Best Posts in Thread: Cost of living in dumaguete? ($860 VA disability pension enough?)

Maybe I missed something somewhere with the 860$, did you get injured in combat or just on the job? For you not doing a full 20 years in the service to get retirement at anytime you could loose your benefits!!! You were put out for being medically unable to do your job? Yes? So that puts you in a very bad spot! You need to realize that you need to be in a place where you can get treatment on a regular schedule, the VA put you under 100% because they feel you can and with treatment get better whitch in turn will change your rating to 0%!!! There is a part in your separation paperwork that tells you all this in a language not many understand without a lawyer, I have seen it happen time and time again! It says that if you are not getting regular treatment for your SC condition then as far as the VA is concerned you are OK therefore you can work and live a normal life.

Now I live in Angeles City and prices here for everything are higher than they are in th states but I am married (22 years) and have rental properties and a 10 hectare fruit farm, with that I am wheelchair bound due to a training accident but I was already over my 20 year mark, so I also pull a full retirement!!! I am P&T Rated for 5 SC conditions, so once you get a P&T (permanent & total) you don’t really have much to worry about, but which ever service that put you out for whatever reason you need to understand that they are expecting to see regular doctors appointments either through the FMP program or the VA, as far as the Philipppines goes, if they don’t see you doing anything about your conditions they will in time get you for failure to get treatment and they can backdate that up to your last doctors appointment or further and then you will be in even more sh*t than you could ever imagine!!! You will be disqualified from SSA, food stamps, and could face jail time!!!

So here is my suggestion to you from my standpoint, while you are in the U.S. work on getting your SC to 100%, if there is no VA facilities within ?? Miles of you you have to call the one that manages your care and either go see them every month or if they are to far away then you are able to request to see a Dr. In your area. If it is a specialized doc you need to see and you have one in your area then request to see him and go every month and make sure he documents your ups and downs with what ever your problem is! It would help a lot to know what you are disabled for that way I could help you a little more, and if it is a combined rating then that is another ball game all together...

So for you to come here and go way down south you are still required to come to either Manila or Guam every year for a check-up, so you are looking at transportation cost and lodging if you don’t have your own transpo! And the VA here is not paying for that anymore!!! Although we are trying to fight it, you never know!!! The people that run the VA here in the Philippines are doing their best to get it closed down, because we get paid more than them and either they don’t want to be here, or whatever reason. We have already filled a number a cases with them for all kinds of things, so we will see where all that goes.

Sorry for babbling on but I just see so many young kids getting screwed for things they are not aware of and they are not coming to the right people to get the answers or even know what questions to ask....

Good luck to you, Goose out

 

Well I read through all of the posts here in this thread and was amused by many of them...

Now; I am disabled (Broken leg for 33 years) and live on an Australian Disability Pension.

I am not a Party Animal & prefer the quiet life at home with my Wife & Daughter. (No Bars - NO Sexpat activities etc... Yes some will call THAT BORING but I am Happy.)

I live in South Negros in the province (Maluay, Zamboanguita) 25KM's from Dumaguete in the bamboo, in a Nipa Hut, & pump water by hand (no running water here) wash Clothes by hand, shower from a pail etc & I have Electricity, Internet, Pay TV which I consider necessities & I am extremely HAPPY with my lot in life.

Now; my Monthly allowance I give myself for Bike Payment, Electricity, Internet, Pay TV, Grocery Shopping at Hypermart, Fresh Meat, Fresh Vegetables, a few Treats, occasional clothing (from Ukay Ukay) Travel expenses catching Jeepney or Tricycle to the City and Home etc is $600.00USD a Month and I do not feel that I am missing out on anything here. Yes I have money left over and that is for myself, my Wife & our 10 year old Daughter who also incurs expenses at School & whatnot's...

I do not pay Rent because I live with the Family here so factor that in depending on what you need. Many come here shitting their pants worried about Terrorists. Sorry I laugh my @ss off at them! Dumaguete is not Manila or Mindanao! (And MANY Expats are living there just fine also!) I have lived here for the past 3 years with out so much as a scare from any of the locals, no gated community, no high walls, no Guard on duty, anyone so sh*t scared should stay in their own country in my way of thinking, in fact I am more relaxed here than I was back in Australia!

I have seen places here for 4,000 pesos a month I would live in, mind you the 8,000 a month Unit was nicer. If you adapt, eat the local foods, do as the locals do, you will do just fine! You will be able to afford to eat out daily unless you go to most of the local expat hang outs and pay the long nose prices for food! If you come here & wish to live with a Western mind set then you are better off staying where you are. I mix with very few expats for reasons much the same as Wrye pointed out, most I have met are down right losers here and no doubt back home, but I have met a select few who I think are very nice people, I just wish I had a car so I could visit them a little more so I had some outside contact here.

I honestly believe you can do it on $860USD a month as long as you are not what they call 'maarte' here. (Artista/ up yourself/ live beyond your means/ think you are better/ nothing is too your standards etc...)

If you are prepared to try & fit in, adapt to the local culture & foods & learn to experience life here, then you will do just fine here. If you are full of yourself, like to live the high life, like to be a boozer or womaniser & like to p*ss your money away, then better to stay where you are. Many here do just fine on a low income by adapting and learning how to budget correctly.

 

Can it be enough? Yes
Do people manage on that much long term? Yes
Is it enough for you??? No way we can answer that for you. You need to come here a few months trial basis and see for yourself.

Example to think about:
$800 is about p40,000 right now and the exchange rate can change for better or worse.
Figure about...
p10,000 rent for studio apartment
p5,000 utilities (phone, internet, electric, water)
p2,000 average for Tourist Visa

40,000 - 17,000 = 23,000 for food, entertainment, emergency savings, medical, travel (around town, around the Philippines, and you have to leave once every 3 years as a tourist).....

 

One year ago this guy posted his question, and we have not heard from him since but the topic is still alive and nothing wrong in that. Everything is possible if you want to take the risk and bring yourself in a situation where you is dependent on others. As stated of many others if you get sick or have an accident you are lost. I meet a Danish guy in Bohol, no income he lives with the gf's family and even gets a baby with her. In my eyes a miserable life, but he had shelter and food every day. Overstay more than 2 years, long story short, he gets the help of another Danish guy I bring there for a visit, he contacts immigration and gets him back to Denmark. Only a few people with common sense will bring them self in a situation like that. The guy who started this topic is or was 26 years old, not 66 years old and no information if he has a rich granddad in the background and lack of other info. Most of us are in the Philippines because of the beautiful girls, nice climate and not to forget the cost of living. I have just been shopping a little for tonight, 15 years Tanduay rum 340 pesos, In Denmark 2-3 k pesos, tenderloin imported cost 8 times more in Denmark and I can go on. I feel I get a lot for my money here, my apartment cost maybe 6-8 times more in rent, don't hope my landlord read this lol. Some imported food cost even more than in Denmark, because it's imported from there, but my choice if I buy it. Gasoline is half price, I know it's cheaper in the US so of course, our point of view on this is different. I don't judge people of how much money they have but on their behavior, why are some people here and in other social media like FB so negative of other people way of living, white trailer trash, and other negatively charged word? You feel boring or what's the problem? People I avoid is people with no respect for others and bad behavior and that's both rich and poor. Happy New Year Every One!

 

Yeah, I guess you're right. The complainers are just the most visible, i.e. loudest. Most expats are living fairly quiet, happy lives.

 

It has been on the way for some years that Thailand wants high income expat living in Thailand. Already 8 years ago I visit Thailand for 10 months the start talking about change visa rules. It's funny that our Embassy doesn't want to sign a paper with our disability pension, they want you to spend your money in your home country. Denmark changes the pension rules, so you no longer get full disability pension if you leave Denmark. The full pension is around 2000 US or 105 k pesos for all, then most people have some private pensions fond trough their job, the law requires we pay to a fond and our employer private or public (state etc.) also pay to it. Our home countries make rules so fewer people go abroad and enjoy their retirement but stay at home and spend their money. I guess we have 1400 US or around 75 k pesos today but the new rules do not count for people who already left Denmark, I hear it's general same in all Europe, countries tightens the rules. To me it's wrong the government will decide where I want to live, I pay to the pension for years and tax as high as 70% when I have a high income and work 90-100 hours a week 3 months then 2 weeks of and same again, my choice for sure but feel I have the right to decide where I want to live

 

Apart from the fact that the TO obviously is not very interested in getting hints and answers, I am wondering what we are talking about here.

It’s not a matter which kind of lifestyle you can afford with 860 bucks. Unimportant whether you live in a mansion with pool or a nipa hut, you have a girl friend and children or not, you eat tenderloin every day or sinigang.
Irrelevant.

Only thing that matters is lack of medical insurance. This is essential and you can’t afford it with low income. Means, first serious sickness, better said first expensive sickness, put you directly into bankruptcy. If you survive.

Hospital bills can easily reach a Million Pesos, just for a surgeryor any kind of senior treatment. Then you might need rehabilitation. Cost you another couple of hundreds of thousands of Peso.

With 860 bucks per months you can not make necessary savings. Depending on the exchange rate you just have 35.000 to 45.000 Peso per month.
That’s enough to have a very very simple life. That’s it.
And why should somebody move around half the globe to have this kind of lifestyle ?
Ok. That’s privacy. Don’t want to judge about it.

As said, Dir me it is an absolutely NoGo to emigrate with 860 Dollar in my pocket and without any kind of medical insurance in a country like Philippines. No way.

 

$860/month is probably enough to live in the Philippines if you are willing to make radical adjustments to live more like a Filipino than an American. That means meals at turoturo food stands and not McDonalds, or any other modern restaurant, since those prices are virtually the same as the US. The US will offer you many "freebie" programs, but only if the pension is your sole money and you don't own $4 million in farm acreage, or have $1.5 million sitting in an IRA. In the Philippines there is near ZERO safety net, and even LESS THAN ZERO for foreigners. You will pay for everything here as the Philippines make their own people do. If you get sick or have a serious accident, you will die in the Emergency Room before anyone will lift a finger here unless they are convinced they will get paid (something that is illegal in the US.) So, if there are any health issues, this is not the place to be if you are only bringing $860/month. If you are going to attempt it, try to get at least US$3000 in a bank account and don't touch it. It is your lifeline home when paradise fades.