intrepid Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 Over the years there has been many continuing topics on costs of living, can I live on this amount?, what do you pay for XXX?, how much will I need? Will $$$$ this be enough? A couple years ago I decided to write a budget. I started with a list of needs and then to wants. No prices at first. Then I asked friends and family to look at the list to see if I was forgetting any items from my list. Later with my little knowledge of prices and doing some checking and of course asking my wife because of her experience and also her family, I finally was able to put prices to my list. What I discovered was that I will have enough, but will use a little more in some places than expected and a little less in others. I will post he list below here for anyone who wants to use it. Also I ask if anyone sees something I overlooked in the list, please let me know. Not everyone will use all catagories but I'm just trying to make a complete list of monthly expenses. Hope this helps, danny. BUDGET LIST Rent or Mortgage Electric Cable Internet Water Sewer Car Fuel Medical Bills/Insurance Phone Land Line Phone Cell Insurance Home Insurance Auto School/College Groceries Eatting Out Entertainment LP Gas Maid Homeowners Assiocation Dues Credit Card Annual Visa Runs Visa Extensions Loans savings 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonjack2847 Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 That seems like a quite complete list although some of them don`t apply to me it would give someone something to mull over before moving here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacBubba Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 I am unaware of a sewer expense in the Philippines. Detached homes would have a "poso negro", which takes forever to fill, so you may be looking at decades before calling the excavators (I'm not sure what they're called). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support scott h Posted July 18, 2015 Forum Support Posted July 18, 2015 (I'm not sure what they're called). Septic tanks, ya we have one, here in our town we do not pay sewage fees,,just property taxes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacBubba Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 The poso negro is the septic tank. The term I am not sure of is the excavators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 Its a good start, Intrepid. Now if you want to be absolutely SURE you can live in this budget then I will suggest a solution I imposed (strong word but true) upon my second wife in Canada. Here's the story. For a couple of years she had been whining about wanting a new house. The obstacle to getting that new house was sticking to a budget that seemed to work on paper. So I drew up a huge budget for the month on a sheet of paper 3 feet by 3 feet and taped it to the wall. Every 2 weeks I added in our income and every time either of us spent a penny we had to account for it on the budget. It meant if we went over budget on the electric bill that month we had to find another column of the budget to deduct it from so we could not possibly go over budget (there is only so much dirt you can dig out of a hole of a given size). For 3 years she bitched and moaned that this was so hard, and yet we lived on it and we saved the required amount and we bought our new home after just 3 years. I would hope to never have to do that again. In the future I would always figure out what I need to live and then add 15% for 'whatthehell" moments. Now back to your topic. You have forgotten the category of "bags, belts, shoes and accessories" which will be huge if your wife is a typical filipina. There should be a separate category for clothes and another category for "walking around money" which would have an entry for both you and wife. Hope this helps, or if not then I hope it was an interesting read :morning1: 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacBubba Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 (edited) The poso negro is the septic tank. The term I am not sure of is the excavators. Just checked with my wife. Apparently, the correct spelling is "pozo negro". The service is called something like "siphoning services, excavation, plumbing services", or something shorter, Edited July 18, 2015 by MacBubba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 The service is called something like "siphoning services, excavation, plumbing services", or something shorter, What your talking about I think is like a vacuum truck to pump out the tank. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevewool Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 Over the years there has been many continuing topics on costs of living, can I live on this amount?, what do you pay for XXX?, how much will I need? Will $$$$ this be enough? A couple years ago I decided to write a budget. I started with a list of needs and then to wants. No prices at first. Then I asked friends and family to look at the list to see if I was forgetting any items from my list. Later with my little knowledge of prices and doing some checking and of course asking my wife because of her experience and also her family, I finally was able to put prices to my list. What I discovered was that I will have enough, but will use a little more in some places than expected and a little less in others. I will post he list below here for anyone who wants to use it. Also I ask if anyone sees something I overlooked in the list, please let me know. Not everyone will use all catagories but I'm just trying to make a complete list of monthly expenses. Hope this helps, danny. BUDGET LIST Rent or Mortgage Electric Cable Internet Water Sewer Car Fuel Medical Bills/Insurance Phone Land Line Phone Cell Insurance Home Insurance Auto School/College Groceries Eatting Out Entertainment LP Gas Maid Homeowners Assiocation Dues Credit Card Annual Visa Runs Visa Extensions Loans savings There is a lot on that list that will not effect me, well i dont think they will, but the one that jumps out at me is the, medical bills , insurance, What is the insurance, i am thinking its what many may pay each year for the just in case, Do others have this or are you hoping like me just to pay as you go and hope for the best for the big emergency , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon1 Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 You only have to do Annual Visa Runs if you are in the Philippines on a Balikbayan Visa, which is good for only one year. It is free upon arrival with you and your filipina wife. This would give you an excuse to go on a short vacation somewhere out of country (Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore...). Then you get another BB visa when you come back. If you go the Tourist Visa route, you can stay in country for 3 years before you have to do a visa run. You will spend about $560-$580 per year for a tourist visa extensions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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