Cost of Living in Davao Part 2

Statistically, the most viewed blog post on our website has been the one I wrote a while back about the cost of living here in Davao City.  In fact, it is still getting regular hits from people who, I assume, are looking for more information before they come to live or visit here.

Now that we have been here for 5 months, I feel that I have an even better grasp of what things cost here, so I present a continuing list of prices here.  These prices will vary somewhat, depending on circumstances of course, but it should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.  (All prices are in Philippine Pesos, and converted to Canadian Dollars.  For those of you in other countries the exchange will be a bit different.  Sorry!)

Monthly electricity bill (using aircon some of the time): Approx P3500 ($82)

Monthly water bill: Approx P250 ($5.86)

Monthly internet (kind of high speed, sometimes reliable): P995 ($23.32)

A used vehicle (obviously will vary considerably, but we bought pretty much the cheapest vehicle we could find, so that is our reference point.  See our post from August 2011, http://followingwheregodleads.blogspot.com/2011/08/catching-unicorn.html, for more details): P120000+ ($2818.89.  This was much more than we had expected.  Vehicle prices seem to be even higher than back in Canada...)

Gas for a vehicle: P55/liter ($1.29/liter).  Diesel: P44/liter ($1.03).  While this is cheaper than we had been used to in Canada it was higher than we expected, and a shock for our American friends who were used to much less!

Two games of bowing for a family of four: P120 ($2.82)

2 liters of Coke: P44.55 ($1.04)

2 pizzas from a really great pizza place (delivered, including a tip): P600 ($14.05)

Tires for our van (pretty much the smallest tires ever made): P2000/each ($46.83)

Cost to get a wheel removed from the van, tire removed from the rim, new tire installed, and wheel put back on the van: P30/each ($0.70.  Yes, that is right.)

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino (tall): P160 ($3.74)

Movie admission at one of the nicest theaters in Davao: P135/person ($3.16)

Men's haircut (complete with shampoo, scalp and neck massage, straight-blade razor shave - best haircut ever.  Including a tip): P150 ($3.51)

A small jar of Cheez Whiz: P70.05 ($1.64)

1 liter of milk (processed for a longer shelf life, the most common stuff here): P62.70 ($1.47)

Jello pudding powder: P51.75 ($1.21)

Chicken breast (bone-in): P116/kg ($2.71/kg)

Kitten food (1.4kg): P274.15 ($6.41)

Loaf of good bread: P26.00 ($0.61)

All purpose flour: P48.50/kg ($1.13/kg)

Good quality rice (2kg bag): P78.50 ($1.84)

As you can see, some things here are quite a bit less expensive than back in Canada, especially when it comes to services.  Other things are a lot more than we had expected before we came here, most notably vehicles and imported consumer goods.

I will continue to list various prices every so often.  If there are any particular things you are interested in knowing prices for please feel free to send me a message below!