I left the USA in 2007. I travel around the world to find the best places to retire early for cheap in paradise. I already have two hundred reports about overseas retirement tricks, tips, and locations.
I am presently in the Philippines exploring Luzon island. I surveyed my subscribers a few months ago to determine which locations in the Philippines they would like me to explore next and write retire cheap reports.
Based upon their guidance, Qiang and I are presently exploring Angeles City in the Philippines. Angeles City is next door to the former US Airforce Base, called Clark. Clark was closed in 1992 but many retired veterans have returned and retired here. So there is a huge demand for information about retiring in Angeles City. Google Map. These maps are clickable.
Angeles City is most famous for its walking street. If you are not familiar with walking streets in SE Asia, they are where tourists go to watch beautiful women dance at all hours of the night. The subscribers curious about Angeles City often mentioned the walking street as a point of curiosity when they asked me to visit here. Here is the Google Map of the Angeles Walking Street.
Many of the people asking me to survey Angeles City are retired US Veterans that still remember the crazy nightlife in Angeles City when they were young. They wonder if it is as fun as it was 30 years ago and what retirement would cost if they decided to move to Angeles City.
In fact, there are already thousands of retired American Veterans in this part of the Philippines. There is also a large South Korean tourist presence here. But I doubt it is as crazy as it was 30 years ago when 15,000 young Americans were stationed at Clark Airforce Base.
Best Nightlife Spots in Angeles City Philippines
MidNight Rodeo Live Bar: We had the most fun here. We went on a Saturday night and there was an excellent cover band playing all the hits of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. This is a great place to bring a date because it is more of a local bar with everyone having a great time. But there were also a bunch of beautiful single women here that didn’t appear to be professionals. No cover and the local beers were about $1.60 USD.
Club XS: We watched some of the most beautiful women walk into Club XS so we decided to go inside and watch them dance. The entry was free and the beers were about $3 USD. We were amazed at how beautiful the women were here. We were surprised that there was no cover charge here.
Margarita Station: This place is where you will find many ex-pats just talking to each other and playing pool. Make sure to order the onion rings. They are out of this world and priced right. Beers were about $1.60 USD and there was no cover.
Kokomo’s: This is a great place to sit and watch the walking street without being in the middle of all the crazy. Beers are about $1.80 and there is no cover. You are a few steps up from the walking street but looking down at it so you avoid some of the riff-raff but get to watch the world go by.
Our Favorite Markets and Restaurants in Angeles City Philippines
Markets
SM City Clark Mall: This mall was amazing for its size. It has a bunch of great chain restaurants, a large supermarket, a bunch of clothing stores, banks, and a cyber zone with 20 or 30 computer-smartphone stores.
Hypermarket: This is the large grocery store inside the SM City Clark Mall.
San Nicolas Public Market: This is where we bought fruits, vegetables, rice, tofu, meats, fish, and other perishable foods. There are also a bunch of family-owned restaurants in this market where you can get great local meals for $2 to $3 USD. They also have clothing, shoes, and home products in and around this market. You can save money by buying here especially if you have negotiation skills.
Restaurants
Purple Padthai: This Tahi Restaurant in the SM City Clark Mall had decent Thai and both vegetarian and non-vegetarian for about $3 USD per entree.
Gilligan’s: Chain restaurant in the mall that had decent sizzling tofu.
Krishna’s Place Indian Restaurant: Not far from the walking street and decent Indian food.
Margarita Station: Best onion rings I have ever had. They must deep fry them in coconut oil.
Yi San (Korean Food): Go at lunch. Amazing food and service. At dinner, it is a mad house. It is right on the walking street.
San Nicolas Public Market: Try the family-owned restaurant shown in the above video. Qiang said it was like eating grandma’s food at home.
Tequila Reef: Qiang enjoyed the BBQ ribs and I enjoyed the potato skin nachos.
Grab Food App (Delivery)
24/7 Super healthy Angeles: Both Loved!
Great Green Salad and Grains Angeles: Both Loved!
Milas Lechon: Qiang Loved!
Home Cooking
Qiang was buying Asian curry seasoning at the International Aisle in Hypermarket and was making amazing dishes with the Tofu and veggies she bought at the public market. Best meals I had in Angeles City. Insane in the membrane!
Guest Stars Retired in Angeles City
J.R. Retired USAF
Louis and Charez: The below video is the story of an American that moved to the Philippines and found love. He answers the question, “Is there more freedom in the Philippines or the USA?” His wife finds peace in the garden and they have a gym and 2 apartments they rent in a great location. Plus, they share their monthly expenses in the below video.
Cost of Living in Angeles City Philippines
Here is my estimated cost of living converted into US dollars if the two of us moved to Angeles City in the Philippines on a tight budget. But we are all different, so you will have to put your feet on the ground in Angeles to determine your cost of living based on how you would live, shop, eat, and entertain yourself.
Rents: You will see furnished 1 bedroom apartments, in the range of about P13000 to P25000 Per Month $260 to $500 per month if you are willing to rent for a period of a year or more. In the above video, I show an apartment I found on Facebook Marketplace. That furnished 1 bedroom apartment goes for $260 per month, so I will use $260 per month for my estimated rent.
However, a temporary furnished 30-day rental with utilities included on Airbnb started for about $500 USD per month when we were here.
The higher rents would just be during the first month or two. Presumably, you would rent long-term for cheaper if you were retiring there (adjusted for inflation). So, for this estimate, I will use $260 per month for rent for a long-term rental which does not include utilities. I will also provide a link to my report about how to find perfect apartments around the world.
Utilities: Angeles City is at sea level. So, you would probably need to run the air conditioning for most of the year. I estimate my electric bill would average around $100-month average, year-round. Once you acclimate to fans you should be able to save a little on utilities.
Groceries: Based on our time here and the money we spent on groceries, we estimate about $300 USD per month on groceries for two people. But you will need to shop mostly in the public market where the vegetables, fruits, rice, and meats are cheaper. Just shop in the AC grocery stores for things you can’t find in the market.
Restaurants: If we went out to eat twice per week, once for date night and once for a lunch somewhere, we would spend around $40 per week or $160 per month in restaurants for the two of us. We would eat mostly in the mom-and-pop-style restaurants and food carts rather than the expensive expat-style restaurants.
Cell Phone Data: The cost to recharge prepaid service is about $16 per month. My android phone will act as a hotspot so we can both be on the internet at the same time when we are out of the house together.
Laundry: We could send our laundry out once per week for about $4 to wash, dry, and fold, so about $16 per month.
Water: We would spend about $14 per month on drinking water. They have reverse osmosis refills for 40 Pesos for 20 liters (5 Gallons).
Internet: The Internet will be about $50 per month depending on how fast you need your service. The Internet was 30 MBPS down and 5 MBPS upload speeds.
Transportation: We liked living about 3 blocks south of the walking street in Angeles City because we could walk everywhere to restaurants, nightlife, and the SM City Clark Mall, which had everything we needed including an expensive expat-style grocery store called Hypermarket. But we also use tricycle taxis to get our groceries home from the Hypermarket. We also used tricycle taxis and Jeepneys to head south a few kilometers to the San Nicolas Public Market. Between tricycle taxis and Jeepneys, we would spend around $36 per month for transportation.
Alcohol (Optional): Local beers are about $1.00 USD in grocery stores here. If you watch and buy in bulk on sale you may save a little. Bars charge in the range of about $1.60 to $2.00 per beer. So for the two of us, we estimate about $120 USD per month since we would drink more at home.
Entertainment (Optional): We would budget about $160 per month for entertainment for the two of us.
Retire Early Cheap $952 USD Month Angeles City
|
Angeles City |
Expense (USD) |
|
Rent |
260 |
|
Groceries |
300 |
|
Utilities |
100 |
|
Restaurants |
160 |
|
Cell |
16 |
|
Laundry |
16 |
|
Water |
14 |
|
Internet |
50 |
|
Transportation |
36 |
|
Recurring Total |
$952 |
|
|
|
|
Alcohol (Optional) |
120 |
|
Optional Total |
$1072 |
|
|
|
|
Entertainment (Optional) |
160 |
|
Optional Total |
$1232 |
This is our estimated cost of living if the two of us moved to Angeles City in the Philippines on a tight budget. To fully understand what it would cost you to live here, you must do an exploratory visit and put your feet on the ground. Also, visit Numbeo Angeles City and add anything you spend money on in your home country that is not mentioned in the table. Our costs of living are generally much lower than a new traveler’s because we are great bargain hunters but there are a few people that live cheaper than we do.
Never move anywhere until you have visited first personally to verify the living costs for your lifestyle and needs. I am not guaranteeing these prices. These are just my notes and estimates from the time of my visit and this post. Your costs will likely be drastically different depending on your lifestyle and the time since this post.
More typical ex-pat living costs in Angeles City range from about $1500 to $2500 per month. But people spending that much also have higher incomes or pensions. They often report spending more on entertainment, eating out, and alcohol. Many also have more expensive cars, houses, or apartments.
If you are going to try to retire cheap offshore, make sure to read my report, the Two Biggest Risks of Retiring Early for Cheap Offshore, which explains why you should have emergency funds available for unexpected large expenses.
Where We Stayed
We booked a place on Airbnb that we were not happy with. But we ended up staying in another place that we were happy with. We found the place we did like with our feet on the ground as we describe in this report: How to find great apartments around the world. But it turns out you can also book it on Airbnb if you prefer. Here is the listing:
Bus from Metro Makati to Angeles City
The bus to Angles City from Metro Makati runs every hour or so for about 400 pesos per person ($8 USD). There are other bus departures, but we took the bus from PITX terminal. Here is the Googe Map showing both bus terminals, PITX terminal, and the Dau Terminal just north of Angeles City. You can use Grab Taxi to get to PITX and from Dau to your accommodations in Angeles City. Google Map.
Angeles City Livability Factors and Retirement Desirability Score
Here are some of the factors I think about when I consider a place for early retirement potential. After I discuss each factor I will assign an overall retirement desirability score to Angeles City.
Walkability: High Desirability. I love living in walkable areas of the world where you can walk to restaurants, grocery stores, nightlife, and other interesting things to do. The first place we stayed was about a 20-minute walk northeast of the walking street area. That was too far. The second place we stayed (the Airbnb link above) was perfect. Most of our daily needs were within walking distance. Plus they have tricycle taxis for 40 pesos ($0.80) when it is raining you have groceries to carry home.
Internet: High. The overall reliability remains fairly stable as compared to many other more rural parts of the Philippines.
Food: High. There are more international restaurants in Angeles City than in other cities this size in the Philippines. This is not surprising for a town of around 411,000 people, especially since there is strong international tourism here and retired US veterans. There are also many locally priced restaurants as you move away from the walking street tourist area.
Transportation: High. If we decided to retire in Angles we would walk almost everywhere since we would probably live within a few blocks of the walking street which is near many great restaurants and the SM Clark City Mall. But on times of day when it is too hot, you can jump in a Jeepney for 15 pesos or ride a tricycle taxi for 40 pesos. We would also use Jeepneys and tricycles to go to the San Nicolas Public Market which is a few kilometers south.
Weather: Medium. The weather in Angeles City is typical of other sea-level locations on Luzon Island. Some people just can’t handle the heat at sea level. The average daily highs for the month of July through January are about 88 F (31 C). Things get slightly warmer in March through June when the average highs are around 92 F (33 C). Throughout most of the year, the average daily nighttime lows are around 10 to 15 F lower than the daily highs, so mid-70s F (21 F). So people tend to live the Siesta lifestyle where they are out and about in the mornings and evenings but hide indoors in the heat of the day. May through October is the rainy season, and December through April is dry. The wettest months are June through September. Those months receive 10 to 17 inches of rain (25-43 centimeters).
Things to Do: Medium. Cooking, yoga, martial arts, gyms, shooting pool, casinos, restaurants, bar hopping, live music, running, coffee shops, and malls. For nature, you will need to jump on a bus or drive somewhere.
Healthcare: Medium. There are several decent medical clinics and hospitals in Angeles City (Angeles University Foundation Medical Center, Angeles Medical Center). They will be able to take care of most of your general medical needs. But for some problems they may refer you to one of the top specialists or hospitals in the Metro Manila area which is about 2 hours away depending on traffic. The larger better equipped hospitals with more specialists are in Metro Manila Makati. Some people also fly to the USA or Thailand for more difficult procedures.
Expats: High. I was not able to find any Facebook group for Angeles City Philippines. So here is a general Facebook Page for Expats in the Philippines. But we saw hundreds of ex-pats walking around Angeles City. I was easily able to make friends with ex-pats in Angeles City. Go to Margarita Station and many ex-pats will chat you up. Make sure to make friends with both locals and ex-pats for a richer experience living here. I explain why in my report, The Top 10 Mistakes International Retirees Make.
Real Estate: I never recommend buying real estate until you have lived somewhere for at least 2 to 3 years. I have a report explaining Why Retired Expats Should not Buy Real Estate Overseas for the first 2 to 3 years of living somewhere new overseas. Make sure to read that before deciding to buy real estate overseas. Almost everyone else is going to try to get you to buy (for the commission) so read why I think you should wait before you the trigger.
Visa: High. For your exploratory visit to the Philippines, citizens of many countries can obtain a 30-day free visa stamp upon arrival at the international airports. Plus, you can extend your tourist visa for a total of 36 months in the Philippines without bothering with a retirement visa. The monthly visa extensions cost about $30 USD per month. After the 36 months, you just leave the Philippines and go to another country and then fly back to start the whole 36-month process over again. There is a retirement visa in the Philippines, but very few people bother with it because it is so easy to stay in the Philippines on tourist extensions.
Angeles City Overall Retirement Desirability Score: Medium. Daily life is fairly easy in Angeles City. There is a great mall, a great public market, and tons of great restaurants both foreign and domestic. But the center of attraction for most of the ex-pats living there seems to be the beautiful woman working in the bars on the walking street. But there are beautiful women walking all around this part of the Philippines, not just in the bars and restaurants. In the end, it is just another city in the Philippines with more food choices. Food is a very good thing. But for long-term living or retirement, I would want to be closer to beautiful nature, whether mountains or sea. So I am scoring Angeles City as a medium for retirement desirability.
Thanks for reviewing my report, Retire early $952 USD Month Angeles City Philippines.
Please subscribe to VagabondBuddha.com or our Youtube Channel to watch us move around the world, 14 years and 67 countries so far. Make sure to grab a free copy of my eBook, How I Fired My Boss and Traveled the World for 15+ Years. It has most of my best tips and tricks.
This is Dan of Vagabond Awake, the Youtube channel for VagabondBuddha.com. Thank you for stopping by. The world is your home. What time will you be home for dinner?