Good morning all. Maybe this question has been asked many times but I just wanted to know what the cost of living in Luzon is. How much do people go by on per month? No rent to pay as she has her own house and a plot of land.
Hello again kingrulzuk. It depends how far you are from places you want to go. Back in 2012, I lived and worked in Manila (stayed in Pasig and work is in Mandaluyong) for about 6 months. I stick to a Php200/day budget for food and fare, food shopping twice a week for about Php2000. So Php8,000/month on top of the utility bills and rent.
Depends on lifestyle really. Living there we got a fair amount of import food / drink etc plus going out and with the poor exchange rate we whee spending similar to uk amounts of money.
that would be advantage to you because she has a house , but is it for only the 2 of you?any relative staying with you would mean additional expenses(me being frank).Electric bill starts from 3,500 and up, granting you have the usual appliances in the house,water, cable , telephone....food budget.Can never really tell,true depends on your lifestyle
Once the relatives in the wider extended family realize that you are there, they will all come to introduce themselves to you, and share in your good fortune of having a few bob in the pockets. Stay in a reasonably priced hotel, or rent an apartment in another village.... My tuppence worth.
Some figures: K rented a two bedroom apartment in Quezon City near the Ecopark for 6,000 pesos a month; she had her own aircon, electricty ran at about 4,500 a month and she had cable and wifi for iirc 1,200 on top. Water was around 40o a month (tap, not drinking, drinking water was 90 pesos a flagon.)
land tax is payable if she owns the land and property on it; there is a formula for calculating this which from memory in Metro Manila is (assessed value x 1.5%) annually. The resulting number tends to be between six and ten thousand pesos annually in my experience. The tax rate is up to 1% in the provinces and up to 2% in Metro Manila and Cebu. The "assessed value" is (fair market value) x (a percentage, eg 20%), So... property worth 5 million pesos x 20% = 1 million pesos x 1.5% = 15,000 pesos annually.
Thank you all for your info. I was warned about the family thing. Her father stays at the house it’s a 4 bedroom house which is equally divided to her and her brother.
Please consider talking it out with your girlfriend, better she shows you what could be the set up if you stay at their house.Remember that Filipinos are so clannish (comes with responsibilities too ) .
Yes i did speak to her and thats what she told me the house was divided in to 2 halfs for her n her brother who is studing in manila. Im going there in May so i will see how things are.
