How much did it cost to move?
Long posting again, but I hope this information is helpful. I have noticed that many people ask regularly on this blog how much it costs to move here. Well, we arrived here in mid-April of this year, and, nearly five months in, we are just about done with expenses related to the move. So, I’ll detail how much it cost us to move from the Middle East. Our experience is based on Manila… Your expenses will obviously vary in other parts of the country.
In Abu Dhabi, Rebecca and I had very few belongings… Her furniture, etc. was not worth moving, and I had a furnished executive flat and a small storage room in California, so we really had very little to move. That was the good thing… The bad thing was that we needed to buy nearly everything. We moved from the Middle East using balikbayan boxes. Advantage: Cheap and customs charges no duty. Disadvantage: It’s bloody slow and you need to plan what you may need before they arrive. Cost of 8 super jumbo balikbayan boxes (Size of a “wardrobe” box): Approx 30,000 pesos. Contents were three boxes with clothing, linens, etc., the rest contained things we bought in Abu Dhabi that are much cheaper there, like pots, small appliances, and electronics. We bought our stove, TV, and washing machine in Abu Dhabi… cost: Approx 60,000 pesos, plus 15,000 pesos freight. (I figure we saved around 30,000 pesos doing it this way).
Cost of two tickets, Etihad Airlines, coach, AUH to MNL: 60,000 pesos.
Now, we had to decide where to move. We chose a gated community near UP Diliman in Quezon City. Subdivision is around 20 years old. 5 bedrooms (Though 2 are connected in a loft… made those into an office, and one is a small maid’s room under the stairs that we use for storage), 2 full baths. It is a middle-class Filipino community, mostly doctors (four here) or small business owners with families (I am the only “Kano” here, but, on the plus side, one of the “Wowowee” girls lives a few houses down! Just kidding, Rebecca! A most horrible neighbor. 
). Rent, on 120 sq. meters: 18,000 pesos per month, one year lease, with option to buy at the end of year one. Selling price: 3.5 million pesos. Three months security deposit plus first month rent to move in. (72,000 pesos). Association fees of 2,000 pesos per quarter. We chose this location for one reason: Our neigbor and landlady is a very long-term friend of Becky, and she has been very helpful with this move. Becky is not alone and near friends when I travel. They also watch the house for us. I had the option to buy right away, but I will not buy property sight unseen. The house is cement construction (NOT cinder blocks), with sheet metal roof, a very few wooden interior walls, no insulation and plywood ceilings. Filipino style. Pictures are at the end of the post so you can get an idea of what 18,000 a month buys you in Manila.
Utilities were (First month, including deposits):
Electric (3,000 pesos), Water (200 pesos), Cell Phones (2 cards plus 500 pesos load each: 1,200 pesos), Cable TV (2,000 pesos…deposit plus around 800 per month), Internet from Smart (3,000 pesos… Cost of modem, installation, first month use). We originally opted not to take a landline telephone, but we are adding a line for business from PLDT, so add 2,000 pesos… 3 to 4 month wait right now in Manila).
Now, when you rent in the Philippines, any “improvements” are at your expense. Also, unlike rentals or apartments in the States, you usually need to provide your own appliances. Many of these things I have never had to buy before on any flat. We added: a steel security gate (20,000 pesos), changed locks on EACH inside door (3,000 pesos), installed plumbing fixtures (2,000 pesos, including toilet seats that were NOT included in the unit), bought a refrigerator (25,000 pesos), installed a water heater (6,000 pesos… NOT standard in the RP), 4 window aircon units (average 15,000 each… office, sala, each bedroom…60,000 pesos total), fans (For the rooms without AC, 5,000 pesos), drapery material and hardware (15,000 pesos, but Rebecca made them, so no labor cost), 2 LPG tanks (2,000 pesos with regulators), dishes (3,000 pesos with forks, kitchen knives, rice cooker, etc).
Finally, we had no furniture… Had to buy it for all the rooms. Total cost, mid-level quality, mostly Filipino-made:
one queen-sized bed, one sofa, one love seat, one entertainment center (TV), one dining table with chairs(6 ppl), one double futon, two bookcases (office), two office desks, two office chairs, one coffee table, one end table, two bakers racks, one sewing table with chair…. Total cost 375,000 pesos. Add in bed linens and bathroom linens (4,000 pesos).
So, after all is said and done, here’s what it cost us to move to Manila and maintain a “middle class” lifestyle:
Shipment of boxes 30,000
Appliances plus shipping in AUH 75,000
Air Tickets 60,000
Lease Move-in 72,000
Association fees 2,000
Utilities 11,400
Appliances, fixtures, improvements 141,000
Furniture and linens 379,000
Grand Total 770,400 Pesos or, US$16,748
Was it cheaper than the US? I think so for a comparable standard of living. Particularly rent and the cost of furniture (We didn’t buy that particle board stuff… only wood. Not really much more expensive here for good furniture versus junk). Notice that transportation is missing. I have shopped for a car, but am still deciding. Also missing is household help. Rebecca does not want a maid, at this point in time. Figure 5,000 per month minimum for a maid, plus food and for a driver, figure at least 7,000 per month for a full time driver. If you have a Filipino spouse, you may have relatives willing to assume those roles. Currently, our landlady has four maids, and we occasionally use them at a cost of 200 - 300 pesos per day for help with laundry, etc.
Our home
Sala
Clean Kitchen
Master bedroom
Filipino bathrooms are small
My side of our home office
Excellent latest information on expenses on moving to the Philippines. My cousin and his family plan to move and retire in Marinduque, the end of the year from southern California. I will inform him of your blog.
Since Marinduque is a rural area, the cost of maids and driver is about 10% cheaper based on my current expenses, but the cost of a laundry woman is also between 200 to 300 pesos a day. I will assume that food and grocery items in Marinduque is probably cheaper compared to Diliman.
John,
Great post!
Your posts are not long. You are just thorough.
One of the things that makes brings me back to your posts (regularly)
is that you are informing, detailed and yet still concise. Everything is there and no filler.
You included all your direct and indirect costs, which makes your information more accurate and therefore more useful for your readers.
It is easy to see why your employer is so accomodating. You are surely a valuable and efficient “asset” for them.
Best wishes to you and your new bride.
R L Graham
(Looking forward to reading your future posts.)
The only thing you forgot as per the credit card commercial is
Living in Paradise=PRICELESS
wow u got a tank and a seat on ur toilet must be nice.I have 2 cr’s and a bucket in each one hee hee …i pay 1500 pesos a month for my househelper ..cooks, clean, does the laundry ,babysits and works in the garden too..built my own house cheaper then rent ..I like ur blogs they r very informative ..Phil R.
David: Glad it was useful. I have noticed that rent in the provinces is lower, food from the farmer (stands, etc) is cheaper, but household goods and everything else is more expensive. He may benefit by buying more abroad and shipping it. He just needs to add up the specific numbers.
RL: Not so certain my boss would agree, but I’d like to think so! Thanks!
Dan: Agree… there are many many things that are priceless here.
Phil: Ahhhh… The buckets. I want a Japanese, computerized toilet, but I need to add a booster pump to the water line first, since Manila Water only gives us moderate (at best) pressure. We are building a (small, I hope) house in the Province in two years or so from now. We bought the land last month (50m from the beach)… Nearest neighbor is Becky’s Mama. Of course, I’ll write about that as things progress.
Hi John,Whilst reading your shopping list,a thought came to my mind,do you ever see portable aircon units for sale in Phils, like the ones we can buy in the West,regards Chas.
Chas: Here in Manila, I have seen the 12v DC units at SM, Do-it, and Ace Hardware, in the auto accessories department. In the provinces, I doubt you would find them. Also, they are not particularly cheap.
They also sell a kind of fan here, that blows air over ice or water to cool the air… Sort of like the misters at Disneyland, but in a unit. That could be a good option, depending on how large the area you wish to cool is. Those run from around 4,000 pesos for small ones to as much as 25,000 pesos for large units. They are bulky,however, and you have to fill the water tank, but also do not use nearly the amount of electric as a window unit. As to portability? The small ones might fit in a car trunk or back seat.
As a side note: Most window AC units are NOT dual voltage / frequency. An aircon is definitely one of the appliances to buy in the Philippines, rather than overseas. In Abu Dhabi, they run on 220 also, but 50hz. A 60hz unit, like you would use here, was nearly twice as expensive, since it was unusable in the UAE. The AC units here are more expensive than the States, but you occasionally see sales on them at SM, Abenson, etc.
Hi John,Thanks for info,i was thinking a portable may be an alternative for some renters if they were to live in a few different areas before they decide where to settle,regards Chas.
[...] I can afford to live in the Philippines. What I can’t afford to do at this time is actually move and set myself up in a condo or apartment. An added cost to this entire venture is taking a trip to [...]
im a girl of 25 i need a job and i will like to be a house help even if it mean to do anything i will i live in cameroon where ma parents left me and return to colombia sir i will be very happi if you culd help mei will do any thing with the little i got to reach you
thanks
Nice article, very nice. It can be done a lot cheaper than $16,000 but that’s a better way to do it than I did.
I live in an awesome 4 bedroom home but it is nearly empty. Most of my stuff is at Mom’s place, probably wasting away.
I sold what I could, if it wasn’t nailed down, I did my best to sell it. LOL
I have some things I’d really like to get over here. If I had known about this site, I would have known a lot more and been able to shop my things to myself. Or at least more of my things. I could rent an entire huge container but would have cost me $3000. I made the “move” for less than $5000 but I pretty much moved only myself. I just started over.
My ticket was about $1500 from the USA to Cebu where the rest of my $5k went, I really have no idea. But it surely evaporated.
It will take me a little time to get established here but I plan big. I’m going to live forever and get rich and open a beech club.
Yea, well, I can try.
Nice article, really!
its high prices dude.
with some contacts you can buy a house standrad sized for 150.000 pesos
in davao del norte.
if you wanna build a new one the large size its costs 600.000 pesos.
funetures a bed is cheap a platic table and plastic chairs.
clothes very cheap.
if you wanna live cheap.
but stil have own house.
maybe maximum 175.000 pesos for all.
thats about 3000 euros