Comments on: How low can it go?

By: Bob Martin » Blog Archive » Update on my Euro experiment

Bob Martin » Blog Archive » Update on my Euro experiment — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:11:52 +0000

[...] will recall, due to the huge loss in the value of the US Dollar, several months ago I started making a shift to Euros as the form of payment on some of my Internet sites where I sell merchandise. The Euro has been [...]

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:24:44 +0000

Hi Malcom – I think that for a short term transportation of the money it doesn’t really matter if it is dollars or pounds. If you are planning to hold the cash long term, though, I’d hold it in pounds. I just checked the pound rate, and one pound buys 88.8 Pesos.

By: malcolm

malcolm — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:08:32 +0000

bob me again when i move to philippines in april io was going to take $10.000 cash do you think i should take british pounds instead?????also if thr dollar does dive will the pound dive with it what is the rate for the pound against the peso last i heard it was about 89 pesos the pound thanks bob

malcolm

By: malcolm

malcolm — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 09:45:06 +0000

i will be getting my income in GBP as i am from england is the british pound doing better than the dollar i am moving to philippines soon in april and my income will be £1.500 a month

malcolm

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 23:30:28 +0000

Hi Louis – Oops! Sorry…..

By: Louis

Louis — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 09:48:06 +0000

Bob – Shhhhhhhh… My wife reads your site…

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 06:09:40 +0000

Hi Louis – Can’t say if they still have them, but SM Dept. Store used to have US style Whirlpool Washing Machines and Dryers. They were pretty expensive, though. It’s been about 2+ years since I noticed them there.

By: Louis

Louis — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 05:47:21 +0000

My asawa wants a washing machine too but the machines here are not what we are used to in our home countries. In my experience they don’t get the clothes clean enough for me. I do all my own handwashing, it’s really relaxing to sit outside on a sunny breezy day and wash your clothes and they come out really clean. My wife would be perfectly happy living in a house in the barangay with a toilet that flushes by pouring in a bucket of water… I guess I’m just maarte cuz I can’t do that LOL. If your a vegan all the better, have fun with all the new veggies over here, I like pretty much all of them except Ampalya (Bitter Cucumber). Dried beans are available over here so as to make complete proteins. When I moved into the place I rent I was lucky because it was Araw ng Dabaw, the celegbration of Davao’s founding. I was able to comb the sales and furinsh the house, complete with ref and stove for about $2,300.

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 03:24:49 +0000

Hi Louis,
Thanks for the costings. Well to tell you a little more about my situation. I will be living in what would be classed as a provincial area.(I think thats what its called in the Philippines). Anyhow its away from the main areas. Population approx 120,000. The rent cost is based on what my asawa has said we can rent for, so I can only go on her knowledge. There will be just the two of us so we will only be needing at most a two bedroom house. I’m a vegetarian so living on vegetables and rice is no problem for me. So it looks like I have my food costings about right. I’m not even sure if we will need a landline telephone either, however I’ve costed it in and if its not needed I’m sure it will be taken care of with cellphone usage. By the way no maids in our situation. When my asawa told me she does her washing on a sunday I said to her, don’t you just put it in the washing machine and go and do something else? Her reply was, when you get here I will teach you how to wash clothes. A few weeks later when I asked her for costings to furnish the house I noticed she had listed a washing machine. Whew !! …. I might be let off the hook as far as hand washing the clothes go. . lol. Thanks for the help Louis.

By: Louis

Louis — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:43:21 +0000

Richard – Ok keep in mind that I rent a 3br townhouse with maids quarter out back and besides my wife we have my brother in law living with us. The electric is not far off of an estimate, but we never us aircon, just fans and we try to keep the lights to a minimum but my wife thinks there’s a ghost in the house and usually turns on most of the lights at dark. Rent is P18,000/month and I consider that a pretty good deal. You budget P4,000/month in my experience I have never seen someplace rent for that little. I did see a townhouse on Lea Walker’s site go for P6,500/month but it was rented within2 days. Water, ok I may not be the best person to ask about water cost because in my subdiv we are on stinky well water that is undrinkable, unbatheable and just plain nasty (it comes out of the tap smelling like farts from a buy living off of cheap beer and burritos). The water plus my Sewer cost is generally around P590/month. We get drinking water for the dispenser from Aqua Fill and that costs P60/5gal container. I do not have a landline phone as there really is no one for me to call so I spend about P1000/month on Cellphone Load and mosd of mine ends up getting shared with my wife (She is a text fiend). Food is the real kicker here as it really is dependant on how you as a person eat. How do youeat in your home country? Do you intend on eating like that when you get here? If the answer is you’re a steak and potatoes guy and you intend to keep being that way then add another “0″ to your food budget. Now me personally I made a list of 10 American things I can’t live without and I keep these things on hand at all times to make the Philippine food more enjoyable for me. I spend maybe P5,000/month at a food store like the Pak n’ Shop then another P2,000 at the public market. My diet is mostly fish, simple soup and rice, and we also eat pork and chicken. My inlaws love my fried chicken and gravy. I spent 4 months over here before I took a trip back to the US to take care of some banking issues. Before the trip I was getting tired of the monotony of Philippine food… rice all the time. I longed so much for a cheesesteak or a nice prime rib. However when I got back to the US and got that cheesesteak and that prime rib I found that eating less in the Philippines had shrank my stomache. I couldn’t eat as much and the food in the US was now too heavy for me. Now that I’m back in the Philippines I can’t eat enough rice and I realize I really have gotten used to the food over here.