Is it possible to live like a King in the Philippines?
What does “Live Like a King” mean” ?. I ask that question after reading an Englishman saying the phrase “To Live Like a King” does not mean “To Live Like a King”. Now that is the worst English confusion example I have ever heard.
It appears that “To Live Like a King” means to live in the comfort that you want, with all the luxuries that you want.
Examples from various forums and web sites:
- For 1200 US a month you can live like a king.
- With your $2,400 monthly income you will live like a king
- You can live like a king on $5,000 per month in the Philippines
- How to Live Like a King in the Philippines on $500 a Month
So, where do we begin, to work out what it would cost to live a really comfortable, safe life in the Philippines, almost like a King?
Accommodation:
I first looked for a 3 bedroom condominium for rent in Fort Bonifacio, Manila. A nice safe area, and came up with this:
- FOR RENT One Mckinley Place Condo, The Fort Fully-furnished 190 sq. m. 3 Bedrooms 3 T & B 2 Parking slots available. Monthly Rental : php 170,000 per month
So: 170,000 pesos at 44 pesos to the US dollar = $3,863 per month (at April 2015)
From that list of 4 examples, 3 of them appear totally wrong, leaving just “You can live like a king on $5,000 per month in the Philippines” as a possible, but with 77% of that figure taken with a 3 bedroom decent apartment in a safe area. Not in a Kings mansion!
Food:
T Bone Steaks, US or Australian quality and size, are about 5 times the price of local meat. Going by my budget grocery costs of about 16,000 pesos per week for food for 2, I would prefer to spend nearer 50,000 per month to feel “comfortable” by my standards. So that’s near enough $1,150 per month
Maids, Servants and Drivers:
Not too bad a price at about 5,000 peso per month each. (US$120)
What have we reached so far?
$3,863 Accommodation
$1,150 Food
$ 240 Maids etc (2 people)
$5,243 per month
Cars, Travel, Holidays, Eating Out, etc have not yet been added. Nor have Education costs or Medical Bills etc.
Conclusion:
I would have to say that I feel I would need more like US$10,000 (A$13,000) per month (440,000 pesos) to live like a king in the Philippines.
That way I would have some spare to go out to restaurants, nightclubs and other entertainment events.
IE: I could live in the comfort that I would like with most of the luxuries that I would be comfortable with.
In reality that is 5 times what I get by on here, on my budget, and that is NOT in an expensive safe area of Manila like BGC or The Fort.
Dictionary Meanings:
reference.com – Enjoy a lavish style of living, as in He spared no expense, preferring to live like a king
www.oxforddictionaries.com – Live in great comfort and luxury.
thefreedictionary.com – He lived like a king, drinking champagne and driving a Porsche.
macmillandictionary.com – to live in a very comfortable way, with much more money than you need
1 McKinley place is about the most premier condo building in the country. So that is hardly typical. I rent a 4br house in a secure village in Laguna Province from which we can easily commute to Alabang or Makati for 32,000 a month.
As for your food budget, I have no idea where you are shopping (maybe T-bone steaks is all your buy) but I feed a large family pretty luxuriously with plenty of international tastes on 30k a month.
Trying to live like a King, and one does end up wanting the best… Not wanting to be typical, average, etc.
Regarding food; the T Bone Steaks, US or Australian quality and size, are not cheap.
The local 99 peso T Bone steak dinners were of no comparison.
Decent cheese is not cheap either.
Australian Cheddar at PhP 950 / kg. I could spend 2,000 per week on that.
But the Roquefort cheese at PhP 2,390 / kg. ….
2 or 3 thousand pesos for one meal, at a good restaurant, adds up when you eat out a lot.
32,000 a month for province? The commute sounds terrible. And how do you afford it? I am pretty wealthy. But with 8 kids to feed, my 5,000 a month does not go far.
An example of some entertainment costs in Manila:
Seats to the One Direction tour at the SM Mall of Asia on March 21, 2015 start at 3,775 peso. About A$110 and go up to 17,950 peso, over A$500.
The Median House Price in Makati is quoted at PHP 130,000,000. A mortgage for that over 20 years would cost about 1M pesos per month in repayments. About US$22,700 per month
Taguig City (BGC) at 34,000,000 peso median price, is cheaper at a mortgage payment of only 264,000 pesos per month. About US$6,000 per month.