There's an apparent global economic meltdown. And it is all over the news - Global stocks plunge to new depths, a country - Iceland teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, and in the Philippines, Arroyo orders plan to cushion recession.
Reading these news suddenly made me scared. I didn't know that a country can go bankrupt. So what more with an individual, right?
I am already a tightwad but I think we have to tighten our budgets more now with a looming economic crisis all over the world. These are our plans:
~ Buy a bigger refrigerator. This will allow us to stock on goods. Right now, I do the grocery everyday at Cold Storage (just on the lower ground of our building but a bit more expensive than other grocery stores) because our ref is minuscule. And if EJ is in his tantrumic behavior, I can't go and buy our groceries so this makes us go and eat out.
~ Minimize eating out, maximum is twice a week.
~ No more impulse buying. Shopping can wait until Christmas.
~ Put on hold travel plans. We were contemplating of going to Bangkok next month but I think this can wait.
~ Be serious with potty training EJ. This will save us diaper money.
~ Cut down on Spa visits.
~ Take advantage of the free amenities in the building: gym, sauna, pool, etc..
~ Take advantage of freebies, coupons and membership cards. Last week while we were in Manila, I was surprised when the cashier at SM told me we have accumulated another 500 (equivalent to 500 pesos shopping money) points in our SM advantage card. To think I have already used around 300 points before. I immediately used the points to pay for our loots. I also received a P500 Wacoal gift voucher when I renewed my advantage card. Imagine my joy when I was able to buy a Wacoal bra for P500 less!
I am sure there are more ways to save money. So how about you, do you feel the effect of the crisis yet? How do you deal with it?
4 comments:
Korek ka dyan, sis. A bit pricey talaga ang Cold Storage. Kahit dito sa SG, ganun din. Buti nga itong nilipatan namin malapit sa Fairprice (gov't own grocery, sa wet market, bakeshops, barbershops, salons, clothes shops, toy shops, fruit stands and iba pang anik-anik. Inshort, neighborhood mall. Hahaha!
Malayo ba sa inyo ang Carrefour? It's cheaper than Cold Storage. And mas marami silang housebrands. I usually buy housebrands (dishwashing liquid, toilet cleaner & such), and I clip coupons. Apparently, isa lang ang nagamit ko. Hahaha! Coupon for downy. Hehehe.
Nag increase na rin lahat dito, pero di ko pa nararamdaman kasi nasa bahay lang ako lagi. HEhehehe. But electricity will surely increase sabi ng gov't.
Anyway, matagal na kaming naghihigpit ng sinturon kaya siguro di namin masyado nararamdaman. Subtle din kasi ginagawa ng gov't dito, eh. Hindi biglaan. May annoucement pa a month or two in advance.
But the thing is, malapit na naman namin maranasan ang el nino sa household namin. Hehehe! Tag-init na kami ngayon, actually. :D
Medyo malayo ang Carrefour. But if we have a bigger ref na, I think we can buy by bulk so pwede na kami punta ng carrefour on weekends.
Buti nalang wala kaming babayaran na electricity and water dito. Kasama na package kase. Kaya malaking tipid din at nde kami affected kung tataas man ang rate nila dito :)
Im sure masarap yung feeling ng libre di ba? Kahit downy lang yun. :))
we usually go to carrefour for our general grocery shopping but if it's our shopping day and we happen to be in subang parade which has cold storage... we do our groceries there as well. magkatabi lang carrefour at subang parade but sometimes we get too lazy to cross the street just to do our groceries...
and the most challenging for me to minimize is the eating out. :(
We're on the same boat. Eating out takes the big chunk of our budget. We just love to eat! It shows di ba?:D
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