Heres our monthly costs in central Cebu. We will in a 5 bedroom house with a Jacuzzi, in a non secure subdivision.

House Rental: 590.00 Pounds
Electricity: 220.00 Pounds
Broadband 3mbps: 38.00 Pounds
Maid: 73 pounds
Drinking Water: 11 pounds
Kids Schooling: 150
Car Fuel: 58.00

Second Hand Cars are expensive to buy here, they cost about 25 % to 50 % more then in the UK. New car prices for Asian cars are fairly similar to the UK prices.

Visa extension costs are around 60 pounds a time. Medical costs are something that you really need to insure for, and that can cost you about 2000 pounds a year for something decent with repatriation.

General going out, eating and drinking isn't anywhere near as cheap as it used to be because of the exchange rate, but its still a bit cheaper.

Our costs are high because we have air con and a family house, when we lived in Marikina we rented a beautiful 3 bedroom apartment for 150 pounds a month which had a communal pool.

House prices in Cebu are slightly inflated, but you can still find some excellent deals. You can get a beautiful seafront house in a subdivision outside Cebu City (around 30 minutes) for 170,000 pounds.

On some of hte other islands, and plaes like Bohol where Fred lives, your money will go much much further.