Best Posts in Thread: Is Philippines really that cheap?

Try the market in Dumaguete, plenty of Cheap fruit and veg, for meat try Belcris.

 

I live in Thailand and have lived in the Philippines before. We still travel to the Philippines on holiday. In my opinion, due to the rising cost of living in Thailand, I would have to say that the Philippines is less costly. Food is cheaper and western alcohol bought in retail stores is about half the price it is in Thailand. Rents in Thailand or course depend on where you live. But, it has gone up in recent years. That might be changing though as more expats are leaving Thailand for other SEA countries. The exchange rate in the Philippines is much more favorable than Thailand.

 

Meralco (Manila), VECO (Cebu) and Noreco (Negros Island) are roughly about the same. Difference in cost per kwh is minimal. I do find Meralco a lot more reliable than VECO and VECO heaps better than Noreco. Forget Noreco for it is absolute crap.

As for healthy food choices here in Dumaguete, I have yet to find a proper Japanese restaurant nor a good Thai one. You get a lot more variety over in Cebu and Manila for sure, but the cost of living won’t be the same.

 

You may wish to self-insure for health insurance. For normal health expenditures, doctors visits, blood tests, x-rays and the like are very affordable out of pocket here. A doctors visit is 500php $10.00, executive panel blood test about 1700php $35.00, x-rays 1500php $30.00 and so on. Why bother to insure for those expenditures? For major issues, OK, now you are talking high prices like 500,000 php $10,000 for heart valve replacements,1M php $20,000 for heart bypass. Still, about 1/6 of the costs in the US, but in the US you usually have insurance. I still think it is better to save up $10-20k to self-insure here than to buy insurance. Pacific Cross, Caritas, pay attention to their coverage LIMITS, like perhaps 300,000 php for some plans where you might pay 30,000 php in annual premiums. That to me is not “good” insurance. It has been discussed before but especially if you are young and healthy, just having some self-insurance in savings may be the way to go. As comparisons go, many European countries have socialized benefits that pay for “free” if you are in country. In the US you can buy into Medicare but also need to go home for treatment. But here it is like you have no money or insurance, you die. “Your money or your life” applies to all hospitals including those with charity-inspiring names like “Holy Child”. If they do take a chance that you will pay them before you leave and you don’t have they money when you are ready to go home, they will hold your house on a promissory note and you are given a short time to pay the bill or they sell your house. If you have no real estate, hospital security keeps you in the hospital until the bill is paid. No charity cases here, especially for foreigners. They have govt health care here, Phil Heath, that for foreigners covers the less expensive regimens but not the catastrophic and you pay $300-$340 per year. I wouldn’t bother with it because most people spend less than that per year on the stuff it would cover. Phil Health is a bargain for citizens here though. Their premiums are 1/10 the cost of foreigner premiums and they are insured for the catastrophic stuff that we are not insured for. It is not hard to deduce that foreigners, who do not pay attention to coverage details and decide to buy it, are subsidizing the local citizens’ health care, but they do appreciate it. Foreign membership in PhilHealth ie a great source of sorely needed cash assistance to the national health insurance bureaucracy. So, for medical: Depending on your home country’s govt coverage and your own health or age, and your risks (alcohol, drugs, lifestyle risks like diving, mountain climbing, nightlife etc.) it could be a lot cheaper here or more expensive, depending. As for quality of care, if your are from the the US, AU, Eu or other 1st world places, the quality is surprisingly good but nearly as good as it is back home.


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For me it doesn't make any sense to look to and compare prices for f.i. accommodation, petrol, rice, T- Bone steaks, hookers, beer, rum, clothes, medical insurance or whatsoever.

Just sit down and review what do you expect from life and how you want to live. Then have a look to your wallet and monthly income.

Finally decide where you get the best value for money for the specific things you want to have in your specific life.

Simple as that.