Our Date out in Manila - Cost of Living in the Philippines

Cost of Living - Date Night & the Cost of a Date
Going on a date is can be expensive to affordable, depending on what you have planned. Many of my friends, family and colleagues tell me horror stories about how expensive a simple date can be in the USA. Yes, incomes are higher in the USA, but so are the costs. To illustrate this, I wanted to add a segment to our website about the 'Cost of Living' and what we are paying for our daily and monthly expenses. Maybe this will help many of you who are considering vacations, get aways, retirement, or that special day with the person you love the most.

This weekend, I took Rose out for a date in Manila - the nation's capital. We had to do some business in Manila, so while we were in town, I wanted to treat my lovely wife to a special day. So I asked her if she would enjoy a date that Friday. 'Of course! What will we do?'
'You'll see. I have a full day planned after you complete your meeting in the morning'

What our date included?
Obviously we had to fly from our home on Tablas Island to Manila, and we booked our stay in the Shell Residence condominium. (The cost of the flight and our stay in the condo should not really be included in the cost of the date  but I want to share it with you so you can see how affordable it is to live in the Philippines).

Our date included lunch, a movie (Justice League), a walk holding each other's hand, dinner with wine and at a table by the bay to watch the sunset, Friday evening fireworks  by the bay, and sharing 3 scoops of ice-cream in a French cafe. 

What is the cost for our nice date in Manila?

• Airfare (round trip) for 2 - US$197 for both of us
• Condo for 1 night - US$49 (use the AirBnB coupon to your right)
• Lunch for 2 in a Turkish cafe - US$9
• Movie for 2 - $11.50
• Dinner by the ocean with wine and fresh sea food - US$24 (with a discount card)
• Ice Cream - 3 scoops (mint chocolate chip, cappuccino, hazelnut) - US$1.80
• Walking hand-in-hand & enjoying the fireworks - no charge. 

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When you exclude the cost of the airfare and the condo, the cost of our day was only US$47 (remember, this is in the nation's capital city). For what we got to enjoy, I think this is a bargain, and I plan on treating Rose like this often. 

Side Note - We found the cost to stay in a condo to be much better than in many of the hotels. We do suggest that when you use AirBnB for your next stay that you select places that have good reviews, and they are near points of interest (we use the reviews and the map feature to help us select the condos and homes we stay in). AirBnB is 1 of our sponsors. Give AirBnB a try.

tags: philippines, manila, tablas island, cost of living in the philippines, our date in manila, our date in the Philippines, philippines activities,  written by Greg Pasden James G. Pasden