Cost of living in the Philippines

[keithAngel]

My G/F earns about 10,000 a month

4000 rent
1500 electric
1000 internet

whats left pays for jeepny food ect (she gets fed at work)

my thoughts are to rent a better place and start with doubling that budjet and see what happens

Doonat you electric projection is at least 55kw per day wow and water more than current rent fuel costs 650 miles a month

[joebloggs]

average expenses of a medium sized family in metro manila to live a comfy life in philippine pesos: (£1 = 83 pesos)

* brand new car w/ all the basic stuff is 500k-800k pesos, 2nd hand car or smuggled car is 150k-400k in good working condition. luxury car 1M & above. (american & japanese cars)
* large lcd tv costs twice the price in uk (like lcd tv 80k-250k).
* electric bill (w/ aircon, no frost ref, washing machine, ironing, etc...) expect from 10k-15k a month depends on the usage
* maid, separate cook, gardener or baby sitter is 1500-3500 per month (you can have as many as you want all-around maids can usually do all the jobs)
* diesel or gas approx 2,000 a week if you dont want to ride the famous jeep of tricycle (aircon consumes much)
* cable and telephone w/ broadband 2,500 a month
* water bill 4,000+ monthly (excluding swimming pool)
* food & other necessities 500-1000 a day (depends on the quality of the items you buy, eat outs, etc... mall prices are much expensive)
* as for shopping: branded clothes & shoes are way cheaper in the phils
* haircut 200 pesos, dentist 500 per visit, spa costs 200-5k per session
* surgical enhancement 25k - 250k per area

hope this helps. pretty much 30k-50k a month is enough but depends on your location, outside metro manila can save you atleast 25%.

me and the misses send her aunt, 20,000php a month to live off, and that's also for my stepson and his cousin to live off in palawan, we did send 30k while they were in manila.

as for when we move over there, i'm thinking of renting the house out here (say we get £300-ish a month after agency etc get a cut), using savings and sending the misses out to work (hope she gets 40k+php a month).

[doonat]

Hi Doonat

I was posting my reply at the same time as you.

Having seen your excellent post I would not have posted mine.

Thanks, really useful

[doonat]

No disrespect to the filipina who married to the westener but is seems they add up to much of living expenses in the philippines. i would say u 'll live comfi in a little budget of ur own.dont exaggerate to much of it,,,,,

topic starter says:
Excluding rent, how much would you need to live a comfortable life, UK standards?

im actually referring to a "comfy life" (based on my aunt's way of living in manila) and not the "standard way of living". surely we filipinos can live with just under 5k-10k pesos a month, use electric fan instead of aircondition, manual hand washing instead of washing machine, 1 drum of water for a day, cook 1 meal for the day, ride public utility vehicles, etc...

exaggerated as it is but that's how convenient life is in uk and i would suggest that range of expenses. you can always change your lifestyle, depends on where you want to stay. just like in the uk, countrside is much cheaper compared to cities.

[doonat]

My G/F earns about 10,000 a month

4000 rent
1500 electric
1000 internet

whats left pays for jeepny food ect (she gets fed at work)

my thoughts are to rent a better place and start with doubling that budjet and see what happens

Doonat you electric projection is at least 55kw per day wow and water more than current rent fuel costs 650 miles a month

as for electricity you may want to check this site http://meralco.com.ph/ consumption or kilowatt per month seems fine but wait till you see the entire bill: additional 12% EVAT and other fees, system loss charge, .....

for the fuel consumption, its not how far can the car go coz traffic and aircondition system eats a lot of the petrol.

ok, water maybe a bit exag but not far from "living the comfy way"

[andypaul]

Am i correct in thinking that there is only one Elec company in phill as prices rise i would think they will rise far higher there than elsewhere in the world if so.

I noticed the Aircon kills petrol consumption also due to the roads its stop start which is far more costly on fuel consumption.

Keith angel dont forget Kano tax you may be lucky and avoid most of it but it can strike at anytime.

Also worth bearing in mind, will you be using a pc, getting a decent tv,hi fi, microwave and aircon even if it is only used for Emgencies.
Im also convinced the "Bell Wire ring main" found in many phill houses adds a little extra to each months bills as well.

Many households water uses a elec to pump it in from what i have seen this can add a great deal to the bill.

Im puzzled by how much the elec bills comes to but its with a family who try and keep all electricty use to a minimum its still scary.

[fred]

One of our tenants use the 1 hp AC quite a lot..there bill averages on the 7,000 mark.
I suppose the average bill for 18 units is around the 2,800 a month...
Someone told Meralco that we had illegal connections..so they came around with the police just to be dissapointed of course..
That didnt stop them checking a neighbouring apartment building however where they were not dissapointed..P50,000 fine it seems.
I wonder why they didnt notice that the sub div street lights bypassed the meter?

[Mrs.JMajor]

I remember this thread,almost the same like your question http://filipinaroses.com/showthread.php?t=6898