I do it. My base expenses are less than $500 / month in the Philippines.
10,000 furnished apartment.
~5,000 food
~2,500 visa
~1,300 internet
~1,200 electricity
Total: 20,000 / 47.5 = $421
I'm probably forgetting some things. There are misc expenses which would bring me up to the $500.
That's not to say I actually live here for that though. Those are my actual expenses and I can get by with just those but I choose to have a little more fun. Beer is really cheap here but it adds up if you go out a lot. A 1/4 lb McD's meal is 135 pesos, so your expenses go up if you eat out a lot.
You can nearly cut that rent fee in half if you go for an unfurnished apartment but you have to pay more initially to put in your own furnishing.
You won't be traveling on a budget that low but you have to leave the country once every 16 months (I think) for a visa run if you are on a tourist visa.
Another big one is taxes. So if you are running your own business then you have to make $500 / month after taxes.
I would say that $750 is a pretty decent figure for a single person not living high on the hog. As the article mentions, for $4,000 / month you can live like a king.
Anything I'm forgetting?
ETA: This is for Dumaguete in the Philippines. Cebu is more expensive and Manila is more expensive than Cebu.
ETA2: I didn't add local travel expenses because if you stay in Dumaguete for a decent amount of time you might as well buy a motorcycle for around PHP 40,000. Gas is cheap because you don't use much. Dumaguete has banned taxis so your only option is a trike which typically costs a total of PHP 60 to go downtown and back.
/You won't be traveling on a budget that low but you have to leave the country once every 16 months (I think) for a visa run if you are on a tourist visa./
I have a different experience: I am from Finland. Tourist visa when entering the Philippines is valid for only 3 weeks, after which it can be extended for 1 month, and after that for 2 months. The 2 month extension costs 4700 PHP.
Might be different for other nationalities but Finns usually get quite good deals on visas.
Same with U.S. residents. But the cost of the visa seems to be different every time I get one. I just budget around $40 - $50 / month for it. You can extend for 16 months I believe, but you can actually extend through Manila for up to 24 months. Again, not totally sure about that as I haven't been here long enough to worry about it (going on my 7th month) but that is what I have been told. Also, things change all the time.
Doing it in Thailand (have been for almost 5 years):
rent: 90 euro, car: 65 euro, food/drinks: 300 euro, visa: 10 euro, health insurance: 15 euro, other: 50 euro
Me and my girlfriend life a very comfortable lifestyle and we really don't cut back that much; eating out here is cheap (as long as you stay away from tourist spots) and we take regular short trips around Thailand and other parts of south east asia.
Nope, no tourist visa. I am staying on one-year non-immigrant visa's (multiple entry, usually type O). This requires me to go back home (The Netherlands) at least once a year and get a new one.
Getting a work permit is a bit tricky since I am not employed by a Thai company (requirement). The only other option is to setup my own company here which right away brings loads of administrative headaches with it (been down that road and got out rather quick).
Check out http://locationindependent.com/blog/ - written by a couple that are "still travelling between some of their favourite countries including Thailand, South Africa and the Caribbean"
