Retirement in the Philippines

senatus2020 wrote:

Can anyone tell me what the cost of living is like in the Philippines - for someone looking to retire?
.

Yes, this forum can   
Check earlier topics about same subject. Its much different depening of location and what you want.

Why the Philippines?

senatus2020 wrote:

Hi everyone,

I live in Australia and close to retirement.
Can anyone tell me what the cost of living is like in the Philippines - for someone looking to retire?
Any information is appreciated.

Thanks.

As coach said, you can get answers to your questions in online forums and through Google Fu but no can say how you plan to live your life here.  That is the source of variation between what you can read online and what your reality would be if you moved here.

If you get to the point of being serious and have an idea of how / where you plan to live then go check it out in person or as many like to say, put "boots on the ground"!

Best of luck!

Tyrion Lannister wrote:

If you get to the point of being serious and have an idea of how / where you plan to live then go check it out in person or as many like to say, put "boots on the ground"!

Yes.  Although by its hard/impossible to get in now -
CANT be sure by internet whats GOOD,
but CAN by research from distance SORT AWAY many places and things NOT worth to go and check   
E g by "The Northern Typhon Belt",  landslades and earthquake maps if want to avoid such.   It was by earthquake maps I skiped some of my earlier favorites, because it dont help with strong built house if it fall into a pithole     as my earlier favorite Bohol got several of by an earthquake.

coach53 wrote:

Tyrion Lannister wrote:

If you get to the point of being serious and have an idea of how / where you plan to live then go check it out in person or as many like to say, put "boots on the ground"!

Yes.  Although by its hard/impossible to get in now -
CANT be sure by internet whats GOOD,
but CAN by research from distance SORT AWAY many places and things NOT worth to go and check   
E g by "The Northern Typhon Belt",  landslades and earthquake maps if want to avoid such.   It was by earthquake maps I skiped some of my earlier favorites, because it dont help with strong built house if it fall into a pithole     as my earlier favorite Bohol got several of by an earthquake.

Exactly!

It should be a lot less than what you would pay in Australia for a similar quality of life - maybe 40%-60% less, depending on location. Of course, the Manila / National Capital Region and major tourist resort areas will be much more expensive than in other regions. For us in Cagayan de Oro (Mindinao), after paying for the house, car, furnishings, etc., we're living really well on about US$3000 / month including eating out more than at home, golf twice/week, feeding the extended family, high-speed internet, air conditioning, etc. The advice above about putting "boots on the ground" is really important - you should definitely check out your options in person before making a permanent move. Good luck.

Things are not as cheap as they used to be. Utilities have increased by about 30% since the pandemic, fruits and vegetables have become way over priced except for bananas and pineapples. Any imported foods are a lot more than wherever they came from. Depending on lifestyle but to live even comfortably I would say initial investment money for car, furniture, appliances, ect. of around 20K USD and an income of at least 2K USD per month to live anything of a somewhat comfortable life.

Anything less than that will subject you to living in not so amicable conditions. Of course if a 1 room hot apartment with dogs and roosters and street food are your intentions then yes it is cheaper.

Jovy and I have been here a little over a month and I now have the whole house air conditioned. I commissioned two 1 hp invertor split aircons last week, master and middle bedrooms. Jovy likes to run the master bedroom aircon from about 9 am until bedtime and it keeps the upstairs cool if the master bedroom door is open. We don't sleep in the master bedroom yet so we turn it off at night.

Our first electric bill was less than P7.000 for a 25 day period. We were running a temporary .6 hp window unit at night in the small bedroom were we are currently sleeping and a 1.5 hp I installed on the ground floor soon after our arrival which runs around the clock. We keep it 25 to 27 degrees. I don't want to become acclimated to 23 degrees because I spend most of the day outside. I'm prepared to pay $400 a month for electric since that will be our only bill besides food and fuel for the car.

captdcc62 wrote:

Things are not as cheap as they used to be. Utilities have increased by about 30% since the pandemic, fruits and vegetables have become way over priced except for bananas and pineapples. Any imported foods are a lot more than wherever they came from. Depending on lifestyle but to live even comfortably I would say initial investment money for car, furniture, appliances, ect. of around 20K USD and an income of at least 2K USD per month to live anything of a somewhat comfortable life.

Anything less than that will subject you to living in not so amicable conditions. Of course if a 1 room hot apartment with dogs and roosters and street food are your intentions then yes it is cheaper.

Are you talking about city ?

At least earlier during the pandemic when they hadnt solved transports, prices went up much inm cities, but went DOWN in provinces at food produced localy, because  MORE farmers went to Farmers market, because the traders didnt come as before covid, so much of the earlier transported to city products fought about the local customers...
A true story related to this is a foreigner found close aft entering the market a rare crop there and asked for the price:
-50.
He found that to expensive so he spend much time searchin trough the whole market, but didnt find any so close before leaving he asked his Filipina wife to ask the price.
-50.
The foreigner had thought EACH but it was per KILO so it was very cheap   

Things needing transports for get it in I suppouse have gone up in provinces too,
but prices at real estates has gone DOWN in many places by less new expats pushing up the prices    and  rather many offer for sale for "Covid price" they even call it.
We are buying for bargain prices in province WITHOUT haggle. We pay the asked prices, because I find the asked prices to low allready in  many cases.  (To get accesss to more assets direct we just negotiate sometimes about WHEN to pay part of the money. Most of the asked agree direct to get part later I suppouse to maKe us buy theirs, although we are buyinmg in the order we like the properties anyway. By that it seem the money will be spread at one extra seller family.)

Olongapo, Subic, Barretto, Angeles City, Castillejos public markets and I don't get charged foreigner prices. I send my Filipina wife to buy all of our things from the market. yes and some real estate has gone down. I looked at one of the newer housing developments and a house they had advertised in January just took a 38% price increase. When I asked the reply was "that was the old price sir", but yes some very decent places can now be bought at a much better deal than before pandemic.

Point of my reply was to cancel the myth that things are so cheap in the Philippines. You have to learn how to buy things here, labor is still cheap but many things have become equal to the standard world price.

senatus2020 wrote:

Hi everyone,

I live in Australia and close to retirement.
Can anyone tell me what the cost of living is like in the Philippines - for someone looking to retire?
Any information is appreciated.

Thanks.

Not the cost of living but be prepared for a intriguing third world.

My personal intrigues

People eating rice with their fingers.
Spam as a delicacy
Not Spaghetti & Meatballs but Spaghetti & Hot Dog Slices
Pork replacing Beef, lots of Chicken & Tilapia
Spoons replacing knifes, having to ask for a knife in a restaurants
Cold water only, unless you buy a shower water heater
No toilet paper, but toilet bidet combo, sometimes no toilet seat in places
(I use toilet paper but don't flush it, I learned the hard way, I had to call a plumber)
Lucky Me Noodles a popular part of diet
Mountain Due is a very popular drink
Rice replacing potatoes
7/11's everywhere
Jeepneys, tricycles & motor scooters (millions)
Giant shopping malls
Counterfeit everything
Bottled gas, the only form of gas delivery
Drinking water delivered in plastic cans similar to jerry cans with spigots
Tiny apartments, elevators & rooms
Public urination
Everything you try to accomplish has endless red tape
Prepared shrimp with the shell on
Millions and millions of wires
Plastic water lines bundled above ground for individual delivery to homes
Electric meters bundled on top of power poles in places (sometimes 30, 40 or 50 meters)
People spending their whole life living among the graves in the North cemetery
Every driver with the me first attitude

After you're here for a while you get adjusted and go with the flow, then everything seems normal & natural.