Living on $800

[Dave Hounddriver]

Here is something that happened to me yesterday. Trying to live on a budget similar to $800 a month, (I can't but I am trying to so I can save some money), I was visiting a friend in Danao and tried to stay in one of those filipino style resort rooms. It was a basic room with thatched walls, nipa roof, a fan, screens on the window area, and a community CR at the end of the walk. The cost was only 300 Pesos for a night and I thought I could do it. NOTI was in the room for 2 minutes and the mosquitos were worse in the room than outside. I imagined, and saw, bugs like cockroaches, spiders and bedbugs. I realized that I would be better off sleeping on the beach if I had no back pack, because the breeze would keep the bugs down and the ocean waves would be calming.Anyway, my ferry has been called so gotta cut this short. Bottom line, living cheap is darned hard for us spoiled westernersOK, on the ferry now so I'll finish this up. Some could live on that budget and stay in a hole like that. I cannot. I ended up catching a taxi back to Cebu (lucky as one just happened to be going by. They are rare that far from downtown. I stayed in a nice place for 1500. The cheaper places were all booked as it was Saturday night but this one was worth 15 and it did include 2 breakfasts which they value at 150 each.

Edited January 22, 2012 by Dave Hounddriver
finish my story

[Bundy]

I know a bloke who lives between Tabunok and Toledo who lives on way less than $800 a month. I'd say closer to $400! if that. He owns a little house, has no interest in cable, internet or even a phone, he eats ANYTHING available incl all the mystery meat BBQ on a stick. I went to see him once and he offered me coffee........... he had a cupboard full of airlines coffee in sachets! Talk about "Kuripot"!He does have a motorbike and rides to Toledo every now and then but there's no way he'd have any insurance! The thing is though...........he seems happy to be there. It takes all kinds!

[Mike S]

I gave a detailed monthly expense account of what it take US to live here ..... but we do have a small savings in the bank for emergencies .... PhilHealth is an inexpensive way to go for medical emergencies ..... in my humble opinion $800 is not quite enough but could be done ......LET ME JUST SAY THIS ..... NO 2 PEOPLE LIVE THE SAME WAY OR LIKE OR DISLIKE THE SAME THINGS ....... that being said NO ONE can tell you how much it will take you to live here in the Philippines ..... and I mean NO ONE ..... not me ..... not Mr. Lee ..... not Big Jim ..... not Tom ..... all we can tell you is how WE choose to live ..... and the buzz word here is CHOOSE to live ........ any more than people can tell you how to live anywhere else ...... people can go on for days telling you what you HAVE to have to live here ...... but it is only THEIR opinion on how you can live here and how much money it takes ..... no different than anywhere else in this world it depends on YOU and your needs ..... you notice that I said NEEDS .... not WANTS ...... some will tell you that if you don't live their way you won't be happy living here in the Phils ....... bull-hockey ..... ONLY YOU CAN DETERMINE HOW YOU CAN LIVE ...... you need to sit down and take stock of how you live now ..... and then figure out what excess baggage you can live with out ...... I had a 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house but I only used the master bedroom ... bath .... living room and kitchen 90% of the time so did I really need that here .... NO (actually I didn't need it there) ..... I have a 2 bedroom apartment ....... I had a car ... van and motor cycle .... do I need that here ... NO ... now I use public transportation ..... and the list goes on and on ..... you can live as cheaply or as expensively as you want ..... it has been my experience that the more you have the more you want ...... remember the want ..... need quality's again ..... if you have $800 per month you will spend $800 per month ..... if you have $50,000 per month you will spend $50,000 per month ...... some times those that have $50,000 per month can't understand how the ones with $800 per month can live ..... but that is just how THEY perceive things from THEIR point of view ...... anyway enough of economics 101Now I will say this ..... if you DON'T have enough to live on over here or no savings to fall back on you WILL be in deep poo ..... some have come here on very limited funds and not made it and didn't even have enough money to get back to where they came from ..... the Embassy will not help you ..... again ...... NOT HELP YOU .... you are on your own ...... a lot of people have come here think that this is the land of milk and honey only to discover for them it became the land of sour cream and angry bees ...... some are stuck here and hate it every day of their life cursing the day they stepped foot on Philippine soil and some of us like myself ..... only wish we were able to do it 30 years ago ..... anyway for what it's worth .... just the way I perceive living here ..... IMHO

[Bundy]

I gave a detailed monthly expense account of what it take US to live here ..... but we do have a small savings in the bank for emergencies .... PhilHealth is an inexpensive way to go for medical emergencies ..... in my humble opinion $800 is not quite enough but could be done ......LET ME JUST SAY THIS ..... NO 2 PEOPLE LIVE THE SAME WAY OR LIKE OR DISLIKE THE SAME THINGS ....... that being said NO ONE can tell you how much it will take you to live here in the Philippines ..... and I mean NO ONE ..... not me ..... not Mr. Lee ..... not Big Jim ..... not Tom ..... all we can tell you is how WE choose to live ..... and the buzz word here is CHOOSE to live ........ any more than people can tell you how to live anywhere else ...... people can go on for days telling you what you HAVE to have to live here ...... but it is only THEIR opinion on how you can live here and how much money it takes ..... no different than anywhere else in this world it depends on YOU and your needs ..... you notice that I said NEEDS .... not WANTS ...... some will tell you that if you don't live their way you won't be happy living here in the Phils ....... bull-hockey ..... ONLY YOU CAN DETERMINE HOW YOU CAN LIVE ...... you need to sit down and take stock of how you live now ..... and then figure out what excess baggage you can live with out ...... I had a 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house but I only used the master bedroom ... bath .... living room and kitchen 90% of the time so did I really need that here .... NO (actually I didn't need it there) ..... I have a 2 bedroom apartment ....... I had a car ... van and motor cycle .... do I need that here ... NO ... now I use public transportation ..... and the list goes on and on ..... you can live as cheaply or as expensively as you want ..... it has been my experience that the more you have the more you want ...... remember the want ..... need quality's again ..... if you have $800 per month you will spend $800 per month ..... if you have $50,000 per month you will spend $50,000 per month ...... some times those that have $50,000 per month can't understand how the ones with $800 per month can live ..... but that is just how THEY perceive things from THEIR point of view ...... anyway enough of economics 101Now I will say this ..... if you DON'T have enough to live on over here or no savings to fall back on you WILL be in deep poo ..... some have come here on very limited funds and not made it and didn't even have enough money to get back to where they came from ..... the Embassy will not help you ..... again ...... NOT HELP YOU .... you are on your own ...... a lot of people have come here think that this is the land of milk and honey only to discover for them it became the land of sour cream and angry bees ...... some are stuck here and hate it every day of their life cursing the day they stepped foot on Philippine soil and some of us like myself ..... only wish we were able to do it 30 years ago ..... anyway for what it's worth .... just the way I perceive living here ..... IMHO

Best reply i have seen yet to this age old question!As i said once before.........there is NO definitive answer to this "how much do you need bla bla bla" Can you live in the Philippines on $XXX.XX per month?......................YES ofcourse you can!............It is your "CHOICE"

[Salty Dog]

I thought I would add my two cents in this discussion. Unlike my rich friend Art :hystery: I've had to live here on a limited budget, at least for several years while I was pumping $900 a month into a house I couldn't sell in the US. When I first moved to Santa Rosa I was lucky to find a brand new 2 bdrm 2 CR townhouse for only P6000 a month. Electric w/aircon P2500, water P250, gas P150, cable P350, internet P1000 and cell phones P1000. So far so good. Transportation via tric/jeepney was over P2000 a month. So far about $300. We ate good so groceries were at least P20,000. So there we were at $800 a month. Still had a few dollars left to go to movies, eat out a few times a week and Art was there for free transportation and a meal now and then :hystery: . So even though it sounds like we were living fine on around $800 a month. There was one big hitch. Furnishings: Table, bed, couch, chairs, stove, TV, clothes closet, shelves, aircon, refrigerator, washing machine, pots and pans, dishes, silverware and on and on. Well there went P150,000 real fast. Yes we were living on $800 but the old credit cards were working overtime the first few months. Even after everything was purchased I still charged a few hundred a month on groceries, so we were averaging closer to $1,000 a month. In a few years everything is paid off and we moved to Dumaguete City to a brand new 3 bdrm, 2 CR house P18,000 a month. Too much, but when we saw it, it was worth the extra to live in such a nice home. All other expenses are about the same or less and I had some extra so I bought a new motorcycle. In case you are wondering where I am going here, well it was about to hit the fan. I ended up at the emergency room at Silliman Medical Center (no not an accident). When I checked out of the Hospital 34 days later, I was over one and a half million pesos poorer (about $35,000). I didn't have any savings at all, but thank God for credit cards and a family member who loaned me some money. I had insurance but the hospital as you all know wants everything up front. Luckily I got a big part of it back, but it took me 6 months. I had never been in a hospital since I had my tonsils out at age 5 and was in good health. So not to beat a dead horse, but living on a fixed budget may be easy when everything is smooth and predictable, but most of us are past our prime and it's only a matter of time before life catches up with us. Oh, and I finally sold my house in the US. Now I only have to pay $350 a month to pay off a house I no longer own. :thumbsup:

[Adventurer]

It is easy to have a plan B if you are from Australia. Just get on the next plane going back. So they don't cut off medicare assistance or anything else, you have to maintain a presence in Australia. IE an address for mail from government departments such as ATO. It also helps to keep your driver's licence current. Regards: Jim

yes, the plan B can just be having enough money in the bank for a one way ticket back to OZ as once there if you are so broke and down and out there are plenty of places that will take care of homeless people and besides you will have the dole paid into your bank the next day :thumbsup:

[Old55]

I hope these people living on 800 a month never get sick or injured. As we all know the hospitals will not even look at you unless you have some way to pay and I hope you never get a tooth ache. The problem with living in the Philippines is you have no one to turn too if things get to hard to handle financially. If all you have is 800 a month in income and you are bound and determine to live in the Philippines then by all means do it. But I for one did not work my whole life to end up living like a popper. If there is a way to increase your income by working some more in your home country I would, I would suggest atleast 1500 a month with a fresh visa for emergencies and I am saying this from experience and I am not a big time spender.

:thumbsup: :hystery:

[i am bob]

We all need that "fall-back" money for emergencies such as hospitalization or even to bail out and go home with our tails between our legs... Myself? I will keep a savings account at home along with a really nice sized line of credit rather than a credit card - that way I won't be tempted to run it up! What I need to live on will be transferred from my pension monthly to the Philippines so I still have a little pension at home in reserve for those months I fall a little short on normal living expenses. And I will be paying the lovely higher rates for medical insurance that covers 80% of everything but the hospital itself. (I know - I'm still trying to figure out what they meant by that phrase!) Either way I am covered! All I have to do now is move!!!

[Adventurer]

yes it is good to have something at home. I have a property that is growing in value each year and I guess if things don't pick up with my Internet business then I will sell that property in about 2 years as that is when I predict I will run out of money if things don't pick up much. In two years time though I should get nearly enough to retire on from selling that property or at least until I'm old enough to receive a monthly pension....

[Jim Sibbick]

$797 a month in Cebu? Good luck with that! ...

Yeah, that is why I am still here in the Colonies. Texas is OK... but it ain't the PI's! I have 2 girls that want to get a house with me - not all 3 of us together. One is in Carcar, and one in Talisay. I had to tell them both they are crazy. (I said it nicely) I've only met them a couple of times. There would be lots of dating before getting a house together. But I know me... if I move there I will end up married...

I have an Australian friend, in his seventies, living in Talisay City with his girlfriend. He is paying P4000 per month for his 2 bedroom apartment.$797 will work if you are prepared to live as he does.Regards: Jim