How Much Money Did We Spend in the Philippines?

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What We Spent in the Philippines

When we started our world trip we made one crucial change in our life. We decided to record all of our spendings down to the penny. This has helped us know exactly where our money is going. In addition, it helps us know if we are under or over our budget. The following numbers are for 2 people. For reference we spent a total of 24 days in the Philippines.

Lodging

Our spendings were a total of $589.85 on lodging in the Philippines. Lodging is a little more expensive in the Philippines. Whereas in other countries we often spent around $20 on lodging a night here it was consistently closer to $30 a night. We stayed in Airbnb’s, hotels, and hostels.

Food

Food cost us a total of $453.69. Whenever we were in an Airbnb or hostel we were able to do some cooking at home which allowed us to save some money.

Activities

Our total spending on activities was $891.54. This is considerably higher than is usual coming in at around $37 a day. The main reason for this was that we did a bit of scuba diving in the Philippines. While in Moalboal we got our Advanced Open Water PADI certificate as well as our Nitrox Certification. We managed to save money by working with different companies, but it was still more expensive than anywhere else. That was okay with us though since we really wanted to do a bit of Scuba Diving.

Transportation

Transportation such as taxi’s, buses, and ferry’s cost a total of $199.25. I’m actually a little surprised it’s that low, since we hopped around quite a bit. The main reason for this was that the buses were very cheap. We also went on a few ferries from island to island. A lot of the times we also did not spend much on transportation in the different cities. Many were small, and we were focused more on diving rather than exploring.

Flights

We spent $553.92 on flights into the Philippines and within the Philippines. The Philippines are a nation of islands and we needed to fly into them. We avoided flying as much as we could inside the Philippines.

Shopping

We spent $32.77 on shopping in the Philippines. This was mostly souvenir items, and some clothes.

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous items are such things as laundry, bathroom costs, and other things that do not fit into a certain categorry. We spent $26.98 on miscellaneous items.

Average

We spent a total of 24 days in the Philippines. During that time we had a daily average of $114.50. This is about $32 above our budget. The main reason we spent more in the Philippines is due to our choice to do a bit of Scuba Diving. This meant we needed to advance our certification, and we spent money on diving along the way. In addition flying into the Philippines cost a pretty chunk of change, and lodging was a little more expensive than the rest of SE Asia.

Takeaway

The Philippines are more expensive than other countries in SE Asia. You’ll spend more on lodging, however, its’s possible to offset some of that by getting a place with a kitchen and cook your own meals. The main cost will be Scuba Diving. We were able to cut down on some of the costs by working with diving companies but it still came out to quite a bit since we needed to advance our existing certifications.

If you would like to read more about our world trip, how we saved, or some things we’ve done check it out: World Trip

You can read about the places we’ve gone in South America which is a stunning continent with many amazing places, beautiful cultures, and a lot of fun: South America

We had a lot of fun in SE Asia and explored a lot of things. Check out the SE Asia category for all those posts!

We also post more in depth behind-the-scenes content on our Patreon page, check it out!

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