Tool
What will your month in Cebu actually cost?
Seven questions. A typical-month figure plus an itemized budget with ranges. Every line links to the source article. No Numbeo averages, no guessing.
Methodology, formula + sources
How this is calculated
Each budget line is an independently sourced low–high range with a 'typical' figure; the monthly total is the sum of the lines, and the headline 'most months' figure is the sum of the typicals. Rent is read from the Cebu Rent Index, conditioned on your rent tier and unit size (studio / 1BR / 2BR / 3BR) — the typical is the median of the matched neighborhood × unit-type segments, not a whole-tier midpoint. Electricity is a base appliance load plus an AC-profile band, anchored to the current VECO ₱/kWh. Water is the MCWD tiered tariff applied to a household consumption band. Food, transport, internet, LPG and phone are sourced editorial ranges from the linked guides — every line carries its own source.
Formula
monthlyTotal[low,high] = Σ line[low,high] (rent, electricity, water, internet, food, transport, phone, LPG, misc) typicalMonth = Σ line.typical (rent = index median; other lines = band midpoint) rent[low,high,median] = over Rent Index segments matching (tier neighborhoods × unit size) electricity = baseAppliance[850,1600] + acProfile.cost[low,high] water (MCWD, on consumption c cu.m): c ≤ 10 → 259.16 10 < c ≤ 20 → 259.16 + (c−10)·28.64 20 < c ≤ 30 → 259.16 + 10·28.64 + (c−20)·33.71 c > 30 → 259.16 + 10·28.64 + 10·33.71 + (c−30)·82.52
Constants + data sources (each dated)
| Value used | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|
| VECO rate: ₱12.57/kWh | Visayan Electric official, April 2026 cycle | 2026-04 |
| MCWD tariff: ₱259.16 min/10 cu.m · tier-2 ₱28.64/cu.m · tier-3 ₱33.71 · tier-4 ₱82.52 | MCWD via Philstar / The Freeman — final 10% tranche, effective 2026-04-01 | 2026-04 |
| Base appliance load: ₱850–₱1,600/mo (fridge, fans, lights, laptop) | Meralco appliance tables, ranged editorial (re-verified per schedule) | 2026-05 |
Worked example (reproduce this by hand)
Couple using ~18 cu.m of water/month (MCWD tier-2 band).
- 18 cu.m falls in 10 < c ≤ 20
- = 259.16 + (18 − 10) · 28.64
- = 259.16 + 8 · 28.64 = 259.16 + 229.12 = 488.28
→ Water line ≈ ₱488/mo. Couple band ₱316–₱488 (12–18 cu.m). Same numbers in code, ledger, and tests.
Assumptions
- AC cost bands and the base appliance load are sourced editorial ranges (Meralco tables, brand/EER/room variance), anchored to the VECO ₱/kWh but not yet recomputed live from it. The live recompute with a code↔data drift test is a tracked next step.
- Household water consumption uses PIDS-derived per-size bands, not a metered reading.
Known limits — what this does not model
- Does not model one-off setup costs (deposits, advance, fit-out) — see the hidden-costs guide.
- Cebu City only. Rent is a tier × unit-size band from the Rent Index (asking rent, editorial baseline), not a unit-specific quote. Some tier × size cells have no sourced listing (e.g. 3BR in the budget belt) and fall back to the largest sourced size, flagged in the notes.