Saturday, July 16, 2011

Cost of living in Davao

It has been an interesting experience here so far, and one of the interesting things has been to see how prices here compare with prices in Canada.  Here are a few examples:

House rental (in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house in a middle-class gated community): 26000 pesos/month = $590.91 CAD

Electricity Bill: Approx. 4400 pesos/month = $100

Internet and home phone: 1000 pesos/month = $22.73

Cost to send a text message: 1 peso = $0.02

Cost for a day at a really fancy beach resort, including the boat ride over and an amazing lunch for four: 1020 pesos = $23.18

Custom Built bamboo couch, loveseat, chair, coffee table, 2 end tables, 2 loft beds for the kids (Filipino furniture is quite small, so we have ordered furniture built, which is also considerably cheaper than buying from the stores): 14600 pesos (plus the cost of cushions, which we haven't ordered yet) = $331.82

Jeepney Ride (kind of like the bus system, but so much cooler!): 8 pesos = $0.18

House help (which is a very common thing here, and gives the helper a job and an opportunity): 265 pesos/day = $6.02/day

A McDonald's cheeseburger meal: 78 pesos = $1.77

Anyone want to come live here?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

welcome to davao city...

Anonymous said...

are you connected with church group or other sect or what? anyway, davao is the best place to settle for a foreigner or expats like you,..welcome,..

Steve said...

Thanks for the welcome! So far we really like it here.

Chase's mama said...

thanks for the insights! really useful info. My husband is Canadian and Im Singaporean and we have a 2.5yrs old boy. We will be moving to Davao city in Sept 2011. Hope to catch up with you then! Could u share where u got the furniture custom made and post the pics when u got them? Thanks so much in advance!

Steve said...

Hey Chase's Mama, we would love to meet up with you once you are here. Feel free to email us at skoishi78@gmail.com. As for the furniture, there is a place that makes the stuff to whatever specs you want. It is really funny - just a guy by the side of the road. I don't know the exact address, but some of our friends here know how to get there. Let us know when you are here and we will describe it for you!

Chase's mama said...

Thanks so much! Glad that you are enjoying yourself so far. Will contact you when we are in Davao.

Pamela said...

I would love to live there!! I have a deep yearning to live somewhere other than North America, but I don't see how God would make that happen. That's okay too...I have so much right here to be thankful for.

However...if the right opportunity came along... :-)

jbushkin said...

Great blog/posts, keep it going - don't stop now! I'm finishing a certificate program in Pastoral Counseling. The Philippine government has a special visa program for retirees, SRRV, I think it's called. (I'm 51) This government program, among other things (and some restrictions), gives you the opportunity to work. I'd like to open a small practice (about 10 clients a week) and also minister to those who need help in hospital emergency rooms and intensive care units. Soooo, I hope all this is affordable. I'd like to hear about the work you're doing, too. Again, thanks for the posts - keep it going!
- Jeff B.