Living in Cebu

In early 2006 I will be moving to Cebu, Philippines with the entire family.

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Making A Living
in the Philippines

“MAKING A LIVING IN THE PHILIPPINES!”

(What You Need To Know To Operate A Small Business, Get A Job Or Invest In The Philippines)

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Is it really cheaper to live here?

People come to live in the Philippines for a variety of reasons. There are a number that do not choose to live here but are transferred by international companies or come here to work as missionaries. Those that actually decide to live here will usually tell you that they prefer the slower pace of life and normally in the same breath will tell you that its much cheaper living here.

So how much does it really cost to live here? The answer is the same as that given to the question “how long is a piece of string”. There are millions of Filipinos living here on just a few thousand dollars for the entire year. Many shop attendant’s get about 2000 pesos per month (less than $50) and a salary of 5000 pesos ($100) is already way above average.

The operative word here is living. To live like a Filipino you need very little but very few expats could actually live that way. So it really becomes a matter of deciding how many sacrifices and compromises one is prepared to make.

The sum of $1000 per month is often touted as the minimum amount required to live here comfortably. This is of course a very subjective estimate. While this proposed minim budget of $1000 pesos espoused by many is achievable in order to live on that most of us would have to really give up on the majority of the creature comforts we are used to. For many people, $2000 would still be a challenge.

When we came here out objective was to have a better life style than back home. Our budget is much more than the minimal amounts mentioned and at this time the Jury is still out on whether we are achieving this. We are noticing that many things are much cheaper than back home.

Back home I could not have a home service massage every other day for just 275 pesos (just over $5) and the same goes for a home service pedicure and manicure for 100 pesos. I am getting used to the housemaids bringing me drinks on request and attending to the more mundane things around the house at a cost of 3,500 pesos per month (that is $66 per month for two but you provide full board). Just about anything that is service based is cheaper here.

The difference comes when you want to purchase any goods. Local produce is cheap but imported things tend to be at least as expensive as back home. The quality is generally much lower. Things that simply would not be sold even in the reject shops are sold here. Damaged goods are not discounted and remain on the shop at full price. For some reason there are a lot of damaged goods. It is important to check everything you purchase. Because it’s brand new does not mean anything. If you don’t notice the scratch or chip then it’s your problem.

When you want quality products here you pay an absolute premium for them. They can be far more expensive than back home. There is also not as much selection as back home. Furniture in particular is a problem. Very little choice with most of the more affordable items being so obviously poorly made that many of them are already breaking in the display room. That might account for much of the damaged product I was talking about. Its like every second item you look at is damaged in some way.

There are some very good quality products available and some of these are cheaper than back home. I saw a table at SM last week for 30,000 which I fell in love with. Very solid and unique. Back home you would not see anything like that for less than a few thousand dollars. To me that is a bargain. The chairs are 10,000 each and also very unique. I would love to buy it but there is so much we still need to get for the house and we already have a table and chairs.

Many of the other better pieces I saw while still being very nice are extremely ostentatious. One would need a real Mansion for those pieces.

I will continue on with information about prices and quality for the next few posts.

Posted: Sunday 16th July 2006, 6:19 AM

Learn To Speck Cebuano

If you are planning no living in Cebu then its a good idea to learn the language and I have found a great teacher here in Cebu. He can also assist you online and is available to translate any documents.

If you plan to live in Cebu then why not learn to speak the language and earn to Speak Cebuano - Translation service also available