Any information on life in the Philippines
Any information on life in the Philippines, cost, housing ,any thing a non expat should know to make up his mine on moving there. thanks
Hello jab1955.
Welcome to ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ!
Maybe you could introduce yourself and give more details of what you are looking for.
Thank you,
´¡³Ü°ùé±ô¾±±ð
You need to research and make friends and decide where you want to live, which will have a direct affect on housing and prices for other items. I would suggest spending a few months there before you decide, having a Filipina mate would aid your decision.
For cost of living check out

hello jab1955 ...JUST GET ON A PLANE...YOU WILL LIKE THE PI...LIVE IN THE RURAL AREAS..TO LIVE AS CHEAP AS $700 US A MONTH OR LIVE IN MANILA $3,000 MONTH AVERAGE..
philippines has something for everyone really.. all depends entirely on what you're looking for.. on any count - if you go country to land in the wrong location, then you're naturally inclined to have the wrong impression. thus having a better idea of what you're looking for, i'm pretty certain expats like myself can offer you a thorough guide..
things we're looking for are: why philippines? retire? work? explore? what do you plan to do? who do you want to interact with? quiet or bustling? shopping or beaches? low cost, average or high-end? are you american, european or asian? food preferences (well food all over this country is amazing), but still, worth knowing..
just to get the ball rolling:
subic - little american town, great beaches, excellent life, nice clean city, enough to keep you comfy and looking at about 45 to 60k pesos per month for a comfortable stay.
makati - metro, fast, excellent shopping and entertainment, 45 to 60k means a small space but close to everything. but a real melting pot..
davao - 30k to 50k per month, not as well organized as makati and subic but excellent very comfortable and great beaches.
cebu - consider it like another davao, perhaps slightly more expensive, and very touristic.
Baguio - in the mountains, a lovely city, 40 to 50k per month, get very cold during winter months.
boracay - paradise with upscale beach resorts, expect the place to be a little pricey too.
palawan - very quaint, beautiful beaches, not expensive at all.
san fernando, La union - beach parties and surfing, you can probably live in a beach hotel long term, as it's not really expensive.
the list can go on and on and on..
hello:
   i have been here a few years...before i taught in thailand...now getting my ssa retirement each month which is enough here ... its direct deposited into BPI bank...i am now 71 yrs old living with a young filipina...we do travel sometimes...thailand, singapore, malaysia and around the PHP...
  if have any questions , please ask
regards
joe clough
go on the Blogs and Forums but take most things with a grain of salt, people live here for years and never find out about the Philippines, they are in their subdivisions and only go to Malls and tourist spots, vacation in resorts, and never know the people and places, and spend twice what they should, take your budget and start looking for a place to stay, go on Ayosdito or Sulit and look at house or apartments for rent that will give you an idea of cost, all other is about the same no matter where your at electric,water phone internet
rentals online tend to be on the expensive side  most locals here just find rentals thru word of mouth or looking around in areas they would like to live.
U have to visit here and try it for u really to decide  i have lived here for almost for 5 years  and have lived almost everywhere    Im currently living in cebu  but not for to much longer as city life does tend to get a bit on the rich side      come here  expect to spend a bit for the first few months while u get yourself used to localizing.   Some people as has been said in an above post live here for years  yet never see the phils    i live on 1400  a month here and we dont save a cent   but  then again  my partner and I are a young couple and we tend to get around a bit
The very best that you should do is go and see for your self how it is there.Do not listen to people,saying this place is nice,as you may just not like the place.As i recently went for two months to see if i would want to live there.Spent that time mainly with the locals and went to several islands.And now after visiting the place i would not want to live there.I know that this will not make some happy who read this,however i am just being honest
why would that not make people happy  it is the truth
one mans trash is another mans treasure after all
some people are city boys  some are notÂ
depends on who u are  how u are  how u deal with the locals   Negros is actually  quiet good  sure there are some people there that don't like a lot of the expats living in the area  ha  but u know what there are guys that dont like expats in every part of every country Â
With out a question  if u were going to live somewhere u should probably visit and check it out first   those that don't obviously aren't to bright  but then again  how do u know if u like a place unless spending 2 to 6 months there  Â
that's why u rent rent rent  and if and when u find what YOU decide is YOUR only little piece of heaven or perfect for YOUR lifestyle u lease or buy.
Locals generalize here and some at times can be quiet racist
( changing my name to Joe)
In all honesty I have lived all over this country and for me negros is fine  cebu is expensive  that is why my partner and I are moving there  end of this month   alas   just looking for a rental for now lol
Yes visit by all means,i have been living in the Philippines for a few years but started coming here in 1963, and things change, no simple visa when i came first time the Piso to dollar 1 to 1, and places i would love to live are not safe now, i own my own home but i recommend renting at first, no matter what people say when the locals see you are foreigner the rent goes up, also if you are not fluent you might not know the ups and downs of the area you are going to rent in, you will not be harmed by Muslim or NPA it will be a local carnapper or just thief. better unless you are fluent to live in better area, me and my wife have a house we rent out but i would never rent to a foreigner because of some of the people living there, they know me and i have no trouble, and my family are in the local Government and police
sanjayh wrote:philippines has something for everyone really.. all depends entirely on what you're looking for.. on any count - if you go country to land in the wrong location, then you're naturally inclined to have the wrong impression. thus having a better idea of what you're looking for, i'm pretty certain expats like myself can offer you a thorough guide..
things we're looking for are: why philippines? retire? work? explore? what do you plan to do? who do you want to interact with? quiet or bustling? shopping or beaches? low cost, average or high-end? are you american, european or asian? food preferences (well food all over this country is amazing), but still, worth knowing..
just to get the ball rolling:
subic - little american town, great beaches, excellent life, nice clean city, enough to keep you comfy and looking at about 45 to 60k pesos per month for a comfortable stay.
makati - metro, fast, excellent shopping and entertainment, 45 to 60k means a small space but close to everything. but a real melting pot..
davao - 30k to 50k per month, not as well organized as makati and subic but excellent very comfortable and great beaches.
cebu - consider it like another davao, perhaps slightly more expensive, and very touristic.
Baguio - in the mountains, a lovely city, 40 to 50k per month, get very cold during winter months.
boracay - paradise with upscale beach resorts, expect the place to be a little pricey too.
palawan - very quaint, beautiful beaches, not expensive at all.
san fernando, La union - beach parties and surfing, you can probably live in a beach hotel long term, as it's not really expensive.
the list can go on and on and on..
Nice going Sanjayh.... your quite a traveller around the islands. Thumb Ups!!
Hi Jo
I am interested in finding out what you think are the positives and negatives of living in Thailand compared to the Phils. I understand language might be one positive aspect of living in the Phils. However, other things like traffic, crime, personal safety, cost of rent, quality of food, girls, bars, noise levels, roads quality, general acceptance of foreigners in one country compared to another or any other comment you care to make would be useful to me.
Cheers
Rob
Last posting on this thread was 17 months ago
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