I'm Thinking Between Cebu And Duma?

[Dave Hounddriver]

finding an Ocean view rental with aircon in the bedroom hot shower and flush toilet is not impossible.

 

First, I don't know the price.  Second, it is a half hour drive north of Dumaguete.  But there is a beautiful house with a "for sale or rent" sign on it that looks to have all that on the road to twin lakes.  If I was looking to rent and did not mind being half hour out from town I would definitely give it a look.  Go off the highway towards twin lakes and drive 5 minutes.  Its on your left and you can't miss it.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Dave Hounddriver

[AlwaysRt]

OK, for a place that exists so people can ask questions some answers sure carry a tone somewhere between angry and insulting. How am I supposed to know what is and what isn't possible without asking? geez.

 

My preferred monthly budget for food and shelter is $1000/mo. This is not my entire life savings, nor is it my entire monthly income, it represents what I want to stay under for fixed living expenses. 

 

I totally understand the need to stay flexible and didn't even think about the ocean view question until I saw a picture supposedly taken from Valencia showing the ocean in the distance. Flexibility example: I spent the beginning of the year in Panajachel Guatemala and opted to stay in a hotel with a view of the volcanoes for Q1300/mo ($175) that was a 5 minute walk to the lake vs paying $500/mo to have a porch view of the lake and volcanoes. 

 

I can change or even cancel plans to do whatever anytime I want. I am not going to cancel eating or sleep out in the jungle every once in a while.

 

Hope this explains what I am asking about and why.

[i am bob]

Some of the guys here can get very determined in telling others that you can't live for less than $xxx a month... And they are completely wrong... We can't live the way they do for that amount but are doing very well for ourselves! I decided to do the same as you - live on $1000 a month... Canadian at that... I have extra if I ready need it. But you know what? I'm only spending between $500 and $600 a month right now! That doesn't include Visa fees but gee... Dinner out a couple times a week... I am not much of a drinker but last weekend saw a dozen disappear at the bar... And I live in an apartment in what is suppose to be a good subdivision... Heck, the house of Mayor Duterte is only a block away and his son lives next door! I recently found a house for rent on the water in Davao... 2 bedrooms, cr with flush toilet and a western style shower with hot water, ac in salon and bedrooms and a big yard with fruit trees throughout. P6500 + utilities. Less than the rent I pay now. And not a flood zone. So, if you take your time, find a city or area you like, take a short term lease on a place that's ok, you will have the time to decide if the place is what you want and then find the place of your dreams...

You sound like you've traveled a bit throughout your life... You know what you can and can't do... Know what you need and don't need... Look at what other people are paying, check their lifestyle compared to what you want and go from there... Don't forget to go through our older posts to get a better idea of what is and isn't... You should do fine!

Edited April 24, 2015 by i am bob

[Old55]

Steve nobody is calling you our or insulting you. :unsure: If you took my answer that way I am sorry.

We understand your question is important to you and folks here want to help. You got a number of answers but to me it seemed you ignored them repeating basically the same question. 

My quote "finding an Ocean view rental with aircon in the bedroom hot shower and flush toilet impossible." is wrong, what I meant to say is NOT IMPOSSIBLE" The fact is my wife was talking to me as I was typing and it came out wrong. :1 (103):

[i am bob]

Steve nobody is calling you our or insulting you. :unsure: If you took my answer that way I am sorry.

We understand your question is important to you and folks here want to help. You got a number of answers but to me it seemed you ignored them repeating basically the same question. 

My quote "finding an Ocean view rental with aircon in the bedroom hot shower and flush toilet impossible." is wrong, what I meant to say is NOT IMPOSSIBLE" The fact is my wife was talking to me as I was typing and it came out wrong. :1 (103):

I kind of figured you had a posting error on yours as you never think or talk that way... Funny how one word can change the complete meaning and feeling of a post, eh? (Oh my gawd... Bob's Canadian!). I think he was probably referring to a couple posts on another thread and then having a couple here that, though not as rough, kind of carried on a bit... Still, we (as in everybody) should all remember the new guys come here looking for help and reliable information... Every member of this forum was that new guy at one time or another!

:D

[Wrye83]

 

 

Sounds like the outskirts of Duma might be worth a look as well as Davao.

I live in Valencia, which is about 15 minutes up the mountain from Dumaguete. Much cooler (but never cold) at night and the rent/living is a bit cheaper than in the city. You could pull it off with 1-1.5k USD a month, though things would be tight at times.

 

Cebu is a large, congested and hot city. It's nice to visit but I would personally not care to live there. You will be hard pressed to live there for anything less than 2k USD a month, it is possible but it's not a life I would want to live. Rent in Cebu will be significantly higher than Dumaguete or its surrounding towns. The benefits of living in Cebu would be the selection of nightlife, shopping and restaurants....which will put you over your 1.5k USD budget very quickly. 

 

 

Valencia sounds interesting. Does the power station around the corner lower/eliminate brownouts? Is cable/internet improved also due to the increased power line infrastructure? How hard is it to find flush toilet, hot shower, a/c in bedroom with view of the ocean staying under $1000 for rent/food (not counting alcohol, vehicle transportation, visa runs, and other activities)? What do you mean by "tight at times"?

 

Steve

 

We get on average 1 brownout a week that lasts about an hour. Water is the problem at my location (West Balabag) after very heavy rainfall, though I have heard others don't have the same issues in other areas of Valencia. We usually go more than a month without brownouts but we have had some bad luck the last couple years with typhoons and earthquakes. Cable and internet is fine and improving. Cell coverage will be no problem unless you start to get way up the mountain. We used to get an 800 peso rebate on the electric bill but they cut that off a couple years ago. My electric bill in Valencia runs me around 2k-2.5k a month: I only run fans and use the air-conditioner only about once a year (if I get sick and it's a brutally hot summer day...which is not common in Valencia.) It runs about 5 degrees cooler in Valencia because of the elevation and lack of pollution. 

 

Things will get tight if you are living just at your means. Emergencies will happen and they will put you over budget (car breaks down, accidents happen, medical bills, etc). That's life everywhere though. 

[Wrye83]

My preferred monthly budget for food and shelter is $1000/mo.

 

You can easily do that for food and shelter (it will be tighter in Cebu). When I first read your OP I thought this was what you were wanting to spend on total living expenditures. That would be tough for me. In Valencia my total housing and food spending looks like this: 

 

Rent: P15k (I have a nice place with a swimming pool, large house with 2 bed/2 bath/2 kitchens and large gated property. You can find decent studio apartments in Valencia for 8-12k pesos)

Food: P8k (usually less for food in the house, eating out and drinking not being counted)

Electricity: P2.5k

Water: P200 

Cable: Free (Sky Cable hasn't figured out I have been hooked up for over 5 years now lol I've been told this costs P500 normally.)

Internet: P1000

 

That covers me, my gf and a helper. P26,700 = $607

So you I have a lot of wiggle room to meet your $1000 a month goal. It's possible. 

[AlwaysRt]

 

My preferred monthly budget for food and shelter is $1000/mo.

 

You can easily do that for food and shelter (it will be tighter in Cebu). When I first read your OP I thought this was what you were wanting to spend on total living expenditures. That would be tough for me. In Valencia my total housing and food spending looks like this: 

 

Rent: P15k (I have a nice place with a swimming pool, large house with 2 bed/2 bath/2 kitchens and large gated property. You can find decent studio apartments in Valencia for 8-12k pesos)

Food: P8k (usually less for food in the house, eating out and drinking not being counted)

Electricity: P2.5k

Water: P200 

Cable: Free (Sky Cable hasn't figured out I have been hooked up for over 5 years now lol I've been told this costs P500 normally.)

Internet: P1000

 

That covers me, my gf and a helper. P26,700 = $607

So you I have a lot of wiggle room to meet your $1000 a month goal. It's possible. 

 

 

Perfect, great answer with very useful information. Thanks, you might very well see me around come October.

 

Old55, it wasn't your post that put me off but thank you very much for the clarification. I did a general post vs quote to let it be known how I felt without starting a pissin contest. 

[chris49]

Apologies for any offense.

 

 

I'm hardline direct, typical Aussie.

 

 

Good luck with your trip. And as for meeting women, notice, none of the responders factored that into

the budget.

[chris49]

Your quote.

 

6)attractive single women from which to find quality, not quantity..

 

I reckon of all the good answers above, only one or two adds reality by addressing that. You scratch that one out and I will start to think differently.

 

We live on 1000, save the rest, and that's with 2 kids, no rent, we own the place,