Suggestion Best Posts in Thread: Living on the Australian OAP in The Philippines

I agree 5 years ago the Aussie dollar was 30 baht to the dollar
and 6 years ago it = 33 baht, Now down to 23 or less . my Pension in dollar terms is slightly higher however in Baht in my bank is down 30% Inflation is up and OAP here are struggling to survive, yet if we try to explain that to our Partners, wife's they can not understand, you are Khun ATM or Mr money tree. to add to our woe the Thai Immigration department along with the four main Embassies have moved the goal Posts. Compulsory Insurance, the need to put $35.000 In a Thai Bank or it seems like perhaps we will need to have 65.000 Baht a month deposited monthly in a Thai Bank.
in Philippine Peso that is 65,000 THB = 104,975.85 PHP.
Whilst I fully understand the Reality of No Money no Hospital treatment it is no better here in Thailand. those Folks Mostly Americans it seems say we should all go home to our respective countries fail to understand that apart from medical treatment it is almost impossible to survive on the OAP, A basic nursing home would be my only choice if I could not take care of my self. Yet It seems to me in the
Philippines I could rent a nice Unit or Home and have a carer/nurse make me comfortable Apart from Immigration rules that is certainly possible here so that begets the Question Why not in The Philippines ?
Sorry for a long post perhaps I got carried away
Brian the Aussie OAP
PS Happy New Year to All

 

Brian...I think you can get by fine with your budget; I'm sure I could if I was single. It really all depends on your lifestyle and where you choose to live in Negros. I think is was great that the previous poll was posted, should give an idea on what many folks are spending...I assume many with families as well.

When I'm home I know our biggest expenditure is on food. I'm not a huge fan of most Filipino food but we save a lot by cooking at home and BBQ often. If you like to cook you are looking at a huge savings compared to going out for meals. With all the years you have lived in Asia I'd guess you could put together some food with both local and what you can get from some places that have more Western ingredients to put together some nice meals. Find your way around some of the local markets, veggies and fruit are quite reasonable. Chicken and pork is also priced decent.

With how cheap, and relatively convenient trikes and buses are I would not be looking at getting a motor bike. If you were to live outside of Dumaguete a trike to a bus stop would get you to Dumaguete to catch a movie or some interactions with other expats. Walking distance to the highway and you can just flag down a bus.

We only rented places in Tanjay, with little furniture provided before we built our house but the rent was much less for those places than you have budgeted for. Obviously not around Dumaguete and the wife made all arrangements but they all were 2-3 bedroom places. I'm not familiar with the rents in and around Dumaguete so other responses are relevant.

Obviously the first step would be to come over to Dumaguete for a couple weeks, check out the city and also look around some areas that are a bit away and see if it is a place that would work for you and your lifestyle.

Best of luck.

Shawn

 

I can tell you, I know there are guys who live here with 50-60 k pesos a month. I talk with one of them and ask about his lifestyle. Rent was if I remember right 6 k, I know it's possible to find a place to 5-10 k pesos but not easy for sure. He told me that he doesn't go to a restaurant or coffee shop often. When he goes visarun every third year, he gets a cheap ticket like 7 k to Singapore to stay overnight in the airport and the next day takes back to the Philippines. Where the chain falls off to me is if you have a medical condition or get an accident, hospital are cheap compared with a private hospital in the west, but I have had 2 accidents on the bike and know what I talk about. I paid 2-300 k pesos each time and was lucky could have been worse. No money, no treatment, honestly people die in the corridor at the hospital because they can afford to pay. Hospital wants to see the money before they do anything to you. Will you bring yourself in that situation? Did you consider the move to Cambodia? The only place I been where basic living rent/food/visa is cheaper than in the Philippines and easy to get a working permit, you can get it at arrival. You don't plan to work online for example as an English teacher? I wish you all the best, my concern for you is mostly about health care but again many take the chance to live without insurance because we can't get one, because of age or past injuries

 

My first suggestion would be cut that 70k peso's to 60k. You want a cushion for immigration costs and having to leave every 3 years along with whatever unexpected may come up.

But at 60k peso's yes its possible to live off of that but you won't be traveling much or wining and dining so much. You can find someplace for 15-18k that is fully furnished. However the furnishings won't be that great... small ref, small tv (if they have one), no microwave, foam mattress, and so on. If your standards aren't high you'd be fine. You will want some sort of small nest egg to set yourself up with though.
Consider costs:
18k furnished apartment
3k electricity (can go cheaper or more expensive depending on aircon and other electronic devices (most expats though)
1.5k a month visa (my guesstimate when its all added up)
250p month gas
1k month internet
800p month cable tv
etc etc etc. In the end expect 30k to go towards your basic expenses minus food give or take. The rest is for food and whatever you do on the side.

Nest egg I mentioned probably 50-100k available if possible. This is due to often 2 months deposit and 1 month rent contract (1 month deposit can really only be had for unfurnished). Maybe buying a motorcycle or tv along with installation fee's for internet, cable, and a few other one time move expenses / comfort expenses.

IF your standards are low there are a few places you can find furnished (poorly furnished) for 10-12k but they go fast and are hard to find.

 

…..That is not right, your pension can be paid directly into a phils bank account, only difference is you will be paid monthly, instead of fortnightly...

 

I don't think it is correct that nobody is concerned - it is just that it is not within our control. Best to be concerned about what we control and just accept the things we cannot. It may be that even living in the home country, anyone could suffer devastating financial problems due to loss of job, bad economic circumstances (such as hyper-inflation), war or other things which just come along, sometimes without warning.

So while we are here, and all getting older, then best just to accept we have no control but do what we can to put ourselves in the best possible position.

 

I really appreciate the posting here which are in my opinion realistic and far away from wearing pink coloured glasses.

What I am missing is that obviously nobody is concerned about possibly future losses in exchange differences. Not long ago you got 41 Peso for 1 US. Presently it is much better, but it can change to the worse extend at any given time.
Putting this into consideration which 1.300 US you could end up with 55.000 Peso, and that would turn your life into miserably conditions out of the sudden.

Furthermore don’t disregsrd the inflation.
70.000 Peso in December 2018 will not be 79.000 Peso in 2 or 3 years time.

For me the conclusion is quiet simple:
You can do it in these days with 70.000 Peso per month provided you adjust your lifestyle accordingly.
If it comes, hopefully not, you will need considerably medical treatment: game over.

This is the reality from my point of view.
Saw too many people that were involved in an accident, got other health problems or just felt down in front of a bar, and were in serious trouble.
The good old days when you could have a decent living out here with 600 bucks are over. And they will not come back.

 

Plenty of Vlogers out there on youtube like Reekay who will give you a tour of their rented furnished apartment and post videos every month with their expenditure. Just type in 'monthly expenses Philippines' into youtube for a wide sample.

 

I appreciate your posting and no, it wasn’t to long.

Personally I have no clue about life in Thailand. All I can say is that life in Philippines get more expensive by the day. Actually the exchange rate to Dollar (some 52,50) and Euro (61,00) is quiet nice, which is covering the inflation more or less.

Many Expats don’t realise that once the exchange will be worse, again they will be in serious trouble. And it will be worse, for sure.

It depends if course of your personal lifestyle how much money to need in a month, but from my point of view, and that are my personal preferences, you need almost 1.000 US only to cover medical insurance (300 Dollar), rent (350 Dollar), plus electricity, water, Internet, pay TV, petrol, costs for maintenance, clothes, sanitary stuff and so on.

Once you have spend these amount of money you can start thinking about eating, drinking, girl friend, bars, nightlife, restaurants, trips to other locations and so on.

You can do it cheaper. You can disregard medical insurance, can live in a smaller apartment in a worse area, you can reduce going to bars and restaurants to a minimum. No girl friend is an option as well.

You and everybody else has to answer the question whether you want to take the risk living without medical coverage, yes or no. Simple as that.

It all comes down to this question in my opinion. If the answer is yes, and you have some 1.300 Dollar per month for your disposal, you can have a fine life out here. Below that I wouldn’t do it, but that’s my personal opinion and other people might be happy to live with much less than that.

I don’t want to be too critical. Honestly not. Most important is that you are happy in your life. It’s all about that, and it’s not about what I think which amount of money is required.

 

Thailand is looking expensive now for a retirement option , Malaysia went that way also .