Budget when you go back to the Phils for vacation

[AussieMom]

I think it will also depend what kind of season.  When we visited last time it was dec to jan so peak season talaga.  Airfare pa lang nasa $6k na for the 3 of us.  Roughly we spent $20k including airfare, condo at panggastos sa pinas including aginaldo, 30 days kami.  I had dentals too pero next time I won't tell na from overseas ako kase nag take advantage sila. Plan ko next time hindi na dec/jan. Ok ba sept/oct satin and is 3 weeks enough including boracay trip?  Also medyo tipid mode na ko.

[cosmochick]

^wow sis, almost 1M... 

We also go home very December and I agree its very magastos with festivities and all.. Last time, we spent almost 400k in just 30 days.. pinas lang kami nyan ha.. we like to eat out kasi and grocery for both my mom and my hubbys mother, sagot naman in 30 days... plus out of towns, gifts, etc.. super gastos but worth every penny.

Ewan ko ba akhit anong budget, nog ooverspend talaga kami sa pinas. hehe

[AussieMom]

^Oo Sis kaya need talaga plan pag bakasyon satin kaya parang mahirap if yearly kami bakasyon. Yung 400k excluding airfare yun? Dec/Jan lang kase yung pwede mahaba bakasyon since yun din ang school break dito.

[Maxim04]

depends on the season and the purpose of going home.
kung may occasion like Dec medyo malaki kasi we do give gifts, i bring them home nakabalot na. hehe. expenses around 60k.
Then nung namatay naman si Lola airfare palang 20k na. i am just SG based and 20k ticket is way way too high na talaga. (lola stayed in the province)
Nasasaktan na ako sa bangs kapag 50k ang gastos, hehe. This happens lang naman kung may domestic tour paguwi ng pinas. Sa ngayon,  omitted muna ang trips. Going home in 4 weeks and so far, i only shell out 17k kasama na ticket.. 

[Obachan]

Gusto ko man mag-budget, ayaw ko gawin.
Sakit sa ulo.
So wala ako budget.
Monthly naman uwi ko, booked in advance to get cheaper airfare. stay in philippines 3 or 4 days lang.
Bonding lang with my kids and nanay, do some shopping, kain sa labas and groceries for them.
Hindi ko sinasama mga kapatid kong pasaway, ma-stress lang ako.

[[-c-h-a-]]

Our budget for our next Phils trip is set to $15k (my husband and I, plus our toddler). We're staying in Manila for almost 3 weeks but we're renting a 2BR condo in Rockwell the entire time. If we're staying at my Mum's house, it'll definitely be cheaper. But it's hard to travel in Manila kasi with all the traffic. At least if we're in Makati na, it's easier

[ataypool]

It used to be so cheap to go to the Philippines for a vacation.

Ako naman napapamahal kasi lagi ako kumakain sa labas. Sad to say most restos serve mediocre and expensive food. Yearly uwi ko for the last 3 years average ko was 4000 pesos daily for me just for eating out. I don't have to pay for accommodation but our place wala lutuan so no choice but to go out. Bottled water 100 pesos daily.

Bibili pa toilet paper, soap, etc extra 5000 pesos din so what I do I bring medicines, toilet paper and toiletries from my previous stays at hotels.

Last holy week uwi ko diyan for one week with the family, enough na kami with those expensive restos. We rediscovered our love for Jollibee,
McDonalds, Wendys, Savory, Max, etc. Uwi uli kami in September for one week lang siguro 1000 pesos daily na for my food. Only resto na a bit on the expensive side na masaya ako is UCC cafe.

When treating relatives at restos, we insist on going to Max or Savory para sulit. Wala alcohol and we tell them not to bring friends or their bf/gf.

Bad experience with dental cleaning, veneers and fillings diyan sa Manila, mahal or mura ang clinic. Mura nga pero papaaayos pag-uwi ko kasi sira after 6 months.

Of course facial and some laser treatments are cheap in Manila kaya I always have sessions done.

[cosmochick]

^Oo Sis kaya need talaga plan pag bakasyon satin kaya parang mahirap if yearly kami bakasyon. Yung 400k excluding airfare yun? Dec/Jan lang kase yung pwede mahaba bakasyon since yun din ang school break dito.

Excluding airfare pa yun sis.. gastos lang talaga yun sa pinas.. we go home every December din talaga kasi masaya pasko/ new year sa pinas kasi kasama pamilya.

[snow25]

Wow! Ang laki ng nagagastos nyo kapag umuuwi kayo ng Phils. Nagulat din ako sa friend ko, $10k daw nagagastos nila at least kapag umuuwi. Hindi pa sila nag-oout of town ha. Tapos they stay sa parents house.

Hindi pa ako umabot ng ganun kalaki na Phils lang ang punta ko. I remember malaki nagastos ko kasi nagtravel pa ako outside the Phils, then back again sa pinas. And we don't have a house in Manila, so either we book a hotel or condotel.

[mylene628]

i went to the Phils last summer of 2011 and I spent $8K wala ring out of town. home lang ako.. as in staycation. yun lang kasama ko buong family ko kaya ako lahat taya sa food and all.

[rics]

just came back from vacation in the phils. spent a few days short of 1month.
i think we went just a bit over budget from our original of 400k php. pero sulit naman somehow since we were able to go to a lot of different places.

[luckypal]

I'm going home too after almost 5 years of being away. Not sure how much we'll be spending on eating out, shopping and other various things while we're there but here's the breakdown of our initial expenses:

Palawan trip - PHP 42,800 (I got this from one of my friends who has a travel agency in Manila and I just wired her the money
AirBnb room in Manila - CAD 1710 (two bedrooms unit for 2 weeks at BGC)
Plane fare - USD 2640 (RT for two people via PAL)

Instead of gifts, I just plan to treat out people for a couple of dinners, just one or two para hindi masanay at hindi ma-spoil. If there are any family gatherings, I will just chip in for food like, buy a lechon or something like that. So, hopefully, PHP 150k covers everything else that we need to spend on this trip. *fingers crossed*

[junetwentythree]

i went to the Phils last summer of 2011 and I spent $8K wala ring out of town. home lang ako.. as in staycation. yun lang kasama ko buong family ko kaya ako lahat taya sa food and all.

HOLY CRAP! 8K USD?!!!! Geezus. Did you pay for EVERYTHING?

My budget, besides the airfare that's already paid for, is probably around 1K USD which would hopefully include everything already (we're going on some trips as well). I'm not trying to spend more than that :-/

[luckypal]

Post trip post

Aside from the expenses below, my husband and I spent 2,500 CAD for eating, pasalubong, touring and everything else while we were in Manila. We also treated people out for meals (almost everyday), got  massages and ate at buffets so I'm actually quite surprised that we were didn't go over budget of PHP 150k which is around 4,500 CAD. The Canadian dollar is so low nowadays though

Palawan trip - PHP 42,800 (I got this from one of my friends who has a travel agency in Manila and I just wired her the money
AirBnb room in Manila - CAD 1710 (two bedrooms unit for 2 weeks at BGC)
Plane fare - USD 2640 (RT for two people via PAL)

[pinklilac]

' wow sis ok yang nagastos  nyo..
Ilan tao madalas nyo  i treat?

Mga sis ano.pasalubong nyo sa
Close friends
Kapitbahay na medyo close
Kapitbahay lang.
Schoolmates
.
Pag nag treat  ba kayo kumain sa labas may pinapasalubungan  nyo  pa or tama na yung dinner or lunch treat.?
 
May mga tao kase nag e expect  ng bonggang pasalubong.

[s h e i l a]

My budget is 10k CAD including na lahat, dalawa kaming uuwi.  Medyo alangainin kasi ang baba ng exchange rate ngaun Pag bumaba pa postpone na muna ang uwi

[luckypal]

' wow sis ok yang nagastos  nyo..
Ilan tao madalas nyo  i treat?

Mga sis ano.pasalubong nyo sa
Close friends
Kapitbahay na medyo close
Kapitbahay lang.
Schoolmates
.
Pag nag treat  ba kayo kumain sa labas may pinapasalubungan  nyo  pa or tama na yung dinner or lunch treat.?
 
May mga tao kase nag e expect  ng bonggang pasalubong.

Hi pinklilac,

Usually, we treated one or two people per meal but everyday naman yun and sa BGC area so medjo mahal yung meals. Kasi nangyari dapat may 1 group dinner pero na-cancel, so isa-isa ko nalang sila na-meet. Medjo hassle but at least nakita ko silang lahat

For me, yung gift na yung lunch/dinner treat. Hindi kami nagdala ng mga pasalubong from here sa lahat ng kaibigan. Sa mga close family members lang kaya yung lunch/dinner treat nalang yung gift ko sa mga friends.

[pinklilac]

^thank u sis sa reply...

[Shopaholic_Gurl]

I thought mura lang magbakasyon dito sa Pinas, kasi medyo matagal tagal na din since nung last na umuwi ako dito.
Na over budget ako kasi halos lahat ng bilihin dito ang mamahal na. Naka set lang kasi yong budget ko for my 3 months vacation, kaso pag andito ka na andaming mga unexpected expenses, dahil porque alam nilang balikbayan ka, ayun  andaming maglalabasang kamag anak or friend na hindi ka naman pinapansin noon ,  tapos biglang nang hihingi ng pasalubong, at magpapalibre pa.

Andyan yung kukunin ka pang ninang, na hindi mo naman naging ka close yong tao. Ninang sa binyag,  kasalan at lahat ng birthday party iimbitahan ka syempre gift galore ang peg, haha! So pag tinanggihan mo naman sabihan ka pang madamot etc. Kalokah. Kaya lesson learned wag mag stay ng matagal dito.

[cha-cha]

Good thing there is a thread like this. Thanks for the ideas. We are planning to go next year 2018 around November. we are family of 4 and thinking 3 weeks should be enough time. My sister will have her wedding thats why we're going. We are also planning a Palawan trip. since magkaiba kami ng town ng mister ko, i am thinking, 1week to spend on my town --meeting friends,classmates, one week on his, and 1 week just for us 4--thats the Palawan trip plus some shopping, buffets, pasyal. is $10K enough? i have 2kids.