What is your Electric Bill like ?

Hello Frankanderson
We are now in our own house, electricity is cheaper and we run a similar set up to yours, about P7,000 (Meco) AND water is also much cheaper. Have you seen all the add-ons in your bill ?
regards  Bruce

I live in mindanao.  I dont use aircon but i have hot water heater for shower,  a water pump, a computer that uses 800 watts, and a elwtrci fan. My electric bill monthly is 3-3.5k per month.  I pay 11 peso per kwh.  My rice mill which is commercial pays 15 peso per kwh on average the rice mill averages 200k per month.   So one air con running 12 hours a day will cost you 3k per month. So two aircons and a computer.  Your looking 9k a month right there.  If you use the hotwater for roughly an hour a day it will cost 1.5k monthly.  Your 10500 for hotwater aircon and computer.  This is not including fridge, lights ,fans, tv's,washing machine (if you have).   This is all rough estimates. Sounds like to me your bill is normal for how much stuff you have.  Also if you check your bill it shoulf say if you are commercial or residential.

Your bill seems high to me, but not outrageous, how many bedrooms? Are they wall units or split? It made a huge difference in our first condo when we got the two split AC units cleaned, which is supposed to be done annually at minimum. It hadn't been done in 2 years at least. The bill dropped almost in half. And the second  condo unit had two inverter split systems and was significantly lower consumption.

In my experience, houses and small residential apartment units are cheaper. We only pay 4K in our large flat now but she doesn't run the two wall AC units too much. It goes up to 7K when I am there and run our bedroom 8-12 hours a day. These are not the newer inverter type which are quite a bit more efficient.

My last electric bill was 7847 php for 822 kwh, so my fuzzy math tells me I'm paying 9.545 php per kwh.

Power Suckers
(1) Inverter aircon  1.5 hp runs 24/7.
(2) Samsung inverter refrigerator and washing machine.
(3) Two 50" flat screen TV's.
(4) Shower water heater.

Other things that sip electric in our house:
Numerous fans, microwave, electric perk coffee machine, laptop with external monitor-keyboard-mouse, hot air fryer and various small kitchen appliances.

Now some posts indicate their computers are power suckers at 500 & 800 watts, I don't how that can be unless you are mining bitcoins 24/7.

Just because your desktop is a Monster with a big power supply that does not indicate that Monster is drawing that many watts all the time.

You can adjust that Monster Desktop to idle when not in use or doing simple things like surfing the net.

Hey Frank, Your bill sounds a little over the top from our experience in a condo in Manila ( if you are in Manila ). So 8 years ago we had 3 bed 3 bath condo in Manila, A 1.25 HP A/C in the bedroom running 12 plus hours every day, a 2.5 HP A/C in the open living area but only ran that for 3 or 4 hours a few time a week (movies) my laptop 12 hours, Bens gaming computer set up thingy maybe 6 hours gas cooking, electric water heaters but we never bothered as the cold water was fine especially on a hot day (all the time), front load washer and the dryer was rarely used, 3 TV's, sound system, large fridge and freezer, lights, gadget charging etc etc. Average 4 to 4.5K, worst was a tad over 5K and only once. Worked out to 10 pesos per kilowatt hour.

3 bed 2 bath with a detached studio (our home here) in La Union (Luelco power providers), 4 A/Cs, 1 x 1.25 HP running 12 to 14 hours a day, rare to run any of the others, perhaps I've acclimatized  1 electric water heater, (rarely used) gas cooking, electric water pump, 3 energy efficient outside lights running 12 hours 7 days a week at night and same deal as the Condo with computers, washer etc. monthly bill averages 4K. 2019 I was overseas working for 6 months and the electric bills were 2K and under while Ben was here alone,,,,,,,, I'm the pig obviously. We did insulate most of the ceilings with R 3.0 batts 2 years ago but not the master bedroom yet, slack as I'm sure that will help lower power consumption. Our bill works out at a tad over 10 pesos per Kwh.

Just divide the bill total with the Kwh used and you will get an idea if you for some reason are paying too much.

Cheers, Steve.

Talking about inverters...I too just got this brand new inverter/non frost fridge last year & that alone has helped in reducing my electric bill.

Yeah we got one too! It is so cool (haha) with the LED lights inside and can be configured to be all freezer, all fridge, or traditional split functionality. And uses so little juice. I haven't seen anything so efficient in the States. I love the appliances in the PI.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

My last electric bill was 7847 php for 822 kwh, so my fuzzy math tells me I'm paying 9.545 php per kwh.

Power Suckers
(1) Inverter aircon  1.5 hp runs 24/7.
(2) Samsung inverter refrigerator and washing machine.
(3) Two 50" flat screen TV's.
(4) Shower water heater.

Other things that sip electric in our house:
Numerous fans, microwave, electric perk coffee machine, laptop with external monitor-keyboard-mouse, hot air fryer and various small kitchen appliances.

Now some posts indicate their computers are power suckers at 500 & 800 watts, I don't how that can be unless you are mining bitcoins 24/7.

Just because your desktop is a Monster with a big power supply that does not indicate that Monster is drawing that many watts all the time.

You can adjust that Monster Desktop to idle when not in use or doing simple things like surfing the net.

My power supply on my pc is 1400 watts, but it typically runs around 800 watts due to the 2 2080ti video cards running inside.  I do a lot of graphics design. And play some video games.  On normal use it will use 400 watts just in idle.  But when i start to use it it will pull anywhere from 800 to 1200 watts.  Thats why i said 800 watts on average.  But i only run it at night typically 4 to 5 hours at night.

limnonerd wrote:

I live in Cavite w/ac, water heater, large refrigerator/freezer, computer and audio studio, etc. My MERALCO bill is usually less than 2k / month. Of course I also have a 5 kw hybrid solar system attached which cuts down on the amount of grid power I need.

Hi limnonerd, firstly welcome to the forum and hope you enjoy. I'd love to chat more about your hybrid solar system, perhaps another topic could be started. Grid tied, back up batteries? etc. For 8 or 9 years I've looked into grid tied solar here in PH. and have mostly given up. with the 5 to 600K price tag, whose abusing the system?
We put a 5Kw grid tied system in our home in Australia some 7 years ago, cost was AU 3,400.00 or 126,000 pesos at todays exchange rates, yes I know STS carbon credits etc but that was only AU 2,000.00 credited by our government back then so say another PHP 70K so all up around PHP 200K,,,,, where's the other 300 to 400K going? Hey that buys a heck of a lot of power for a long time with the cost difference,,,,,,,, green aside. While I'm not a full time greenie I do think that way and wonder the the abuse/opportunism here especially when the freight costs from China to the Philippines have got to be a lot lower than sending products to Australia, even from Europe. Competition controlled? What ever I'm keen to hear your take on solar/alternatives here in PH.

BTW our system in Oz paid for itself in less than 2.5 years. Our AU 650 to 700.00 a quarter bill dropped to AU 120 to 200 in summer.

Cheers, Steve.

pnwcyclist wrote:

Yeah we got one too! It is so cool (haha) with the LED lights inside and can be configured to be all freezer, all fridge, or traditional split functionality. And uses so little juice. I haven't seen anything so efficient in the States. I love the appliances in the PI.

Older refrigerators had condenser coils in the back or close to the floor under the unit. With the inverter the transfer of heat takes place on the outer shell. If the door been open to long or many times that outer shell gets very very warm.

Where does this transfer heat go? It dissipates in the room, from time to time I notice the kitchen is the warmest room in the house without the gas range being used.

So lower your electric bill further by closing the door, don't leave it open like my wife does after grocery shopping.

hey, Thanks for all the feed back.

According to the last bill, I used 1225 kWh and was charged 11,849.77 exact (9.67 per kWh)

in detail, it's a 2 BR, 3 AC unit total,
office AC runs average 12 hours,
LR AC runs 8 average,
BR runs 12 average (All are window type),
I don't know the specs off top of my head as different countries uses different measurements, but the LR is the biggest power hog while the office / BR units are small, in HK we call them 3/4 HP/7500BTU and I think the LR unit is 1.5 HP/15000BTU I don't think any of them are digital inverter type.

office pulls 500w average 24/7 according to my power usage meter.

There's a fridge, I don't know the specs, 6.5 FT tall single unit, not the double door side by side type. This one is a digital inverter and I agree, Very Nice  . Water heater, 3 adults and 1 child. shower once a day.  We have a washing machine we brought from HK. (Are those power hogs ?)

I think that's about it. in HK this amount is 2 months, and the states, Electricity was never a issue. I even thought HK was a expensive but when I got here, holy .... I always thought of it as well, real estate is much cheaper here vs ... so it makes up for it, but now that there's a kid and one on the way, we have to tighten that budget you know what I mean . 

@Enzyte Bob, not mining bit coin but the office actually consist of 4 systems and 5 monitors, my work requires it or maybe I'm just telling myself that. The only system that operates 24/7 is my file/Application server simply it's 4 hard disks and 8 SSD's, standard stuff, which eats about 110W. There's the router, firewall, mixer, misc other doo dads which probably suck 100W total average. Main rig is the power hog which can suck up to 1200W on full load, eg; rendering, playing Games and or watching virtual cyber scape ...

and Yes, I hear ya when you say "leave it open like my wife does after grocery shopping".  I'm always worried that my cheese will spoil 

@GoDees, yea billing detail breaking is f.... outrageous, it's literally 1.5 page side by side on the back. The break down is a bit more simpler but I do like the part Gov Tax 1305.90... another subject

Hi Frank, older window rattlers (A/C units) are extremely inefficient especially if not sized correctly for the room and window sizing. Our bedroom is 3.4M x 4.4M not including the built in robe across the 3.4M side of the room, one window 2.4 x 1.2 jalousie type with a timber shutter on the outside that we close when A/C is running, 1 ensuite door and 1 bedroom door. Mounted in the wall in a corner is a 1.25hp window rattler that cycles every 15/20 minutes, is being replaced today with a 1hp LG dual inverter split system, sized accordingly, the internal head will be in the centre of the room (the 3.4 end) obviously, many don't consider the inefficiencies and dead spots created by shoving any A/C unit in a corner. I'm hoping that the PHP 28K invested will save on the power bill, maybe 1K per month or more (will follow up) and will be a heck of a lot quieter than what we have.
Our fridge/freezer is an LG linear inverter door in door type so getting milk, cheese, butter, condiments etc only opens half of the fridge, large and fantastic unit with no complaints and full all the time/covid etc. Yes like others LED lights and the annoying 1812 overture if you don't close the door properly.
We have installed LED flush mount square lights through half the house so far (12 watt) and I'm sure they help as well as the other existing ES outlets with energy efficient fluro bulbs, no where near the lumens emitted compared to the LED's - V - the same wattage. In fact I shipped nearly 60 units from Oz in our last lot of Balakbayan boxes I sent last year, 12, 9 and 6 watt lights. It all adds up at the end of the day with savings on power and buying them in Oz at half the price etc.

The other thing that I keep reminding the better half of, "if your'e not using it, turn it off".
Solar is the next trick and I posted above but think I pasted on the wrong thread here, my bad to that poster I quoted.

Cheers, Steve.

Mickey(Frank) Electricity here in Baguio is the highest utility bill we have. I sure dont know why locals leave there lights on during the middle of the day but they do.HMMM My electricity bill monthly here in Baguio is about 14-16 usd(700-800 pesos) water 380 pesos(7.60 usd) a month and internet and landline about 40 usd. Rent is 7,000 pesos(140 usd) and propane(I am single) is about 2usd a month.Cable tv about 10usd a month. Total rent and all utilities around max 225usd a month.Food here is very cheap.Baguio Jimmy

700 to 800 pesos per month for electricity??? I'm spending 10,000 pesos per month in Manila.

capricornrising wrote:

Mickey(Frank) Electricity here in Baguio is the highest utility bill we have. I sure dont know why locals leave there lights on during the middle of the day but they do.HMMM My electricity bill monthly here in Baguio is about 14-16 usd(700-800 pesos) water 380 pesos(7.60 usd) a month and internet and landline about 40 usd. Rent is 7,000 pesos(140 usd) and propane(I am single) is about 2usd a month.Cable tv about 10usd a month. Total rent and all utilities around max 225usd a month.Food here is very cheap.Baguio Jimmy

Pretty much the same here in Surigao City (<1000p)....I don't have/use aircons but do have almost everything else. (At least I think I do)
 

manwonder wrote:

capricornrising wrote:

Mickey(Frank) Electricity here in Baguio is the highest utility bill we have. I sure dont know why locals leave there lights on during the middle of the day but they do.HMMM My electricity bill monthly here in Baguio is about 14-16 usd(700-800 pesos) water 380 pesos(7.60 usd) a month and internet and landline about 40 usd. Rent is 7,000 pesos(140 usd) and propane(I am single) is about 2usd a month.Cable tv about 10usd a month. Total rent and all utilities around max 225usd a month.Food here is very cheap.Baguio Jimmy

Pretty much the same here in Surigao City (<1000p)....I don't have/use aircons but do have almost everything else. (At least I think I do)
 

So why is my electricity bill averaging 4K per month and we definitely run a 1.25 hp A/C 14 to 16 hours a day? (mid afternoon nana naps included) When I was working in Oz the bill here was under 2K per month, 5/6 month period. Ben said he rarely ran the A/C in the bedroom, only a fan. Ben was in Oz for 6 weeks working and we got the Aunt and Uncle to house sit, the bill while they were living there was 1.5 K through that month there you go 2K a month for one A/C unit in the bedroom, honestly I don't care if the bill is 10K a month as long as we are comfortable and the most important, sleep well.

Before I put solar in our house in Oz our bill was AU $700.00 plus a quarter, 4 bed 2 bath, big wet edge pool, R/C AC (don't need that here) so Au 233.00 or PHP 8630.00 per month. I'm on a winner here, no pool but a very large ocean 50metres away, front yard. Solar even less but I'm not prepared to spend 5 or 600K PHP when my bill is averaging 4K, I'll be dead in 20 years (recoup time) I'm sure.

For us 4,5 or 6 even 7 K a month is more than affordable.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

I only visited Baguio, nice place. I don't think you need AC there for the most part of the year, it's pretty cool for the most part, might need some dehumidifiers tho as I recall it was pretty humid when I was there.

I think my AC units probably eats up at least a good half of my bill. They aren't mine, came with the unit as I rented. They sound like trucks and they are bane of my existence.

We are planning on moving in the near future to a larger space, most likely a house. I'm going to see to it that split type digital inverter are installed and anything else I can do to help cut down cost ? aside from investing in Solar Panels, maybe do that in the not so immediate future.

Wow. . . .Just got my Meralco electric bill of 8993.31 php for 933 kwh That comes to 9.64 pesos per kilowatt hour. I think this is the biggest bill I've received since August 2018 when I arrived here.

The old saying "Just Go With The Flow", but were they talking about electrons?

Electrict bill-Well for you that are paying an arm and a leg for your electricity I really feel for you. Dont need a heater or an A/C in Baguio as it stays mid 70's F year around here with cool nights makes easy sleeping.Jan and Feb coolest months but usually only at night mid 50's to high 50's then back to mid 70's during the day. The nice weather is why I moved here 2012 after living and teaching English in Shanghai 2 years. I have been to Cebu city-Deleguete on the southern tip of Cebu Island -Dumaguete a short ferry boat ride away- Tagaytay- Palawan- Puerto Princessa- San Fernando-La Union and of course the infamous Manila/Pasay. I try to avoid Manila. Way too hot! I can gladly recommend Baguio City or any cities in N.Luzon as places to retire and live your remaining years out. Baguio is awesome!Take care all and stay safe!Baguio Jimmy

Hello All
Just received our latest electricity bill, P10k ( Au$300,  Us$220 ), 5 people, 1x2.5 aircon (16hr/day), 1x1.5 aircon ( 10hr/day),  1x 1.0 aircon (8hr/day). Aircon for bedrooms, 3-4 fans at other times. 2 refrigerators (got to keep the beer cold), 2 x shower heaters, microwave, TV, laptop, electric trike, phone chargers etc .  LPG cook top. Now if they close the curtains and doors will be cheaper.  I think it is reasonable for the convenience. In Oz, no electricity bills for 6 years, solar.
regards  Bruce

GoDees wrote:

Hello All
Just received our latest electricity bill, P10k ( Au$300,  Us$220 ), 5 people, 1x2.5 aircon (16hr/day), 1x1.5 aircon ( 10hr/day),  1x 1.0 aircon (8hr/day). Aircon for bedrooms, 3-4 fans at other times. 2 refrigerators (got to keep the beer cold), 2 x shower heaters, microwave, TV, laptop, electric trike, phone chargers etc .  LPG cook top.


Now if they close the curtains and doors will be cheaper.  I think it is reasonable for the convenience.

Yes, I pay for the convenience also. One thing I noticed, the more that use the aircon the more I need it. I'm comfortable and my wife (Filipina) is cold.

To cut down on aircon cost I bought the reflective mylar on Shopee and covered the Patio sliding doors and windows. Also replaced curtains with heavy brown curtains. Windows here are not thermopane like in the states.

GoDees/Bruce- Well sure sounds like you are paying both arms and legs for your electrict bill. How do you walk around or even write your comments in this forum.(Joke lang!) Like I said-Baguio is the place to be if you are on a budget like I am. Why spend money when you dont have to? Here I can live on less than my monthly pension and can even save the rest or help those in need. Many here in BaguioFeels good to give when you can and not let others take because of greedor other reasons (electrict company?).JIMMY

What happened to limnonerd? Made a couple of posts and now disappeared.
Any ideas?

Cheers, Steve.

Jimmy Capricorn... we are looking to go stay in Baguio because of You... saying it's the nicest place to stay... we want a place where it's great weather as in it being cool I know it's going to rain but I can take the rain. Hurry up ... open up the boarders a d let us come got d visit... 😆 I can't wait!
Ruth

Ruth-If you like cooler weather Baguio is the place to be and is about 1500 meters above sea level. Mountains and hills here. Baguio was built by Americans(planned) and finished 1905 started 1900 and 1st Gov here in PI was William Taft who after his Governorship here went on to be POTUS. All American Govs here until about 1927. This complete city of Baguio was built by Philippinos,Chinese workers and Americans did all the architecture so many streets and parks American named. You can look at the history online. I read about it in the Sunday paper "Midland courier  baguio city"  or similar search modes.. If you email me your mailing address I will send you the sunday paper so you can learn a little about Baguio city. I think you can also access the Midland courier online. There are many you tube videos about Baguio City also so you can see the actually city and the people.Anyone who needs info about moving here please feel free to contact me [email protected] and good luck in your travels.Hope to see some of you here.Jimmy(Its very inexpensive to live here compared to other places in Philippines and if you are a veggie person Baguio is the veggie basket of Philippines as most veggies start here and shipped thru out N/Luzon and S.Luzon.

By the way Ruth-I didnt explain the rainy season here in Baguio. First of all no typhoons-only one bad storm in the 9 years I have lived here. More likely to have an earth quake than a typhoon(hurricane) as we are about 2 hours from the ocean by bus. Rainy season June/July to Oct.1st  week of Nov. rest of the year sunny and mid 70's during the day and cooler at night. Jan Feb coolest nights mid 50's to high 50's and returns to mid 70's day time.I have NEVER seen it over 80F here.  May have splurts of rain thru out the year but quite bearable and adaptable. Mostly rains in the afternoons so I am out and about on my susuki motorbike in the mornings. During rainy season mostly rains in the afternoons with occasional rain in the mornings. Hope that helps.Take care!Jimmy

Hi Ruth, welcome from us here in Bacnotan La Union, two and a half hours north west from Baguio, a great city (Baguio) with lots to offer for convenience as well as climate but in my opinion Baguio is a mini Manila for traffic as well as inflated property prices, people, hilly etc. A little out of town is better but OMO. Do a lot of research before you go there, access to and from the coast or Manila (international airport).
Remember you are climbing 5,000 feet on winding dangerous roads to get up there, once there fine.
With a population around 380,000 and exponentially climbing it's a busy city.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/world … population

Cost of living, (Numbeo not necessarily accurate) as we live absolute beachfront running everything comfortably for less than AU 1,700.00 per month, (see my other posts, what we include). Or PHP 62K per month.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Baguio

We are in the dry season here about to get the rain and we sit here by the beach with sweet breezes, the temp now at 10am is 28C/82F. with the breeze feels like 22/24C.
No traffic unless we go to SFC half an hour away, international airport 5 to 6 hours.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Fernando,_La_Union

There are so many fantastic places to call home throughout the 7,000 odd islands here and research, then boots on the ground, taste the flavours for a year or two then decide.
BTW the Philippines has the highest electricity costs S/E Asia.

https://asian-power.com/regulation/in-f … es-in-asia

Happy searching and enjoy the challenges once you get here.

Cheers, Steve.

capricornrising wrote:

By the way Ruth-I didnt explain the rainy season here in Baguio. First of all no typhoons-only one bad storm in the 9 years I have lived here. More likely to have an earth quake than a typhoon(hurricane) as we are about 2 hours from the ocean by bus. Rainy season June/July to Oct.1st  week of Nov. rest of the year sunny and mid 70's during the day and cooler at night. Jan Feb coolest nights mid 50's to high 50's and returns to mid 70's day time.I have NEVER seen it over 80F here.  May have splurts of rain thru out the year but quite bearable and adaptable. Mostly rains in the afternoons so I am out and about on my susuki motorbike in the mornings. During rainy season mostly rains in the afternoons with occasional rain in the mornings. Hope that helps.Take care!Jimmy

I love your passion capricornrising and after 9 years living there I'm sure you have plenty, how do you cope with the traffic and hoards of people in town? Perhaps you live out of the city?
I would also mention to Ruth the land and rock slides endemic to the area and access roads as well as the idiotic bus drivers traversing to keep their schedule and then some,,,,,, same on all the main roads in PH prior to C-19. but particularly noticeable the many times we went on a bus up the mountain.
If you can isolate yourself from the day to day mayhem here in PH. wether Baguio or Cebu I would suggest that you found your nirvana, that takes a lot of exploring and research. Electricity costs will be the same or eaten up by otherexternal/other costs and in my opinion is an acceptable part of the budget.
I have said this on many forums, here included. Our budget (owning our house, cars and motorbikes) was AU $ 2,500 up to 3K per month. Nope, 2 years living here has proven less than AU $1,700.00 per month including 3 new split A/C units, insulation for the house ceiling (R.3) new ceilings in half the house etc etc. We both drink lots and smoke like burning tyres, our electricity bill (a must) is only around 6% of our budget, very affordable.

Sorry for the rant, yet again.

Cheers, Steve.

Wow Big Pearl! 62 k pesos a month? Thats heavy. My rent,utilities cable tv internet propane electricity(Dont need a/c like you do) well all I spend is 12,000(240usd) pesos a month max. Food here is cheaper than most places especially the Manila area.Street vendors everywhere selling veggies. I have been to La Union several times. Too dang hot!Yes real-estate houses ect here in Baguio way to high but why buy something when you dont own it?Cant own it unless you were born here so end up renting anyway ormarried to a Philippino. Ifyou buy it and she/he passes away the property goes to her/his family. Its the law here. Buy an overpriced house and then you have to pay rent or lease to live in that home on Philippino owners land. Doesnt make sense to me. If you rent you can always get up and move somewhere else if you have a neighbor who is up all night every night until 3 am playing karaoke or live next door to all night barking dogs or roosters are the worst. I have a few barking dogs and no cock-ah-doodle doos all night.I wear ear plugs at night to sleep only because theres a street runs next to my apartment so noise most of the time.Every city has its pros and cons Pearl. I choose Baguio.Stuck like glue!Jimmy(Anyone considering Baguio just watch the many,many you tube videos and you can see everything.)

Ah, as I said the passion. Horses for courses and all that but I'm sure many, myself included would love to know you live on PHP 12K a month, the basic Filipino wage with little or none of the following: Including rent, internet, cable TV, phone, gas, water, food and electricity, clothes, shoes and linen, and the list goes on, the mind boggles, are you living in a nippa hut? No car, no bike, no insurances, no bus or tricycle fares, (obviously you do), no phone, no gas for cooking, repeating myself.
Honestly my better half worked for PNR in Manila and did the Bicol runs as well as local, cleared PHP 13K for years, no rent, power, gas or water in a dormitory accommodation for years and struggled. He is a Filipino.
Do you drink, smoke, gamble, wine and dine or vegetate? PHP 12K per month given all you have contributed can you show me/us how you live, a budget, can you quantify your living costs? A sheet of corrugated iron or a bed sitter? Always open to learning from those with more experience, perhaps we can save even more pesos?

Only My Opinion though skeptical.


Cheers, Steve.

capricornrising wrote:

Wow Big Pearl! 62 k pesos a month? Thats heavy. My rent,utilities cable tv internet propane electricity(Dont need a/c like you do) well all I spend is 12,000(240usd) pesos a month max. Food here is cheaper than most places especially the Manila area.Street vendors everywhere selling veggies. I have been to La Union several times. Too dang hot!Yes real-estate houses ect here in Baguio way to high but why buy something when you dont own it?Cant own it unless you were born here so end up renting anyway ormarried to a Philippino. Ifyou buy it and she/he passes away the property goes to her/his family. Its the law here. Buy an overpriced house and then you have to pay rent or lease to live in that home on Philippino owners land. Doesnt make sense to me. If you rent you can always get up and move somewhere else if you have a neighbor who is up all night every night until 3 am playing karaoke or live next door to all night barking dogs or roosters are the worst. I have a few barking dogs and no cock-ah-doodle doos all night.I wear ear plugs at night to sleep only because theres a street runs next to my apartment so noise most of the time.Every city has its pros and cons Pearl. I choose Baguio.Stuck like glue!Jimmy(Anyone considering Baguio just watch the many,many you tube videos and you can see everything.)

Bye and bye, take our electricity bill out of your equation, so still PHP 57K odd. cheaper still in Baguio apparently. I'm moving.

Cheers, Steve.

The Philippines has the highest Electric rates in all of SE Asia. But there is a good reason for that. I was stationed at Clark Air Base from 1983 to 1985, I remember DAILY "Brownouts" where the power would be randomly shut off in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day. That was because the electric grid was largely dependent on WWII diesel generators with a much lower capacity than the generators being built today.

The power grid in the Philippines today is FAR MORE MODERN and efficient than the power grid in the U.S.

Since the majority of the power grid was upgraded recently the electric companies have to charge higher rates to pay for their HUGE investments.

I think 12K pesos for a *single person is very doable...with a fully paid for scooter + cheap home on rent (non aircon) + portable wifi + self cooking & eating mostly what the locals eat with no outdoor dinning/ restaurant/
boozing/smoking.
I too can settle almost everything with 20k pesos (2 adults+4kids) + throw in 2-3 get to-gether pot-luck parties (with fellow expats) always being able to have a free flow of local beer/tanduay/cigarettes & many locally (tweeked) dishes/snacks.
We have our own place (no rent/no aircon/no cable tv) + my fully paid for reliable multicab + portable wifi & as for me I still need wait another 8yrs
to start collecting my 1st pension payout....till then its living within this budget & not breaking the bank & I must say I'm managing it pretty comfortably.
Hey like capricorn rising says
"Why spend money when you dont have to? Here I can live on less than my monthly pension and can even save the rest or help those in need"

Omo

bigpearl wrote:

PHP 12K per month given all you have contributed can you show me/us how you live

Cheers, Steve.

A big plate of Pag Pag and a Bottle of "The Ball Buster Wine".

Not only Baguio have colder climate.  Some depening of wind too, but higher altitude itself lower the temperature.  I have forgot the formula but back when I remembered it      I calculated 800 meters above sea level is ideal compromise between what my head and my bad joints like.

In the mountains of Cebu even  some cows froze to death some years ago when it became extra cold weather.

An other higher altitude place foreigners like is the mountains outside Dumaguete.

My Meralco electric bill is between 5,000 to 7,500 pesos per month. I have lower electric bills during cooler months of December to February. Highest would be during warm summer months due to longer aircon use.

Thank you Jimmy... this helps out knowing all the details

Thank you Bigpearl Steve love the info