Cost of living in the Philippines in 2024

@Cheryl

Numbers below based on my being retired here for nearly five years now. Includes significant amount for Health Savings Cash which I have just started last year for Just In Case Scenarios without any Health Insurance. I also give my Partner 3,000 Pesos/month which is in addition to the small house that I built for her last year in The Province. Travel Expense is for Local Trips Only. My trips back to USA every three years are Not included in this Budget. Food, Household, etc. costs are up about 10,000 Pesos compared to 2019 and include about 6,000 Pesos per month for Beer and Cheap Wine. Medical Budget covers mostly Meds for Diabetes, along with multiple supplements and vitamins, as well as semi-annual Blood Tests. I don't own a car or motorbike, so Grab Cars & Taxis are used exclusively. Family Gifts and Support such as School Supplies, Book Bags, new Flip Flops for kids, and occasional 5 Kg bags of rice are not included in any specific line item. These numbers may be higher than so many Vloggers suggest; but I promise that they are very accurate for me as I keep a meticulous record with my Excel Spreadsheets.

2024 Based on 55 Average Exchange Rate       

$(600)     (33,000)    Cash Reserves for Health Savings

$(328)     (18,025)    Lease - Talamban 1 BR Condo

$(182)     (10,000)    Electric, LPG, Water

$(50)     (2,748)    WIFI - Globe Fiber 400 Mbps (2199) + NetFlix (549)

$(18)     (1,000)    iPhone 599 Plan + Load

$(818)     (45,000)    Food, Wine & Beer, and Household

$(236)     (13,000)    Restaurants, Grab Food

$(73)     (4,000)    Grab Taxis, & Motorbikes

$(45)     (2,500)    Govt Fees Average  - Visa Renewal & ACR-I

$(255)     (14,000)    Medical - Prescription/OTC Drugs-Blood Tests

$(182)     (10,000)    Miscellaneous Expenses & Lazada

$(91)     (5,000)    Travel - Average

$(2,878)    -₱158,273    

@Cheryl

Hi.  I live in a gated subdivision in Dasmarinas,  Cavite.

Here is my average monthly expenses 2024.  All in pesos.

Rent - 6000. 2 bdr.  house,  sweetheart deal through a relative.

Govt. - 1600 including visas, acrI, car registration,  sticker

Electric - 3500 we rarely use the air con.

LPG - 450

Water and assoc. fee- 1100

Wifi and cable - 2800 pldt fiber and cignal, 2 boxes.

Phone - 360 globe prepaid, 4 go90 loads per month.

Food,  household upkeep- 43000 for three people.

Resturant/panda - 7000

Local trans. - 800 tricycle,  jeepney, bus

Gas for car - 3500 (car is paid in full).

Medical - 500

Pet food - 3500 ( we breed and sell puppies, but we are getting out of the bus).

Smokes - 3500 Three smokers.

77,220 monthly. ($1404)

Hello @Talamban and @blacksheepjuno,

Thank you so much for your detailed posts.

It will most certainly benefit members.

All the best

Bhavna

@Cheryl

We live in Makati. LEGAZPI VILLAGE

Rent. Monthly 21k (inclusive of dues) 2 bedroom condo with full kitchen.

Water bill. 700 to 1k monthly

Meralco 2k monthly

health insurance

Yearly Medicard RX for doctors consultations  Blood tests. Dental . 4k

Health insurance AXA PHILIPPINES 15K PER QUARTER

Internet. Converge 1884 k per month

Back up Globe at home. p399 per month

For us Cheryl PHP 90 to 100K per month, we own the home, car and bikes but drink like a fish and smoke like a burning tyre, 4 years ago it was it was 70/80K per month. All said and done it would be 3 times less the cost to live in Australia, a bonus for us as the bank accounts and investments keep going up as well as being closer to family here,,,,,, not too close but works. We could never hope to live absolute beachfront in Australia but here available if one cares to look, shop, research.

The winner here are labour costs for works done, 10 to 20 times cheaper than most western countries.

Cheers, Steve.

($355) (20000) Groceries, snacks for kids afterschool

($115) (6500)    Electricity (MECO)

($17)   (1000)   Cell Phone Load

($26)  (1500)   Internet (converge)

($487.65) (27450) a month Mortgage (own house with wife)

($91) (5150) Private School fees every month

We own the motorcycle and car so, nobody really takes a taxi or other public transport. The only other extraneous fee would be gym equipment (i.e. weight plates and supplements)and the occasional gym visit

@CrazeeErik

school fees for 1 child

what about water prices

i am coming over to stay and collecting info on my cost of living

Another consideration is location. I found it was different from island to island. Davao was cheaper than Luzon.

For us in Dapitan, We paid cash for our home, Cars, and mopeds. . And we installed a solar system on our guest house so the power bill went from 10,000 monthly to about 1000 or less monthly.  I am trying to get set up as best as possible for my transition from semi retired to fully retired here in the next few years....

So... that being said... Our bills are as follows:

Full-time housekeeper.                  - 5,600

Water, LP, gas for mopeds/car.     - 4,800

Food - Groceries/restaurants/bar. - 28,000

Wifi,her load,my cell.(1500/300/2000) - 3,800

Visa, house/car/moped taxes(yr/12). - 1,500

Miscellaneous: clothes,(She is a used clothes store addict!! Lol ), and other Miscellaneous home needs...                                        - 6000

Total- 49,700p/Month.

....However... We tend to travel a bit... which is not included in these numbers.... this is bare bones living expenses.  We typically try to stay close to 100,000p. Monthly average... which we are normally able to do even with some travel.

@Wellsfry

cheers pal will certaily look into the solar panel game once i settle in over there

@Wellsfry

I'm going to start a new post re house keepers and care takers, hope you can share your experiences, others also.

I have seen many posts over the years here but never really took much notice.

Cheers, Steve.

Hello,

I belive that most of these comments on costs are based on single men living in the philippines  I am in the process of relocating my family from USA to the philippines  My ask is to provide real time costs based on a family of four which would include temporary housing, private schools, health insurance,  etc, 

Based on my reaeach to date, it appears thar $3000 US per month is a high level estimate of costs 

    Hello,
I belive that most of these comments on costs are based on single men living in the philippines  I am in the process of relocating my family from USA to the philippines  My ask is to provide real time costs based on a family of four which would include temporary housing, private schools, health insurance,  etc, 

Based on my reaeach to date, it appears thar $3000 US per month is a high level estimate of costs 
   

    -@daytradersteve13

Most of the people I spoke to think that 3K per month is very good for a single or married man with local wife and maybe a child born here. However, when you say family of four, private schools, health insurance and the like, in my opinion 3K is cutting it close. I assume you are not coming here on 3K getting married to a local Filipina, renting a house or condo and living the retired life, eating out a lot, traveling a bit, self-insuring for health insurance, making payments on a car etc...That could work out OK. But you are relocating a family from the West and the way I would view it is to live a Western lifestyle for example in Makati or BGC. You would buy an SUV cash, not spare the aircon and spend 1K per month on tuition and perhaps $1000 per month for a family of four health insurance. Here your needs are higher than 3K. If you are used to a USA 125K per annum lifestyle, you will need about 60K annually here or $5K per month. The idea of 3K per month for a single retiree with no American kids and wife for family does not apply here. Many may disagree with me, mostly because they are looking at through the same lens your specified, single men. You are bringing a family with many Western expectations like private schools and good health insurance. You can do that for about 1/2 or 1/3 the cost of the USA which is not bad.

@danfinn thank you so much for the feedback  5k per month for a family of 4 is close to what i pay here in the USA  i am very suprised by this estimate and definitely will inviolve more financial planning before relocating 

    @danfinn thank you so much for the feedback  5k per month for a family of 4 is close to what i pay here in the USA  i am very suprised by this estimate and definitely will inviolve more financial planning before relocating 
   

    -@daytradersteve13

Given the information that your USA income is 60K per year and you have health insurance for a family of four and private school tuition, I must overestimated both costs. Let's just say in a general sense that if you live on 5K per month in the USA, you should have a roughly equivalent lifestyle here at 2.5-3K per month. Don't be discouraged; this place is a lot cheaper than where you are coming from.

Let me rephrase , salary is 120k per year before taxes.

Post deductions, my monthly budget runs about 5-6k which includes rent,  food,  utilities,  etc. 

i belive Makati or living in the city centers will raise my living costs. I plan on retiring near the province of Cabanatuan city which should be more affordable?

would you suggest I build a home before relocating to offset rental costs?

What is an estimated annual price for medical insurance for a family of 4?

What would i expect to pay for a good comparable school (private) in the philippines for 2 children (8,13)  ages?

any information would be very much appreciated 

steve 

@daytradersteve13

Welcome to the forum Steve, enjoy and I hope you find your answers here.

Have you been to the Philippines before? Is your wife a Filipino national? Are you going to retire here or keep working say online?

Many retirees coming here live very comfortably on US 1K per month and then it goes up depending on needs and the lifestyle you want.

Say for us here we own everything, live and eat very well, no Children but 2 Labradors, running a car, 2 motorbikes, only PhilHealth and no private health (slush fund in the bank for emergencies earning 5%) no power bills (solar) all the peripherals to live well and spend about P 100K or US under 2 K per month.

You mentioned building here, foreign nationals can't own land here only long term lease/Condo or a 40/60% split in the favour of the Filipino or if your wife is a PH national then she can own the land and then build, weigh up the cost to build and long term return V renting.

Add your rent, school fees, extra activities for the kids, private health, transport, what ever else you want to add.

numbeo.com

Will give you more figures.

Good luck.

Cheers, Steve,

Thank you  its very nice to be involved with a very supportive group 

    Thank you  its very nice to be involved with a very supportive group 
   

    -@daytradersteve13

I just edited my post re building/renting.

Cheers, Steve.