1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

What is an acceptable allowance

Discussion in 'Money Matters' started by richey, Sep 9, 2017.

  1. DJB
    Offline

    DJB Active Member

    Yeah you could be right there. But shes worth it. Poor girl had had nothing all her life and was working in Dubai as a nanny. 12 hours a day 365 days a year 150 gbp a month. She deserves every penny i give her and no she never ever asks me for anything.
    • Agree Agree x 1
  2. Maharg
    Offline

    Maharg Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Quite.

    When I started seeing my wife she was working in a crap job for next to nothing and not happy. I asked how much she earned and she told me. I said I could give her that a month, and did.

    If you are genuinely in a relationship with someone, then you look after each other. If people are that sceptical about the money they send, then I suggest they aren't fully into the relationship.
    • Agree Agree x 5
    • Like Like x 2
  3. Jim
    Offline

    Jim Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    But so many have been scammed, I was "fully" into our relationship but never sent her a penny only for the flight and Insurance to the UK and visa. She had a job in Singapore as a Nanny didn't know her income never asked and she never asked for any help.
    • Agree Agree x 1
  4. Maharg
    Offline

    Maharg Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    That's great that she had that job. The very fact that she was in Singapore shows it can be difficult for some Filipinos to have work in their own homeland.

    Suppose she'd lost her job? Would you have supported her then?
  5. Jim
    Offline

    Jim Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    She left her job soon as I wrote to her telling I am coming over to see her, that was Nov 2001 I went over to see her in Feb 2002. We fell in love, went to the embassy filled some forms then I went back to the UK. July 2002 she got her visa, we got married in Nov 2002. So it was a bit of a rush, now we are living in Dumaguete. Sorry a bit off topic :)
  6. John Surrey
    Offline

    John Surrey Well-Known Member

    I'm impressed with your costs... very interested in your food costs, per week we're spending:

    1.2 - 1.5 meat and fish
    .5 - .6 carrots, potatoes, onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes
    .4 - .5 bananas, apples and oranges
    .4 - .5 breads

    How does your figure of 4+1.5k breakdown ?

    Then we probably spend another 6-7 k on vitamins, biscuits, drinks, sweets, toilet paper, shampoos, soaps and washing related bits and pieces

    Then there's clothes... schooling for our two children... etc etc



    With regard to the OP - 300/day or approx 9k/month would be considered a very good wage here - so yes she should be able to live on that easily.

    But

    What you have to try and understand is most of the girls looking for a foreign husband or partner are doing so because it's going to improve their standard of living...

    So whilst 300/day should be more than enough... She could easily blow that on a jolibee meal, a bar of chocolate and a coffee and soft drink etc... Then put yourself in her shoes - In the UK having a McDonalds or Burger King lunch, a bar of Fruit and Nut, a Capucino and Orange Juice - you're not exactly pushing the boat out are you?

    Then she'll be looking at the other girls who have "foreign" partners... on fb and in her town... and if she's not getting this or that her family/friends may encourage her to look elsewhere...

    Wife of non working husband next door earns about 5k/month (but does get some food gifted by her employer) and comfortably supports her family of 4 living filipino way - N.B They don't go to the Jolibee, buy nice chocolate bars ... etc.
    • Agree Agree x 2
  7. Maley
    Offline

    Maley Well-Known Member

    @John Surrey, (i dont know how my mum makes the budget) but kidding aside, first we live in mindanao, so the cost of living is a bit lower.

    Second she doesnt buy at SM or commercial chain. It is still farmers market and farm price.

    Third, we dont eat a lot of meat. We have chicken and beef once a week and vegies the rest of the time. Since fruits and veggies are plenty in mindanao, its cheaper than buying imported meat.

    Then all are home cooked meals. So it comes out cheaper and feeds more than takeaway or restaurant.

    The budget might go up or down a bit depending on the price of fish but that is the average.

    Lastly, it might be due to ‘mum power’. I dont know how money is stretched but she has managed it.
  8. Bootsonground
    Offline

    Bootsonground Guest

    Cabbage is 70 Peso a kilo in our market..Mangoes 120/150 per Kilo.
    Prices of all fruit and veg getting silly here.. I have no idea how locals manage!!
    Also no discounts..They let Veggie stocks go rotten instead of selling them cheaper as the freshness dwindles.
    Fuel prices have just gone up due to new tax increases (TRAIN)and Just about everything will go UP as a consequence.
    • Winner Winner x 1
  9. Bluebird71
    Offline

    Bluebird71 Well-Known Member

    Rising oil prices, and a weaker Peso means fuel will be going up anyway. I've red about TRAIN, and my perception was that it would put more money in the average Filipino's pocket but that things like fuel would rise in price. Inflation is currently 3.3% in the Philippines.
  10. OTT
    Offline

    OTT Active Member

    Some interesting posts on here re living costs in Philippines . I've just spent two months living there with my gf and her family, and have been surprised at some of the prices here considering the low wages .

    You can eat cheap ,if you eat what the locals eat, but if you are hoping to eat anything like you would normally eat when you are at home in the UK , it will almost certainly cost more here . I will need to compromise more next time I think , and I'm not talking about things like steak etc, just normal English meals .

    I'm impressed how Filipinos seem to be able to budget with what they have .
    • Like Like x 1
  11. Bootsonground
    Offline

    Bootsonground Guest

    Yeah but that`s the average inflation rate in an archipelago where transportation costs can drive upwards in remote areas in real terms..Siquijor for example,inflation is around 6% and our area feels like about the same.. More even!
    On a positive note,locals are spending much less on products like shabu and Coca cola..
    I suppose every little helps!
  12. Bootsonground
    Offline

    Bootsonground Guest


    A half decent imported steak here in a local restaurant is around 700.00 per person..
    If we go to a local resto here and push the boat out it costs us around 200,00 per person.
    Mustn't grumble!
    • Like Like x 1
  13. Bootsonground
    Offline

    Bootsonground Guest

    Philippine Central Bank Pledges Timely Action as CPI Surges
    By
    Siegfrid Alegado
    and
    Ditas B Lopez
    February 6, 2018, 9:46 AM GMT+8 Updated on February 6, 2018, 11:06 AM GMT+8
    • Inflation quickened to 4% in January, exceeding all estimates
    • Central bank is forecast to maintain rate at 3% this week
    The Philippine central bank pledged to take timely action after data showed consumer prices increased at the fastest pace in more than three years in January. Stocks and the peso fell.



    Inflation rose to 4 percent, up from 3.3 percent in December, the Philippine Statistics Authority said in an emailed statement on Tuesday, as the costs of food, beverages and tobacco rose. That exceeded all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of 14 economists, and was the quickest since Oct. 2014.



    [​IMG]
    The onus is now on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to start tightening monetary policy, or at least signal a more hawkish stance when it decides on interest rates on Thursday. Governor Nestor Espenilla attributed the surge in prices to the implementation last month of the tax law that raised levies on fuel, sugary drinks and cigarettes, and higher oil and food cost.



    “We think these are temporary drivers of inflation and would eventually stabilize,” Espenilla said in a mobile-phone text message on Tuesday. “Nevertheless, BSP will be closely monitoring the situation and stands ready to take timely action based on our evaluation of all relevant data.”



    Most economists surveyed before the inflation data predicted the rate would be held at 3 percent. The central bank’s target is to keep inflation at an average of 2 percent to 4 percent from 2018 to 2020.

    Imminent?
    “A rate hike looks imminent from the Philippines,” said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore, who is one of three analysts predicting a 25 basis-point hike on Thursday. “There’s definitely upward pressure on inflation. The revised taxes does have a minimal price effect, but what’s more important is its impact on inflation expectations.”

    The peso fell 0.2 percent to 51.58 per dollar as of 11:05 a.m. in Manila. Stocks fell 2.1 percent.

    “We haven’t seen inflation this high in recent years,” John Padilla, who helps manage 460 billion pesos ($8.9 billion) as head of equities at Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. in Manila. “It will make people step back and ask if this is the start of a new cycle, so the cost of business will be higher and earnings will be crimped.”

    — With assistance by Ian C Sayson



    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...um=social&cmpid==socialflow-twitter-economics

Share This Page