Happier Abroad Forum Community

holyyy crap....its sooo true!!! im sitting here reading the forum and what happens? a girl from the Philippines adds me on FB and starts messaging me.....i have had this similar experience with girls from other countries.....and has an american woman EVER done that??? a pretty one??? NEVER

I've been staying here in PI for only 3 months and this is only my general knowledge about the costs in Manila, which would largely depend on the location.

1. $200
2. $300
3. $10-15
4. $100
5. $40 - Globe prepaid
6. $40 - Globe tattoo
7. $250

Twobrains wrote: One thing to note: if you go out for a night on the town with a girl, in the vast majority of cases you WILL be paying for her cover, food and drinks too. No complaints, that's just how it is there.

Get invited out to a restaurant by her family and guess who'll be paying for that too?

matthewcoury wrote:holyyy crap....its sooo true!!! im sitting here reading the forum and what happens? a girl from the Philippines adds me on FB and starts messaging me.....i have had this similar experience with girls from other countries.....and has an american woman EVER done that??? a pretty one??? NEVER

Probably a scammer

I would like to have an estimation, from the side of permanent residents in Philippines, and not by foreigner's standards.
I want to know about the usual monthly expenses of a typical/rather poor, Philippines person.
A good start is the topics-questions of the topic starter, in the 1st post.

matthewcoury wrote:holyyy crap....its sooo true!!! im sitting here reading the forum and what happens? a girl from the Philippines adds me on FB and starts messaging me.....i have had this similar experience with girls from other countries.....and has an american woman EVER done that??? a pretty one??? NEVER

There is a difference between facebook and the reality of your daily life. Try to separate that clearly and get out of unrealistic dreams and expectations.

Whatever happened to matthew? he was supposedly going back to the Balkans wasn't he?

Filipino here. feel free to send me a PM for questions related to this. willing to help.

zacb wrote:

Winston wrote:

yatterman1 wrote:I am still interested in knowing what the cost of basic groceries is in the philippines...for example...how much does a loaf of bread cost?

A loaf of bread costs between 40 and 60 pesos depending on the quality, which is around a dollar.

I think most people do not even get their food from supermarkets. They get it from outdoor markets in the morning which are cheapest.

The average person there makes only 100 or 200 dollars a month. I know many girls who only make 300p a day and half of it goes to food and transportation. So I have no idea how they eat at all or pay any bills in their homes. It doesn't add up. And no one can really explain it.

I think it is probably the blackmarket/lax tax regime. Since they only show part of their income, it appears less thaan it already is. I believe for a gowing country 30-40% blackmarket/piracy is the norm, contrasted with 10-20% for the developed world. So I think that those things might explain it.

Many pay rent of P500 to P1,000 a month for the whole family (5 to 9 people usually), some from the provinces may pay more for a boarding house in the heart of a city. No air con or ref, only have a couple of lights, tv and radio/DVD/usb player, so elec bill is low. Rice for breakfast, rice for lunch, rice for dinner, rice for snack. What do they choose to eat if they have ten times as much money, rice for breakfast, rice for lunch, rice for dinner, junk food. Trykes P7 to P10, Jeepny P8 to P15, long distance (20km) P40, Bus 60km P100. "300p a day and half of it goes to food and transport", no it doesn't, most of it goes to lola and family, the rest is cell phone or internet. They wash clothes by hand, and it's like pulling teeth to get them to use an automatic washing machine. Toilet is outside, bath is bucket of water, if you have a Western style CR (bathroom) you will need to hire maid or clean it yourself. They don't appreciate the comfort of it as much as they resent the added effort of cleaning. They usually use cold water even if hot is available, the majority homes, even upper end homes (P25,000 and more a month) do not have hot water on tap. Often in large families (which is in the majority) tryke for school and school supplies is a problem, usually solved by kids not going to school.

After living here for 4 years, here is a ballpark for you:

1) rent for a 1 bedroom apartment (per month)
15k - 30K a month, really depends on your needs. You can find as low as 5K that is still somewhat comfortable in a province, up to 100K for a penthouse in Makati. 15-30 is upper-middle class pricing in PH

2) 1 month of food (average food)
Figure on 500P a day if eating at home (local cuisine; rice, meat veg), or 1000P+ a day if eating out

3) water bill (per month)
1-2K a month

4) electric bill (per month)
Air con is the killer here, can be up to 4K a month of you blast it, but I average around 2K with moderate use

5) cell phone bill (per month)
I use a promo, its only 250p per month unlimited text and lots of call minutes

6) internet (per month)
This one is up to you, as low as 1K, as high as 5K depending on your needs

7) transportation if I use it a lot (per month)
If using public transit (jeeps, buses, etc), almost nothing, less than 1K a month
If using trikes, taxis, etc, it can be around 5K a month

we need lots more info to do this, what city someone will live in at a minimum

leghorns above looks pretty good, personally i spent $850 a month living in either cebu or angeles city, would be more in manila because rent is higher there

The cost of living is really low compared to the other parts of the world. $200 is a actually the average income of an average Filipino with a basic salary.

Cost of living in the Philippines is based on lifestyle. My monthly expenses are $400.

I wonder how much it would cost if you go to a smaller area and build a small bamboo house(average price 2000$)?that leaves out utilities.so only food wich would be what 120$ a month if you eat out?

smaller area, meaning less urban and more towards the provinces