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Do you think a salary of 40,000 Philippines Peso a month could get you a comfortable life in Makati as a 22-year-old single expat?
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It depends on what you consider comfortable. A studio apartment at a modern building in Makati will run you around 20,000 p a month with utilities and Internet. That would give you a 20 to 25 sq m. Room in a high rise with pool, gym and a common area. I lived in SM Jazz in a one bedroom and it was 25,000 plus electricity (2000 – 3000) per month. Food will cost you anywhere between 200 and 1000 a day. 200 woukd be you cooking or eating local foods from street vendors. Sit down meals in a restaurant will take you well over the 1000 per day. Then you need to add in phone, entertainment and. Other costs. A western type of lifestyle in Makati with not having to watch every peso will cost you 80,000 to 100, 000 per month. If you live like a local you can do it. That means sharing a room or in what they call a bed space. A dorm room with 6 or 8 others in bunk beds, no aircon will be around 5,000. Street foods will be say 300 a day so room and food can run you 15,000 per month. I hope you like rice and do not like fresh fruits and veggies at this level. Don’t forget health insurance costs, visa fees etc. These can add up quickly. If 40,000 is your salary, remember that there will be income taxes to pay on that. This will be variable depending on the source of your funds. Be careful on how you earn your funds and your immigration and work visa status. I have heard of video bloggers, those making their income from YouTube videos on living here, being hit for taxes and work permit violations. Outside of metro Manila you can live well on that. In a provincial town you can find one bedrooms, western standard, for 10000 to 15000. Just stay away from tourist areas as the prices go up dramatically. A couple of years ago I had a one bedroom town house, 50 sq m furnished for 8000 plus 2000 electricity in Butuan City. I could have been under 20,000 a month for room and food. Right now I a m in Moalboal Cebu province. I am in a nice one bedroom Airbnb rental. It is around 25000 a month. I could get 6 month rentals for under 20,000 all in. Add in 10,000 for food and you have a not bad lifestyle for less than your 40,000 budget.
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I don’t think so. The problem is that at 22 years old you will probably want to get about and see the country and you wont have additional finances coming in. You could live like a typical local, but I doubt that you’d want to. It is very hot here and if you are an expat from a first world country you will be used to all of the things that are normal in that country. Makati is also the most expensive part of Manila. Most expats that I know live in apartments that cost between 100,000 and 250,000 pesos per month, a few are in bigger houses in the private villages where prices range from about 150,000 to 1,000,000 a month and some live in apartments on the outskirts where the prices are between 25,000 and 120,000pm. I do know people who have found neat little apartments in central Makati that costs just 40k per month but they are not that common. So, the bottom line is that it depends on what you call “Comfortably” ? You could live on sort of money but not comfortably imho and once you factor in rent, food, utilities, getting about etc you won’t have much left.