[QUOTE=SaltyWetFish;42288649] You really are a salty life fish. You spend 250k/mo and you rent a car instead of owning? Oh wait, you don't and are just a troll trying to get ppl riled up on the internet by being a condescending douche. It's just getting kind of sad though.

Sorry old angry bro, no one here likes or respects you. Take your supposed infinite wisdom of third world life to another forum.

[QUOTE=nutsfl0pper;42288886] You guys have reading comprehension issues.

SWF has never claimed to spend 250k/month. He's saying that's his estimate of what it would cost to live a baller lifestyle. And by baller he means actually baller (e.g. riding around in limos, VIP rooms in clubs opening bottles etc), not just having a 42" TV.

ok, I didn't know he meant riding around in limos, or that's his estimate of a baller lifestyle cost. I had the impression that's what he estimated to live comfortably in manila. Thanks spiv

Yes, thanks Spiv for reading before passing judgement.

Nutsflopper, if you bothered to read #7148, you would have known exactly what I meant, it's pretty clear how I posted it. I actually think you need to make far in excess of 250k/month to really have a baller lifestyle in Manila. Perhaps my idea of baller is not your idea of baller. I think baller to most people is partying it up, inviting your friends to come drink with you, driving at the very least a BMW/Merc, and opening bottles at the hottest club in town, having a hot chick or two or three at your disposable, or at LEAST, being able to financially afford it if required. Baller is not being able to buy the latest PS4 game when it comes out, unless you are 15 years old.

My reference to your 25k for a car/driver is not that I'm interested to rent a car LOL .. I am saying that your proposed baller budget including a car/driver for 25k is total BS and not attainable unless you are driving a 10+ econocar clunker, and even then, I am doubtful it is possible.

Locals in Manila can raise a family of 4 on less than 10k pesos/month. If you make sacrifices so can you, but that is not the question that was asked.

And truthfully, I don't really care if you like me or not, or perhaps I'm the most hated person on this entire forum, woooo ... how sad LOL.

I am just trying to answer questions that people ask. A bunch of you trolls like K2d, nuts, etc add absolutely no information yet try to dissect every part of my post as if I am obligated to give you divine truth. Seriously, add something to the discussion instead of just nitpicking and being an ass. I know it's hard to break your traditions, but this forum is about asking questions about the Philippines .. not nitpicking any information given when you have absolutely no clue on what is being asked nor the advice given.

Just a huge lol. Move along dude

A bigger LOL is your ******ed budget that doesn't work and that you can't justify.

Next time, just stay out of it, it didn't concern you at all.

Pls jspill PM me k2d pic, i just cant ****ing understand this... plus in case he is average looking, i dont think im gonna visit philippines, when even hookers are not willing to have sex?!

Sent from my GT-P5200 using 2+2 Forums

awww, It's ok, sorry your butt got hurt, we can all be friends here.

I heard that last July the visa-less travel to Philippines had been changed to 30 days instead of 21. Did they change it back to 21?

The hookers arent willing to have sex with mr 2 for price of 1 k2d. I'm sure they all had there price.

Anyways try a philippines dating site you will see the girls attack you. My buddy looks like a ogre with downs(being searious maybe the ugliest dude on the planet) he made a profile on DIA with his real picture. Even he was talking to 6-7s on cam within a week. Maybe they were mostly scammers/pros but still they would at least talk to him haha.

This thread is really funny. Everybody hates everybody. Let's all get together sometime and play some live poker? That would honestly be fun as hell to me. So many characters.

So you want a K2D pic. I mean, okay. It's from my ****ty cell phone, so forgive the quality. But that's him alright. Jspill can confirm.

In before salty starts bad mouthing neon jackets.

No, I had a 30 day stamp, when i entered about 2 weeks ago.

120k being comfortable is where i have the biggest beef with what you are saying (other than your over the top know it all holier than though condescending attitude that youve had the entire time on this forum)

80k is plenty comfortable


wow they must be min readers (and you also) because they never even let me get to the how much question..... except for the one girl who said 5k

and it really sucked having to settle for the hotter girl with the better attitude that ****ed me 5 times cuz she was so horny instead of getting the stuck up hooker that would have just laid there waiting for it to be over and rushed out the door the second we finished

it wouldnt be near as funny in person because all of the trolls would be far to intimidated by me to say the ish to my face

and i still dont get why u guys keep saying i need a new shirt

PI girls seemed to not really care about a guy's appearance / dress, at least compared to Thai girls

If you are young or young looking you are in. To many old boys in the phi makes it real easy.

Seriously?

You quoted my entire statement, and yet you only center on one line, trying to make your point. My statement was exactly this:

#7148
120k is comfortable.
200-250k if you want to have a great time drinking, bars, partying and the like.
WAY MORE if you want to be baller.
75k is fine if you don't go out a lot or eat at expensive restos.

And you can spend even less, it depends on your own lifestyle, but I believe those are good guidelines. If you don't agree, then break down your own life and let's see.

Nowhere am I saying you are cheap or doing it wrong, so please, read carefully before you spew.

"I THINK" that 120k is a comfortable expat life. Obviously you may have differing views according to your own standards and what you do.

I also say that 75k is fine, but you will have to sacrifice a lot of the expat comforts you might otherwise enjoy in your previous western lifestyle.

Your instant reply to this is going to be that you can live a great life for 80k, sure maybe to your standards, so why don't you break down your 80k budget? I'll agree you would have first hand experience living on the cheap, so share your knowledge.

Last, you may not like my attitude or how I come across ... that's your right, no problem. I also don't like your "creepy desperado rapist" attitude .. but hey, that's the Internet.

the problem is you are acting like the know it all giving info to noobs but your expectations are just way out of line

in angeles i spent roughly $850ish a month, $300ish on rent and electric, another $300ish on food/visa/load/randomness and another $250ish on "entertainment"


i know that manila is more expensive but mostly in regards to rent so add another $300, but being in a nicer place where girls are more willing to bang for free should drop the entertainment charges a bit so lets say $1100... most people would want to go out and party from time to time so add another $300 (part of "entertainment" should also be counted here) so theres $1400, add $100 for transpo and $100 for the occasional nicer meal at nicer restaurant (though again this could also be some of the entertainment because you will likely do this on a date) so thats 1600, add in 200 more for whatever you are about to say is necessary and you get 1800 or 80k


$600 for rent (in 6 year old building sadly)
$350 for food
$50 visa
$500 entertainment
$100 transpo
$200 miscellaneous


for me there is at least $400 of wasted money in there as food/entertainment are both way to high and ive never spent $200 on miscellaneous in a year and a half in asia, if i were to live in manila i would expect to spend roughly $1200 a month and thats what i expect to spend in cebu as well after i overpay to get a really nice apartment which should lower entertainment costs


if you arent comfortable with that much money to spend then you have major issues

When is somebody going to post the real K2D???

im pretty sure jspill values his life far to much to do such a stupid thing

SWF is saying 120k for a comfortable expat life living in Makati/fort etc..

A comfortable expat life means living without looking at the prices on food menus, weekends away every few weeks, living in your spare/social time as if you are on holiday, taking advantage of all of the good things PI has to offer, rather than living like a local.

I would agree with the figure, looking at 40k for a decent place, plus another 10 for electric/water, that leaves 17.5kP a week, even one decent night out drinking with a hooker gonna be 5k (thats not a great night either) that leaves 12.5k a week for general living, grocery shopping, cloths etc..that's tuff to maintain decent standards, and again by decent life we are shopping in Rustans buying any food we like, to cook decent meals through the week, not packets of bargain donuts. Having a few eat outs a week and a few lunches, social drinks not going crazy, etc..

I would submit, that 120k to live a decent/comfortable expat life in Makati/The fort is possible, its not baller and could not be done to a decent standard on 80k per month, even if you only paid 30k plus bills, leave you 45k a month for everything else, yeah it can be done, and will be better than living in the u.s (for mongers like us that is) but it wont be to the standard of a proper decent expat life style.

Big difference between a real ex-pat and sex-pats (mongers). Real expats normally have jobs that pay higher than in the west (well the 15+ real expats i know all do anyway).

fixed my post

pooter you dont need to spend 40k a month to get a comfortable apartment

Again, this is just an argument about the meaning of the word "comfortable", which is obviously going to differ from person to person, especially amongst people who come from different social backgrounds.

It's pretty clear that "living comfortably" has a different meaning for Paris Hilton than it does for someone who grew up on the street. Extreme example I know, but it's a pointless thing to argue about.

Struggle to get a decent, apartment in makati in a building as new as 6 years old for 25K. By decent i mean, at least one bedroom, very clean new modern furntiure, flat screen led tv's etc etc.

Not a nice enough to live and grind in, I mean a sutiable standard for nomral person to live in.

But i digress Spiv is correct, one persons decent is another mans mansion,

I was taking SWF to mean, Decent standard for a real expat. Someone who is here to work and earn, not get by cheaply to **** hookers.

I know a guy who was project manager for a new build casino in Maltee he was paying, 100k a month for a house to live in, balling non stop and was still banking 5k u.s per month, living in a 25k studio for that person is not living decent, thats suicide mode. I know a single guy works on gas, live in Green belt tower, pays **** loads for a 4 bed penthouse, and again balls non stop, a 25k studio on the edge of makati would not be decent to him, even these are extreme examples, but spiv point stands.

Ok let's look at your budget.

$550/24,500PHP for rent

Ok I can buy this, although I think it's a little on the low side. You keep harping on the fact that I said most buildings in this price range would be 6-10+ years old. If you read carefully, you will notice that I don't say it's a bad thing, but that this should be expected. Maintenance is not great in Manila, and many expats, especially women, will care about this. You obviously don't, but don't expect that everybody is like you either.

$200 for utilities

This is also ok, although I think this is probably the one place where you can cut down. I don't see a normal person using 9,000 in electricity and water a month, especially for a smaller studio-like unit. I'd probably say this is closer to $150.

$300 for food

This has a serious problem. You are allocating $10 usd a day for food, or roughly $3.33/148PHP a meal. You can't even buy a quarter pounder meal for this price. Forget about coffee as well, a Starbucks frappuccino will also blow past your single meal budget. I guess you could skip lunch to buy a 120PHP latte, but I hope you're not lactose intolerant because that's going to cost you 20 PHP more. This tight of a meal budget means that you basically will be eating the most unhealthy food possible unless you cook practically every meal in. That's not comfortable expat living in my book.

Taking a date to a moderate, mid range restaurant, like Outback, Chilis, or even Shakey's is going to obliterate your entire daily food budget .. maybe you can fit that into your entertainment budget? Let's see...

$50 for visa

Yup, if you go to immigration and handle it, this is a very reasonable even generous budget. No assistance of lawyers though, you better handle it yourself, otherwise you should double this amount. I will state that legal advice is not necessary, but for expats, sometimes they don't wish to go line up themselves.

$400 for entertainment

That's about $100 a week, so if you go out twice a week, this should be ok to cover your bills for some drinking, singing, dancing, etc, whatever you like to do. However, you aren't likely going to be hanging out at Republiq, Prive, Hyve, or any of the more fashionable nightspots, which is ok, but you also can scratch out going to any but the cheapest saunas, forget about KTVs, and you can forget about diving, surfing, golf, or any other recreational activity that involves a little travelling on weekends.

Not unreasonable, but a typical for manila movie date is going to run you .. cheap 1000, expensive 2000 PHP ... tickets, dinner, coffee/drinks.

$100 for transpo

I sure hope you don't have to travel for work, and that all expats are stay at home poker players who never leave the house. This is $3.33 a day ... you can't take taxis unless it's extremely close by, and you cannot transfer between too many transport modes because it will add up.

You definitely do not drive or have a car/driver, and you cannot take taxis. So basically your example of comfortable expat living is taking buses, trikes, jeepneys, and mrt. This is not New York or Hong Kong, Manila does not have an advanced modern mass transport system, so you can expect to take forever to get somewhere, and be sweaty and grimy by the time you get there. Again, not comfortable expat living in my book.

For those who don't know, flag down for taxis are ~$1/40PHP, and the rate increases rapidly, so a typical trip, say Makati to Resortsworld is going to cost you 150PHP or so (I may be underestimating this, but its close or lower than the reality)

$200 for misc

Ok, into this misc, you have to fit ... clothing budget, electronics, washing your clothes, shaving, washing, vitamins, etc, basically everything you did not mention... no problem. Let's both assume you need the basics, ie, soap, shampoo, lotion, shaving cream, razors, toilet paper, etc etc... Don't forget your phone bills, internet load, and other misc stuff you definitely use.

This is probably a good estimate of what you will spend on these items. If you do not, then I'm really going to have to believe you have only one or two change of clothes and wear old ratty shoes. I could break it down further, but if you don't spend around this amount, this is somewhat disgusting.


WHAT YOU DIDN'T INCLUDE OR PROBABLY DIDN'T BOTHER TO THINK ABOUT:

Health and dental insurance ... damn me if I'm wrong, but most expats would care that they have health and dental insurance. What was that? Oh you're healthy, so you don't need to bother with that? =)

Gym and Fitness ... your diet is probably horrible given your budget, so you probably should enroll in a gym, that should cost you, oh .. Fitness First would be about 2,400 PHP, although you might be able to find a cheaper local gym, sure why not. Perhaps you don't bother with the gym or fitness entirely, understandable, but many expats want this.

Gifts ... I guess moving to another country means you totally forget about your parents, siblings, friends, and other people who you celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, special occasions etc. So no budget for that, got it.

Contingencies ... life never goes as planned. You have nothing in your budget for these times. And I'm not talking about some major medical or family emergency. I'm talking about the girl you asked on a date showing up at your intended dinner/movie with her chaperone friend (common in Manila), and you have to pay for her ticket. I'm assuming from all your posts that you'd protest and argue and send her friend away, correct me if I'm wrong .. but most people, even locals, don't do that.


When I say comfortable expat life, I mean you can go through life without sweating all the small things ... given your budget, you would be sweating when your date decides that Jollibee is not her taste and she wants to go to Burger King. Heck, you even bother to complain that you get charged for 3 kg of laundry instead of 1 kg.

We all have different levels of comfortable, and while you think I'm blowing things up, you are doing the exact opposite. To live on your budget, a person who is accustomed to Western life has to:

Give up health and dental insurance
Not enroll in a gym, class, or other activity
Give up coffee, or at least Starbucks/Seattles Best
Have a food budget of $3.33 / meal
Forget about travelling out of town to the beach/resort (unless you live on the beach)
Try not to take taxis, because it's too expensive, so use jeepneys and trikes
Don't buy anybody anything ever
Hope to God you don't fall ill or get into any accidents

You could perhaps Rob Peter to Pay Paul, but you obviously going to have to give up some of the most basic expat needs I can think of.


Your life is doable, but this is not comfortable expat living, it's surviving. YMMV, so stop trying to convince otherwise. I'm convinced you are happy on your 50-80k spend a month .. good for you.