Foreigner COST OF LIVING In The City, Philippines 2023 

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I live very comfortable on less than $1,000 in Rosario Philippines and can save $$ Monthly living in the COUNTRYSIDE. I am only 30 minutes away from the city. Most my diet comes from my gardens. Our electricity is about $40 a month, water is from our well and drinking water is 50¢ for 5 gallons. If I was living in my USA hometown My retirement pension would last 1 day. Here I can't spend it all.

I have to commend you for being honest about a psych situation and meds costs. That kind of honesty / transparency is greatly appreciated. I don’t know the details of what you are referring to, but those things are never easy. My psych rotation was one of the more challenging ones (burn ward was by far the most) because mastering the meds is just as much art as it is science and the conditions are always changing, as does brain chemistry.

Wow thank you very much Mike and Bianca for promoting Iloilo city...loved watching your videos...just always enjoy days and Bless both of you and Bianca

I really do appreciate these types of videos. Especially, because you broke the prices down x2. Thank you, for all you do.

Thank you so much for staying and promoting my city. I'm your avid fan 😁and enjoy watching your vids. And in return I don't skip ads.. Stay healthy and safe guys 😏. Watching from Bahrain ❤

It seems with $2,000 USD a month I can live quite comfortably in the Philippines, Thailand or Malaysia. Probably the same in Portugal and Spain too.

Hi Michael and Bianca. Have you guys tried supplements with or in lieu of medications? Last year I had to start taking 3 different medications 2 times a day for my high sugar 11.1 A1C. My bp was also around 145/95. No too high, but definitely not great. By cutting my sugar intake (sugar sodas, juices, cookies, pies, etc…) and taking a bitter melon pill supplement, I’ve been able to cut my medications down to 1 medication 1-2 times a day. My bp is down to 181/76 also. I also lost around 10-15 lbs from cutting sugar and another 10 lbs from taking Magnesium. The bitter melon pill (Ampalaya) is available at many stores in the Philippines and does not require a prescription. My A1C is down to 6.3. You could also eat bitter melon, but I hate the taste. Swallowing raw chopped garlic is also good for your bp and helps you when you’re sick or feel that you’re getting sick, but it’s nasty to swallow. Wash it down with juice or soda. You can do that every day if you want. I still mostly eat what I want with the exception of the tasty above mentioned sugary snacks. I still eat them, just in smaller quantities. As you’re finding out, many of these prescription medications are hard on your liver and kidneys. It can’t hurt to try. Good luck. One more thing. Magnesium also helps me with my anxiety. As I get older my anxiety was getting worse. It might have gotten to the point of medication at some point, but Magnesium seems to have fixed it for now.

Perfect. My house is in Iloilo. Expat but not permanent yet, in the US still working and occasionally traveling to Iloilo. I'll make note of your assessment here. Thank you for the excellent videos

Glad you are in a much better less problem property. Budget is not extravagant and that is a plus. Thanks for sharing Michael & regards to DB

First post. Really liked the Iloilo breakdown. The monthly temperatures seem to stay between 76 degrees F and 87 degrees F. I could live with that.

That’s very very economical. U got a bargain living in Iloilo Here in Manhattan, studio rent is around $3000-$3,500 excluding the rest of the expenses which wud add up to around $10k-$13k With that price, u cud live like a king in the Philippines!!!

Thanks Michael I really enjoyed this segment - your honesty and integrity are beyond reproach - it takes a lot of guts for someone to do and say the things you said in this video, been there myself in the past after being kidnapped at gun point back in 1985 - back when it wasn't such a safe place for a tourist to be on the streets at night. You have to be ultra careful not all people have good intentions, especially talking money and also disclosing the area where you reside. Not even our inlaws know when we are visiting and or staying.

I presume that if you lived in the province then you’d be looking at maybe 50-75 % of that budget. However I completely agree on you’re close to western living assessment. We are looking in general terms to move over … but in the Antipolo area of Manila and we’d be looking at mostly western style living. The only plus on our end would be that we’d intend to buy/build our house in a gated area ….. Thanks Mark Euringer

Living in the Philippines = PRICELESS 🏆🏆🏆❤️❤️❤️

Thank you for keeping it simple but yet detailed. .Please continue with the budget videos! Im now subscribed to your channel.

Great Video thinking of the Philippines im an Expat 🇬🇧who know lives in Colombia 🇨🇴 for 4 years now ..im in Cali i can live good here on $1400 a month .. i will keep my place here and boune around ...the world ...

Nice place in Iloilo

Good details here. Thanks for sharing. Way better than USA. Hello Philippines.

Please do visit the National Economic Development Authority 6 regional office along Fort San Pedro, Iloilo City and ask the help of our resident economist so that you can get the real economic data complete with years,months,days,numbers and all that. Complete! Please do your budget management with best available data therein.

Water service there must be way better than Bacolod City. In Bacolod we are water rationed where we only get a hour or so of good pressure from the main if we run a 1 hp pump to pull it 25 foot to our ground level tanks. We have three 200 liter tanks so less than 600 liter capacity. A lot of days without us getting up after midnight and running our pump every hour to see if we are going to get any water at all that day we get very little or none. Sometimes we get a trickle for 5 or 6 hours without the pump but most nights we only get a hour of city water and only if we run the pump since the pressure is so low. Been this way for years and the last 2 years the government sold to a private company Prime Water and the service is worse now. Our Electric costs are over P20,000 ($400) every month running a couple of air conditioners and having to run our pumps to get water from the main. Also have Globe and those internet tests are only that fast testing in the Philippines. Speed testing outside the Ph then the speed drops a lot. Today's speed test to Iloilo 685mb down 514mb up. To Hong Kong 246mb down and 193mb up. To Tokyo Japan 164mb down and 110mb up. Also have Sky internet 135mb down and 15mb up as a backup since both providers go down once in a while. On the plus side for Globe my service has a battery backup that lasts for around two hours most of the time during a blackout. Internet costs P3000 for Globe and P2000 for Sky, Total P5000 ($100). Lastly here in Bacolod the Grab service now has a P1000 limit on food delivery. Makes Grab almost useless trying to order food for a family.

Thanks guys for another great video. I am moving to PH this October and the more I see the quality of life in Ililo I am seriously considering that area. Thanks again.

My mortgage alone in Northern CA, ia $1620/m, plus $500 utilities. You answered the questions I have, and that is CAN 2 people live a reasonable lifestyle for $15000-$1600 USD monthly. That is my target range, because my Soc Sec is $2160/m, and a $500 US cushion, would allow for a LOT of safety valve for emergency expenses.

Thanks for your incredible update. My San Diego beachfront Apartment = $3,000. Damn I’m gonna save a lot of money in the Philippines. Your total is half of what my Social Security will be when I retire. Plus I have a large pension. The future looks bright. I can probably easily afford a penthouse condo. The retirement health insurance I have in the US will pay 80% in the Philippines. I have a 20% copay. One of the major Iloilo hospitals takes my insurance thus simplifying healthcare. I plan to self insure the 20%.

PS I watch only Dr Mandell for my medical needs ..he's spot on 👍

about the cellphone... DITO is having a promo for 700pesos for a year of unlimited text + 3600mins call to all networks + 84GB. again.. FOR A YEAR! if you always have internet at home, consuming that 84GB is already a task itself 😂

My rent in downtown Toronto is $2200. Your budget is quite reasonable and also my ideal budget if I were to live there. If I can work remotely and move to the Philippines I'd do it in a heartbeat. Thanks Mike for the info 👌

when renting in the Philippines, makes sure the house or apartment is in meralco meter or direct meter to electric company... if its in sub meter there will a hidden charges for sure.

Thanks for sharing. I got lots of helpful info to consider for my future plans. I only have the best wishes for you both. Life is about the journey not the destination and by the looks of it, your expenditure is worth every penny for that wonderful lovely journey. ❤

1500 dollars in the Us is only 1-2BR apartment and that depends where you live. Add in groceries, utilities, car/health insurance and car payments, then you have to multiply that by two. Not to mention entertainment and dining out in the US will easily cost you hundreds in just day. Live in a ghetto to pay less but who would want that lmao. So 1500 for total expenses every month is very good especially you live in 3BR house that’s in a safe neighborhood. So even with the expensive meds, I think it is still a win win.

My rent here in Fl is $2160 a month for a 2BR Everything here is expensive. 😢

So reasonable. Very helpful video, thank you! My concerns are all around infrastructure. Drinking water, brownouts and bicycle lanes. Those things are all worth a lot to me. I guess I would need to experience it for myself to see if I could do it haha

I love the Constant Uploading this couple days! Have been following you since i found your old Cost Of Living on your house that u were renting before this one! Great content and Delivery! Please continue doing what you do! helped me gather so many information bout philippines for my Future plans!

Have you checked out generic meds for your blood pressure? I have done that and it has done the same thing than the regular meds and it comes out a lot cheaper

You can do Diy aircon (styro ice box) u can cut down to 1 aircon unit...

Thank you very much Mike for this detailed breakdown. I wonder, how much a studio condo might cost since it's only me, in Iloilo City. I like the convenient location you have, The buses are awesome too

The bottom line is live beyond your means, live like a local, go to MD for preventative, if your planning to retire or move in the Philippines bring 6 mos of medications refills, bring first aid, bring a lot of SFP lotion and hydrocortisone for mosquito bites very expensive. Get all necessary vaccines, mask and disinfectant wipes.

Thank you for the info! Very helpful, especially the health insurance and medication costs and availably. Cheers!

That's a surprising monthly budget. How great is the Philippines. 🇵🇭

Thanks for the accurate budget, is a good realistic budget compared to some to the click bait ones, like live on $500 a month.

Hi Michael, Thank you for this. Very helpful. We will have additional expenses such as private school for our kid, we also plan to have a car so extra costs there, plus we plan to have a bit more expensive house and a couple of other items that you dont have listed. One thing we dont have to worry about is immigration/visa costs. My wife is dual citizen as is my kid and I can get spousal visa. I think our monthly total will be quite a bit more but still much more affordable than here in the US. Thanks again!

Wow my rent alone in Vancouver Canada is 1,620 USD! Thanks for the video I especially appreciated that it was a budget for 2 people. Lots of single person budgets on RU-vid but not many budgets for couples 😊

way to go iloilo.thank you mike and bianca from canada to philippines.roots of seaman and nurses all over western visayas hehe.

SMART has a 400p plan called magic data that is 64gb I believe. And it does not expire.

Thank you, Yes my blood thinner in USA 800 with no insurance, Here 100 😂😂😂😂, Good lord that speaks Volumes on where to settle,

great video mike. my rent for a 2 bedroom condo in daytona beach Florida was 1450 per month! glad you finally settled into a legit property

Your travel videos always transport me to new horizons!

My usage of power similar kilowatt-hour s but it ranges $90 to $120 usd a month for small one bedroom apartment in Costa Rica

We live 1.5 hours from Manila family of 3 in Morong Rizal total budget $700. Here you can get a home cooked meal for 120P currently no insurance but a car payment $150. Apartment $130. Electric $70 we spend a lot on groceries because I buy a lot of US products $240. School for our kid and everything else around $700. We there's always something else, dentist, doctor, bla bla but well under $1,000. Complete

Based on the lifestyle Mike described, Mike and Bianca still seem to be living on the upper end of the expat lifestyle scale (big house, dining out, going out, etc.) although the budget Mike gave even with the medical expenses included still seems reasonable if compared to living here in the west. I guess how high your monthly budget goes really depends on where you live as there are certain places in the PH where costs are even higher (or at least some expats spend even more) like BGC or Makati even compared to a fast growing, rapidly modernizing city like Iloilo.

Need to deal w the noise pollution esp in the cities

Thanks for talking about mental health medication. I take antidepressants daily so I might have to stay in the big city to access medication at a reasonable price. Wishing your partner all the best.

My rent for a 1 bedroom apt. In the US is over $1,000, just because I have been in the same apt for over 30 years. My neighbors are paying $1500 for theirs. My monthly groceries just for me and my dog is $500. Cable,internet and phone is $200. Gas and electricity is $200. Water is free and my meds are covered by insurance. I couldn't wait to retire in Iloilo and not pay rent anymore because I already have a big house there.

I am currently looking for flights from Chicago to Cebu as I will put boots on the ground looking for my retirement city this November for 30 days. My route will be Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Dumaguete and I will stay for several days in each town. But so far I am really liking Iloilo. Thanks for all that you both do in showing us your beautiful town and what your living expenses are. Stay healthy and happy.. -=Efrain=-

There is actually free universal healthcare here but of course it takes you about half a day to get from initial intake to the issuance of your prescription and/or treatment (labs, etc). Based on the little info you gave, I can say they have all the meds you need, including psych meds.. And oh yes, they have waaaay better psychiatrists than private practice does.

Hi Michael,..I just became a new subscriber of your channel. Thanks for a great 👍 informative video. Keep up the great work.

Very nice ! 👍

This is absolutely a great video. Thank you for taking the time for the breakdown of cost and even the personal aspect of the medical cost. Again this is a super video, I wish I had a video like this when I was deciding to move to Thailand. You have peeked my interest and thank you again.

$1,260 USD = $1,636 CAD. I live in downtown Vancouver as the relief building manager, we just rented a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath for $2,900 a month (heat & 1 parking stall included). I pay a discounted price of $1,200 for a small 1 bedroom on the 1st floor, just for comparison. I live extremely cheap as a single guy only spending $600 a month, which puts me at $1,800. I went out with friends last weekend, we shared an appy and I had the fish n chips and 3 beers was $96 with tip. Basically, a weeks worth of groceries for 1 average meal out. Most of my friends spend $3,000 - $5,000 a month on living expenses. I have a friend with a wife and 2 children and they spent $20,000 last month, which I find absurd. I don't see why I couldn't live in the Philippines for $1,000 - $1,200 CAD.

Thanks. Good info

Pretty good for 2 people in a city Like to see the house

Thank you for always being transparent and helpful! Keep being awesome guys! 👍

Rent costs are a key factor. We found a 2 bedroom apt for $115 usd.

Great great stuff as always! We will be there to visit again, soon as our condo is finished in megaworld whenever that will be.

Very Comprehensive budget. Sorry about those health care costs,

Much more do you think it would cost to live in Cebu or Dumaguete

put up a solar panel system very good investment

Very informative - thanks for the detailed upload!

Well done! Our costs are about the same, but spread over different categories. Our rent is cheaper but we tend to spend more on food and miscellaneous stuff. I use PLDT and spend 3k for 400 up and down. Do ya'll have Lander's there, it might be an alternative to S&R.

thank you, very informative

Thank you for sharing, very helpful. I was thinking I needed over $2000.

would like to see you go to Tatoys Manokan and Seafood Restaurant and mambukal resort

Thanks man concidering

Very good video

For transportation, its easier to buy a second hand scooter for like 30,000 pesos or less, its well worth it..

6000PHP for electricity kind of blows my mind. I live in Japan and pay the equivalent of 2000-2500PHP, and am quite a heavy user. Strange that a poorer country like the Philippines is more than twice as expensive. My rent is also near identical to yours too. Would love to move to Phils but can't see how, given how low salaries are there in comparison to what is basically the same cost of living as Japan. Thanks for the info anyway. Never hurts to dream :)

Hey Mike - - A very good explanation & an awesome budget for what you got !!! -- My goodness (?) considering inflation - and - what your lifestyle is....? Hey..... I'd take that any day. -- A single person 'might be' near $1000 (w/o meds) - with - a somewhat more frugal furnished rental ? -- A scooter rental thrown in (and 'some' travel) for about the $1200 budget (?) perhaps ? = A very nice life for the $ on the """average'''''' US SS check still can be had. --?-- Just stay healthy and enjoy !!!

It took a while for you to find a nice place and finally you have one. Are there many GOOD rental places still around and at reasonable prices?

Hello. Would you also be investing in other equally useful and healthy projects like sports etc? Eg Tennis, badminton...

If Bianca gets her citizenship there are some cities in the Philippines specially ones with a business district. May offer "insurance like" services to their citizens in their government hospitals or even private specialty hospitals(Private-Public Partnership) that offer different services, even specialist doctors. Then the city pays for the services rendered fully or mostly. Sometimes citizens would pay a small fee outside of that but it's still the city that pays for the majority. I won't name which cities do this. Just making you know that there are cities in the Philippines that offer such services to their residents. Just do you research in choosing the city you wish to live in.

I,ve been following your blog ever since I saw your video about deciding where in philippines to retire and why. We both have thesame reason why we chose iloilo. Do you live in a walking distance to SM mall? That street look familiar. We just bought a house in one of those new development village near the SM mall and beaches near it and found out that the prices went up significally this year compared to last year. Back in 10 years ago when I first visited that place SM mall is the only biggest building there and around it are mostly ricefields and fishponds. What is the sales tax there now. Over here in la county california is now 10.25%.

Nice video bro 🎉

not bad thats like a 1 bedroom appartment in toronto

Wow if u have 3500 social security, it is more than enough!

Thanks very informative.

Mike, have you compared the cost of getting Starlink hardware and monthly subscription to your current internet costs? You did mention that you're paying for higher speed than what people mention they get who have Starlink in the PH though.

Does the current budget increase from 2020, 2021 and 2022 ones?

How's all the brownouts going in the "level up" city

What if you add medica/insurance,car payments,international travel,occasional outings/trips/socializing,cloths.

That's not bad of a budget

Thanks for sharing

Wow, what mental health medications specifically? 11:35

Beautiful😍

This is a question for everyone. I've watched close to all of Michael & B's vids I've fallen in love with the Filipino people/culture 😍. I see Expats marrying Filipine women are Filipine men 🇵🇭 marrying expat American women and they live in the Philipines? Yes I'd be interested in trying this. I don't believe in divorce, i already know that there is divorce there anyway. Only way i'd consider it is infidelity and a y type of abuse. I'm good with languages I'm bilingual English/Spanish but i'm a bit rusty, however 100% learn Tagalog or the dialect of our area and if he's a single dad that's ok. I'm ok withbeing a step-mom. I would prefer a financially stable man as I only get disablity payme t from the Social Securtity office (i'm not a gold digger ie, after someone for money only). Personality especially humor and being an extrovert ate more important than looks. I love to sing so kareoke being one of the national past times is awesome. So if anyone could give me information i'd greatly appreciate it. Salamat (thank you😊 I hope i spelled it correctly)

My hearts beat in Iloilo City.

very informative nice 👍

i have watched many of these videos and i think to find a good lady would be to hang out at around a hospital and grab a nurse, one who has a good job and schooling looking for very long term, maybe i am wrong but just a thought

Great video, thank you very much

so there are grab and taxis in iloilo........................ nice

Where do you live? I'm in Davao City, but I like the infrastructure you were show in the video.