My monthly expenditures

Great record keeping.  The only other area I could see cutting back is travel, at $7,817P/month you must be taking a lot of bus trips or flying.  Since we own a place we intend to spend only about 36,000P for two of us, $900/month, an amount on which two can live WELL in Ecuador, if you believe IL.  Good luck!!

Hi, Mugtech. Yeah, I should be able to cut my expenditures in half in Quito. If I believe IL. LOL.

I've done a couple trips flying (Manila and Zamboanga), and a Manila round-trip on the ferry using a private cabin (which costs about the same as flying for one person).

I've also taken up scuba diving here, and I included my scuba lessons under travel (I took the lessons during a couple trips to Moalboal), which distorts the travel numbers.

When are you coming here?

Bob

November 2014.  u b gone

Hi Bob , I was just curious , your electric bill seems high ? I take it you are using airconditioner then right ? If so , how much and for how many rooms ? Thanks for listing your expences . It will give me an idea of what I can expect to pay in future .

Gwaps: Yes, I'm definitely using air conditioning, and my guess is that you will too. I hear a (very) few expats boasting about getting along without, but I don't understand that mentality. Oh well, we're all different.

I don't use AC constantly. I use it a couple hours in the afternoon when the heat gets highest, and a couple hours at night to cool things down before bedtime. I have a fairly strong fan that cools decently the rest of the time.

My apartment is a large studio or small 1br, depending upon interpretation. It's about 50 square meters.

Electricity is very expensive here. I'm astounded to be paying eighty bucks a month for an apartment this small, and last month (this is the hottest time of year) it went well over $100.

Each of us is different, of course. But if you are coming here, you should anticipate high electric bills.

Bob

PS: Where in Chi? I lived in Crete (far south suburbs near the Indiana line).

Hi Bob , sorry for late reply . Wow , seems electric bill you have is high . I had a bill of under $100 dollars last May in Naga , Cebu at our home . I tried keeping air on mostly 24 hours a day . I also did not want to come into a hot place from shopping . I was there in cebu for three weeks and it was about $75 for one bedroom about 144 square feet with ten foot ceiling . I actually live in Carol stream , Illinois near Wheaton . I say Chicago to give people idea of my location . Like in Luzon , everybody says , " Manila right ? (ha,ha) Nice hearing from you !

Thank You so much for the info Bob, i plan to move to the Philippines in Feb. I guess is only 4 months.

I am having a very hard time deciding to move to Cebu or on Luzon, I have a friend that is from Cebu but she is married and living in the states now. She tells me that is the place i should move.

I found it so funny when you said $100 was high for electric. I live on a Sailboat right now and Have been traveling the east Coast and Bahamas the past few years. right now I pay $330 a month rent and $150 a month electric and that is low here.

My cell bill is my cheapest bill at $55 a month,
I pay $133.31 a month for Cable and internet together.

that comes to Php 28780.82 not counting food travel health care so on.

I do not get out very much due to the amount of my bills, i live on SSD income.I hope you do not mind me asking a number of questions.

John

John: I think my electric is high for the size of my apartment, but
these things are always relative, of course.

I'll be glad to try to answer any questions you might have. As for Cebu v. Luzon, it really depends on what you're looking for. If you mean Manila when you say 'Luzon', I find it too crowded, but I have to admit there's a lot more going on there. Cebu City is rather a backwater culturally.

But if you could be more specific about your needs and wants, I'll take a stab at comparing them.

Manila is like NYC, nice place to visit, would not want to live there.  But there is a lot more to Luzon than Manila, with provincial living far from the maddening crowd.

thank you Bob,

  My needs and wants,

  I would like to find a place that i would be able to have internet and Cable TV, as I am from the USA the Lazy people I will need AC for sure.

  I want to be in a place close to shopping for food or easy to find a Taxi to get around, Safy is above all needs.

  Something that is not long term at first until I learn my way around and I can locate a home to buy.

  I am disabled but my medical needs are very low, I may get an eye infection one time a year. as for my back injury If I can find a pool to float in a hour a day and I do not work I will be fine. the only time my back really bothers me is if I have to do alot of work.

  If I could I would like a full time maid but this would depend on what I could aford.

  I am trying to look at it like the same life I live here, My normal day here starts with a Shower then Coffee, I do my house cleaning in the morning and then either get online to play a game or watch TV. I do love to fish but have not done so in some time now. more because I am lazy and have not went to renew my permit.

  As I live on a boat in a Marina if I get bored I will go on land to the clubhouse and sit and talk with others, i tend to avoid the people here due to the amount they drink, you would be shocked to see the people here. They will start drinking in the moning and drink all day. just not my thing.

I am confused by a few things when it comes to cost I hope you may be able to clear up.

  My friend Mel who is from Cebu tells me I will be able to live well on my income $1245.00 US but the more research I do I find the cost are higher than I am told.

  here is what she had told me for Cebu.

  Rent one bedroom P9000 to $12000
  Electric/water/trash  P4000 to P5000
  cell Phone with internet on it P861.70
  Land line Phone with internet about the same as cell phone.
  Full time Maid service, non live in P2800.53 a month.
  I believe everything i have read the food is cheap so I do not need to list it.

  Oh I do not know the cost of school to learn Spanish I will need to take a class I am sure.

  I do not know if you have lived here in the states before but to give you some idea on how I live now, I try to stay away from the main cities due to crime and it is cheaper to live rule, right now I am 15 miles away from jacksonville florida but have shopping malls all around here within 5 miles. If you ask me I live in a lower income area of jacksonville.

  so I guess I will wait and see what your answers are to this.
  thank you again.

  john

To retire in the Philippines you need to prove you have monthly income of $800 or more to become a perm res.  Needing a pool to float in every day certainly ups the ante and limits the choices.  It is not realistic to believe you will live like you do in Florida, only cheaper.  Most anywhere you stay you will find the internet and electricity spotty at best.  Not sure why you would want to learn Spanish, better off learning Tagalog or the dialect of where ever you decide to move.  Bob's numbers are very realistic as a guide for 2013, but you cannot decide to relocate 8,000 miles away without doing a lot of on the ground exploring.

thank you so much, What i do for a pool now is pay a local motel to use it.

  The monthly income was not a problem when it came to my visa i am opening a bank account funds they requested along with my other investments.
  I have Rental property back in the St Louis area. the Enbassy in washington DC has been very helpful it my Visa.

" I believe everything i have read the food is cheap so I do not need to list it. "

********************************

John,

Food is not cheap in the Philippines, it's cheap if you eat like a local. This is not easy to do, for many reasons, palate is a biggie, but there are others.

Your living on a sailboat, for the last few years, depending on how much living you do on the boat, that is, (where)? Out on the water or docked? If your away from land for days weeks or months, then you will be more thrifty with food preparation, but if the boat sits in the harbor or dock, then... Who knows?

My experience has been food is a major expense for the Western Expat palate, and quality can also be a challenge. Your idea of learning "Spanish" portends to lack of knowledge / sophistication of and about the Philippines. It's normal enough, back in the day I thought they spoke Spanish here too, before I arrived. After arrival, I learnt many things....

As another poster here said, an 8000 mile move to a third world country is a very large step. This is not an Alexander the Great adventure where he burned his boats upon arrival on the shores of Persia. Meaning there's no way back; come look, live, listen, and think... The minimal time you should spend is a few months, if you 'survive' that, then saying "I'd like to live in the Philippines" has bit more depth and character. Not to take anything away from Alexander, about his determination, and action of (no way back strategy), it worked well for him, but "us / we", well,were just ordinary mortals. 

I've been in Jacksonville, have done a bit of boating, "iron sail" on the St Johns river, a 'backward' flowing river not many like it in the world.

Thank you for taking the time to offer your input.

This forum is useless for answering as it will bring too much shitty comments.

Cost of living is something that has changed quiet dramatically here in the last 5 o 6 years or so ( since I have been here).

I am a thrifty bastard and no how to keep my costs down but the phils in general is getting too expensive compared to what it was even three years ago.

I am not living in cebu as rent is too high there, traffic is shit these days and the crime is getting a bit to high for my liking.

Where I am living at the moment is a second or third class city but I am moving again soon as the prices here are not to much different and there are just to many other expats here.

But here I will give u a roughy on what me and my partner spend a month.
Rent 11k (This is unfurnished small apartment a little outside of town)
Water 300 peso
Electricity can be from 2500 to 4500 depending on if I am running the ac all day which i can sometimes if I am doing a bit of work on the pc.

Food is not as cheap as some will say it is as u are not going to eat like a local. about 2000 a week to 3000 if i want cheese and salad( by the way lettuce,broccoli and a few other things here are just ridiculous in price)

ps Yes u can live local if u want but i got a thing about msg and using natural ingredients and these days i do spend a hell of a lot less as i make everything at home)

My internet is 3500 a month and that is for decent internet that was decent back home 10 years ago.
My phone for me and my partner is 500 a month but add to that an additional 1000 peso a month for skype back home.
I have a motor bike and to be honest with u it is crazy here the traffic. U do not do tests to get a license u just turn up and pay so imagine how the traffic is and how people drive here.

All my basic needs are covered for about 30 thousand a month but add to that 3500 every two months for visa renewal and also a bit exta for clothes or what not.

so lets say 35000 thousand a month.
Now that is not living grand that is living as basic as u can get.
Eating out at a decent place will cost about 500 peso for two ( and i mean decent not an eatery).
Movies can cost about 200 peso each say 300 each for snacks.
Nothing in this country is free.. a beach will cost u money to go, water falls cost u money to go, natural rock pools cost u money to enter.
Unless u have about 1500 a month here u are living crap.
Yes locals do it for way less than that but u are talking about people used to living it hard.
6 to 10 people per 22 sqm house.
Meals that consist of rice and a leg of chicken or dried fish.

Yes I live on way way less then 1500.. but I have been here for 6 years and have a very very tight partner that budgets better then I do.
I do not drink, nor smoke. Can not afford to.
If u are retired then for the love of GOD travel around a bit.
Come here (boots on the ground) go somewhere else also have a look around.
Plenty of places that are not advertised by retire abroad companies out there that are real gems.
I am considering moving at the moment as I do not want to bring a family up here.
WHY?
Well this country is great as a single man but once u have a woman and u are sticking to her well it is not that great.
The province is cheap but bloody hell it is boring and u will find u spend even more there traveling to the city to get away from the province.
IN all honesty I think the philippines is actually due for a very very hard economic crash.
Other then OFW's this country does not really produce anything.
Inflation and the cost of living here has gone up so high it is a wonder anyone can afford to eat here so no wonder crime is on the up.
50% of the population here is under the age of 20 and unemployment is high. The figures that are promoted are bs and anyone that lives here knows it.

Half the people I know that live here are either gone or planning on moving.
A guy I was speaking to that has been living here on and off for over 20 years is leaving as he can see how bad it is getting. We all can.
It is a third world country. Not for the faint of heart. IF u are not a cowboy( ie an adventurer and able to suck it up) then it is not for u.

Take care GOD bless.... this is not cheap here... a few years ago yes now 1000 dollars a month is a fairy tale