Poll Best Posts in Thread: Monthly expenses

Perhaps more than "a bit" subjective. From the poll so far, 51.7% of the responses are living on less than US$ 1,500 a month. (That's over half and therefore a significant amount)

The poll is not specific enough to calculate the average; but a significant number are living on very close to $1,000 a month (at least all of the 19.4% and some of those in the 1000 to 1500 bracket). If even a third of those in the 1000 to 1500 part are close to 1000 then there are quite a large number of expats living on close to US$ 1,000 a month. I know many who are quite comfortable with that.

My "bit subjective" opinion is that those who spend a lot of money on entertaining themselves (resorts, dining out, drinking, vacationing) tend to need more money to be comfortable whilst those who are comfortable in their own skins tend to not need as much money, as they are not trying to buy happiness, but it definitely is subjective.

For example, a 2 million peso SUV may fit into one person's comfort zone but it would make me feel uncomfortable. Spending that much on an over sized, under-utilized piece of machinery would make me feel like I was just pissing money out the gas tank.

I am quite comfortable in a used car that I picked up for 2 month's budget (that may be US$2,000 for those on US$1,000 a month). Loads of those kinds of vehicles being driven by expats.

I think I have shown that it is "different strokes for different folks" so I stand by my original comment that it is inane to suggest that "Someone today wanting to live on less then $1k is fairly insane"

Perhaps the one making that post simply misspoke. I could agree with a statement that "Someone today wanting to live on less then $1k is going to have some tough budget decisions to make."

EDIT: Note that I ignored your "trailer park comment" but I just gotta know, do you live in a trailer in Afghanistan? I pictured something like this

 

You are correct in that each individual lives within the space that surrounds them - how you use that space, 'furnish' it and accept it, is a personal matter. On that you cannot be called wrong - only be told by others that they have a different space within which they live.

 

No matter what is said here, IF $800+ is all you have that is ALL you have & can spend, so, either go for it or stay as has been said be trailer Trash. We can only make the Budget fit the life we can never make life fit anything else. Thank Goodness I don't have that problem I feel sorry for the OP in the earlier Thread, he must be having a Ducky fit with all this

 

Yes, the question is not "can someone live comfortably on 1000 a month" but "HOW can someone live comfortably on 1000 a month.

As to the math of home ownership, I hate to single anyone out, but there is someone that almost everyone on the forum knows who rents a bit of land in Valencia for peanuts and built a brick and mortar house on it for not a lot of cash. I bet quite a few know who I mean. I am sure he is another one who could live quite comfortably on 1000 a month.

We tend to forget that we do not need to own the land. MANY filipinos do not own the land their house sits on. They just rent it for a few hundred pesos a month. There are MANY foreigners living in low cost housing that they own in one form or another. Too many get hung up on the land ownership thing which is REALLY important if you build a mansion but of negligible importance if you are going to build a little cement block house for 300K on rented land. Sounds cheap, but over time you can add on to it, put air cons in it, put nice furniture in it, and live in amazing comfort. It is small but can be done on a small budget and its comfy.

And the motorcycle. You can buy a brand new Rusi for 33K. Cost to run it is negligible. Someone on 1000 a month could afford that and likely be just as comfortable as the person who needs the 2 million pesos SUV. It comes down to lifestyle. Be happy with what you have and you will be comfortable.

So again, its not insane to want to live comfortably on 1000 a month but you are not going to do it overnight. Its going to take time to build up a comfortable lifestyle on that budget, but in the end . . . I'm as happy as a pig in sh*t on that budget.

 

Assuming you are retired and have some time on your hands, maybe you could put together a poll along the lines that you express above. I'm not really in the best position, as I'm not retired and don't currently live in Dumaguete. I think it would be interesting to see what what you come up with and what data it generates. If you can improve upon my very simple starting point, that would be great.

 

What an inane comment. It totally depends on the person and his/her circumstances. I could elaborate but nah, your mind is made up. Perhaps I will see your point when the US$ drops down to 30 to 1 rather than around 52 to 1 where it sits at the moment.

That does seem to be the median point in the poll so far.