4.21.2008

coffee break ver. 1.6


Oil price hike. Rice crises. Transportation fare increase. Meat and poultry products getting more expensive. Costly canned goods and other grocery items. Just about everything is getting more expensive as each day passes. At times, I would rather watch Mr. Bean and have a good laugh than see the news for fear of another price hike.

What used to be a not-so-obvious thin line between the rich and the poor is getting more evident these days. At this day and age, who would have thought poverty-stricken Filipinos would have to line up to be able to buy their daily supply of NFA rice. I swear, whenever I see this scene on TV, my heart breaks.


I believe that most of us Filipinos are affected with these issues. And I am part of that crowd. This time around, I have been very conscious budgeting our expenses. Every centavo is well accounted for just to make sure my husband and I make both ends meet. Nevertheless, because I am new at this, my budgeting skill still falls short at times.

This week's coffee break aims to gather suggestions from the blogosphere on the present condition our nation is going through.

What is your budgeting secret?

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Jan!

Hindi na siguro ito secret but we only buy what is essential. I was never maluho. I am not into jewelries and luxurious stuff. Kaya nga hubby gives what I usually ask for kasi they're not luho naman daw. :D Hindi nga naman luho ang laptop at digicam, di ba? Hehe. Sa digiscrapping nga, I only buy kapag sale at kung talagang gagamitin ko yung kits. And I rarely splurge on kits.

Another thing, I am not an impulsive buyer. I think ng super tagal before I buy something (kahit digikits!).

And my hubby and I usually talk and discuss things whenever we need to decide on some big purchases. We also save-save-save. Our biggest expenditure in the past two years is the bakasyon to Wes' place. Airfare and all. We really save for that yearly trip. Pero OK lang coz vacation trips usually make us sane and look forward to the coming year. :D

Yun.

Tes Tirol said...

Hi jan,

I have mine right here:
http://teystirol.com/?p=132

this was fun! :)

theworkingmom said...

Hi, my piece is here. Since it's about budgeting, I thought it would be more appropriate to post it on my frugal tips blog. Thanks for giving me a chance to update it, Jan! :)

Joey
http://www.joeymd.com
http://the-working-mom.blogspot.com

Jim said...

I am in Sydney right now and it's the same thing here. Prices are really going up and people are complaining as well. When I put out a blog entry about how rice went up 10 dlrs here over 1 week, I got comments from kababayans in thye UAE, YTaiwan and San Francisco who said they experienced the same thing.

I think we just have to braise ourselves for more of these. The markets all over the world are going haywire and it is the poor who will suffer the most.

Ibyang said...

1. we have a spreadsheet where I have listed our expenses for two weeks. two reasons why we do this: (1) so as not to forget what bills to pay (2) so we know where our money goes.

2. save save save. our priority is always to save--so pagkatanggap ng pay namin, the first thing we do is allot a portion of our money to savings (which is part of our financial spreadsheet).

3. live simply. in a commercialized world this is very hard, but we try our best to live within our means, want simple things and always be practical.

Unknown said...

Here is my answer...sorry it took a day before I can post the answers...hehehe - http://reejane.blogspot.com/2008/04/coffee-break-ver-16.html

mari said...

late as usual... but still humahabol :)

Kero said...

hi Jan! sorry for the late posting. Andre's vaccine was scheduled this week. anyway, i am done so please head on to my blog. let me know you drop by ok? thank you

http://kcelebration.blogspot.com/2008/04/cofee-break-6.html

Rocks said...

ay! haven't I mentioned na mine was here :

http://raua.blogspot.com/2008/04/coffee-break-ver-16.html

:)

Princess Vien said...

i'm too late again.. hehehe.. here's mine..

http://vien26.blogspot.com/2008/04/coffee-break-16.html

Bunnie said...

hi jan!

i dont really have a secret but whenever we do the grocery, i always have a list with me and i only bring a certain amount or if i am using a credit card i know how much lang dapat. so i make sure everything that we buy are the only things really needed. well, sometimes we buy little snacks but i still make sure we dont go over budget.

the current situation of our economy is really sad --- thats why i thank God everyday because we are really blessed --- the fact that we are still able to enjoy the simple things in life is truly a blessing! :-)

trinity said...

will post mine in a minute!!


hi jan!!! ngayon lang ulit napadalaw eh...