Choice - living in the UK or Philippines?

[Tawi2]

Well,theres a big difference between a holiday and an extended stay,you have to be there for a while,get your feet under the table before the cracks start to appear Living there is a whole different ballgame from having a month in the sun,its like the difference between a honeymoon and 10 years of marriage But all of the wives will say its great because they want to retire back there but in 30 years time the countries population will have doubled and with double population comes double the amount of social issues and problems

[Northerner]

...but in 30 years time the countries population will have doubled and with double population comes double the amount of social issues and problems

As an Englishman, I think I should retire in spain somewhere and grow old and grumpy complaining about "that foreign muck they call food"

[Tawi2]

As an Englishman, I think I should retire in spain somewhere and grow old and grumpy complaining about "that foreign muck they call food"

Thats my gameplan,spain,but I eat "Foreign muck" so I will be cool

[Northerner]

Thats my gameplan,spain,but I eat "Foreign muck" so I will be cool

I have a brother in law who is a typical brit abroad. Pizza is too foreign for him...

[johncar54]

As an Englishman, I think I should retire in spain somewhere and grow old and grumpy complaining about "that foreign muck they call food"

I have lived in Spain just over 20 years. My wife has been here just over 3.
I don't want to return to UK, probably ever. My wife says she wants to stay here for ever.

Of course, the fall in the euro is a problem at present.

I have a friend here, 87 yrs old, who only has his OAP, he is selling up to go to Pattaya (Thailand). Where there is a large ex-pat community and where his £400 a month will go three times as far. Having been there, its not that different from a town on the Costa del Sol, just cheaper.

We have friends there and a good 2 bed apartment is about £18,000.

[aposhark]

As an Englishman, I think I should retire in spain somewhere and grow old and grumpy complaining about "that foreign muck they call food"

I lived in Spain for quite a while.

Spanish food is excellent.

It's the English "restaurants" that sell awful food

[johncar54]

I lived in Spain for quite a while.

Spanish food is excellent.

It's the English "restaurants" that sell awful food

Having lived in Spain just over 20 years, I thought Grumpy's remark was a joke. (that is was meant as a joke).

Some restaurants are better than others, but a good class one is a good restaurant. A bar run by a person with no experience of running such a business is usually a disaster.

We have an English bar nearby where my wife and her friends have eaten a few days. It's English owned and run. She likes the food and lunch, with a soft drink is 4 euros (£3.60). A half of beer or a good 'machine coffee' is 80 cents about 71 pence. And those prices in sterling are only that high because of the lack of confidence the world has in the UK economy, Thanks Gordon!

[bornatbirth]

As an Englishman, I think I should retire in spain somewhere and grow old and grumpy complaining about "that foreign muck they call food"

i was under the impression when someone from the uk moves to spain that they like everything to be english including there food?

that is one country i will never move too,to many english there.

i cant understand why anyone would move to spain to live in a neighbourhood full of english people?

[somebody]

Well,theres a big difference between a holiday and an extended stay,you have to be there for a while,get your feet under the table before the cracks start to appear Living there is a whole different ballgame from having a month in the sun,its like the difference between a honeymoon and 10 years of marriage But all of the wives will say its great because they want to retire back there but in 30 years time the countries population will have doubled and with double population comes double the amount of social issues and problems

Indeed and sadly it would seem things in Phill have been to calm and peaceful for a while now. With GMA being booted out soon, you do just wonder whats round the corner. I bet all the top Manila Hotels will be nervously looking out for Tanks though the reception

Im not sure if all the Wifes want to go back my Wife is happy to go back whenever but i know for various reasons she quite enjoys the UK so i think it would be more a case of six months here and there.

[ukgangster]

It's a bit of a no win situation really - it may be cheaper to live in the Philippines, especially in the provinces, but you do need a fair bit of capital to tide you over, buy a house, a business to generate income, etc. Then theres health considerations - its free in the UK, but not in Philippines, and what happens if it all goes wrong, you gotta come back and start all over again.

Having lived abroad in Malta and Spain for a period of 2 - 3 years and being a typical Sagittarius, I'd have no problem adjusting. Add to that Elsa and I already have a house and a small jeepney in Tacloban, it should be painless if we decide to go.

[somebody]

It's a bit of a no win situation really - it may be cheaper to live in the Philippines, especially in the provinces, but you do need a fair bit of capital to tide you over, buy a house, a business to generate income, etc. Then theres health considerations - its free in the UK, but not in Philippines, and what happens if it all goes wrong, you gotta come back and start all over again.

Having lived abroad in Malta and Spain for a period of 2 - 3 years and being a typical Sagittarius, I'd have no problem adjusting. Add to that Elsa and I already have a house and a small jeepney in Tacloban, it should be painless if we decide to go.

I can see your point soon we will have New Houses we are renovating or buliding three bulidings two in one location and one in another (not all for us i hasten to add!) on land we have plus plenty of income partly due to smart, petron and sm potentially plus farms and other smaller businesses paying rents on the Land the Wife has out there.

I think in five years we could live ok lifestle but i would never feel comfortable. Just as I didn't feel comfortable when the wife was on a spouse visa and then a ILR. From what i understand us Brits or "aliens" can never have the same rights as phills in their country.

[pennybarry]

As of now I prefer to live in UK to work and save.
Hubby also prefers to live in Pinas anytime.
Still young to retire.

How I wish to have a bigger house with big veranda overlooking Mom's farm, close to SM in a peaceful village.

[aposhark]

It's a bit of a no win situation really - it may be cheaper to live in the Philippines, especially in the provinces, but you do need a fair bit of capital to tide you over, buy a house, a business to generate income, etc. Then theres health considerations - its free in the UK, but not in Philippines, and what happens if it all goes wrong, you gotta come back and start all over again.

Having lived abroad in Malta and Spain for a period of 2 - 3 years and being a typical Sagittarius, I'd have no problem adjusting. Add to that Elsa and I already have a house and a small jeepney in Tacloban, it should be painless if we decide to go.

Hi Rob, have you done any research on health insurance if you ever decide to go there? That seems like the biggest problem to me.