Living Full Time

[stevewool]

How has things changed since you made the move, would you say its easy now for people moving to the Phils or harder,

Do you think that the cost these days are out of reach for many of us on a small budgets ,

Its getting harder to live anywhere if you are on a small budget and even if you are working full time too, but having no work but a small income , is it to risky to leave somewhere that you call home for now,

Having spoke to a few ex pats and even seeing there houses too , it looks like you have found paradise in my eyes, but we all know paradise still cost money to live

[mogo51]

Paradise or Eutopia I think is very much in the mind. In other words, where you find you are happiest, you are there!  There is no perfection in the world, otherwise it would be overrun and then it would not be, if you get my drift!

We have to look at what we have and be thankful.  If we live a reasonable quality life, then we are doing alright.

 

Keep expectations within reasonable boundaries, if you think it is tough in Phils, Thailand or wherever on your pension or modest income, go back to the first wold and see how you go! I know it is not what I want to do.

[Dave Hounddriver]

Do you think that the cost these days are out of reach for many of us on a small budgets ,

 

Its getting that way in some places but we small budget folk just keep moving further up into the hills to avoid the high rent district.  The biggest increases I have noticed are for rents of nice houses on a nice beach.  8 years ago it used to be easy to get a nice rental on the beach for 10K pesos.  A few days ago I talked to an expat who has a similar place that he is renting on a 1 year lease for 30K a month and he says it was the best deal he could find.

[stevewool]

Its getting that way in some places but we small budget folk just keep moving further up into the hills to avoid the high rent district.

 

To be up in the hills sounds better to me , cleaner air they say,you can always walk down to the beach, as long as its safe ,

[scott h]

I just had an epiphany Steve, maybe we can use you as a test case.

 

Take your average weekend lets say. Forget about all the little chores you have to do because you can't get to them during the week because of work, like get the car fixed, go to the dentist, do the "needed shopping" (not mall shopping with the wife), mow the lawn, you know that kind of obnoxious stuff.

 

Now list all the stuff you do for fun: Mall shopping with the wife (groan), watch a ball (cricket?) match, go bowling, go sailing, fiddle in the garage, taking a drive you know all the stuff you do for fun...............that's your retirement. Now we just have to figure out a) if you can do that stuff here b) if your budget will allow you to do it after we calculate living cost such as rent etc. etc.

 

Just a thought

[stevewool]

I just had an epiphany Steve, maybe we can use you as a test case.

 

 

 

Thats going to take some sorting out, at this moment i am so stressed out at work it takes all weekend to come back down, You have heard of Ground Hog Day, well my life seems to be Ground Hog Week,

I shall sit and plan my weekend retirement plan after i have worked through the list of chores Ems has left me to do :unsure:

[Jake]

Hmm....living full time?

 

Is the alternative, living part time healthy?  Which I gather, you're going through a lot of work related stress and that's not really living, is it? During the work week, you're like a robot fighting traffic, fighting parking space and watching the clock to punch out again.

 

Weekends, you're trying to recharge but come Monday AM, your battery is still low, fighting morning traffic and soon fighting the winter blizzards.  Is that living full time? 

 

When you finally make your move to PI, everyday will be like a Sunday.  Better yet, everyday will be like a Disney vacation.  Look at your fellow Brit, Jack P.  As a formal RAF Flyboy, he's always flying with wheels up!

 

The most important item in my bucket list is depicted in my signature........Respectfully -- Jake

[chris49]

Every day is a weekend here and we don't go to a Mall. A common practice here in the Philippines, sometimes going daily if living in the Metro area.

 

Life will always be affordable if receiving a hard currency against the peso. It's just a choice of whether to buy 1-2 kg of pork, or have a quiet day eating maybe hot dogs or something on the lower end.

 

For every luxury (meals out are a luxury) you enjoy in western countries, you are working hard to maintain things like that. Here in the Philippines, we can go out almost every day if we want to. Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't.

 

One trap I used to fall into when living in USA or in Australia was the weekend shopping excursion to the mall. You are destined to buy something, maybe something you don't need, and you will probably eat out and maybe sit in an upmarket coffee shop in between. We don't do that here, or if we do we space it out. And it is still affordable.

 

Steve, right now I'm tracking the rugby WC live and will watch the highlights later, all free. Whereas you might watch it live and also pay your cable bill and electricity.  To me it's almost exactly the same, but here is cheaper.

 

And further to the point. If you live in the Philippines on a moderate to lowish income, that's still well above the average Filipino salary. I expect a foreigner to have a small monthly savings as security. That is possible, but if not practiced, sure the party will definitely be short of money some day.

 

But again, in your case Steve, one day your income will drop. Better to live in the Philippines at that point.

[CebuBound]

I read every word on here about living costs. I'm still not sure.

 

I own a nice but modest home in Oregon, USA. I have no house payments or other debts. I rent one room and bath to a really nice professional fellow for $500 per month, all in. He gets a bedroom and bathroom and all utilities including cable TV and high speed internet. He has whole house use including the washer and dryer. But, his money pays my utilities, insurance and property taxes. It therefore costs me next to nothing for housing.

 

The US doesn't charge import duties on consumer items and that makes many things cheaper by a bunch that the Phils or Thailand. I can beat a Toyota dealer over the head for a couple of hours and wind up buying a new Camry for $20,000. Over the border in Canada it would be 25% more than that due to taxes. It would be much more anywhere in Europe or Asia. In Oregon we don't have a sales (VAT) tax so any price is the out the door price.

 

I just ordered a really nice 15" Toshiba Satellite laptop with legit Windows 10 installed for $399. Western food is abundant and cheap.

 

I drive a Ford F150 Supercrew (full 4 door) 4x4 pickup that cost me $27,000 all in.

 

Maybe I'm all wet but I think I'd have to cut my lifestyle back to save much money in The Phils.  ??????

 

I'll attach a pic of my very modest home where I live for "free".

 

Cheers.

 

[chris49]

I read every word on here about living costs. I'm still not sure.

 

I own a nice but modest home in Oregon, USA. I have no house payments or other debts. I rent one room and bath to a really nice professional fellow for $500 per month, all in. He gets a bedroom and bathroom and all utilities including cable TV and high speed internet. He has whole house use including the washer and dryer. But, his money pays my utilities, insurance and property taxes. It therefore costs me next to nothing for housing.

 

The US doesn't charge import duties on consumer items and that makes many things cheaper by a bunch that the Phils or Thailand. I can beat a Toyota dealer over the head for a couple of hours and wind up buying a new Camry for $20,000. Over the border in Canada it would be 25% more than that due to taxes. It would be much more anywhere in Europe or Asia. In Oregon we don't have a sales (VAT) tax so any price is the out the door price.

 

I just ordered a really nice 15" Toshiba Satellite laptop with legit Windows 10 installed for $399. Western food is abundant and cheap.

 

I drive a Ford F150 Supercrew (full 4 door) 4x4 pickup that cost me $27,000 all in.

 

Maybe I'm all wet but I think I'd have to cut my lifestyle back to save much money in The Phils.  ??????

 

I'll attach a pic of my very modest home where I live for "free".

 

Cheers.

 

00o0o_cKFSmG18p86_600x450.jpg

 

I don't think you would cut back, esp if you further rented your "modest" house.

 

But I think you have not yet been to the Philippines (per your previous post).  It's hard to judge your situation without putting in some personal bias.

 

I like beautiful women. These days most are out of my reach, being married for one thing. But if I'm in your situation I would think the selection is better here than in Oregon.