thasks for the kind words. Let me know if there is are any other specific items you’d like to know the costs on. I was out in the provinces yesterday I have some additional updates regarding regional differences.
Hi Bob,
yes I should have pointed that out. Eeven just a few years ago nearly everything sold by weight was priced by the kilo. For the non-Metrics out there just think of a kilo (1000 grams) as two pounds and 500g as a pound … good enough until after morning coffee kicks in, anyway.
Anyway, nearly nothing is marked by the kilo peice any more … it’s always 500g or even 250g for more expensive things. It’s a very subtle form of inflation … or hiding inflation from the comnsumer.
the Indian Rupee is about Rs 40 to $1 USD. however, i think things in india are slightly more expensive than in the phillipines.
lucky you!
Hi Living. In general things must be substantially more expensive in India, because much off the Philippines business expansion in the past few years has been call center/BPO outfits moving part or all of their business from India to the Philippines. They wouldn’t be making moves like this unless they could save substantially.