Foreigners living in the Philippines

[junior02]

There is a wide variety of expats in the Philippines, living all over. Some who spend the winters here, some who work here, some who have retired here with money and some who have retired without money and then there are quite a few like me who work at sea or offshore.
You can live very cheaply here, and some people do live off a few hundred pound a month quite successfully. The bare essentials are quite cheap, and in the province you can live comfortably with a maid to help the day to day lifestyle.
If you want to live well, the costs do go up. I sometimes feel that it costs more for our lifestyle here then it did in the UK. Our electricity bill this month was 240 pounds, attributed to our air con and jacuzzi pumps.
As for high standard medical facilities, there are a few, but only in the major cities of Manila and Cebu (possibly Davao as well). But this isn't cheap, so you would be well to have insurance.

There are quite a few people who live life looking through the bottom of a san mig glass here, but many people live life to the full, whether its diving, boat trips, running businesses etc.

£240 a month for electric, are you sure, my electric bill in are 3bed house is never more than 3000 peso per month with aircon on most of time also tv and other things on more than 12 hours a day. and my tubig bill is never over 600 peso a month, and we use a lot of tubig..

[malditako]

£240 a month for electric, are you sure, my electric bill in are 3bed house is never more than 3000 peso per month with aircon on most of time also tv and other things on more than 12 hours a day. and my tubig bill is never over 600 peso a month, and we use a lot of tubig..

he probably live in a mansion with centralized aircondition, a nice garden to run with electric fountains etc, eelctric water pump,..etc..etc..etc...

[junior02]

he probably live in a mansion with centralized aircondition, a nice garden to run with electric fountains etc, eelctric water pump,..etc..etc..etc...

maybe he has, but i still cant see that it would cost £240or around 16500peso per month for electric, unless you have a big business premises to run..

[rani]

maybe he has, but i still cant see that it would cost £240or around 16500peso per month for electric, unless you have a big business premises to run..

most of my friends spend that big in electricity coz aircons are "on" simultaneously every night and sometimes during the daytime when its really hot... my monthly bill is more than 6k a month for just one aircon bedroom condo unit here in pasig

you can save on electricity if you live outside manila where you can still get "cooler" air at night... i spent 4k a month when i lived in cainta (2 storey with 3 bedrooms) coz we rarely used aircon

[junior02]

most of my friends spend that big in electricity coz aircons are "on" simultaneously every night and sometimes during the daytime when its really hot... my monthly bill is more than 6k a month for just one aircon bedroom condo unit here in pasig

you can save on electricity if you live outside manila where you can still get "cooler" air at night... i spent 4k a month when i lived in cainta (2 storey with 3 bedrooms) coz we rarely used aircon

thank god i didnt buy a house or condo in manila or cebu, its so much cheaper in the province and also so much cheaper here in england. i can understand now why hotels that are a very low standerd even the top hotels in rp are more expensive than a lot of countries around the world...

[rani]

thank god i didnt buy a house or condo in manila or cebu, its so much cheaper in the province and also so much cheaper here in england. i can understand now why hotels that are a very low standerd even the top hotels in rp are more expensive than a lot of countries around the world...

you've made a right decision junior

its better to invest in tagaytay and baguio probably... cool air and away from the harm of floods

davao is a nice place too!

[junior02]

you've made a right decision junior

its better to invest in tagaytay and baguio probably... cool air and away from the harm of floods

davao is a nice place too!

i didnt buy in tagaytay or baguio, our house is in guimaras, its prob more init ther but electric seems to be much cheaper compared with what you and rickyr posted about the cost in manila and cebu, so aircon on most 24hrs a day, well thats wen im ther.. wife likes it more init..

[junior02]

most of my friends spend that big in electricity coz aircons are "on" simultaneously every night and sometimes during the daytime when its really hot... my monthly bill is more than 6k a month for just one aircon bedroom condo unit here in pasig

you can save on electricity if you live outside manila where you can still get "cooler" air at night... i spent 4k a month when i lived in cainta (2 storey with 3 bedrooms) coz we rarely used aircon

hi rani, cgaro u need malaki kwarta to live in manila, cuz the bills pinkaka mahal dba..

[rani]

hi rani, cgaro u need malaki kwarta to live in manila, cuz the bills pinkaka mahal dba..

well, it really depends on how comfortable you wanna live... but yes, its kinda expensive here considering that you get all the pollutions... and the crazy robbers are everywhere

[junior02]

well, it really depends on how comfortable you wanna live... but yes, its kinda expensive here considering that you get all the pollutions... and the crazy robbers are everywhere

maybe u should get a bodyguard cgaro 8000 per month ther in manila

[Steve.r]

the crazy robbers are everywhere

You are right, i just had a call from my mahal, she tells me the police are at her house right now as her mother disturbed a thief who has stolen her sari sari store money 10000 piso and all her jewelery. I think an inside job as the dogs apparently never barked and the thief knew exactly where to look. He never took the laptop or video camera though or hurt her mum thank god!!

[RickyR]

£240 a month for electric, are you sure, my electric bill in are 3bed house is never more than 3000 peso per month with aircon on most of time also tv and other things on more than 12 hours a day. and my tubig bill is never over 600 peso a month, and we use a lot of tubig..

Yes, unfortunately. We have a 5 bedroom house, and because of the children we have 3 air con units running thorughout the night, and normally 1 or 2 running all day. The jacuzzi pumps are run every few days, the water cooler, reefer and computers are running pretty much continuously. Water heaters running quite a lot of the time.

VECO Bill 15,323 PHP

Usage this month 1810 kWh
Avg kWh/day 58.39

To be honest, if your retired and have no family with you, you can probably live for a lot less. I'm here with my family, we need to live within a reasonable distance of an Accredited International School and I expect a certain standard of living wherever I live, and thus we live very comfortably. Generally most of the outgoings aren't excessive, but the electricity bill is the killer with the air con. There are options such as solar panels, ceiling fans etc.

[Pete/London]

Generally most of the outgoings aren't excessive, but the electricity bill is the killer with the air con. There are options such as solar panels, ceiling fans etc.

We built an annex at the back of my in laws place and kitted it out with aircon, water cooler, fridge etc and for just a couple or rooms we can expect the bill to be approx £100 for the month. when we leave they turn it all off and they dont use their own fridge to cut the costs.
Just before the millenium I tried to start a business of importing air con and solar panels from Japan and Australia but never got off the ground. It was so difficult to get any knowledge of importation costs, taxes etc that I now understand why the PI doesn`t progress like its neighbours, and why big companies from the above countries have not made much headway. Solar panels could make such a difference there but it would be opposed by vested interests, plus the fact that although screwed down they would probably vanish within a week.

[malditako]

Yes, unfortunately. We have a 5 bedroom house, and because of the children we have 3 air con units running thorughout the night, and normally 1 or 2 running all day. The jacuzzi pumps are run every few days, the water cooler, reefer and computers are running pretty much continuously. Water heaters running quite a lot of the time.

VECO Bill 15,323 PHP

Usage this month 1810 kWh
Avg kWh/day 58.39

To be honest, if your retired and have no family with you, you can probably live for a lot less. I'm here with my family, we need to live within a reasonable distance of an Accredited International School and I expect a certain standard of living wherever I live, and thus we live very comfortably. Generally most of the outgoings aren't excessive, but the electricity bill is the killer with the air con. There are options such as solar panels, ceiling fans etc.

the way u described ur consumptions tells me ur electric bill is fair enough to pay in phils...compare to mine when i was in phils...just one aircondition running and am paying 100 to 140 a month...

[jimeve]

Best thing to do is buy a beach lot and build a nipper hut on it, it will be that cool you'll need hot water bottles at night.

[stevewool]

Best thing to do is buy a beach lot and build a nipper hut on it, it will be that cool you'll need hot water bottles at night.

thats my thought too just have to find the right place

[katerry]

ur coming from what place in southwest england?