In this report, I will share my estimated cost of living to retire early $956 Month Tagaytay Philippines including estimated rents, utilities, groceries, restaurants, transportation, and entertainment.
Tagaytay is a city in the Philippines at 600 meters (2000 feet) above sea level, only 70 km (43 miles) from Manila in the Philippines. Because of the elevation, Tagaytay has cooler weather. Many people moving to the Philippines to retire have become interested in Tagaytay because of the weather and because of the beautiful natural mountain setting on a ridge above Taal Lake.
Tagaytay is famous for its year-round cooler misty weather as compared to nearby Metro Manila. The average nightly low in Tagaytay is around 67 F (20 C). It is also very green because of the misty mountain top and cooler weather.
Because of the cooler but not cold weather, Tagaytay is where people that can afford weekend retreats run to get a break from the heat of Manila. Plus, the cooler misty mountain atmosphere makes you feel closer to nature which is a very relaxing feeling.
Many of the parks, restaurants, and apartments along the ridge have views of Taal Lake below. Plus, the Jeepneys frequently run so you will not need a car or scooter to get around town. Because of weekend warriors from Manila, the traffic can be a struggle on the weekends.
The prices along the view ridge are generally higher than you will find in typical towns of this size in the provinces. This is because Tagaytay is a local tourist destination. People just are less careful with their money when they are on holiday and that holds true here also.
The prices in stores and restaurants along the view ridge overlooking Lake Taal are higher, but if you shop and eat just north of the ridge in more typical Filipino neighborhoods, you will begin to see more typical Filippino pricing.
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Volcano Island
Tagaytay overlooks Taal Lake. Taal Lake is in the middle of an ancient Caldera that was active thousands of years ago. In the middle of Taal Lake is Volcano Island. Volcano Island is an active volcano that has erupted recently.
This article details the effects on Tagaytay from an eruption in January of 2020. Here is an itemization of eruptions over the last one hundred years. Do read about the danger before deciding to live here. Here is my report detailing the 4 kinds of natural disasters that occur in the Philippines and where you can live to reduce the chance of danger.
Cost of Living in Tagaytay Philippines
Here is my estimated cost of living converted into US dollars if the two of us moved to Tagaytay Philippines on a tight budget. But we are all different, so you will have to put your feet on the ground in Tagaytay to determine your cost of living based on how you would live, shop, eat, and entertain yourself.
Rents: To rent a furnished 1 bedroom apartment, you will have to pay around $200 to $400 per month for a local-style apartment. I will use $300 per month for rent which does not include utilities. If you want a western-style apartment you could easily pay a few hundred more dollars depending on the location, how much space you want, and other amenities. I will also provide a link to my report about how to find perfect apartments around the world.
Utilities: Tagaytay is 2000 feet (600 meters) above sea level so it is feels much cooler so many westerners will not need to run air conditioners as much. I estimate my electric bill and other utilities would average around $80 per month. Once you acclimate to fans you will be able to knock another 20% off your 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.
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 $6 to wash, dry, and fold, so about $24 per month.
Water: We would spend about $10 per month on drinking water. They have reverse osmosis refills for 35 Pesos for 20 liters, that is 70 cents for 5 gallons.
Internet: The Internet will be about $50 per month depending on how fast you need your service. The Internet was 50 MBPS down and 35 MBPS upload speeds, test data is attached.
Transportation: The central part of Tagaytay is not really walkable. Many ex-pats buy an old scooter for around $100 USD and add about $4 per week in fuel. We just rode the Jeepneys (small local bus) for around for 12 Pesos (23 Cents) person per trip. If the two of us took four roundtrips per week, we would spend around $10 to $16 per month depending on whether we wanted to buy an old scooter or just take Jeepneys. The tricycles here charge around 100 Pesos ($2 USD) per trip.
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 $1.50 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 $956 Month Tagaytay Philippines
|
Tagaytay |
Expense (USD) |
|
Rent |
300 |
|
Groceries |
300 |
|
Utilities |
80 |
|
Restaurants |
160 |
|
Cell |
16 |
|
Laundry |
24 |
|
Water |
10 |
|
Internet |
50 |
|
Transportation |
16 |
|
Recurring Total |
$956 |
|
|
|
|
Alcohol (Optional) |
120 |
|
Optional Total |
$1076 |
|
|
|
|
Entertainment (Optional) |
160 |
|
Optional Total |
$1236 |
This cost of living is for 2 people but is just an estimate on the low end. For a full understanding of what it would cost you to live here, you must do an exploratory visit and put your feet on the ground. Also, visit Numbeo Tagaytay 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 expat living costs in Tagaytay 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.
$300 Apartment
While in Tagaytay, we searched on DotProperty.com.ph for Tagaytay apartments for 15,000 Pesos ($300 USD) per month or less and found a few furnished apartments. The above 2Br furnished apartment in the above picture was available on a one-year lease for $300 USD per month.
Where We Stayed
We stayed in this Arbnb.com condo for $18 per night. We didn’t love the place but it was the cheapest thing we could find at the last minute. If we decided to retire here, or just visit for a few months, we would follow this process to get a better long-term deal: How to find great apartments around the world.
Tagaytay Nightlife
This is a sleepy mountain town. So nightlife means just sitting around with your friends and having a few beers. If you want to head out on the town and people watch while you have a few drinks, here is the area we would suggest. There are also a few restaurants right next to each other here if you want to eat. In this area, Papa Dom’s seemed to be the place to be when we were there.
Best Activities in Tagaytay
Kawa Hot Bath
Our favorite thing to do in Tagaytay was the Kawa Hot Water baths with a view of the lake. To see what that looks like, see the first minute of the top video above. It costs about $10 per person for the bath and another $10 per person for the massage. But you must book an appointment in advance. They do not accept walk-ins. Here is their Facebook page where they take appointments.
Picnic in the Park
We also brought a sandwich and visited Tagaytay Picnic Grove and enjoyed a view of Lake Taal. They have a zip line and horseback riding there also. If you are interested in a high-end Filipino restaurant, visit Siglo Restaurant across the street from the entry gate.
Tuk-Tuk (Tricycle Tour)
If you would like to take a cheap tour from someone that lives in the city, that is very easy to set up. Just ask a tricycle taxi driver what they charge and what they will show you. We got quotes ranging from 1200 Pesos ($24 USD) to 1800 Pesos ($36) for a full day tour starting at 8 AM until 4 PM.
Ask the driver what sites they suggest for a city tour. Make sure to ask a few to see the differences of what they charge and where they will take you. This guy does a pretty good job of describing what you can do and what it costs.
Here is a map of the places you might consider and here is an article with a few details about each stop.
Tagaytay Favorite Restaurants and Markets
Restaurants and Bars:
Vegan Restaurant (Nova Gaia Cafe & Marketplace): An assortment of vegan meals from various parts of Asia.
Amazing Carrot Cake (Bag of Beans Charito): Plus a great coffee and view of Lake Taal.
Great People watching, Lake View, and Snacks (Papa Doms):
High-End Local Food: (Jaytee’s Classic Filipino Food)
Mushroom Burger: A well-known burger joint in Tagaytay. They have beef, chicken, and vegetarian Mushroom burgers.
Korean Food (Mr. Kimchi): We enjoyed some very nice Korean food here.
FBM Canteen: The food stall above the Mahogony Beef Market where Qiang tried the local food specialty called Bulalo.
Favorite Markets:
Best Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, Meats Market: (Mahogany Market): Great selection, price, and freshness.
Largest Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, Meats Markets (Tagaytay Public Market)
Grocery Store: Western-style expensive airconditioned supermarkets. Super Metro, SM Hypermarket.
Bus to Tagaytay from Makati
We took the bus DLTB Bus from Metro Makati to Tagaytay for P123 Pesos ($2.35 USD) each. It took about 2 hours. The buses run from about 7 AM to 6 PM daily and leave whenever they are full of people. The bus drops you here in Tagaytay and you can take a Tricycle Taxi (Tuk-Tuk) to your accommodations for about 40 to 100 Pesos ($1 or $2 USD) depending on where you will be staying in town. The buses from Tagaytay back to Manila leave from here (Tagaytay Olivarez Plaza Bus Stop) every hour or so.
Tagaytay 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 Tagaytay.
Walkability: Medium 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 problem with Tagaytay in this regard is that it is spread out over about 7 KM along a view ridge. Luckily they have frequent Jeepneys (12 Pesos, $0.23) running in both directions along the ridge so you can get to the main places very easily. But many people will want to buy a car or scooter to get to places further north that are not along the view ridge.
Internet: High. The overall reliability remains stable and strong as compared to many other more rural parts of the Philippines.
Food: Medium. There is not a large selection of international restaurants in Tagaytay. This is not surprising for a town of around 85,000 people, especially since it draws mainly from domestic tourism. They do have Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vegan, and Italian.
Transportation: Medium. If we decided to retire in Tagaytay, we would probably buy an old car or scooter to get around. They do have Jeepneys, but things are spread out so they don’t get to go everywhere.
Weather: High. Weather is probably one of the biggest reasons people move to Tagaytay. Some people just can’t handle the heat at sea level. The warmest months are March through June, with daily highs averaging 85 F (29 C). The coolest months are November through February, with daily highs averaging 80 F (27 C). May through October is the rainy season, and December through April is dry. The wettest months are July, August, and September. Those months receive around 45 cm (18 inches) of rain.
Things to Do: Medium. Fishing, biking, kayaking, scuba, cooking, yoga, restaurants, running, coffee shops, and hiking.
Healthcare: Medium. There are a few basic clinics around Tagaytay. But the larger better equipped hospitals are north of here in Makati, about 50 km (30 miles) away. There is also a hospital a little closer called Asian Hospital.
Expats: Medium. There is one Facebook group for Tagaytay Expats that does not have many members or activities. So I should probably give Tagaytay a low Expat score. But we did see ex-pats wandering around Tagaytay and you can probably much of the information you need in nearby ex-pat groups like in Metro Manila 1, and Metro Manila 2. 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.
Tagaytay Overall Retirement Desirability Score: Medium for me. But if you want to be in a cooler spot, surrounded by green mountains, with lake views, and only a 1.5-hour drive to some of the best hospitals, shopping, and restaurants in the world (Makati, BGC, Quezon), then Tagaytay would be high for you.
I would prefer to be somewhere with more international food choices, more things to do, and more cultural activities. It just feels too small-town for me. Plus, I don’t mind the heat at sea level and I would prefer to be within 20 minutes of a nice beach.
Thanks for reviewing my report, retire early $956 Month Tagaytay Philippines.
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