Let's Break it Down: Costs in the Philippines

I had dreams and expectations. As we know, those are dangerous things to have. I was so sure that the Philippines would be the cheapest country yet...little did I know, that was not to be the case!

I first want to say that I'm only talking about our month-long experience in Panglao. Who knows if other islands, cities, small towns might be cheaper! With that being said, let's get into it.

Our housing took a big chunk of our budget this month at $567 for our half. The house was small, but super nice. We had air conditioning, which was great, and it was honestly the most equipped Airbnb I've ever stayed at! The only downside was that it was about a ten minute drive from the nearest beach.

Bills came out to $58, much lower than the previous two months. I'm really not sure why! I do know that I cancelled my Netflix account...maybe I lost some other random accounts, too? The sim cards were definitely more cheap than in Thailand, too. Along with the bills, our house bill was only $52!

Next up is the health bill, and this month we only spent $27! Some bandaids, ibuprofen, and other random little things here and there. We really saved on health this month!

Remember the 10 minute drive to the beach? Yeah, private transportation was a must in Panglao. We were staying out of the major tourist area, so Grab (Asia's Uber) wasn't available. We could call TukTuks to come get us, but they were expensive, and we had to wait for a long time. So what did we do? We rented the scooters. This, along with the ferry ride to Cebu at the end of the month and some random TukTuks here and there, ended up costing $313! It was well worth it, and I'm so glad we had the scooters.

Our snacks ended up costing $78, and I think that mostly came from my matcha obsession. Oops.

Etc. cost us $189, and $10 of that was a really cute water bottle that I lost five days later. RIP. The rest of it was massages (would not recommend, Filipino massages are too hard for me!) and a new bathing suit cover up!

Now for my most exciting item on the list this month: tours! Because we had our own transportation, we didn't pay for any tours - we just drove to the locations and bought entrance tickets! We got to swim with sardines twice, swim in an underground cenote twice, go see the cute tarsiers, go to the chocolate hills, and go to the most beautiful waterfall ever! All of these entrance tickets cost us only $27! I can't believe it.

This month was the most expensive for us when it came to groceries. You have to remember, Panglao is a tiny little island. It makes sense that the food would be a bit more expensive! We spent $393 on our groceries and $189 on restaurants!

So in total, a month of living in Panglao, Philippines, cost the two of us $1,930! This just goes to show that even on a beautiful tropical island, you can live for under $2,000 a month - everything included!

Next up on the list: Vietnam!