I'm new here. Can I live well on $1800 a month in Cebu

pej1111 wrote:

Here is what I am budgeting, and would enjoy hearing every ones thoughts on my budget.
This is for one persons, in a city (not Manila)

I have not included person comforts in this budget, nor have I included a car, flights and accommodation back to Australia, or holiday flights and accommodation.

Item                    Monthly
Rent                              PHP 20,000
Cable TV                  1,000php
Internet                     PHP 865
Water - Including drinking water and household water           PHP 636
Electricity                  PHP 3,000
Gas                             PHP 467
Trash Collection     PHP 100
Maid                             PHP 8,000
Food and Sundry for Maid    PHP 2,756
House Maintenance    PHP 2,000
Furniture depreciation    PHP 10,746
Breakfast                            PHP 1,837
Lunch                            PHP 2,204
Dinner                            PHP 4,041
Dinner out 3 x P/W         PHP 5,200
Hair Cut                           PHP 100
General grocery Shopping - personal products and house cleaning sundries    PHP 1,091
Drinks                          PHP 6,067
Town transport          PHP 3,033
Cigarettes                  PHP 2,427
General cash                 PHP 7,583
Spend on Doctors or Dentist or save for emergency    PHP 7,750
Medical Insurance and repatriation emergency               PHP 10,333
Mobile Phone Depreciation    PHP 581
Computer Depreciation       PHP 646
Clothes Depreciation              PHP 775
Club Membership                    PHP 1,938
Anti Virus for Laptop            PHP 478
Bank Fees Australia            PHP 194
Bank Fees Philippines            PHP 83
Mobile phone - call chargers    PHP 458
Tax agent ??                            PHP 646
Christmas presents                    PHP 500
Party 1                                   PHP 500
Party 2                                   PHP 500
12 month, 59 day period, multiple entry visa        PHP 419
    
Monthly Total                            PHP 108,794

10,746 pesos/month = 128,952/year for furniture depreciation?  What are you buying?

mugtech wrote:

10,746 pesos/month = 128,952/year for furniture depreciation?  What are you buying?

Must be planning on replacing furniture at the rate of 128,952 per year..  Based on my cost calculation to set up a house with new furniture etc., that is giving a five year life for everything.  But that cost should not kick in until about year 5 or 6 of being here.

Dinner out 3 x P/W  at   PHP 5,200 seems a bit light, unless eating at chowking etc.  or of course eating alone all the time.

sirrobcentral wrote:

The furniture was added to the yearly expense.... It don't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Jeees,how lame!!!

His monthly total of over 108,000 includes that amount for furniture, so perhaps he is saying more like 98,000/month not including furniture.

pej1111 wrote:

good pick up on the furniture depreciation, made me look at the budget again.

Furniture depreciation and house hold items (as listed below), per month should have being: 8,200php

It is based on reasonably good quality stuff, I have done this to build in a buffer (For me I must plan for the worst case scenario as I will never get and Australian Pension)

Am I a bit of a mad budgeter, YES.  I need to be to insure that I have enough to live my life out there, without a pension.

It is often best to budget for the highest cost, that way you can drop down without too much suffering when things change.
Those who budget for the cheapest cost get hit hard when currency rates drop, etc.

A cursory look at the prices seem reasonable, some over, some under, and a comparison to my set up costs in a new home in Australia three years ago, at $20,000 (640,000php current FX) does make your 979,000php look about right, as quality things are more expensive here in general.

sirrobcentral wrote:

The furniture was added to the yearly expense.... It don't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Jeees,how lame!!!

jasonswits wrote:

Just have trusted Filipino friends as your connections and they would be very much willing to help you find the most inexpensive but the most comfortable stuff.

The combination can be hard to detect and filter out the ones that are there for other reasons.  Not sure why "trusted Filipino friend(s)" are needed to accomplish what is needed when so many in the better shops will be helpful as part of their job.  If you are single, a well balanced lady that is not after ATM status will be your tiger in all negotiations.  Once she is adjusted to the fact that you look for quality and not the lowest prices as the main factor in your buy decision, you will have a good advocate in your buying needs.

Examples:

Typically, "the minimum wage for the Philippines is $1 per day in the non-plantation agricultural sector for the countryside. When working in the national capital, the minimum wage increases to about $2 per day."

The World Bank statistics for the average salary in the Philippines of $2577.32 per year. The Atlas Method confirms a gross national income (GNI) of $2,500.  Yet, the median salary in the Philippines is about $7,660.80 per year.  So, without getting deep into the statistical terms related to understanding the central tendency of a set of statistical samples, we can see the gap as follows:

If we take the "average salary" of $2577 we get P119830.00 (2577 X 46.5).  When we take the "median salary" of $7,660.80 we get P356,227.20 ($7,660.80 X 46.5).  A simple calculation of the conditional probability of B, given A, means most of us are in direct competition with a "snow ball in H___", as it relates to finding a mate on perceived equal financial footing.  With a Php979,000 per annum budget, you are triple the country's "median salary" and nearly a 10X factor greater than the "average salary".  So, self-enhancement of our already targeted presence here is not a good idea, IMHO.

Always be careful with "MONEY" details you post, you may not want to show actual budgets in an open forum, in the future.  There are more than just Expats here and some may get the idea that you have "to much" to spend in one year, in comparison to their 5-10 year spending plans. Therefore, you will get offers to help you spend it!!!   Your private mail section may already be filling with "offers to help".  Best wishes on your selection options.

P.S. I mentioned your budget to another Expat here locally and his suggestion was to add a category for "failed relationship and her family loans" related losses of P150-300K.  ;-)

chefwayne wrote:

My question is can I live well on $1800 a month in Cebu?

That was January 2013
At the FX rate in Jan 2013 that was 72,000 per month per $ (my dollars)
In September 2015 that is 57,600 per month (my dollars)

I lived in Cebu for 3 months and spent about 100,000 pesos per month on average.

The OP went there in March 2013, it would be interesting to know what he actually ended up spending per month (in Pesos).
He obviously likes the  area:

chefwayne wrote:

I've been here a year now and I won't live any where else

But not sure about the medical side of things:

chefwayne wrote:

I agree I'm a disabled Vet. and if I needed to I would go back to the states to get it taken care of

Other interesting comments are;

peter79 wrote:

You can survive with any amount in the Philippines, but it depends on yourself. If you're looking for the SAME standards as in foreign country, I would say that you will spend more here, unfortunately.

That must be the best comment on here.

LUC TINEYRE wrote:

I will maybe stop this sometimes stupid dial ...
The original question was : Is it enough with 1800 USD to live in Cebu ??
And , anyone who knows and lived in the place , even only 3 month ,,, will say ..... YES !

Except for those who lived in the place, even if only for 3 months, who say No !! !!!

But refer to the comment above by Peter79

Many Filipinos will say that you can, as that sum is enormous, and yes, a poor average Filipino will be very happy with that sum. 
But the better off Filipinos who spend higher than that, for their standard of living, may not agree.  The same as some Western Ex-Pats who like to maintain the same style of living.