prices

[jlynn]

i was in baguio and angeles city this past october. i was surprised at the price for food. most places charged as much as the resturants where i live in usa. the only really reasonable thing was the price of a taxi ride in baguio. was this maybe because of the tourist trade? i was at clark air base in 1971 and it was so cheap then. i realize it would cost more now but i didnt expect such high prices. can a person live on around $1500 a month in a place like angeles city. im not a big bar person or woman chaser so that isnt a issue.

[Gray Wolf]

Welcome to the group!   

It depends on where you shop or eat.  If you eat in the "better" restaurants or shop for foods you're used to in the US, then yes, it will cost about as much as it would in the US.  That's because you're eating food that's a step (or three) above what the typical Filipino eats and can afford.  Even in supermarkets the foods you desire are "imported" and cost a lot more. 

I've been to Baguio several times, but we eat only in restaurants where Filipinos eat or buy food in the local palengke.  We like to eat in the local carinderias, and usually avoid the high end restos. 

Same goes for lodging.  We like to stay in pension houses versus hotels that cater to tourists and rich Filipinos. 

Yep, lots of changes since 1971, bro!   

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

jlynn,
Welcome to the forum! And yes, we do live in Luzon with an adequate source of income, but I wouldn't recommend in trying to live here on $1,500 a month or anywhere else overseas! I myself surely wouldn't, if I were already living in the U.S.! IMHO it would not be enough to live on especially here in the Philippines, because you have to factor in what benefits you will not have available to you here versus what the U.S. has to offer those on disability and also the cost of immigration fees to stay longer, let alone medical costs if one becomes seriously ill here and what about rent/utilities? I just paid our electric bill a few minutes ago on-line, it was P16,780.00, because we have visiting relatives for the past month until the end of May and the weather has been pretty warm lately and the two A/Cs, one 1HP upstairs in our master bedroom and the other 2HP downstairs has been on everyday except late at night! Local and international transportation isn't getting any cheaper either, let alone food costs! A one-way airline ticket back to the U.S. now cost as much as a round trip ticket and a USDA steak here is almost non-existent and if one is a vegetarian, fruits and vegetables aren't getting any cheaper here either!   
So, if you feel lucky, confident about landing a good paying job here and have a sizable nest egg in case of emergencies, then go for it! Good luck! You'll need all the luck in the world! Some do make it who learned to live like a local, but others did not who could not adapt to the ever increasing cost of living, culture and lifestyle here!
You'll probably get a lot of differences in opinions if one can live on $1,500 a month here in the Philippines, because it's all about each to their own opinions, POVs and personal experiences in life! Me, I only give my personal experiences in life and my honest opinions! So, take it for what's it worth even it may not be what you want to hear! I didn't say it was impossible, I just wouldn't recommend it! It's all about the pros and cons and how persistent one may be to change his/her way of life hoping for it to be more alive and or full filling instead of having the same lonely or boring life in the U.S. if that be the case! So, one takes their chances against all odds if one wants to take a gamble! All I can say is good luck!           

[medic3500]

Wow Art, I would go absolutely ape sh-- if I ever saw an electric bill that high. Granted I live on the second floor of a three story apartment building now, and AC isn't needed 98% of the time. We have a small window unit for the master bedroom and have yet to turn it on. Fortunately the layout of the apartment is open floor plan, and there is a breeze that blows right through the apartment (almost) constantly, and this is in Quezon City. It's strong enough to blow papers off the tables which keep us motivated to keep things put away. During the times the wind stops blowing a couple of fans does the trick. Haven't paid over 2000 yet and I think that is high. 

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

You should see my other well to do neighbor's electric bills and they have bigger homes with 3 to 4 A/Cs running during these warmer months! This is only the 2nd time my electric bill has gone up this high in 12 yrs! We usually average between P5,000 to 7,000 all year round with just our 1HP A/C in our master bedroom running 24/7! This year for 2013 the weather has been exceptionally warm out of the 12 years we've lived here in this house of ours! We live in an upper middle class subdivision by Filipino standards, but there are a few rich well to do Filipinos and foreigners that live in our subdivision just like to flaunt their wealth at other people below their status symbol! Some of them are just rude, crude and obnoxious rich people! We just pay no attention to them!
Also we haven't bought any gas for cooking in a few months and have been using the electric stove lately and washer and dryer! Just bought a new LG brand direct drive washing machine today for P23,000 because our 12 year old hitech Fisher & Paykel washing machine which too was direct drive just died on us a few days ago! 12 yrs ago that Fisher & Paykel hitech washing machine cost us around P40,000! They now still have hitech washing machines between P40,000 to over P50,000! Luckily my wife didn't know that and she chose the LG at P23,000 which was already discounted from P25,000, but still puts a bent in the pocket book!

[Big Jim]

No idea about Angeles City but here are my thoughts.
 
If you want everything to be the same as home, you might have to stay there as it could well be cheaper at home than importing everything to the Philippines.
 
No matter what your income level is, you can live on it in the Philippines. It is just the level of comfort that will vary.
 
You don't say if you are single or married.
 
I no longer live in Cebu City but if I was living there as a single man, I would prefer usd $1800 per month and believe I could still get by on about usd $1100 if I had to but usd $1500 is enough for me to live a happy life there. On usd $1500 per month, I can live permanently in a family room in a hotel, eat out for every meal, have a massage every day and socialise with friends ever day.
 
Here is a really cheap option. While I was in Cebu City in August, an Australian man on his first visit to the Philippines asked me if I could find some one one Leyte who could look after him for P12,000 per month. I found some one. They had a boarding house near the sea. The rooms were let at P600 per month per person for 6 people in each room. The lady who ran the boarding house told me that for P12,000 per month, he could have a room to himself, with aircon. She would provide 3 meals a day and wash his clothes for him.
 
On Leyte, about usd $800 is enough for 5 of us to live happy in Palompon. That is living a very Filipino life style. USD $1500 would give us a very comfortable life.   

[Lee2]

My wife and I live in our own condo in Cebu City 4 months a year and even with the condo paid for so therefore no rent but we do have to pay monthly fees of around p3000 and property tax yearly of around p8000, we cannot live on $1500 a month unless we would be willing to do without aircon. Our last electric bill for May should be around p12,000 (I had the meter read before we left and prepaid it) with the a/c running 24/7 in an 80 sq meter condo unit but turned up two degrees when we go out for 2 or 5 hours or shut off if we know we would be out for the whole day. We have found electric in Cebu City to be two times what it cost us in Florida per kwk and with all the other fees tacked on such as we have to pay a fee for those who steal electric, the bill is then 3 times what we pay in our twice as large home in Florida  and also with the a/c running 24/7. So just electric and condo fees cost us almost $400 a month, how much more if paying rent.

One very important thing to be aware of is the ever changing exchange rate. When we bought our condo years ago the exchange rate was 48.7 to one US dollar and today the exchange rate is somewhere around 40 to 41 to one US dollar and cost of everything has gone up in the last 6 or 7 years many times over, so IMHO $1500 is not enough to live in a city but might be enough to live outside a city but then one should also figure in what the cost of health care might also be for them.

We all wish to live different lifestyles so one size will not fit all but as Big Jim already wrote, if you wish to keep your lifestyle, as we wish to do when in the Philippines, then $1500 might be tough to live on, but if you are willing to live a more local lifestyle in say a smaller place and eating more rice and local foods and mostly without a/c, then it could easily be done as long as the exchange rate does not go back down to where it was when I first went to the Philippines 19 years ago when it was 19 or 20 to one, but I think we all should remember that what goes up can also go down and visa versa so it could happen and it could also go the other way in our favor, so always best to have a reserve fund. 

[wildbill]

6 pesos per kw here

[Lee2]

6 pesos per kw here

Have you taken the total bill and divided it by the kwh used to come up with that figure? Actual cost per kwk once all taxes etc are added in is what I am referring to. In Florida it is 11 cents per kwh after all taxes added in, in Cebu it is p12 per kwh plus plus plus, so if my math is correct p12 equals about 29 cents. Please take your kwh's used and divide them into your total bill total and then see if it is p6 and if so then electric is much less expensive where you are but still more than in Florida. 

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

6 pesos per kw here

Have you taken the total bill and divided it by the kwh used to come up with that figure? Actual cost per kwk once all taxes etc are added in is what I am referring to. In Florida it is 11 cents per kwh after all taxes added in, in Cebu it is p12 per kwh plus plus plus, so if my math is correct p12 equals about 29 cents. Please take your kwh's used and divide them into your total bill total and then see if it is P6 and if so then electric is much less expensive where you are but still more than in Florida.

My last month's bill was P8,720.10, total kwh used was 719, that comes out to P12.12 per kwh.
My current bill I just paid today was double! I'm sure it will go down the next following billing cycle once our visitors leave the end of this month!
Wild Bil's P6 per kwh sounds about right! We love our comfort! Electric fans just doesn't do it for me! 

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

Art,  Thanks a lot. That sure answered the question.

Yeah, our new LG direct drive 11KG capacity top loading washing machine arrived today from Abensens. Got it all hooked up in minutes and started washing a few cloths to test it out! Pretty quiet operation and it's programmable like our other one that lasted 12 years before it quit on us a few days ago! This new one should last a while! Anyway, it has a 5 year extended warranty which only cost an extra P1,400.

[wildbill]

Thanks mr lee for the info no punt intened but If anyones like a higher Bill in dasma cavite its 19 pesos per kw now thats high

[wildbill]

We eat out alot and it dont take 1500 to live where we do wow it must really cost alot there  it really does depend on where you choose to live I guess.

[Lee2]

Unexpected costs can be the killer at times such as your car breaks down, a relative including your lady gets sick or injured and needs hospital care, you get sick and so on. One guy I have read about his wife was pregnant and the hospital would not admit her when problems with the pregnancy came about without cash up front, so unexpected things can pop up from time to time and this past year cost me over p100,000 when one of my sister in laws needed a DNC and one of my brother in laws got stabbed, I had not planned for those extra costs so my wife and I had to stay in our condo a lot this past visit and we could not take the side trips to visit friends which we had set aside part of that money to do. So for all thinking of retiring on a tight budget, could you stand by and let one of your wife's relatives die if an emergency were to come about, if yes then your wife may hate you for it and if no then you best have extra income to cover unexpected things which are bound to pop up.

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

Anyone who has lived in the Philippines for a short or long period of time knows that if one can live like the locals do, one can live on less than $1,000 a month including a foreigner who can adapt/adjust to the Filipno culture and simple lifestyle and not just in Angeles City, but in other small barrios in other parts of the provinces in any region of the Philippines! 
I’ve mentioned my Fil/Am Uncle in some of my posts concerning the cost of living in The Philippines. My Uncle is in his late 70s, has a U.S. Social Security pension of only $800 a month and a P3,000 a month RP SS pension when he worked for the RP civil service at SBMA, a U.S. military Navy Base long time ago before immigrating to the U.S. in the late 60s. He has returned to retire in the P.I. and is now a dual citizen and lives in a small Barrio in Olongapo City, Zambales Province for the past 10 yrs! He has a wife and a niece with a daughter living with them! He owns a little simple 2 bedroom, 1 bath bungalow paid for with a 1/2 HP A/C in their bedroom and has a used 1980 Toyota Corolla for just driving around town! They only shop at their local wet & dry open market walking distance from their home.   
It’s all about location, location, location and a simple Filipino lifestyle and not necessarily having to forego one’s creature comforts, but then again medical expenses is one of the major concerns in the Philippines and can bankrupt anyone without health insurance or a sizable nest egg in case of emergencies! RP's PhilHealth medical Insurance is cheap, but it's limited to in paying off any large medical expenses, better have some other assets in order to sign a "Promissory Note" to give the hospital so one can get released from an RP local hospital if one ever gets admitted due to an injury and or serious illness! How many of you out there have international credit cards with a credit line of P25,000 to P50,000 or more? If you do, keep it open and have  funds  available for emergencies at any time while in the Philippines and or anywhere else!