Best place to look at housing on-line?

Actually not a bad plan Rob and several vloggers are doing it now for the same sum, or less.  They mainly stay in backpacker hostels though.  In 5 to 8 years though the cost might be quite a bit higher.

Peter

fixfireleo wrote:

Because it's expensive here so I would have to work until 62.  I HATE WORKING.  Plus I have always wanted to travel, so if I can travel on $1200 per month then I can accommodate both goals of not working plus traveling.  I have been very good with money but I have no one to leave it to, so I might as well enjoy it while I can.  Before I am too old and too sick to enjoy it.  What better way than to travel the world and not have to get up and go to work everyday?

Hey Rob. What you have to remember is that travelling to a different country every year until you may or may not find your Nirvana on 1,200 bucks a month might be cutting it a little fine, while not sure of your flight and relocation costs to do this every year I would hazard a guess at minimum 2,000 for flights (return ticket), Hotels, taxi's etc. until you find decent accom for the rest of the year,,,,,,,,, before you move to the next exotic destination.

Suddenly your 14,400 dollar a year budget is back to lets say given other costs involved 12,000 or 1,000 per month. Yep it can be done as many expats live on less than that and only you can work out if that's enough for you and your desired lifestyle given rent costs. As said we allocate 2K Aussie a month (1.4K US) for basic living, then 600 bucks a month put aside for car/bike television, refrigerator, water pump, house maintenance replacements etc over a rolling 5 year period  (US 400 bucks a month), then we allocated AU 10 to 12K per year for O/S travel (our choice). Remember for us we already own our home in PH. so no rent and the capitol outlays for cars, bikes, extensions and renovations, furniture, shipping costs is out of yet another budget (initial setup). We live fairly simply by Aussie standards in Australia and will do the same in PH. but the cost to do so will be half or less after we move.

Rob I refuse to go backwards with living standards when we move back to PH.  All the tripe and angst involved in living there we can deal with as we will be close to family and only an 8 hour flight from my family visits or work. All of the above is related to a partnered couple, (one from PH.) I mentioned this before that if I were a single man, PH. would be way down on my "cheap country" "fun country" list, but my next choices as said are further afield. Europe.
You have to remember most of us don't want to learn a new language in a new country but Spanish and english are common in PH. so an easy country to assimilate.
I admire your spirit but not necessarily your change of tactics and as myself and others have clearly stated you are 5 years off your move and plenty of changes in that time, inflation in PH. is up there and will definitely erode your spending power on a limited budget, perhaps an Indian or Pakistani interlude will make your dollars push you into a kingdom. For me those countries are great for a visit (tourism) but not places I would care to live in.

As I and many have done, work a few more years, plan then execute,,,,,,,,, we all hate work but it puts bread on the table and enables a better life in our retirement years. Sorry for the long winded reply and I sincerely hope you learn/take something home from my feeble rant.

Gods speed Rob.

Cheers, Steve.

BTW Rob I am currently working 72 and sometimes 84 hours a week in a high pressure job in logistics (film and television) and love it, 59 now and will probably continue with my work even after relocating back to PH. Perhaps you need to get a job that is stimulating, challenging and pays well for a few years then things look up.

Cheers, Steve.

hello...i am 76 years old and find it easy to live here in the philippines on  my SSA retirement , $1,360 a month....I taught school in Thailand for 10 years and save up some money....here in cebu i pay $200 for a firnished condo.....ride my new motorcycle daily taking my gf to college....SATURDAY we will look at a home thats for sale near the water ...its $12,500 dollars.....you could never find a home for that price in AMERICA....joe