Cost of Living in the Philippines in 2020

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Michael P. Carter wrote:

You know there is an old car salemen joke, "if you have to ask the price, you can't afford the car", applies here. Peace and love.

And many salesmen whether bank, property, car or general retail lose a sale with an attitude like that.
If you look after the centavos the pesos look after themselves and then some. I call it due diligence.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Bazatt wrote:

I've been looking at places in Makati recently. What is a reasonable rent to be paying here? There is a fantastic place near Ayala Triangle, 1br 1.5ba 95sqm for P48k unfurnished. I feel that is quite steep, but it's also miles ahead of anything I've seen elsewhere (shoe boxes with an induction plate for P30k)

As Bob stated "why Makati"? All good if that's where you need to be but also remember that one can negotiate.
We leased an 85M2 apartment 9 or 10 years ago in Manila, 2 bed, 2 bath, maids quarters with its own bathroom so a tiny 3rd bed and bath that became our storage area. Price on FB, (yes look on FB instead of agents as they are all tarred with the same brush. Initial rental was P 30K, negotiated pay one year up front for P25K including the owner installing A/C to the living area (already in 2 bedrooms) and a few other things, semi furnished, across the road from a major mall and plenty of transport, huge swimming pool, gym, security etc etc,,,,,,,,, they couldn't sign the lease quick enough. The best thing was we got our P 50K holding deposit back after the lease within 2 weeks.
Shop around, taste the flavours etc.

Good luck.

Cheers, Steve.

My office is in Makati, so I’m looking for something within walking distance. I figured that the higher rent would be offset by the cost of commuting / my sanity.

I suppose I need to figure out if I want to live the same life I did back home and pay for the privilege, or adapt to the way of life here and save myself some money.

bigpearl wrote:

Michael P. Carter wrote:

You know there is an old car salemen joke, "if you have to ask the price, you can't afford the car", applies here. Peace and love.

And many salesmen whether bank, property, car or general retail lose a sale with an attitude like that.
If you look after the centavos the pesos look after themselves and then some. I call it due diligence.

My thoughts exactly.

Bazatt wrote:

My office is in Makati, so I’m looking for something within walking distance. I figured that the higher rent would be offset by the cost of commuting / my sanity.

I suppose I need to figure out if I want to live the same life I did back home and pay for the privilege, or adapt to the way of life here and save myself some money.

Yep exactly why we rented where we did in Manila, easy access to the better half's work and close to ammenities for the both of us, me especially as I was not working. Easy cheap transport to places further afield on weekends etc.

Agents can be difficult to deal with and we found dealing with owners directly on FB much easier.
The main thing is to be comfortable in your chosen condo and environment, your bit of sanity.

As said, good luck mate.

Cheers, Steve.

Re: cost of living (as this thread’s title say) 😊, have the prices risen on daily food, clothing, electronics, fuel and luxury items?

Michael P. Carter wrote:

You know there is an old car salemen joke, "if you have to ask the price, you can't afford the car", applies here. Peace and love.

The car salesman still want my money. If the salesman does not answer my legitimate question, hasta la vista baby. There are other salespeople more hungry than he/she is.

For 1 person, budget $1K for fun and $1.5K for COLA.  Total of $2.5K a month.

Add additional $500/mo/person.

Yup "Taste the Feeling" with COLA inflation (ass may get burned ....so just stick to a strict budget) & look out for bargains/fire sales when they come along.

Inflation in Poor countries will remain low due to poverty so I wouldn't worry  about it.   

And $2.5K a month for a person is not peanuts.  It is going to cover it.   

Some items have gone up, pork is one because of swine flu, chicken about the same price if you look around, I buy wholesale but you buy in larger quantity 60 chickens 99 peso a kilo, electronics up some, if you look around you can still find a bargain, fuel price control by the Government, now propane also, over all some prices up but sellers need the sales because of the pandemic, so cash talks

The words inflation, cost of living, prices etc are meaningless on their own. What is key for any expats living in the Philippines or planning to move there is the difference between your unearned income (passive income to our American friends) and the price of goods and services there in terms of purchasing power. It's this gap that will dictate your standard of living increasing or decreasing.

Most modern western economies pensions will be pegged to the inflation rate which is measured on a typical basket of goods. If for example the Philippine rate of inflation is higher than this then your standard of living will drop but from a relatively high base. That said persistent high inflation ultimately will impact on the strength of the Peso (less competitive economy) and so the currency will weaken. The more favourable (USD - PHP) exchange rate will make up for this in the long term.

Everything else is irrelevant and the stuff of dinner party conversations.

Lotus Eater wrote:

The words inflation, cost of living, prices etc are meaningless on their own. What is key for any expats living in the Philippines or planning to move there is the difference between your unearned income (passive income to our American friends) and the price of goods and services there in terms of purchasing power. It's this gap that will dictate your standard of living increasing or decreasing.

Yes. But dont forget if geting income- or losses    -  from own business or other work in the Philippines.

Lotus Eater wrote:

. Most modern western economies pensions will be pegged to the inflation rate which is measured on a typical basket of goods. If for example the Philippine rate of inflation is higher than this then your standard of living will drop but from a relatively high base. That said persistent high inflation ultimately will impact on the strength of the Peso (less competitive economy) and so the currency will weaken. The more favourable (USD - PHP) exchange rate will make up for this in the long term.

Well. Many "westerners" want to BELIEVE that so much so its risk they fool themselves   concerning the currency, forgeting the factor economies in SE Asia have developed much better than the "western" countries and I suppouse will continue so (if covid dont damage SE Asian economies to much in comparing, but after that I believe the trend will continue anyway.)
E g inspite of PHP has aimed at stay around 1:50 to USD, the dollar is rather much less worth now than 2005. (Then USD had a huge fall, recovered, but then down again,) 
I dont know how hard Phil government work aiming at 1:50, but it seem rather much.  It seem rather much because when comparing with EUR-PHP  and USD-EUR, I cant make it to suit each other 
Euron hadnt such big fall as USD, but have had a more steady trend DOWN compared to PHP,
while USD have had a big FALL compared to EUR -  USD 25% DOWN since 2005!..

Phils develop much better than "western" economies inspite of Phils is among the LEAST good developted economies in SE Asia, so even much worse for e g USD if comparing to e g China and Thailand...

Anyway - summary: "western" currenccies have long trend DOWN compared to PHP.
(As I predicted around 1995 "western" economies going down in comparing with SE Asia, but it took a while before "western" markets understood it   

Again OMHO...I agree with coach on this & really don't see any good ending to whats going on in the current "bubble" we live in....yes this includes us fm so called well developed SEA countries.

https://youtu.be/XdSAvPip7XM

coach53 wrote:

Anyway - summary: "western" currencies have long trend DOWN compared to PHP.
(As I predicted around 1995 "western" economies going down in comparing with SE Asia, but it took a while before "western" markets understood it.

Reality: This is good news for US Expats on fixed incomes living in the Philippines. Just imagine if the value of the dollar keeps falling in time, what a blessing it would  to have 100 PHP to the Dollar.

I'm aboard the ship, pull up the ladder

I agree with all you said above, Lotus Eater, but I believe there is one more component; can one change their views on materialism/capitalism or not; what are your real needs, which is often confused with wants.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

coach53 wrote:

Anyway - summary: "western" currencies have long trend DOWN compared to PHP.
(As I predicted around 1995 "western" economies going down in comparing with SE Asia, but it took a while before "western" markets understood it.

Reality: This is good news for US Expats on fixed incomes living in the Philippines. Just imagine if the value of the dollar keeps falling in time, what a blessing it would  to have 100 PHP to the Dollar.

I'm aboard the ship, pull up the ladder

You counted in wrong direction   
When "western" economies go DOWN then we get LESS pesos for our home country currency retirement payouts.

Although by Phils try to keep pesos - dollars relation around 1:50 USD has fallen less than other currencies compared to PESOS,
but USD has fallen MORE compared to e g EURO than what would be logical IF the dollar towards pesos valuation wiould be correct - which it isnt     Left to see if Phils will want to try to keep it around 1:50. If they skip, then USD will DROP FAST compared to pesos...
So if I would have many dollars, I would switch it to some other currency or other value.