Living in the Philippines is generally cheap, especially if you live in the more rural areas. If you’re in Manila, the usual rent for a decent-sized apartment or house is between ₱2,000 to ₱15,000 (around $40 to $300) per month. Of course, condominiums are more expensive with the cheapest being around ₱10,000 ($200) per month for units made for students and those which are not developed by SM, Ayala or Vista Land.
You can also buy basic food for less than a dollar. Local stalls, again for students, offer meals for as low as ₱25 ($0.50) and most have service water for free. However, I recommend the price range of ₱50 to ₱70 per meal because “student meals” aren’t usually safe and healthy. You’ll only eat that if you’re willing to eat rice.
Fast food is also cheap compared to those of other countries, but the serving is really small that if an ‘Merican were to eat at Jollibee or McDonalds, he/she would ask “Is that it?” What’s hard to find is steak, though. The cheapest steak I’ve eaten is a 100-gram ribeye that costs ₱280 ($5.60) a la carte in Dasmarinas, compared to roughly $4 in Hua Hin, Thailand.
You can ride the train for as low as ₱26 for the MRT/LRT per round trip, but that mostly serves the northern half of Manila. What’s expensive is usually the utilities and Internet, though. A middle class household spends around ₱1,000 to ₱4,000 ($20 to $80) on electricity and ₱500 to ₱1,500 ($10 to $30) on water. Decent internet of at least 5 mbps costs ₱1500 ($30) a month.
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