Cost of Living in Makati and Fort (Manila)

Hi Nilesh,
The info below is based on my experience here in Manila for the past 5 months.

Rice per kg : If it is Basmati Rice, it cost around 700 PHP for a 5 Kg bag in the Indian Store. Pretty much u can get all  ingredients used in Indian cooking but at a premium price.
You can also get good variety of rice in Grocery Super market.
I found Thai Jasmine Rice a good alternative. It cost around 60 - 70 PHP per Kg.

Daal tur-daal (kg) : If my memory is correct, i think its 40 PHP / 500 gms. I am not sure whether it is 500 or 250 gms.

Milk per ltr : 65 - 70 PHP. (Nestle Fresh Milk)

Mineral Water per 20 ltr can : Bubble Top 40 - 50 PHP per can.

Cooking Gas ~20kg : 750 to 800 PHP for 13 to 15 Kg Cylinder

Fuel/petrol per ltr 50 - 60 PHP. It keeps varying.

2bhk apartment with approx 90 sq. mtr. This is entirely based on the place you live. 35K to start with.

Electricity cost for family of 3 : Depends on your consumption of electricity, it should be between 6K to 8K (purely based on usage of Air Con). In summer, its going to be higher.

Parking charge motor bike and car : Some places the Condo comes with Parking lot, you also need to pay Association dues over and above the monthly rent.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
VJ

Hi,

The price of the place depends on location and the surrounding safety. Quick estimate 13k to 22k in pasay.

@vj_bhaskar

Thanks for the detailed response. I was looking for similar details like this. Shocked with some of the prices - Is Electricity that expensive 6-8k a month? or did you mean 600-800?

@ sjrocks:

The monthly electricity budget is purely based on your consumption pattern. Rate per KW varies from 8.50 to 10.00 Peso. The total comsumption is purely based on the items you utilize. If you have an electric stove, it's going to be more. If you are using an electric fan instead of Aircon in the living room, the total payout is going to be less. So, it depends. :-). And its defenitely not 600-800 for a 2 bed room appartment / condo.

Regards,
Vj

Hey Bhaskar.. any chance i could call you. I am planning on moving to Manila (Makati City) and seems like you know a bit about moving there. Cheers!!

You could write to me on [email protected]

Electricity is very expensive in the Philippines. I am living in a house and been here for 6week. Monthly electricity bill for 3ppl is P$8000. But that's the only thing which is more expensive than 1st world due to monopoly. The rest are very affordable.

Hi Friends,
I am Jatin, just planning to move to Manila from Indore(india).
Coming alone, can anybody tell me what essentials should i bring particularly food related as i am veg.

Is anyone on this forum willing to share more details?

I have a couple of more details that I need help with

Thanks,
Sreekanth

Rice per kg- Depends on what kind of rice.  Range from P20 to P80/kg
Daal tur-daal (kg)-I'm not sure where to get this.
Milk per ltr- Fresh milk around P70/L; UHF around P45 to P60/L
Mineral Water per 20 ltr can.- P20 to 25 per 5 gallon
Cooking Gas ~20kg - About P500
Fuel/petrol per ltr- About P50 to P55/L
2bhk apartment with approx 90 sq. mtr -Depends on location. Makati CBD around 50K to 80K.  Further away from CBD about half. 
Electricity cost for family of 3 - Depends on usage and how many appliaces you have. usually around P5k to P10k.
Parking charge motor bike and car- About P3k to 5k depending on apartment.

Thanks all for giving time to answer my query. Finally I am relocated to Manila.. I should be in Hotel for next 1-2 months. Later that I need to book apartment for myself.
Not sure if I could find apartment having balcony with good ventilation. Most of the apartments I saw are condos where its very difficult to get the natural flow in the house. Wish me good luck.

Electricity is expensive typically in summer because people are using forms of ventilation almost throughout the day. Sometimes at night it will cool down, if you're lucky.

And so is the water bill as people tend to have more than once bath a day.

If you're planning to use an air conditioner, expect to pay higher than the usual.

One thing to do to lower your bill is not to use any fans or air conditioner if the weather is a bit cold. Open your windows or spend your time in the lower part of the house if you have a two storey home.

Due to high pollution, not really advisable to leave the windows open. Will have soot all over your furnishings in no time.

HI Nilesh - I need some information from you as i am also relocation to manila next week, Can you please send me test mail on reach2nareshatgmail.com or send me yr email id

hi na123- expect intense summer heat if you will be coming here to Manila next week. be sure to come prepared. Skip the hotel and find a nice Apartment or Condo unit.Some Condo units already has an Air conditioning unit. If not, Invest in a good ACU as the heat can be unbearable especially during this times. But as punrun says, expect to pay more for the electricity consumption.
Hope you'll enjoy your stay in Manila.

Hi Rei,

Thanks for your response, Could you please suggest me contact for some good apartmenet near Makati or Fort Bonifacio Global City. Also will appreciate if you can let me know brief about "Fort Bonifacio Global City".

na123 wrote:

Hi Rei,

Thanks for your response, Could you please suggest me contact for some good apartmenet near Makati or Fort Bonifacio Global City. Also will appreciate if you can let me know brief about "Fort Bonifacio Global City".

Hi  na123,

It's better to have an apartment in Makati as the commute can be troublesome as compared to BGC. Its one of the Business district in the Philippines and majority of the people works in Makati. You can commute to BGC from Makati but traveling to Makati from anywhere can test your patience especially during the rush hours. Accommodations in Makati are mostly condo units. Downside is it can be expensive. Upside is being close to where you want to go. Rent would normally be around 40k php and up.

Thanks for your suggestions but seems apartment in makati is very expensive, I will not able to expand so much.....can you suggest some nearby areas which could be less expensive.

hi na123,

What's your budget for renting an apartment? There are places in Makati that offers a much lower cost but you will not be situated in the Makati business district. Try searching online~ there are tons of site for renting a place in Makati.