I live here very cheaply. Power 3k, rent zero, food varies probably same as UK, beer very cheap 600p a case of 24 pilson 33cl, diesel 43 liter, no car tax, no kids so no school fees, no helpers as wife and I do all the house/garden work. Wife grows most of the fruit and veg we eat and I breed Turkeys to eat and sell. Just an example... yellow tip Tuna 230 a kilo. Mangos 150/180 a kilo. Pineapples 3 for 200p varies from time to time. I get my meat from an International store, fillet steak 2,000 a kilo from USA. That's my treat.
Or conversely, if a Brit expat can't afford to live here on his UK pension, how will he manage to live back in UK, where pretty much everything costs more?
I managed fine when I got my state pen in 2013. I sent a quarter of it to my fiancee each month. . If I hadn't got excess capital i would have got my rent paid and council tax benefit. I had my bus pass and a good bus service nearby. My biggest outgoing was utilities. Poor pensioners in the UK is a myth.
A pretty good summary, Fred, and it's interesting that those costs are about the same as mine fours ago, shortly before we left Davao. In Metro Cebu, however, rents are much higher, certainly in areas where foreigners and monied locals prefer such as Nivel Hills and Silver Hills where there are properties for over Php 100,000 per month (eg the penthouses in Citylights Towers 1 and 2).
I wasn't asking for me, or in relation to expats, I know the costs. I was asking in general and asking in relation to how much you considered was an acceptable amount for local Filipino families to live on.
His name isn't Fred, Dom told me his real name on the way back from visiting Alan Clegg in hospital about 4 years ago.
You will never get an answer from him as I banned him and also the person who started this thread several months ago. This thread was an example of the good contribution they could make when they tried, but there were too many accumulated negatives about both of them over a great many years so they are gone and not coming back.