Cost of Living in Angeles City

An Angeles City budget breakdown is not an easy thing to write because it is totally dependent on how much ‘entertainment’ a person is going to want.  More importantly maybe, it’s where they are going to want to have it.

cost of living in angeles city

Get numbers outside the bars to cut down on costs – Fields Avenue girls via Flickr

For me the cost of living in Angeles City is around $800/ month but I never pay barfines and don’t sit in the bars.  If you start doing that then your budget can skyrocket quickly.  So if thats your thing you need to add that to the numbers I put here.

Accommodation

There are a wide range of places to stay in Angeles from month to month apartments, to cheap hotels, or apartments that require a lease.  The closer you are to Fields Avenue the more of a ‘tourist tax’ you will pay.

I am fine paying a bit more to be in the heart of the city.  Actually I am paying more to be near SM than I am to be near to Fields Avenue.  The place I have stayed mostly was about $300 month to month but it wasn’t very nice.  It did have all the basic necessities I needed including quality internet.

If you are looking for an apartment I would suggest the area by Tiger Hotel and Kandi Suites.  You could stay at Kandi Suites itself but it is a bit overpriced at $500 a month for their cheapest rooms.  There are other apartments in that area that are of the same quality for $100 or more less that are also furnished.

Popular expat Youtuber SezStyle started an Angeles City directory where amongst other things you can search for apartments to rent and buy – FinditAngeles.com.

Food

The range of restaurants in Angeles is one of the best things about the city, and I think it is some of the best in Asia as far as good value for western food.  I usually spend about $250/month on food there and that is for 2 good meals a day and a snack.

There are so many places to choose from that have quality food for $5 or less a meal, and many are really big portions so are enough for 2 meals from 1 order.  Throw in some cheaper meals like hamburgers made at home for around $3 total for the meal, or a $5 pizza hut pizza that is enough for 2 servings and its quite easy to eat cheap in Angeles.

Entertainment

This is the part that is just so hard to predict in a city like Angeles City.  If you have no willpower then you will be spending a lot of money every night as the bars are very tempting.  If you have some self control you can have a great time in Angeles for less than $300 a month.

If you are living there then you don’t need to overpay for girls and can wait for the right spot.  Have some patience, don’t pay barfines, instead get numbers and set up meets on the side.  I never go into the bars so barfines aren’t even a consideration to me.

Of course if you are just there on a vacation and you see the chance to have a great night then forget what I just wrote and take it.

Overall

As mentioned I usually spend around $800 in Angeles but have had some boring months where I spent under $700, and some great months where I spent around $950.  I don’t think the cost of living in Angeles City ever broke $1,000/month for me.  If you are on a budget and have good discipline then it is a good city for an expat.  However if you lack self control it could ruin you and your bank account.

29 Responses

  1. Skeleton Man says:

    So it sounds like Angeles can be cheaper than Snooky if you avoid the entertainment and want to stay in your room and work…

  2. kick2dante says:

    they are actually both about the same, at both places i spent around $800-$900 a month, in both i overpaid to be in the nicer touristy area, i could have got cheaper apartments in both

  3. Has says:

    I’m going for 11 days. Was thinking of taking 30,000 pes (£500) and then use a debit card to take more cash out. Are there plenty of ATM around and are their exchange rate good or bad?

    • kick2dante says:

      there are plenty of atm’s but the exchange rate is quite terrible, don’t quote me on this exactly but i wanna say when i did the math I was paying $60 for every $1,000 i pulled out

      the money changers give a much better rate, it just comes down to how much cash you feel like carrying and if the risk of getting it stolen is worth the reward of getting a much better rate and saving money

      • mohammed rashid says:

        Well the room iv got will have a safe. I’ll leave 3/4 of my money in there and the rest ill keep with me…..know any good money changers that won’t rip me of lol

        • kick2dante says:

          ya great money changer down at the end of fields close to mcdonalds,
          if you are walking from mcdonalds up fields it will be on your left
          just pass an open air sports bar, wanna say the name is kabayan, its
          green, almost always has the best rates

          ive never had anything stolen out of a safe but some guys have
          reported it happening, you SHOULD be fine but…….

  4. Has says:

    Thanks for the advise!!! Iv checked on a few other blogs and they also say the money changers in the philippine give the best rate….. If I take £500 from here to UK I lose about £40 so iv decided I’ll take less from here and change my £ in Angeles. Now I just need to make sure the money changers accept £

  5. kick2dante says:

    ya they do, but you may not get quite as good of a rate

    kabayan down near mcdonalds is the best but i am not 100% sure they take pound (pretty sure they will)

    i have been told norma’s deals with pound (cant confirm)

  6. kick2dante says:

    your flying into clark? there will be a shared airconditioned jeepney that will take you from the airport right next to fields (get off at a stop that has a jollibee and a 7-11 right across the street from each other)

    outside of that the taxi will definitely overcharge you, a legit fair for that distance would be 150ish pesos maybe, i bet they would try to charge 400-500

    • Has says:

      Yeah I’m flying into Clark. My hotel should be picking me up but I have read that hotels can be unreliable sometimes so though I should just find out others ways to get to my hotel.

      Now I’m thinking way ahead but if I have a great time I’m thinking of going for longer…. If I rented a place out for a month or two do you think there are some women would spend time with me simply because of the free accommodation?

  7. Has says:

    And yeah I’d buy then breakfast and dinner lool

  8. kick2dante says:

    angeles isnt a place to be looking for freebies, if you want to give that a shot head to manila or cebu imo

  9. Has says:

    With the $300 dollars a month for entertainment is that every day having “fun”with a women? I’m guessing no as that’s only $10 a day……

  10. kick2dante says:

    about every other day

    this is a budget for living there, you dont need long time every day when getting it consistently, for a vacation you would probably want more

  11. Has says:

    It’s difficult to find apartments online and the cheapest hotel iv seen is about £350 per month which is about 500 dollars and that’s with AC.

    So the apartments you stayed in for 300 dollars did it have AC and is it possible to get them on a 30 day lease?

  12. Mikey Johnson says:

    Long time reader here.

    How did you manage to find decent apartments in Angeles for around 10k to 15k pesos? Listings are tough to find online and a boots on the ground approach might work better.

  13. kick2dante says:

    there is an area behind ABC Hotel, near where all the Kandi properties are, between Tiger Hotel and Malabanias road

    just walk around that area and you should see plenty of apartments and for rent signs up

    • Marco says:

      Thanks for the tip.
      So basically one should book a couple-three nights at some decent hotel in the area beforehand and then just apt hunt in person?
      I’ve looked on Airbnb but all the places near fields seem to be pricey for what they offer. Kinda cheap looking too.
      If I’m gonna have to stay in some shithole at least I wanna pay as little as possible and spend the difference on entertainment

      Thanks in advance

      • Marco says:

        No wait scratch that. The smartest thing would be book some AirBnB using your 35$ discount for 3 nights, which in that case equates to a massive 40%ish (on reasonably priced apts) one.

        • jspill says:

          There’s one Airbnb listing at Kandi Tower, I was meaning to try that sometime, so then my Airbnb room is in the best condo already and I get a chance to check it out before signing a longer lease. Didn’t get round to staying a full month yet though and that Airbnb wasn’t available on my last trip.

          https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18464794

          Also emailed kandi realty once to reserve a week’s stay, they didn’t reply. I’ll try their Facebook page next time it says they reply within a day – https://www.facebook.com/kanditowers/

          So the gameplan could be stay one or two nights in that Airbnb and then message Kandi on Facebook or just enquire downstairs as you’re there already.

          I haven’t stayed there yet but pretty sure it looks to be the best condo in Angeles based on the pics. Bit of a walk from the gogo bars, but if you’re living there long term you probably don’t want to be right next to the gogos anyway.

          • Marco says:

            I’ve taken a look at the Kandi properties, they seem very modern, clean, and fashionable but very pricey relatively speaking.

            Reminder the first comment of this chain was about “decent apartments in Angeles for around 10k to 15k pesos”.

            Now I’m only gonna stay a month probably and then move on to some seaside location or even Manila/Makati so I’m willing to spend upwards to 18k-20k for midrange amenities but no more than that.

            On their site they mention “Stay now from Php 24,000 per month”.

            As far as AirBnB i’ve seen Philippe’s Luxury Suites ones for 20-25ish per night that look slick (albeit small) for the first few days temporary accomodation

  14. Thinking of posting up in Angeles for a while. Can anyone give a brief breakdown of Angeles and Manila/Cebu? I’d rather not live in Manila tbh.

    • jspill says:

      Royal Amsterdam, 950 Condotel above JJ supermarket, or Fields Walking Street hotel (one from this post – https://www.nomadphilippines.com/walking-street-angeles/)

      Yeah I was planning to write some more articles we’re a bit lacking on Angeles material. But I find it hard to live there it’s small and nowhere is nice to stay really, although those are the 3 best hotels on walking street.

      ABC hotel and Lewis Grand are the two nicest ones, very upscale but pricey (~$100) and 5-10 min walk.

      Apart from walking street the area is bleak to walk around and I don’t like the trikes who want flat rate 100 pesos everywhere. I prefer to be on walking street so I can just step out of a gogo or HISO disco with a girl and I’m home in seconds. Galaxy hotel is opposite HISO but not nice.

      Great fun for a few days of mongering when you don’t care about living conditions, but after a few days it’d grind on me. I’d have to get a condo with decent internet (hotels are spotty, but you can ask to change rooms) but then I’m back to the problem of a 5-10 min walk to walking street. With Angeles I like to quickly pop my head in gogos then be home again in seconds if there’s no hot girls.

      For condos though the standard recommendation is http://kandirealty.com/.

      Vast majority of girls are uglier than Manila too but there are so many you when you find that 1 in 100 she is super fun and cheap. Me and my mates would stay in Manila and import girls we’d met on brief 3 day trips to manila, pay their taxi fare. No condos in Angeles compare to what you can get in Manila.

      Dante is a bit of a special human being to have lived there for a month or more at a time (and never pay barfines or entrance fees to HISO), no offence dante.

      Best gogos hard to say, you just have to pop your head in them all and hope you don’t go home empty handed that night, which can happen if you’re picky. Atlantis for sheer numbers but they’re all 6/10. Dollhouse, Viking… HISO is better really.

      Optimal strat is very quickly look in all the gogos on walking street at 7.30pm when the night shift girls just arrive, before the Koreans guys walk in and barfine them, bang her, then go to HISO 11pm ish see if you can pick up a hot freelancer while other guys are in the gogos wondering where the hot girls are, bang her, then back to HISO at gogo closing time 2-3am ish to hunt for a bargain when gogo girls who went back to the gogo after getting banged, are now finishing work and going to HISO

      Or after first bang get a 3k peso VIP sofa table by the dancefloor on the right edge, bit earlier 10pm ish. For that price they give u a ton of free drinks for ~4 people if I recall, and some chicken wings, and all the girls can see you and will want you to call them over, plus you have a perfect view. That’s best but I’m sure dante will read this and think that’s spew

  15. Old Waiguoren says:

    Just moved here, living at a friend’s HUGE HOUSE. I am going to see if I can do a post in about six months on living miserly, but still having a nice time.

    I really liked this story. Much appreciated!

  16. Anonymous says:

    thanks for sharing and the good advice,very accurate,i have been going there 14 times in 12 years,your insight is spot on

  17. I Titerate says:

    Can this budget still be done in 2023?

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