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As an expat in the Philippines, what are your monthly expenses?
badaboom10
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As an expat in the Philippines, what are your monthly expenses?
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I’ve lived in the Philippines for about 10 years, but in higher expense type of places, like Makati, and middle expensive places, like Paranaque. From what I understand, living on other islands have a completely different, much lower base for expenses. If you get outside the metro area, real estate costs, including rental get lower. If you are living on an island not near a metro area, like Manila, Cebu, Davao, etc. house/condo rental is very cheap. In the Manila metro area, condo/house rental can vary from 20K to 250K per month for foreigners. I understand some expats living in the provincial/ undeveloped area might pay as low as 5k/10k per month. Electricity is probably at or near the most expensive in the world, all fuel for the power plants is imported. So, another 5k/10k or more for electricity. If you use lots of aircon, much higher can be expected. Cable/intranet can be from 500–2500 per month, depending. Fiber is available in some areas, cable in most metro areas. In the province, you might have to get satellite service. Mobile / cell service is relatively cheap, maybe $10–50 per month, depending upon usage. I was paying $200 for AT&T in Chicago. Water/garbage collection, etc. are negligible. Food is variable. If you like US quality beef, it is very expensive. If you eat pork/chicken, it’s very cheap. Most fish is much cheaper than in most of the US. Good prawns/shrimp, $8–12/kilo. Local beef is for stewing only, and still fairly expensive. Vegetables are twice as expensive as the supermarket in the US/UK. Food is also less expensive outside the metro areas. If you eat out a lot, probably slightly less than the US, If you cook at home, overall, 25–50% less expensive. It depends. For transportation, imported cars are subject to a 50–100% customs duty, so, if you want a BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Range Rover, expect to pay a lot. Local cars are mainly Japanese/Korean mostly manufactured/assembled in the Philippines and price is approx the same as the US. Because of bad infrastructure, expect Grab/Uber to be charged at a premium rate due to extended peak hour surcharges, and taxis will rip you off or decide not even to take you if it's out of their way. An honest taxi driver is rare, but the meter rate is cheap. Uber in off-peak hours is pretty inexpensive. Sometimes a 20km ride will take 2 hours, due to congestion. Unless you are willing to live at a greatly reduced standard of living, don't expect to get by for less than 50k–70K per month, and in metro areas, 100k–150K.
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I live in Quezon City now, about 1–2 Hours away from the City of Manila, in the northernmost suburbs. Since it’s still within Metro Manila it is still a little more expensive in terms of housing. I stay in a 2-Bed Condo (+Parking) and it costs me around 450USD monthly Now food, it comes relatively cheap, if you know where to look. A little over 1.5USD can set you up with a simple meal (1 Viand, Rice, Soda). Traveling is pretty cheap here, you have a lot of options: jeeps, buses, cabs, grab (lyft/uber) tricycles (which are too cramped for anybody above 5′9″), and the still under construction MRT (Metro Rail). Gas in this area is way cheaper than in other parts, Shell’s V-Power is under or about a dollar per liter here. Entertainment, relatively cheap. A good cinema with good seats would be around 5 bucks and some. TV at home and internet costs me a little under 100USD. My electricity bill (with a/c use and all) is at 60USD usually. Trick is know where to find the cheap stuff when you need them.