What will your month in Cebu actually cost?

How this is calculated

Each budget line is a 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 THE WEAKEST LINE AND THE BIGGEST: it is read from the Cebu rent baseline, conditioned on your tier and unit size (studio / 1BR / 2BR / 3BR), and that baseline is an EDITORIAL ESTIMATE, not a measured index — no listing sample has ever been collected (n = null on every segment). The rent 'typical' is therefore the mean of the matched segments' range midpoints, not a median and not an observed rent. Electricity is a base appliance load plus an AC-profile band, anchored to the current VECO ₱/kWh (a real, dated utility figure). 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   (every line is a band midpoint; nothing here is a measured median)
rent[low,high] = over rent-BASELINE segments matching (tier neighborhoods × unit size)
rent.typical = mean(segment midpoints)   // midpoint = (low+high)/2, NOT a median — n is null
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)

Worked example (reproduce this by hand)

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. The rent line is an editorial baseline, not a measurement: asking-rent bands we estimated ourselves, with no listing sample behind them (n = null). It is not a unit-specific quote and not a market median. Some tier × size cells have no band at all (e.g. 3BR in the budget belt) and fall back to the largest size we do carry, flagged in the notes.