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Guest Post: You Can Live Well Here For Just $10/Day
From Tim Staermose of The Sovereign Man
You can live well here for just $10/day
I first started coming regularly to Daet, in the Bicol region of the Philippines, more than 13-years ago.
It’s a sleepy, quiet, relaxed place without the bustle of Quezon or Manila… perfect for people looking to live an easy, simple life. Despite the bucolic setting, though, the telecom infrastructure is pretty stellar.
At my wife’s hotel last week, I was able to utilize a mobile broadband connection, which cost me the equivalent of $0.25 an hour, to sit and do what I do every day no matter where I am in the world– monitor and trade the Australian stock and options markets.
I even sent out a trading alert to my 4th Pillar subscribers from here when another great opportunity to make some safe money in the Aussie market became available.
I should also mention that Daet is incredibly cheap.
Wages for unskilled workers are about $4.65 per DAY. If you buy food from the local markets or vendors and prepare it yourself, you can have quite a decent meal of fresh local fish, rice, and vegetables for less than $1 per person.
If you have a place to stay, even adding in a few luxuries (beer is about 50c a bottle, for example), you could live well here on $10 a day.
Down the road from my wife’s small hotel is a vacant beach lot for sale. It’s priced at about $35,000, and the owners have spent a considerable amount of money improving it with access ramps and other structures leading down to the water.
The land is already planted with some crops, and there are ponds suitable for fish farming. Of course, construction costs here are quite cheap by western standards, and you could build a nice three-bedroom home for around $60,000.
In total, that’s less than $100,000 for a spacious beachfront home in a quiet, clean, pristinely beautiful place where living costs will only run $10/day.
One thing to keep in mind is that this is largely a cash market; there has been no rampant bubble created by teaser loans and negative real interest rates. Hence, prices haven’t moved much.
I believe it was Milton Friedman who said, “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” From what I’ve observed around the world in property markets, I couldn’t agree more.
Property markets that are based on high leverage and cheap money are the quickest to rise and fall. Where property markets are based on cash transactions, though, prices tend to remain reasonable.
If you’re looking for great value, I’d put that among the key criteria in your search. Assuming you have cash, seek out places where the real estate market is largely cash-based. Daet is just one example of a cash market where there are some real bargains available– both in terms of property and living costs.
In the Philippines, the catch is that only Filipino citizens can buy land outright. A non-citizen may own only a 40% interest in real property. So if you were interested, you’d need a Filipino proxy, or a carefully structured corporate vehicle through which to purchase land here.
I’ll have much more to tell you about the Philippines, my adopted home country, in future letters… including how I don’t have to pay taxes!
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Strict background check, eh?
I guess that means that I can't get that $300k passport right NOW but will have to wait until all this cocaine clears my system. In the meantime I'll just cash out of my broker account for five grand and my college debt account for a negative 24 thousand. Almost there. Just need to make up that measly 319k difference.
Thanks for the information doszap, but a third passport is the last thing I need. My first one obliges me to a year in the army and second one obliges me to pay taxes everyone on Earth. I would rather spend a couple thousand on train tickets and hostels. No need for ID.
One of the benefits of owning beach front property in the third world is the locals will show up several times a day with fresh caught fish for a couple of bucks.
/sigh.
Rice. Where do you think all that puto (not the spanish version) comes from.
Yeah it is cheap but...it is the Phillippines! Who the hell wants to live anywhere in Asia? I will leave that to Mr. Rogers. Besides California and Florida are going to get pretty cheap soon enough!
Oh, and in other news the DEFEATED US and EU forces are quietly pulling out of Libya. That's right Momar kicked the mighty wests ass!
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/26/the-west-slowly-backing-away-from-the-libyan-military-operation/
totally predictable
maybe that's why online bookies would not open up bets on that outcome
conserving resources for those upcoming Iran adventures, most likely.
I hear there's some cheap bungalows in Compton for only $300K
Hey Arch
Why is this coming out of the mouth of the propaganda ministry???
I'm not suspicious---just experienced----no conspiracy here----too obvious
hence, the question: Why?
Ever been to Asia?
I currently reside in Taiwan. That small little Island country of 23 million people, and 400 billion in cash reserves. The city is clean, public transportation is cheap and incredibly efficient. The MRT (subway) is being expanded to about double its current size. The crime and poverty rates are exceptionally low by any standard. Women travel late into the evening with no worries about safety.
I'm back in the US for a visit with the family. The poverty and despair I see in the city and small towns is shameful for a country with so many resources. Somebody on this thread mentioned the crime in the Philippines. How many random shootings happened in the US last weekend?
I will be staying in Taiwan for the next several years (or more). A high priority is placed on education here. I see my two small children benefitting from it every day. In my hometown of Portland, Oregon I get to read about school years being cut, classrooms getting bigger, teacher layoffs, etc. Teachers are treated like freeloaders while parents expect them to right all the wrongs in their lazy fat children. No thanks.
Btw, I was in the Philippines last year. Manila had shades of India but I went straight from the city to the beaches which are quite nice. Met several European expats who'd been there for over a decade and had no plans on returning home. I always tell my single brother he should settle down in one of these warm Asian countries and enjoy life a little (or a lot).
The classrooms are going from 15 students to 20 students. Whoopeee!
My school classrooms had 35 students and we all earned how to read and do math. My college classes had over 100 students. Most classrooms in Asia have well over 30 students and they have no problems learning.
America is going down the tubes and everyone knows it, and they are leaving in droves. They feel in their guts that it won't get any better in the US for a century or more, so they are leaving to greener pastures (at least people with money). America will turn into the land of 3,000 dictators. Every 50 or 100 miles another big boss man will be controlling the area and he will take whatever he wants.
How diverse is the population to Taiwan?
Yeah, thought so.
Not diverse at all. Is there a point to your comment?
Makes for an apples and oranges comparison. We have way more dead weight to carry.
The only 2 ways to defeat Momar were:
lucky rocket shot or boots on the ground ie: well designed invasion by leader with balls.
The rebels are a joke. Honda civic with a 50 cal welded to it. LOL
BTW Syria is getting a complete pass. Logic?
Enjoy the typhoons...Bagyo Bitchez!!!
As opposed to hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires and worst of all, the US government
Random vs predictable natural disasters. From Wikipedia: "Around 19 tropical cyclones enter the Philippines' area of responsibility in a typical year and of these usually 6 to 9 make landfall."
And I have yet to see a hurricane, tornado, fire, etc. cover the entire country here...though I guess I have to yield to you on the US Gov't on that point...care to comment on the Filipino government?
I prefer the small corrupt Philippine government to the giant corrupt US government.
Pinatubo?
Gee I wonder why...it could have something to do with the size difference.
Thanks for the geography lesson Mr. Wizard. If you'd think about my whole comment for a second, you might have realized it points out there is nowhere to evac to when the average 6 to 9 storms make landfall each year.
Don't forget Mt Pinatubo(sp?)
The PI is a 'ring of fire' country too...
With the likelyhood of a Chinese invasion on the horizon, of course land is cheap.
Something else for americans to be afraid of.
Maybe some of our 99ers can go over there and actually land an interview
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-HelpWanted-Sign-Comes-nytimes-3331029223.html
If there is global unrest which I think is likely, foreigners in foreign lands will be first to disappear and their assets taken. I like my chances in a developed country.
Tempo, couldnt agree more, being often tempted to persue some type of blended or modified ex-pat strategy, I have always wondered how smart it is to be a foriegner in another land if the SHTF? Talk about being a visible "outsider", easy target and likely the first of the "unwelcome" once things begin to get really ugly.
It depends...
If you live like an island, as if you don't need anyone, then you remain foreign and hostile to their eyes.
If you mesh in with the community and show some useful skills and learn to trade and socialize adequately, they will certainly see your added value and protect you as part of them.
If they were able to do that here, they wouldn't have to flee overseas in the first place.
Touché!
Agree, was going to post the same thing. When the global SHTF, one will not want to be a gaijin..
Logic from someone who has never been in the Philippines.
Some nations like Americans, and PI is one of them.
Unlike Europe, they still remember us helping them defeat an imperial agressor, and then we gave them back their country and went home.
Wait til they find out McArthur ain't coming back.
I'm sure after the great crash of society, Americans will be welcomed with open arms almost anywhere in the world....by cannibals.
and pimps
Fat cattle are preferable to the skinny variety.
I prefer US protectorates for the same reason. Why the PI when American Samoa is next door? F14 fly-bys make me ALOT more comfortable...
Maybe the PI can become the 51st through 55th states, re-establish Clark AFB, and a few more. THEN I'd feel good about something like this...
The idea is to escape america not bring it with you. American laws would ruin the place.
I may visit places outside the US, even stay there for extended amounts of time, but I will NOT be in the line of fire trying to show my passport while Marines are coming on shore and something that is lazer guided is locking on
Hmmm, looks like no surf in the photo and sure as hell no mountains for skiing. Boring....think I will pass.
Surfing is awesome. I recommend Cloud 9.
http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/philippines_7262/map/
I think he left out some things.
bribes for the police, private security, etc...
Yes because that phenomenon does not exist in America right? Please. Get a speeding ticket and watch the vultures descend upon you like a dying fat man in the desert...And god forbid you should be accused of DUI, be it true or untrue is irrelevant...prepare to get gang raped.
America is a corrupt as any country on earth. It's pointless to point fingers anywhere else.
You obviously haven't traveled out side the US. Take a trip down to Mexico sometime - I'm not talking about the resort areas. Even my Hispanic friends won't go down there anymore. Go to Southeast Asia and get shaken down by the customs guards.
I don't know where oyu live in the US. Maybe Chicago or Louisiana, but I've never paid a bribe to a cop or been accused of DUI
lo mas apparente de tu commentario es que no solamente eres ignorante pero eres ignorante en una manera que es particular para los americanos.
feo, estupido, gordo y borracho no es manera de vivir. aprende otro idioma y viaja. seria una educacion, y falta que te hase porque de verdad que eres tremendo comemierda.
Estoy de acuerdo yo soy un americano. Aclamar
pero, la ignorancia no sea algo exclusiva entre los gringos; porque quieres hablar de tal manera? De veras he encontrado unos que parecen asi como te dijas, y muchos mas que me cayan muy bien! Ultimately, those we meet along the road are mirrors to our own soul!
Ya, pero "falta que se hase" se escribe "falta que se hace", osea aprender idiomas tenemos que hacerlo todos. Sorry :-)
Casa de los Animales?
So you know how to use a translation website. Congratulations.
WTF? Are you joking? Look buddy, this is America, we are far more corrupt than any other nation. We are number one in all categories. A bigger military, more useless government programs, more barbeques, more guns in private hands, and the porn, porn, porn! More debt, more beer, more beer bellies, more little blonde surfer girls, and more evil bankers per square mile than anywhere else on earth.
America, #1 second to none!
There's a lot of places in the world you can get along great as a single wealthy dude with no kids. I guess there are folks that never get tired of "bachin' it," although sometimes the Sovereign Man guys come off like they are trying to convince themselves their personal lives are more fulfilling than they are.
I havn't had to bribe a policeman yet but I like the idea that I can.
More anti-western trash from sovereign bitch.......
I can hire you for $4.65, asshole too!
Sold..Let's all pool our money..purchase West Nalaut Island..call it ZHVille and rebuild a free society with sound money.
I figured property prices there just doubled from this guest post already.
Galt's Gulch
Who is John Galt?
what about 'Zero Island'... on a long enough beach, with enough bars, beverage supply soon drops to zero.
Pi-ka-chu
Going up, going down
Going upside down
"Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life."
http://classiclit.about.com/od/lordoftheflieswg/a/aa_lofquotes.htm
Just another anglo inviting other anglos to a place they are unwanted
Take your real estate scam to another site, please.
Why do you assume everyone here is anglo?
That's racist. You probably question Obama's administration too, right? har har
Anglos? We don't need no stinkin Anglos, right?
They are so overrated. What have Anglos ever accomplished?
Thanks Smiddy,
Accomplished???
Shit, man, we are able to turn every invention that might make this a 'better place', a place of peace and plenty for all into the hell of death and destruction of same.
This is a Significant accomplishment that only Shiva could do before.
We are magnificient at mayhem (I don't know if 'mayhem' is correct---i'm a very gnorant old man, but i do like the ring of it)
Oh, Come on Smiddy----own up ---don't you get a thrill out of killing and maiming, poisoning our mutual habitat, constantly complicating the flow of the universe
how about all those little ashened corpses that we never see
the starving, diseased masses of africa
I am sure you do not----nor do I
But enough people are so mum on these accomplishments that everyone here---all us white folk----who could change it in only a couple of weeks of not doing
Sorry, to strike out so violently, but the truth is too fucking painful to bear
No, my friend-----We don't need no stinkin' anglos I can't even capitalize the word
thanks again om
The only thing better than a self-hating Anglo is a self-hating-Jew. (God's chosen self-haters)
Hey feral
Thanks for not junking my comment, but I'll give you another chance to do so.
I do not hate my self or anyone or anything
the anger there appropriately expressed but no hatred------i'm anglo/gringo/honkey/white eyes, etc. by a mere accident of birth
therefore hatred is not a part of this oldman----simply frustration at seeing so much self- destruction and needless destruction of others and their societies and habitat.
when i say anglo i imply an attitude, not a person that is necessarily anglosaxon, although in most cases it is.
I can accept the mythological Shiva as creator and destroyer of 'the world', but i have not, so far, seen a smidgeon of creation come from military might and and rampant aggression for profit as well as sport.
i'm getting depressed by trying to get this message to you
if you can't see what i am writing about----then we may be from the same town, so to speak, but we lived in different neighborhoods.
respectfully om
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmyAFHcF07Y
The Ponzi Must Flow
Thank you for sharing! Anoter option that is similiar in price is Thialand. Due to the historical background, I believe the only nationalities that can purcahse Thia real estate out right are Thia and American. Wouldn't be a bad spot to sit after the global economy imlodes.
Thailand? Are you kidding me? The level of corruption there is insane. Good luck with that one.
http://www.propertycommunity.com/forum/thailand-property/18364-pattaya-t...
might want to double-check before you use a Thai woman as a "property anchor."
I lived in Angeles City in the 70's (USAF).
Martial law was in place, and Ferdinand Marcos was president.
The poverty was awful in that town, with disease ridden, deformed and disfigured people left out by the gate to beg. The stench of the open sewers was a big drag.
The water was unfit to drink, but the food was pretty good.
Prices were very low, a peso (12 cents American) for a San Miguel beer, my rent was less than a hundred a month for a pretty nice house.
Still, the poverty and the stench were pretty bad. Crime was rampant, the house got broken into. I didn't know you had to bribe the neighborhood police or they set you up for a break-in. You bribe everyone or you can't get anything done.
The house-girl's family put her up to entrapping me with underage poontang, I didn't go there. They then set up the robbery, with the help of the neighborhood guards/cops. Since you are an American, you are deemed to be 'rich'.
I was making $800 a month. :)
That was 36 years ago, maybe they have improved since then.
Nah, no PI for me, thanks.
Even though I still wouldn't want to live there; things have changed. There's a large expat community there, and lots of development that has taken place. The Chinese fly in on Friday at Clark Field to gamble and golf. Lot's highway construction to the South [Subic] and east [Manila]. They still have issues with poverty, but it's mostly hidden...lots of shiny new cars and SUV's abound. My wife is a lawyer from Mabalacat, and we go back to visit every other year. My big issue is mostly related to infrastructure...I'm used to paved roads everywhere, safe drinking water, and 24 hour electricity, and my FIOS internet...nice place to visit, but I'm not sure I could live there.
.02
I was there TDY in the early 80's, right before Pinatubo, and Angeles was hell on earth. People tried to pick your pocket every ten steps, little naked girls everywhere, if you strayed off the beaten path you where robbed.
Hopefully things have improved since then...
Thank you for sharing! Anoter option that is similiar in price is Thialand. Due to the historical background, I believe the only nationalities that can purcahse Thia real estate out right are Thia and American. Wouldn't be a bad spot to sit after the global economy imlodes.
When TSHTF do you really want to the the foreigner?
Why buy?
Just rent a place on the beach for a couple of bucks a day, plus some food and some beer. Nice life. I tried it may years ago, but after about 2 months I figured if I stayed longer I would become an alcoholic, like many foreigners there. Still lots of wine women and song. Nice for a while, and if you get tired just move on. No need to put down roots.
Absolutely! Most of these beautiful idyllic beach communities are boring after the first few weeks there and one degenerates further towards alcoholism and sexual perversion just for entertainment. It's much better to rent for a while and then move on. Some very good deals can be had if one commits to a few months of tenancy at the various holiday rental agencies especially nowadays with the poor economy. And there's no reason one needs to remain when the bad weather (or bad politics) season arrives.
http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/World/r1.htm
Learn to fish. Study philosophy. Raise a family. Build a library.
If you embrace to lowest common denominator, that is all you, not the location.
Fishing is (mostly) as boring as golf. Not quite as bad as bowling though.
I am studying philosophy. Why do you think I'm here?
The family's already been raised. Right now I'm trying to make sure that my descendants aren't too burdened by inheritance taxes.
My point is the tropical paradises that I've been in, and I've stayed in quite a few very pleasant ones, is that after a while the things that stimulate one's mind are sorely missing. That's why I tend towards northern Italy. It's more expensive, -- not prohibitably so -- but there's always something new to taste, another mountain, another hill town, another opera and another educated human to interface with. As a side benefit, there's working plumbing, good wine and decent medical care. When it gets cold it's time to fly south.
I wish those damn Greeks would tell their creditors to go get fucked so things would settle back down there. The islands are beautiful when the tourists leave and the Greeks are a pleasant bunch.
It's so funny. Every time some post about living anywhere other than Amerika appears, everyone that spends their day ranting and raving about how horrible things are here suddenly become the goddamn pro Amerika tourism council and start shitting on the idea.
Believe it or not there is life outside this warmongering kakistocracy. And much of the life outside of here is quite good. Despite your jingoistic protestations.
Good post. I have always felt more free when I am in third world countries. It's the countries that can afford too much government that everyone should plan on leaving.
I'm not sure why someone junked you for your post. I guess they like this blossoming Police State we have in the "First World", where the govt seeks to control every aspect of our lives. From requiring parents to give government mandated medical care (slice and burn), and drugs we are required to give to our own children, to whether we are allowed to grow gardens in our yard, and sell or give away the produce without a license or other approval. I think the time is coming in America when the thought of paying a straight-forward little bribe in order to be left alone won't seem so bad.
Everyone is talking about the pros and cons. Just because they don't want to live in the Philippines, Somalia, or Pakistan doesn't mean they wouldn't live anywhere else in the world except the US.
I feel safer in downtown Manila than I do in downtown Atlanta GA
When I was a Marine I had the pleasure of going to the Philippines. It was a blast!! One thing interesting is you could buy a six-pack of San Miguel and no two beers out of that six-pack tasted the same...True story...I could tell other true stories but even on this board, it might ruffle a few feathers. I would go back in a half of heart beat..To bad they closed Subic Bay...Today's servicemen have no clue what they are missing...but then again, that might be a good thing...
I had a blast there, too, until the old ball and chain showed up and I moved downtown.
The girls are hot, for the most part, but predatory. My buddy got four holes in his face from a bitch attack with a fork.
aah, yes, those moments of heaven that can lead to a lifetime of hell.
William Congreve obviously meant, 'Hell hath no fury like a Filipina..' ;)
Yep, but luck was on my side when I was there...One of our morning rituals was to take our mattress's out of the barracks and place it into direct sun light. Someone always had crabs and this was a way of minimizing contagion. I guess those little bugs can move large distances but they hated sun light.
Nature's vampires often do... UV light is an excellent cleaner, good to routinely do this anyhow.
"predatory" is a good word for the girls. Going to town my first time and having to push my way into a bar past 30 woman (while protecting your wallet) that wanted you to pay a bar fee and take them to a room or there house was a eye opener. I recall one Marine kind of started seeing this one girl a couple of times and then he started seeing this other one. I guess is quite a spectacle when the 3 of them crossed paths. The police and shore patrol was involved in that incident...
I spent part of one night up in the Barrio, sitting in a tree and drinking mojo with the bar's pet monkey.
Good times.
Surprisingly good conversationalist for a Democrat.
Living on an island where you do not have the means for immediate escape is definitely not my cup of tea. I'll stick to the mountains and forest, where I can live for nothing if push came to shove.
I am in Baguio City, Philippines now. I have not been to Bicol but have been to other obscure places like Biliran, Leyte. You can live in some of these places very cheaply like he says but you almost have to go native. Most foreigners will want to be closer to major cities where you can get some of life's luxuries. You will be here a week and you will be tired of the 50 cent San Miguel Beer quickly. Not to mention having to eat like a local. I would also recommend people rent and not buy here until you have been here for an extended period of time.
I will be retiring here to this high elevation city in a few years. The cool weather is great and western products and foods are available. It is still very affordable.
There is also no reason to be afraid to be in this country.
Not sure of the spelling but I liked "Lumpias" and fried rice. I am amazed beer is still cheap. Inflation must be down. If I recall right, beer was around 25 cents and that was 31 years ago in a military town (olongapo city) I wonder if they still have all those bars and clubs along magsaysay drive? I would think not. I think when I was there the exchange rate was 7 1/2 pesos to a dollar. What is the exchange rate now?
I believe I paid 65 pesos at a nightclub tonight for a San Miguel Light. I saw them at the mall for 30 pesos each before and that was SM mall prices. The exchange rate is 42 plus pesos to the USD and going down.
How much for the femal company?
affordable.
Boy will they be disappointed when I arrive.
One does not need to go off the beaten path to live a nice life and cheaply. In europe Montenegro is a perfect place. Its cheap, on a Adriatic, great sunny med climate, and one can drive, take a ferry, or fly to anywhere in the EU and elsewhere. Labor here is 10 euro a day, average electricity bills run under a euro a day, tax rates are 9%, no capital gain tax, no restriction on currency, good high speed internet, pure food, and as long as you do not want to be right on the water housing prices are cheap.
Quakes, sunamis and volcanoes...recipe for disaster. Have a look
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/region/Australia... It would be easier to get rid of the Republicans, Democrats and the Federal Reserve. Then take your country back and reinstrore the constitution.
you cant beat mother nature, but you can always beat corruption
I miss that place. I miss San Miguel beer and my live-in maid. I miss the color of the South China Sea and how dark a tropical night is when the power goes out. I miss the sea food and the taste of a mango so ripe you can eat it with a spoon and I miss fried bananas and really good pancit. I miss jeepneys and I even miss revolutionaries taking pot shots at the bus to Manilla. Going to Manilla was always an adventure. I miss the tagalog movies and television, though I suppose it isn't the same without all Marcos all the time. I was always kindly treated by those I met. I wouldn't mind moving back, but I thought you had to be married to a Filipino to buy property there.
Meantime, I'm down at Town Hall fighting my property tax assessment. They tax me on their assessed value of $480,000 while the house has been on the market since last summer for $360,000 with no bites. I'm just trying to get out of this rotten state of Massachusetts.
dont bother coming to NJ
Buddy, heads up.
You are no doubt hearing every single day how "it's not that bad" and your situation is in some way special and maybe you should spend some more money on updates/upgrades.
Your situation IS EVERYWHERE. Do not be beaten down by stories told you suggesting you need to do something different.
You can cut that house price to $150,000 and It Won't Sell.
Take it off the market. You're just eating your life with the 1 hour you spend vacuuming and polishing before every showing. It's not going to sell.
Live there, or rent it out (I know perfectly well what a disaster that can be). You have no choice. You're screwed. You're not alone.
Or refi it and sell it to the bank or uncle. Then absond.
All RE is local. Here in my middle class Austin neighborhood, there are just 4 houses for sale (out of a total of 226).
Prep it up and price it right and it flies. The combination of low prices AND interest rates is a gift (from the Fed) which we may never see again in our lifetimes.
Who in Gods name wants to live amongst poor people at the asshole end of the world? I dont wamt 50c beers...I want triple ply toilet paper.
here's your tri-ply toiled paper: two folds in each dollar bill.
Who in Gods name wants to live amongst poor people at the asshole end of the world? I dont wamt 50c beers...I want triple ply toilet paper.
Why pay $10/day to live there when you can live for free here? The welfare state FTW!
$60,000 for a house - that's quite expensive - they must have built two others with your so-called 'offcuts'. Did you mention the cost of the 10 foot razor wire fence around the house? Keeps all those friendly neighbors from borrowing things
I can't really stand fish. Can you buy meat there cheaply as well?
Good beef is imported from Austrlia. Lots of cheap pork and chicken.
whats it worth if japan is glowing from radioactivity?
I wonder what the neighborhood will look like when China moves in to use it as a spring board en route to collect their IOU?
bangungot
ilagay ang isang bangungot
'ta ng ina
I didn't read through all the comments, but I suspect that no one mentioned the future implications of what living in another country would be like as an expat of a nation that ransacked the nation that you're living in. And, in the case of the Philippines, as with many others, a good portion of its GDP (another reason why this is such a BS gauge) is via remittances: for the Phils it's like 10%. Yeah, when that money stops flowing things will get MUCH tighter, and gringo-assed folks might start looking like an anger outlet by the masses who are now struggling more. Yeah, gallivant around and make yourself look like a bigger HAVE: not going to be a good idea for anyone, anywhere!
My wife has a house down in the Phils. While I'm clearly accepted within her family (and all the relatives near by) and the "locals" don't mind me, I'm sure that as the screws tighten it would get a bit more tenuous.
Oh, and exchange rates are going to change. Implications for shifting the majority of one's money into another currency, either in bulk (tax issues?), or a bit here and there (as currencies such as the USD continue to inflate).
Ssssssssssh.
good points Seer.
men who are used to visiting "third world" homelands most often in uniform'd R & R may find situations less accommodating when trying to recapture "military vacations" in those lands finally free of anchor-bases.
status shifts.
just gotta learn to blend in, CA. not too difficult when you simply treat people the way you wish to be treated yourself. course for some of us 'Merikons, that's a lesson still yet to be learnt.
couldn't agree more tip e. - I lived "abroad" for nearly 20 years, various locales, and most would never guess me as "'merikon" - mainly because I never brought it up, didn't act like I was tourist-ing, made the effort with local languages, etc.
but I could spot an amrkn a mile away, and it was a reminder of how "foreign" to the mainstream yankee I've always felt. . . last time I traveled places & people were definitely becoming more homogenised, sadly.
EDIT to thank you for the Gil Caradang tip - great resource! anyone curious can start here:
http://naturalpiggery.org/
di nada...share the wealth...contrary to popular thought, plenty of it to go around...just gotta grab it and pass it on while the opportunity's still there.
note to seer: some of the best farmers in the world are in the phils. check out this guy gil carandang. if you're into realchemizing the soil, these are the cats to learn from. still passing down traditions from 2,000 years ago.
There are about 8 million overseas workers. They are dispersed all over the world making a living in many currencies.
We opened 3 bank accounts here this month. I can cheaply wire money to them via my etrade account when I get home. There are no capital controls yet. However you are correct about the exchange rate. The usd has been and will continue to go down.
I also brought gold with me this time. It is out of the US with its changing laws and in a safety deposit box here in the Philippines. It was easy to do at this time. Just declare it when leaving the US. I declared it coming into the Philippines but the way they run things it looks like I didn't have to. I just told the young female government worker I brought here for my wife's future. She thought that was a great idea and expedited me through customs.
WTF are these guest post info-mercials?
this idiot talks about how cheap it is to live and the locals get paid nothing and can never afford the $100k home but americans can live here...how? oh wait by still pulling their incomes from america....! if everyone makes $4 a day, how can the american buy a $100k home unless they are stripping wealth from back in america.....corrupt bubble america.
this kind of reasoning is why amerika is in the trouble it is in...steal what you can while you can...retire on social security and move to a foreign country to exploit the cheap wages.
got news for you people that seem to never read history...the locals eventually get sick og your ass and cut your head off.....!
Free marketing plan for the interested. Hold the Rose Bowl or even Super Bowl there in the middle of January.
Actually, I live pretty well in the States but you have to understand that means being frugal---no new iPad every 3 months, no $5 Crappachinos, very little eating out, skipping Sockeye Salmon and instead lots of sardines+beans+spaghteei+eggs---but the Hood is fairly safe and the USA politics predictable and health care wonderful (but extremely expensive). The key thing is controlling costs where ever you live imho.
I like the idea of living overseas for a few dollars a day, but when you add in trips home, potential medical problems, unstable gubberments, crime.....it may not be such a good idea. A Buddy of mine tried to move to a Carribbean Island to fulfill his dream he was almost murdered by a few locals with a machette while he was walking downtown at night! Lets hope America changes for the better sooner then 2012....we'll see....and hope.
But to each his/her own and at least I can dream about that ideal far-away place, sittin gunder a tree in the shade listening to the rush of the waves.....or turn on my Fake Wave machine next to my crummy bed and pretend...Oh well.....
All that being said, great article and thanks for giving us a different view.
A retired american told me in a bar on my first trip here to the Philippines that you don't need health insurance here. He didn't have it and could afford everything fine. His concluded that it just went to show how corrupt america's health care system really was. I didn't argue with him.
You consider 100 K for a beach front house in goddamn Phillipines to be a bargain?!?!
WTF?!
You can get house on Mediterranean sea for that kind of money, no problemo.
I wouldn't live in Phillipines if they gave me this house for free and paid me 10 bucks per day
You can get a house on the Mediterranean for much less indeed.
But NATO has been bombing many of those houses the past months.
America is not a bad place to live. If you are sick of one town or place move to another. Only thing that intimidating is your social. This SS# is a chain in your neck and everyone else is ready to drag you in any direction. Makes you feel like a slave.
edit
Looks like the Pacific Ocean side of Bicol.
It used to only cost about $5 a day back in 2005 when the exchange rate was 56:1.
Most of the rebels (NPA) live in Mindanao, although there have been clashes with the police near Gubat by the Bulusan volcano. The area is nice and I ALMOST bought beachfront property in Rizal Beach... I wish I was there now.
Hmm, if I thought I was living in paradise, I wouldn't advertise it. Reminds me of those reverse funnel schemes.
been there done that, boracay
20 years ago, very racist
and closed to non-Phillipinos
like most of Asia. Stay home,
rebuild BEAUTIFUL AMERICA...
The greatest country in the world
Go USA.
I disagree. In Argentina its almost all cash transactions but prices are volatile and move in tandem with inflation (they have a central bank that loves to print money too).
Just reposting for the sea-level alarmists (and also: global temp, CO2, etc.)
Acceleration in sea level rise?
"Abstract :
Without sea-level acceleration, the 20th-century sea-level trend of 1.7 mm/y would produce a rise of only approximately 0.15 m from 2010 to 2100; therefore, sea-level acceleration is a critical component of projected sea-level rise. To determine this acceleration, we analyze monthly-averaged records for 57 U.S. tide gauges in the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) data base that have lengths of 60–156 years. Least-squares quadratic analysis of each of the 57 records are performed to quantify accelerations, and 25 gauge records having data spanning from 1930 to 2010 are analyzed. In both cases we obtain small average sea-level decelerations. To compare these results with worldwide data, we extend the analysis of Douglas (1992) by an additional 25 years and analyze revised data of Church and White (2006) from 1930 to 2007 and also obtain small sea-level decelerations similar to those we obtain from U.S. gauge records.
Conclusion:
Our analyses do not indicate acceleration in sea level in U.S. tide gauge records during the 20th century. Instead, for each time period we consider, the records show small decelerations that are consistent with a number of earlier studies of worldwide-gauge records. The decelerations that we obtain are opposite in sign and one to two orders of magnitude less than the +0.07 to +0.28 mm/y2 accelerations that are required to reach sea levels predicted for 2100 by Vermeer and Rahmstorf (2009), Jevrejeva, Moore, and Grinsted (2010), and Grinsted, Moore, and Jevrejeva (2010). Bindoff et al. (2007) note an increase in worldwide temperature from 1906 to 2005 of 0.74C.
It is essential that investigations continue to address why this worldwide-temperature increase has not produced acceleration of global sea level over the past 100 years, and indeed why global sea level has possibly decelerated for at least the last 80 years."
Atolls submerged because of rise of sea-level?
"ABSTRACT : Low-lying atoll islands are widely perceived to erode in response to measured and future sea-level rise. Using historical aerial photography and satellite images this study presents the first quantitative analysis of physical changes in 27 atoll islands in the central Pacific over a 19 to 61 yr period. This period of analysis corresponds with instrumental records that show a rate of sea-level rise of 2.0 mm yr?1 in the Pacific. Results show that 86% of islands remained stable (43%) or increased in area (43%) over the timeframe of analysis. Largest decadal rates of increase in island area range between 0.1 to 5.6 ha. Only 14% of study islands exhibited a net reduction in island area. Despite small net changes in area, islands exhibited larger gross changes. This was expressed as changes in the planform configuration and position of islands on reef platforms. Modes of island change included: ocean shoreline displacement toward the lagoon; lagoon shoreline progradation; and, extension of the ends of elongate islands. Collectively these adjustments represent net lagoonward migration of islands in 65% of cases. Results contradict existing paradigms of island response and have significant implications for the consideration of island stability under ongoing sea-level rise in the central Pacific. First, islands are geomorphologically persistent features on atoll reef platforms and can increase in island area despite sea-level change. Second, islands are dynamic landforms that undergo a range of physical adjustments in responses to changing boundary conditions, of which sea level is just one factor. Third, erosion of island shorelines must be reconsidered in the context of physical adjustments of the entire island shoreline as erosion may be balanced by progradation on other sectors of shorelines. Results indicate that the style and magnitude of geomorphic change will vary between islands. Therefore, island nations must place a high priority on resolving the precise styles and rates of change that will occur over the next century and reconsider the implications for adaption."
Here's some food for tought: it's in french, but usually quotes english abstracts and you can usually find the sources. http://www.pensee-unique.fr/oceans.html
I.E. The dynamic response of reef islands to sea-level rise: Evidence from multi-decadal analysis of island change in the Central Pacific, Arthur P. Webb and Paul S. Kench, 2010 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818110001013
I'm not sure if I would want to move any closer to Fuk-u-shima than I already am but I have been to Baguio City and it has potential
You don't actually buy land in the phillippines, for one. You purchase the right to squat on that land from the government and it'll be taken from you at unspecified date. Second, Americans aren't allowed to have land in the Philippines, you'd have to set up a shell corporation and have the corporation own the land, which comes with it's own set of caveats. Add on top of all that the rise of piracy and islamicism in that region and it's not such a great deal.
Remember, you get what you pay for. If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't. When I was younger I would see the "own your own private island" sites on the internet, and the phillippines was always 10x cheaper than other parts of the world. It's because of the laws.
You don't actually buy land in the phillippines, for one. You purchase the right to squat on that land from the government and it'll be taken from you at unspecified date. Second, Americans aren't allowed to have land in the Philippines, you'd have to set up a shell corporation and have the corporation own the land, which comes with it's own set of caveats. Add on top of all that the rise of piracy and islamicism in that region and it's not such a great deal.
Remember, you get what you pay for. If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't. When I was younger I would see the "own your own private island" sites on the internet, and the phillippines was always 10x cheaper than other parts of the world. It's because of the laws.
Don't forget property taxes in the US. If you don't pay your several hundred dollars per month to the local government you won't own it long. No different then living under a king in Europe hundreds of years ago as far as I can see. But americans are soooo free.