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khadouj
  5/17/2022 14:20 EST

Where are the best places to live?
What is the cost of living in the Philippines?

DarwinBarr
  5/17/2022 21:57 EST

Good question! Depends of you! Somebody like live in a crowded city like Manila or Cebu, and others love nature. For myself, I found the best combination Negros island Dumaguete city. About prices also depends start from 700-2000 USD in average.

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draks
  5/17/2022 22:18 EST

No one can tell you the best place to live, it all depends on what you want, big busy cities, Manila or Cebu,beach areas, deep province,
You will probably need doctors in the future, in the provinces hospitals and doctors may be very patchy.
We lived on a farm on Mindoro island for two years, I contracted typhoid and pneumonia after a big typhoon and flood. Had over an hours ride in a bumpy tricycle to get to a decent hospital, I could hardly breath, and vomiting, no ambulance available.
Living in the countryside was great at first, but after 2 years I had had enough. Very very few people spoke English, absolutely nothing to do. Walked a lot but that gets boring after a while. We then moved to Calapan that was way better more people spoke English restaurants shopping mall, regular jeepneys to Puerto Galera and the beaches, very nice.
We now live just outside Angeles city absolutely everything here, busy but not too busy.
As for cost of living, that's entirely up to you, some here say they live on less that 500 USD, but then they say they bought the house they live in, plus grow their own veg. $500 is very low I couldn't do it that's for sure.
Others will tell you $3000 a month is what you need, your lifestyle and expectations will influence your cost of living.
Don't come here without an outside regular income, most here have a pension.
Philippines is cheaper than the US in many ways, but it's not cheap. Electricity is quite expensive, bottled gas is now expensive, rents have risen a lot over the years
If you want a western style house with a nice shower, nice clean kitchen in a nice area, that's gonna cost. If you don't mind a mud floor and cook on a wood fire it's much much cheaper, the choice is yours.
Wherever you decide to live do thorough research, crime rate, earthquakes, typhoons, flooding etc etc etc.
Philippines can be a great place to retire to, but it can be very unforgiving, no safety nets here. Not a place for the naive or the feint hearted.
Where are you thinking of living? What is your maximum budget?
Don't rush into ANYTHING HERE including women, take your time, rent a home , dont go buying an overpriced bug hutch of a condo straight away, take everything very slowly.

WalterMitty
  5/21/2022 21:37 EST

Draks, If in a small city or populated area would you have Wi-Fi,internet, satellite television? Are cell phones prevalent or would one only find that in Manila? Walter Mitty

quinoajones
  5/21/2022 23:27 EST

You can find internet, cell phones, and sat TV in pretty rural areas. Areas that just starting having access to electricity 10 years ago. Super fast advancement, but power and internet can be spotty or underperform in both rural and urban areas.

ron916
  5/22/2022 09:40 EST

WalterMitty.

I love that question. Of course cell phones are prevalent everywhere. A person's gotta have a decent usable phone. It's more important to them than a nice place to live or nice car to drive.

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ACEPoolPlayer
  5/22/2022 14:04 EST

Cell phones may be available everywhere, but the signal is not. There are many rural places in the U.S. where there is no signal. I'm only 2 hours from NYC (Catskills) and there are several places nearby where there is no signal. In the Philippines there are tons of places where there is none or a very weak signal Including where my wife's family lives outside of Tacloban. Cable TV and Satellite TV is also not available or good everywhere in the Philippines.

draks
  5/22/2022 20:54 EST

Most towns and small cities, have wifi, cable tv, sattalite tv, cell phones are everywhere, some provincial areas the phone signal is very bad or non existent, but again in a decent sized town or just outside it's fine.

Snowy29
  5/23/2022 03:50 EST

I've lived in a few places with different pricing systems and find that $1,700 is more than enough for me and a decent partner. Just cut your cloth to the society around you.

The one thing that will cost you is an expensive partner whose family have emergencies every month.

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