Hi Alan, I wanted to jump on this thread and answer your question the moment I read your introductory post, having been in exactly the same position as yourself some 9 years ago when I retired and moved over there quite soon after, at that time I had all the questions that you have, however I have held back on this as I wanted to know how others perceive the viability of living in the Philippines on a low income. Now understand for the benefit of mankind, I have spent many hundreds of hours to further my research on this same subject, most of these hours were in Bars frequented by Foreigners, being a Drunken Master (this being Filipino term for a pisshead) this was a walk in the park for me. IMHO, Unfortunately much of the opinions expressed by others here are somewhat flowered? painting a very rosy picture of life in the Philippines, I would suggest these are coming from others with a bit more coin in their pockets than you have or myself when it comes down to it, or perhaps they do not get out all that often and live in their own small bubble? Let me tell you a true story about my Scottish friend Tam, this happened 6yrs ago, him and I lived in a small Sub-Division in Mactan/Cebu, Tam in his 58th year had met this very stunning young beauty Christie of 19yrs and within a few weeks they were married, Tam was ex military and had a pension of just over £800 a month, the studio apartments we lived in were around P8K per month furnished, bills and fees were about another P 3K, Now Our Tam was short and fat not all that good looking and also very fond of the drink as are most Scotsmen, in many ways he was quite dim? however being a Weegie he was a very funny man and well liked by everyone. Now he had landed the extremely beautiful Young Christie perhaps with zero miles on the clock? she had no idea of the standards of living in the western world and at the time she thought she had hit the Jackpot by marrying a Rich Foreigner, however as time goes by (no more than a few months) her perspective began to change and her bubble had burst, Tam would be taking her to social events there she would meet other Pinays attached to foreigners many of which were living in large palatial houses, some even driving cars, few of these women were even half as good looking as her, and yet there she was with Tam who could not live within his means, many times he would borrow money from myself and others till the end of the month, Christie wanted a Holiday and she took on a full time job working 6 days a week on her one day off the Sunday she would have the weeks washing to do and the house cleaning while Tam was at the Bar, this p!ssed her off and she left the job after just a few weeks, but by that time they had borrowed money and booked a Holiday to Malaysia to celebrate their first year together, on their return money was getting very tight for them, she went back to work in a phone shop after a week or two she upgraded her phone this cost her the equivalent of two months wages before she had even earned it, she then become so desperate she stole money when Tam found this out he kicked her out, the marriage had lasted 14 months, Tam died alone in his bed around 18 months ago aged 64yrs, I believe a major contributory factor was through lack of medical care which he could not afford, Christie had to get out of Town she owed money to many people, she ended up with a Handsome Filipino man soon after having a child with him, I believe he has now high tailed it and likely she will go on to have a few more partners and a few more children being as attractive as she is? Thinking of an analogy somewhat related to the situation of having sound relationship with a Filipino, has me thinking of car ownership, to have the top of the range luxury car with zero miles (Christie) requires a good income, now on a mid range income perhaps you can own a new car with zero miles a small Ford Focus = to a young woman not all that attractive, on a low income it is possible to have either of the two, the older luxury beautiful car having very high mileage=a woman of 40 plus years with a couple of grown up Kids or the not so old less attractive Focus with some mileage but not too high=a woman in their 30's with a child or two. any one of the above that remains registered in another's name (married) can be a problem. I am kind of assuming from what little you say, you are around 65yrs of age and you have found a young mountain girl that has never seen the bright lights of the city and has no idea how the other half live? if that is the case you will have to keep her like a Mushroom in the dark and feed her sh!t (Cheap Filipino Food) she can never be taken out or far from her home environment, later on there will be a problem there is one thing she will be in need off and that is to have Children especially that mixed race a Golden Child as they are known. A foreigner with a vasectomy that enters into a relationship with a Pinay of child bearing age and especially if she has no children, this is more than likely destined to fail, even if the man has a good income. For any man to enter the Philippines with a view to living there for the long term without a contingency fund to cater for any emergency is just STUPID, this fund would need to be around £10K, why other members are not telling you this I do not know or understand, I have the idea that by now you are smitten by this young woman, a child of the Philippines that needs to be rescued from her less than desirable life and no matter what I say you will go ahead regardless?
Hi Alan, I wanted to jump on this thread and answer your question the moment I read your introductory post, having been in exactly the same position as yourself some 9 years ago when I retired and moved over there quite soon after, at that time I had all the questions that you have, however I have held back on this as I wanted to know how others perceive the viability of living in the Philippines on a low income. Now understand for the benefit of mankind, I have spent many hundreds of hours to further my research on this same subject, most of these hours were in Bars frequented by Foreigners, being a Drunken Master (this being Filipino term for a pisshead) this was a walk in the park for me. IMHO, Unfortunately much of the opinions expressed by others here are somewhat flowered? painting a very rosy picture of life in the Philippines, I would suggest these are coming from others with a bit more coin in their pockets than you have or myself when it comes down to it, or perhaps they do not get out all that often and live in their own small bubble? Let me tell you a true story about my Scottish friend Tam, this happened 6yrs ago, him and I lived in a small Sub-Division in Mactan/Cebu, Tam in his 58th year had met this very stunning young beauty Christie of 19yrs and within a few weeks they were married, Tam was ex military and had a pension of just over £800 a month, the studio apartments we lived in were around P8K per month furnished, bills and fees were about another P 3K, Now Our Tam was short and fat not all that good looking and also very fond of the drink as are most Scotsmen, in many ways he was quite dim? however being a Weegie he was a very funny man and well liked by everyone. Now he had landed the extremely beautiful Young Christie perhaps with zero miles on the clock? she had no idea of the standards of living in the western world and at the time she thought she had hit the Jackpot by marrying a Rich Foreigner, however as time goes by (no more than a few months) her perspective began to change and her bubble had burst, Tam would be taking her to social events there she would meet other Pinays attached to foreigners many of which were living in large palatial houses, some even driving cars, few of these women were even half as good looking as her, and yet there she was with Tam who could not live within his means, many times he would borrow money from myself and others till the end of the month, Christie wanted a Holiday and she took on a full time job working 6 days a week on her one day off the Sunday she would have the weeks washing to do and the house cleaning while Tam was at the Bar, this p!ssed her off and she left the job after just a few weeks, but by that time they had borrowed money and booked a Holiday to Malaysia to celebrate their first year together, on their return money was getting very tight for them, she went back to work in a phone shop after a week or two she upgraded her phone this cost her the equivalent of two months wages before she had even earned it, she then become so desperate she stole money when Tam found this out he kicked her out, the marriage had lasted 14 months, Tam died alone in his bed around 18 months ago aged 64yrs, I believe a major contributory factor was through lack of medical care which he could not afford, Christie had to get out of Town she owed money to many people, she ended up with a Handsome Filipino man soon after having a child with him, I believe he has now high tailed it and likely she will go on to have a few more partners and a few more children being as attractive as she is? Thinking of an analogy somewhat related to the situation of having sound relationship with a Filipino, has me thinking of car ownership, to have the top of the range luxury car with zero miles (Christie) requires a good income, now on a mid range income perhaps you can own a new car with zero miles perhaps a small Ford Focus = to a young woman not all that attractive, on a low income it is possible to have either of the two, the luxury car having very high mileage=a woman of 40yrs with a couple of Kids and the Focus with some mileage There is no money to be made in a Sari Sari, even when they may have a modicum of success another will open 50mtrs down the road, there are just too many in existence already.
Food is more expensive in the Philippines than it is in UK, here are just a few examples 1kg of sugar price in PH P95 in UK 75pence, long grained rice in Aldi UK 45p per kg in PH the same number in Pesos, Pork is £4.50KG about P300 in PH, Milk, Cheese and Butter all more expensive in PH same with Potatoes 50p per kg, carrots 50p and onions 70p, very recently I heard they were selling for close to P500kg in PH due to a shortage, there was a comparison done on another Ex-Pat site with myself doing the pricing here in UK, about the only mainstream item in daily use that was less than in UK was Eggs, in UK the quality is often far superior, Tomatoes are a good example Bell peppers another. Eating out there in PH is a great deal less than UK, but tends to be less than satisfying?
I forgot to mention when Tam died he lay rotting for some time and a collection had to be raised between the Foreigners to have his remains seen to, this is not an uncommon situation there in PH, I've made a contribution to quite a few funerals where Foreigners have been involved, this is not an uncommon situation.
Welcome. Ye old "How long is a piece of string..." question The answer is it depends, here's a few off the top of my head: 1) Somewhere to live: You said she wants to build a small house with land to grow vegetables etc. Depends on the location but that's generally quite a large capital outlay... you could be very lucky (perhaps her family have some land) but I would guess £20K would be the minimum you'd need for the provinces (outside (and I mean a long way outside) the main towns) 2) Transport: If you're living in the provinces you'll almost certainly need some wheels: £3k for pick up cab - that's your savings gone. 2) Does she want a family: Family's can be quite expensive, you'll need to pay for doctors, dentists and maybe schooling on top of the diapers, clothing, food etc. 3) The girl: Probably the biggest factor for you: Is she a young babe looking for a foreigner to provide a nice big car (that'll be another £20k), flashy holidays, big parties every month, support or housing for her ageing "mother", branded clothing, daily trips to the mall etc etc. Basically, is she looking to you to provide a luxury lifestyle, like the other filipinas married to foreigners have on facebook, which you cannot afford ? As bigmac said, and Honest Dave alluded to in his post not all Filipinas are as sweet on the inside as they appear on the outside... so try to do your Homework before you get out here and get sucked in by the pretty brown eyes and smile. Be honest with her about your financial situation and try to get her to be honest about her (or as is often the case the "mother's") expectations. Without wishing to put a damper on things: As a first step before you book your flight, you might want to consider telling her the chances of you being about to afford a piece of land and build a small house on it are zero and see what the reaction is
You're right Dave - As a special treat I bought my wife 3 reasonable size red onions yesterday and they cost me P120! That is P600/kg. They are saying they are up to P700/kg in Manila now... that's like £10/kg in real money.
Hello Honest Dave, Thankyou for your wonderful comments/story on this subject, I am sure they will be very interesting to Alan. I have some thoughts on your post. Firstly, not many of us have had the experience, like yourself, of having been lucky to have lived in the Philippines. Many have just visited for holidays or to get married, or both. Being there for a short time is not the same as being there some years. There have been some members here that have moved over there and, for many reasons, they mostly don't comment here anymore. @Jim lives there and is a regular conributor here as you may well know. Also, some members here are hoping to relocate there one day. I have thought about it but having a heart attack made me realise how important the NHS is in the UK so relocating with my family is not an option for me, as I type now....... I wouldn't have been able to pay for the operation over there, and the drugs every day since. One thing I learnt from travelling around the world though, is that I can count on the fingers of both hands the amount of really useful advice I took on board from people I met in bars . Those places are full of characters who mean well but generally lack common sense (the same goes for me in those hazy drunken days). Bars have their good and sometimes great times but alcohol in large doses does have a way of skewing reality, and that is why people do it. Bars are generally the first stop to get the lay of the land, so to speak, so they are useful until we meet non-drinkers or drinkers who are away from reach of their next drink in front of them, then reality sinks in. Getting out of the oil business, then marriage and two amazing children stopped me in my tracks, thankfully, many people I knew were not stopped and they sadly passed on due to drink. I occasionally have a rum and coke at home though and smile about what happened when demon drink was sloshing around inside the bodies of the happy guzzlers. There were millions of minutes full of laughter. I am just happy to be alive, the last time I was three sheets to the wind was back in 2013 for one night in Thailand - a reunion with my old work mates from Oz, Singapore and the UK. It was a memory of what used to happen all the time.
Well thought-out and thorough advice, John. Will Alan run a mile away now? Fore-warned is fore-armed.
Morrisons in Weybridge about an hour ago, thinking of smuggling a container load into Manila, this time next year......
Hi Honest Dave Thanks for all that. Its good to have many different views on the subject as I can hopefully learn something from each. I am quite lucky I think because although the young lady in question speaks in the native tongue she is actually adopted from another country (no disrespect to Filipinos) and from experience like me leads a very simple lifestyle and not requiring the high life, if she was that kind of a girl I would run a mile. My hobbies revolve around wildlife and gardening and she has a small farm so we are already half way there although of course seeing photos and hearing stories is not the same as being there of course. In all honesty with the right person I have no fears of living my life out somewhere new where I can discover new wildlife away from the cold damp and windy climate of Wales. Its a challenge and an adventure, but to begin with a holiday. I am sure that in that time I will tell whether it would work or not. Appreciate your lengthy write up and hope you have a Happy New Year.
a question no one has asked ( i think)--is--how did you two meet ? Was it an asian online dating site ?
It was through a tentative search for Asian friends on Facebook. I expected nothing and even saw plenty of other guys giving many girls plenty of attention so when this young lady and I began chatting, well I was just surprised how well we got on.
After re-reading Honest Dave's post, I would just like to mention that I had a vasectomy on the NHS after our second child. The consultant told me that it would be final and no reversal is allowed. I since found out from an acquaintance at work who also had a vasectomy on the NHS that he met someone new after a long term relationship bit the dust and she wanted children. He flew to Thailand to have it done and said it didn't cost a fortune and that many foreigners go there for the tube-reconnect operation.
John to be very honest with you I only make a pretence of being that drunken Scotsman, I was a regular drinker in PH but had a tendency to go there for social contact with some stimulating conversation more than for the drink, mostly I would sit with the sensible guys that had been in PH for the long term some of which had as much as 20yrs under their belt, the bar was called the Eldorado and this was my night School and I had two years in that Bar tending classes and I learned so much there. Alan says his health is good, well it will be until it is not and that day will come perhaps sooner than he thinks? having no emergency fund is just Stupid, this is a prime requirement when living in PH. I had been living in Cebu for two years when I had a problem with one of my knees, waking up in the middle of the night with intense pain then having to get up and hobble around in the Sub-division sometimes at 2am in the morning, so I went to the quite new top range Hospital there, this was Chinese it is called Chung Hua, highly recommended by everyone and I had two consecutive days there as an out-patient I had every test possible there, Blood, Ex-ray a few others and then the big one the MRI, there was 3 specialist involved each time I walked in their doors I was charged P600, this was paid to them and not the Hospital, the final bill was P30K=£450 only to be told that I was a Fat Bastard and wear the wrong shoes, so there I was still stuck with this problem as bad as it ever was, until one of my Drunken friends in my regular Bar solved it, at least in the short term, he said do not take Tramadol as the doctor prescribes which was one every 4 hrs, after your breakfast take 2 a double dose and 30mins later you will feel no pain then take the other two of the 4 a day, one late afternoon and one at night before bed, I did the same the next day and on day 3 they were not needed. One year later this happened again but I was in UK, my GP could not decide what the cause was, he did not want to hear what I had to say, but he did send me to Physiotherapy, there it was determined I had Bungalow Knees, living on one level and not having to use stairs is the cause of this, I only have two stairs at the back of my house these were used for a simple exercise and that is; to step up and down these 10 times and do this 3 times a day, 4 or 5 days later and the problem was resolved, after 10 days I was cured, after I returned back to PH I started the house build and was up and down ladders quite often, however now back in UK living in my Bungalow and I often get a few twinges but this is soon resolved with the little step up exercise. I'm quite sure the medical practitioners in PH do not compare in any way to the standards we have in UK many of which are just charlatans. When I had to eat in to my contingency fund of £10K to get the house I was building habitable, we had moved into the new house a few months before that but still had work to do, at this same time I did have a few health scares, these turned out to be minor, but the writing was on the wall and I knew I had to bolt back to UK the moment the house was completed. Fortunately I never did burn my boat back in UK and sell up to then go and live in PH and build that big palatial house complete with swimming pool a large pickup truck, I could tell the story of a few who did do this that are now stuck living there and some evicted from the house, one of which at the point of a gun from his wife's brother, this was English Stan he worked abroad for a big part of his life and made pots of money, but he never did invest in any pension fund, after losing his big house he went on to make another mistake and that took care of another large chunk of his money a couple of years after this the money ran out and he returned to UK penniless living on welfare and in welfare housing, he was never fully paid up with his national insurance stamps and received a reduced pension when living abroad, he had two wife's and 7 children back in UK and then decided to have a vasectomy, this perhaps being a contributory factor in him losing his house in PH, he turned his back on his children in UK and likely to have no one at his funeral. both Tam and Stan were case studies of mine who happened to be regulars in the Eldorado, there were many other including Tom, Dick and Harry.
I also know a Guy his name is Jack Sherra he bought my previous house he had the reversal done in UK on the NHS 35yrs ago and went on to have a third child with his second wife.
