CHEAP LIVING IN THE PHILIPPINES / A Filipino Monthly Budget

Pea takes viewers on an on-the-ground tour of Dumaguete's local markets, restaurants, and shops to show exactly what things cost and how Filipinos stretch small paychecks. The video doubles as a reality check for foreign men supporting a Filipina long-distance who want to understand what her actual budget looks like. All prices assume a single person living alone in a medium-sized city (Manila costs more, provinces cost less; living with parents saves on rent, having a child adds expenses).

What's Covered ​

• Food budget: ~5,000 pesos/month (~$100 USD)

  • Meat section (local vendor, not a supermarket):
    • Pork: 230 pesos/kilo (~$4 USD) — pork is a Filipino staple
    • Beef ribs: 300 pesos/kilo (~$6 USD)
    • Whole chicken: 158 pesos (~$3 USD)
    • Drumsticks: 180 pesos/kilo (~$4 USD)
    • Nothing is wasted: vendors also sell chicken skin (120 pesos/kilo) and chicken bones separately
  • Vegetables (from Pea's favorite organic vendor):
    • Cucumber: 90 pesos/kilo (~$2 USD)
    • Eggplant: 80 pesos/kilo (Pea is allergic but notes it's popular for eggplant omelette)
    • String beans: 10 pesos each, or 3 for 25 pesos (~$0.50) with haggling
    • Okra: same pricing as string beans
    • Squash: 10-20 pesos per piece (~$0.20-0.40)
    • Potatoes: 120 pesos/kilo, but Pea haggles it down to 110 thanks to her friendship with the vendor
    • Carrots: 120 pesos/kilo (marked down from 140 for her as a regular)
    • Cabbage: 100 pesos/kilo, no discount available — "expensive right now"
    • Pea emphasizes the perks of befriending your vendors for regular discounts
  • Fruits:
    • Fuji apples: 15 pesos each (~$0.30)
    • Oranges: 30 pesos each (~$0.60)
    • Pears: 25 pesos each (~$0.50)
    • Green mangoes (the sour kind): eaten with shrimp paste — "a weird concoction but we love it"
    • Bananas: 3 for 20 pesos (~$0.40), slightly pricey because it's off-season
    • Durian: 100 pesos/kilo (~$2 USD) — the "infamous stinky fruit"; banned from airports, must be tightly wrapped, though Pea says the one she found smells good and is ready to eat
    • Marang: 40 pesos/kilo (~$0.80), sweet with small seeds
    • Papaya: 40 pesos/kilo
  • Rice — "rice is life":
    • Filipinos have as many types of rice "as Eskimos have snow" — red rice, white rice, rice corn (milled corn in yellow and white), sticky rice
    • All sold for under $1/kilo
    • Sticky rice: 45 pesos/kilo (~$0.90)
    • Pea estimates she personally consumes about 5 kilos per month
  • Eating out at a carinderia (local home-cooking restaurant):
    • Meal of rice + Bicol Express (white curry with coconut milk, spicy) = 50 pesos total (~$1 USD)
    • The rice is 10 pesos ($0.20), the meat portion is 40 pesos ($0.80)
    • Free soup comes with every meal

• Rent: ~2,000 pesos/month (~$40 USD)

  • Most working Filipinos in cities live in boarding houses, not apartments
  • Two types: a spare room in a Filipino household, or a commercial complex accommodating up to 50 tenants
  • Shared common areas: kitchen, bathroom, laundry
  • Popular with both students and workers — Pea lived in one during college (with three roommates) and again while working in Cebu
  • Pea specifically notes this for foreign men: "if your girlfriend says she's staying in a boarding house, this is the kind of accommodation she's in"

• Clothing: ~1,000 pesos/month (~$20 USD)

  • Filipinos shop at secondhand stores (ukay-ukay) and have "mastered the art of recycling"
  • Pea finds a denim dress for 100 pesos ($2) and another dress for 100 pesos
  • Compares to Western prices where an average dress might be $60
  • Kids' clothes: piles for 35 pesos (~$0.70)
  • The stores carry everything: maternity wear, swimwear, evening gowns, underwear, bras

• Phone/load: ~500 pesos/month (~$10 USD)

  • Filipinos don't use postpaid phone plans
  • Instead they buy "load" (prepaid phone credits) — minimum purchase as low as 10 pesos
  • Two methods: scratch cards or electronic transfer
  • Register for carrier promotions to get unlimited texting, calling, and streaming for ~500 pesos/month
  • Two major carriers: Globe and Smart
  • Pea jokes: "I know you've heard your girlfriend say they ran out of load"

• Personal care: ~1,000 pesos/month (~$20 USD)

  • Basic items: shampoo, soap, razors
  • Occasional salon visits: hair treatment ~300 pesos (~$6), manicure/pedicure ~60 pesos (~$1.20)

• Transportation: ~1,000 pesos/month (~$20 USD)

  • Few Filipinos own cars (car ownership signals affluence); some have motorbikes
  • The jeepney is the primary public transit
  • Even daily jeepney use stays around 1,000 pesos/month

• Utilities:

  • Electricity for a boarding house resident: ~400 pesos/month
  • Water: ~200 pesos/month

• No entertainment line item

  • Pea says Filipinos don't spend money on entertainment — phones are the primary amusement source
  • "As anyone who's dated a Filipina can attest"

• Total monthly budget: 11,100 pesos (~$222 USD)

  • Pea acknowledges this sounds incredibly cheap to foreigners but assures viewers millions of Filipinos live exactly this way, including herself at various points in her life

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