We are talking about moving to the Philippines

[jpbago]

6 hours ago, earthdome said:

That sounds expensive. I was buying local dark roasted Benguet Province beans for 115 peso's per half kilo. And this was at SM. You can get the civet beans but those are very expensive.

The civet now are P 2,000/kg. Mt Apo (The Sacred Mountain) is P 1,000. Benquet, Kalinga, Sacada, etc are P 600 - P 800 at The Little Farmer in SM and at Coffee Culture in Green Plains. Only foreigners at both places. I was getting the Baraco or Mabuhay at P 200/kg at the market for years. I got a 1/4 of Apo and it is not five times better than Boraco as the price reflects. I think the Benguet is from the Baguio area.

[mogo51]

On 2/15/2017 at 7:31 AM, AlwaysRt said:

The thing about the average SSA benefit being $1,341 is that means there are people below (yes, and above too) and not everyone has much savings or other income. I know a few people that are under the US$1,000/mo and do OK, certainly not luxury but have comfortable place to sleep, never hungry, and with a filipina.

I think travel costs are the number one cost forgotten in a budget, Visa costs would be number two.

Agree it took me a long time to realise how important it was to properly budget for these.

[earthdome]

13 hours ago, jpbago said:

The civet now are P 2,000/kg. Mt Apo (The Sacred Mountain) is P 1,000. Benquet, Kalinga, Sacada, etc are P 600 - P 800 at The Little Farmer in SM and at Coffee Culture in Green Plains. Only foreigners at both places. I was getting the Baraco or Mabuhay at P 200/kg at the market for years. I got a 1/4 of Apo and it is not five times better than Boraco as the price reflects. I think the Benguet is from the Baguio area.

Wow. Prices have really gone up since I left 2 years ago. Yes, Benguet is the province where Baguio is located. 

[virginprune]

17 hours ago, jpbago said:

The civet now are P 2,000/kg. Mt Apo (The Sacred Mountain) is P 1,000. Benquet, Kalinga, Sacada, etc are P 600 - P 800 at The Little Farmer in SM and at Coffee Culture in Green Plains. Only foreigners at both places. I was getting the Baraco or Mabuhay at P 200/kg at the market for years. I got a 1/4 of Apo and it is not five times better than Boraco as the price reflects. I think the Benguet is from the Baguio area.

We get a coffee from Sultan Kuderat, ready ground, not sure of brand name as comes in plain packaging. We pay P200 kg as they are family friends. They send much of their coffee to Manila. It is far better and much less bitter than the local brew in the market which retails here at P90 kg.

[jpbago]

4 hours ago, earthdome said:

Wow. Prices have really gone up since I left 2 years ago.

Yes they have and likely for many other things as well, like we used to get Chooks 2 Go for P 160 and now it is P 195 yet a smaller chicken now too. Gardenia Fiber bread is still P 72 but the size is smaller. For those on a fixed budget, in a few years there will be some belt tightening.

[Dave Hounddriver]

1 hour ago, jpbago said:

For those on a fixed budget, in a few years there will be some belt tightening.

At least we will have skinnier live ins 

[jpbago]

8 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

At least we will have skinnier live ins 

Can't get much smaller than 35 kgs.

[Jack Peterson]

1 minute ago, jpbago said:

Can't get much smaller than 35 kgs.

Ooooh! come on JP 34 kgs  33 even what's in a bag of Sugar 

[Kiwi-Alan]

On 2/15/2017 at 3:21 PM, Reboot said:

From what I've heard, in the US there's no money that can buy the sweet comfort of lying in the evening with a stomach full of tasty rice and lechon next to a lovely Filipina, gently nodding off to the soft sounds of diesel jeepneys, trikes, karaoke, the wife next door arguing with her husband over where he spent his day, punctuated with the noises of bakla lovemaking in the unit on the the other side, and the crowing of the gamey cocks ready to throw their sharp spurs into battle. So there's definitely that.

You missed out the barking dogs, roosters, and noisy kids playing in street.   

[Dr. Shiva]

And the honking from the vehicles.

For me moving to the Philippines is a multiple choice of dependencies.

1. Will I still looking for a job, working on my own or will I just retire?

2. When will I move there?

3. To which location will I move?

4. How high are my expenses, because my income is limited to approximately 80k Php if there is no additional income?

5. Which activities are available in that location? If the only activity is sitting at home, then it is the wrong location.

Actual responses for me:

1. Currently checking for jobs in the Philippines because my current job income is very low. But I have still a regular income from disability pension and an advanced pension. The first one is also available for me in the Philippines even with a job. The second one not. Therefore there is nothing to hurry.

2. Planned is the move in 10 years after daughter is finished with school and apprenticeships. But if something goes wrong then it can be faster. 

3. Unclear because it is depend on 1. and 2. Preselected areas are in evaluation. If there is a job then it could be Manila, Metro Cebu or Davao. If retirement it could be Valencia, Bayawan, Tanjay, Bais, Siquijor island, Davao, Ormoc and some more areas.

4. I plan to use not more than 20k php on rental including utilities and internet. So is enough money available even if there is the necessary to own a car. Even if I don't have any issues with public transport in the Philippines.

5. This needs still lots of investigation. And some of the choosen locations have the issues with getting enough information about the locations. Try to get deeper informations about example Bayawan. It is so difficult. Or checking for a place to stay. In some areas the only way to find something is to rent a bike and ply through the streets of the specific area to check for rentals, sales or even for possible activities.

Currently is Davao being quite high on my list.

Edited March 25, 2017 by Dr. Shiva