Newbie question

[graham59]

 Start thinking in pesos not dollars.

If you're going to go 'apartment shopping' with your friend/partner, this might also be a good opportunity to see how you are likely to get along together in the future.  Don't ignore the warning signs. 

[frosty (chris)]

9 hours ago, Roadhawg said:

Jolly.... since you live in Cebu, what's decent price on a furnished place?

Welcome RH, single guy here, live on Mactan Island across the bridges from Cebu, close to the airport, to give you some idea here's my monthly

Rent 2 B/room Apartment, between Mactan Doctors and 2 malls  7k per Month, in a block of 8 well secured, out of the way, mostly quiet except, party party time, then you go out. Big rooms, non furnished, non air con ( don't like)

Elect  700 pesos p.m

Water 400 p.m.

Rubbish 100 p.m

Gas 700 pesos, I have used 2 gas bottles in 12 months here.

Food. Eat mostly at home, like to cook, I suppose 2000 per week or less for everything, depending.

Visa for 29 days 3,030 pesos, Immigration Bureau is maybe 10-15 mins drive from here, takes about 10-15 mins to get a visa, one of the few hassle free things here.

I have a car, spends more time in the compound than on the road, I walk almost everywhere local, only use it for longer trips, plenty of supermarkets, bars, resto's close by.

Sometimes I take my g/f to Cebu Yacht Club for dinner, on the water, near the new bridge, great meal maybe 4 beers shared costs about 800 pesos. So you get some idea of prices out and about, my local bar, beer is 60 pesos, buy 5 get one free hahahahahha

There are golf courses in Cebu, waste of a good walk I always thought.

Good luck, most things here are pretty easy once you get the lay of the land

 

[Arizona Kid]

10 hours ago, Gratefuled said:

I hope that your friend in Cebu is an honest person. Good to have someone that you can trust to help you decide where to live and how to manage your income. Your income is probably enough to live on. 

I carried  a small calculator with me to convert Pesos to US dollars every time I went out. Just to make sure that I didn't pay too much for something. Money management will be a big factor in the Philippines. 

Good Luck

When the peso is close to 50 to 1 I would always just double the first number/s of the peso amount. P800..16 bucks. P1,500..30 bucks, etc. 

[Arizona Kid]

2 hours ago, frosty (chris) said:

Good luck, most things here are pretty easy once you get the lay of the land

It's true. Your lifestyle will adjust to your income. Not the other way around.

[hk blues]

4 hours ago, graham59 said:

 Start thinking in pesos not dollars.

 

In theory, yes.  But in reality, after 15+ years abroad I still convert everything to GBP to get a sense check. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 hour ago, Arizona Kid said:

When the peso is close to 50 to 1 I would always just double the first number/s of the peso amount. P800..16 bucks. P1,500..30 bucks, etc. 

I dont convert anything as I think in peso these days. 

[Roadhawg]

Surprise... have another newbie question....   Did you guys get a cell phone there or did you bring yours and get a different sim card?  I actually did a search before I asked. I we about 175 on my phone and didn't what route to go

 

[sonjack2847]

1 hour ago, Roadhawg said:

Surprise... have another newbie question....   Did you guys get a cell phone there or did you bring yours and get a different sim card?  I actually did a search before I asked. I we about 175 on my phone and didn't what route to go

 

I just bought a simcard when I got here.You should check which is the best provider in the area you choose to stay.Smart seems to work for me.It will cost about 40 peso for the card depending on how much load you want on it.Load is sold at most Sari stores and many other places.

[earthdome]

1 hour ago, Roadhawg said:

Surprise... have another newbie question....   Did you guys get a cell phone there or did you bring yours and get a different sim card?  I actually did a search before I asked. I we about 175 on my phone and didn't what route to go

 

Make sure your phone is unlocked. Many phones you buy as part of a plan from a US cell phone carrier are locked and can not be used on a different cell phone service unless they get unlocked. The lock isn't a key, it is a special code you have to type in to your phone specific for your phone. Your cell phone company should have info about how to do this. My last visit I got a Globe SIMM and mostly used the phone for text and data. The data was used a great deal for google maps and using Grab taxi's. 50 peso's load for 3 days of data up to 2GB I think.

[hk blues]

4 hours ago, sonjack2847 said:

I just bought a simcard when I got here.You should check which is the best provider in the area you choose to stay.

That's a very important piece of advice - as we all know, the coverage of each carrier varies from area to area so ask around to see what is being used by others in your area