THE $500 A MONTH PHILIPPINE RETIREMENT LIFESTYLE.

How you can retire and live on $500 a month in the Philippines.

$500 a month Philippine retirement plan.

Your Philippine retirement dream can come true with a little as $500 a month, using the Philippine Lifestyle. 

Most of us have dreamt of the day when we can finally sever our ties to the working world and enjoy our retirement lives. Particularly when you consider the small amount of money you would have at your disposal to live without concern, saving up for that day can be challenging. But what if you had a way to live comfortably and not break the bank? To do that, one way is to live in the Philippine, which you can do with a low or small budget of as low as $500.

So, the big question answers remain. Can you live on the $500 a month Philippine retirement plan?

LODGING on using the $500 a month Philippine Lifestyle

It would help if you had a spot to stay. There are plenty of rented houses all over the Philippines, but a tiny Manila house could set you back up to $360 per month or more, and this will instantly take a big bite out of your budget.

If you want to live on $500 a month or less in the Philippines, you will need to stay away from Manila. Apartments in Cebu, one of the Philippines’ most established provinces, can begin at around $150 a month.

We rented a three-bedroom home in Iloilo City for $100 a month, in a well-maintained suburb. A room that shares a bathroom in a place like Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental Province can be as little as $60 a month.

But don’t think you are going to live at this price in a flea-infested backward town! As it has seven universities and schools, Dumaguete City is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Philippines and known as the “university city” Accommodations are cheap enough to let you live in the Philippines for less than $500 a month.

List for the $500 a month Philippine retirement plan.

FOOD COST on $500 a month Philippine Lifestyle.

Let us look at the grocery options now. If you live in a $150 a month apartment or house in the city of Western Visayas, Philippines, you are left with around $350 from your $500 budget.

Two boiled eggs might make up your breakfast. I often boil the eggs in the water for tea or a bowl of whole-grain oatmeal.

Eggs of medium size cost 6 pesos, 13 pesos each, or about $1.50 a dozen. It costs 35-40 pesos a kilo of white rice, 85 pesos. In three days, a single guy might be going through a kilo.

As my all-time favorite, you can have delicious grilled pork on a stick with a cup of rice for about a buck when you eat lunch and dinner at a nearby street food joint. Or, if you like oysters, at our nearest talabahan (oyster) outlet, they just cost 35 pesos for a steaming cup, 70 percent.

Food from vendors all over the Philippines, street food, is cheap.

You can get a meal and a drink from a Carenderia, a Philippine fast-food stall, for around P50 ($1). You can get a small meal and a drink for as little as P60, even at a food court/eatery in a shopping mall, or if it’s not enough, get a larger one for P120 per meal.

You can also be eating out with the $500 a month Philippine retirement plan, and you will get you out of the house and socialize too.

As we drive to nearby Iloilo City, I admit to eating a Big Mac occasionally. Our island province of Guimaras has no fast food outlets, but there are plenty of food stalls.

During your $500 a month Philippine retirement, you’ll be spending $150, 7,500 Philippine Pesos on a month’s worth of groceries. That’s 250 pesos a day on average for meals. For living expenditures, kick in $100, and your budget now totals $250. But that still leaves you USD 250, 10,000 pesos.

1. Health Care Expenses

There are first-rate hospitals with modern equipment and highly trained medical professionals in several cities in the Philippines, many of whom have been educated in the U.S. and other western countries. 

International Living magazine notes that many expatriates prefer to forgo health insurance because, in the Philippines, the cost of treatment could be as low as $50. While self-insurance is undoubtedly a choice, expatriates can prefer to buy a policy for health insurance. In the Philippines, public health insurance choice is PhilHealth. There are also plans available from private insurers.

OTHER EXPENSES, on the $500 a month Philippine retirement.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION COATS.

Take public transport. Traveling in our neighboring major city of Iloilo costs just seven pesos, 14 alone. If you ride a tricycle in our island province, it only costs about 5 or 6 pesos.

INTERNET programs on the $500 a month Philippine retirement program.

My 16 gigabyte monthly Globe internet service costs just 999 pesos a month, 20 dollars a month. Or, you can go to any amount of free Wi-Fi locations and pay nothing. Internet cafes operate about 30 per hour or cheaper in our area of the Philippines.

ELECTRICITY AND WATER, on the $500 a month Philippine retirement plan.

If you can get by without using air-con, as is done by many expats in the Philippines, your monthly electric bill can run at or below 20 US Dollars.

Our monthly bill for water was just six US dollars. At our house, we now have two wells and use a water filter system for our drinking water.  

In the Philippines, other necessary living expenses are usually affordable, including personal hygiene products and household cleaning products. In general, items such as clothes, contact lenses, home decorations, souvenirs, and the like are much cheaper.

A Final Budget for the $500 a month Philippine retirement plan.

ITEMS COST

•  1    Lovely one-bedroom in a good location:    $150
• 2    Groceries:                    $100
• 3    Utilities, internet, and cell phone services:  $50
• 4    Personal and household items:         $70
• 5    Health care service:                 $50
• 6    Transportation:                 $30
• 7    Miscellaneous:                 $ 50  
•      Total  =            $500

 

CONCLUSION – Yes, you can live on the $500 a month Philippine retirement plan if you are dedicated to living a good, happy, and relaxing life.

A diverse natural environment consisting of more than 7,000 islands is the home of the Philippines. Although the country has many worthy and inexpensive destinations, expatriates tend to cluster in developed areas that provide access to services, healthcare, and other amenities.

~Staff

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