With the summer break coming up, I surmise it wouldn’t hurt to start planning for the summer break. How do you usually begin planning for a trip? I usually begin mine with my budget. If I have more money to spend, then I begin my search for trips possibly to prestigious resorts in the country (read: Panglao Island Nature Resort, Balesin) or somewhere off the beaten track (read: Bolinao, Rizal Beach: Gubat, Sorsogon, or Pagudpod)

Here are Ways to Save on Travel

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I always encourage my children to eat vegetables. One of the surefire way to get them to eat variety of vegetables is to keep on serving them on the table even when they said they hated it. One of the advantages of living in a rural area is that local vegetables are cheap. I can buy a huge bundle of pechay here for P5.00, and a kilo of camote for P10.00. These are just some of the cheap vegetables organically grown here.

Green leafy vegetables are generally cheap. They can be versatile too. I usually like to saute those chinese kangkong with garlic and a dabble of oyster sauce. To add some punch on the vegetable dish, chop one sili, but scrape the seeds out if you are serving the dish to children.

Eggs is something I cannot live without in the kitchen. Eggs generally cost P5.00 here in my rural town, so I tend to buy eggs by the tray from those huge egg stores in town. Rather than buying eggs from the sari-sari store, you can save more than P20 if you buy them by layer.

Fish is still cheap in our part of Mindanao. One can still find a kilo of galung-gong for P70 here. Since we live in a coastal town, fish is generally the main source of protein. In our home, I cook fish generally 80% at most time. We have avoided chicken altogether because my children are allergic to them.

Fruits. You can buy the fruit in season to save money. You can save more from buying bananas, papaya, pineapple from the local fruit stands as against to imported grapes or apples.

As for rice, we have cut down our consumption by 1/3 because I started dieting again.

Do you have other frugal tips to share?

Since I have decided to skip gift giving this Christmas except for a more practical gifts to the children, I am shocked that even at the economic hoo-haas, SOME people are still giving away extravagant and obsence gifts according to the recent article by the Money Comparison Experts at Money.Co.UK,

Here goes the list: (if you are even interested anyway…)

1. The $1.6m Christmas tree: This 24 karat gold tree, encrusted with 240 jewels and weighing more than 21kg is on display in a jewellery shop in Japan.

2. Movida’s Christmas cocktail: The Movida Club, a favourite hangout for celebrities, footballers and the ‘born rich’, holds the record for the most expensively pointless Christmas Cocktail. The drink, which blends Cristal Rose champagne, Louis XII Cognac and edible gold leaf, costs $71,011 a shot and is ironically named Flawless.

3. The Krebs Glas Lauscha bauble: Not one for houses with children, this bauble is covered with intricately crafted gold and diamond detail, and it’s made of glass. At $31,000 each, they had better come wrapped in a bit more than tissue paper.

4. Ferrari go-cart: A must have for spoilt kids the world over, this faithful replica of the real thing will set doting parents back a mere $50,000

5. The his and hers chocolate portrait: No doubt designed with chocoholic art lovers with too much time on their hands, this photographic portrait rendered in chocolate goes for $110,000. At least the money goes to charity.

6. Diamond Barbie: ‘The world’s most expensive Barbie’ comes in a gown encrusted with 160 De Beers diamonds and costs $85,000. Presumably it’s not for kids, but who knows?

7. The M&S Christmas Hamper: Stuffed with the exclusive food and drink for all over the world, the Marks & Spencer hamper retailed for $1,500. It doesn’t seem to have hit the stores just yet this year…

8. Vertu mobile phone: If ‘gadget crime’ isn’t an issue, then the diamond encrusted Vertu mobile phone is just the job – that is if you have about $75,000 to spare.

9. Amour Amour Dog Collar: Not to leave out the least grasping member of the millionaire family, this diamond dog collar costs a cool $1.8m.

10. 3D Motion Simulator: The ultimate in big boys toys, this $300,000 simulator puts Nintendo and Sony in their place, allegedly.

Ofcourse all these gifts are nothing BUT frugal so, let’s heave a sigh of relief or envy perhaps and yes, move on…

One of the key in having a successful budget spending plan is having a weekly menu and following it to the tee. So, how can you effectively make a weekly menu? In my case, I only shop once a month, so instead of a weekly menu, I make a one month flexible menu. Flexible meaning I am amenable to inter-changing the menus since I have 4 children to feed and sometimes I heed to their requests once in a while.

To avoid protests during meal time, include your children with the menu planning. Make the menu planning a family affair. Give each of your children a chance to suggest their special dish. Not only that, you can include a kitchen helper schedule in the menu. You might also want to include your children’s favorite dish once or twice a week. Just make sure they know that you have the last say on this. And to be able to accomodate your children’s wishes, make sure you make your meal combinations wisely to avoid overspending.

The advanatge of menu planning is simply staggering. Having a plan not only removes the stress of not knowing what to cook for dinner, but it will also help you from not eating out or ordering dinner over the phone. Not eating out will obviously help you maintian a healthier and leaner budget. Menu planning will also make shopping easier, not to mention, time saving and yes, cheaper since you will only buy what you will need for the duration of your menu. Having control with your day to day consumption will free you from the stress of meal preparation daily. Not to mention that when you have a shopping list to follow, the risk of impluse buying can be avoided.

If you are busy mother, one of the advantages of meal planning is that you can cook some meals ahead of time and save time doing so. You can prepare your stock in the freezer. Or in my case, I marinate my daing na bangus and keep it in the fridge ready for frying. Doing so will save me spices and seasoning. Not to mention that hey, the bangus cooked this way will guarantee clean plates and tons of rice…

My cellphone broke the other day. Oh, perhaps that was an overstatement since it still work but the other half just sort of hangs out with only its internal wiring holding both shell of my very old Nokia Clamshell phone I inherited from my dead mom. I am so tempted to ran to the cellphone store and buy another one, albeit cheaper phone. Some candy bar phone that sends and receives messages and calls… I can dream can’t I?

Anyway, I went to the city today with my son to see the doctor. That was another story, but after we went to the hospital clinic, I decided to give in to the urge to see some phones. Bad idea…not exactly…

I saw a myriad of phones and sales ladies wearing Santa’s bright costume including short red skirts. The store was a buzz and to think that the US is in recession actually did not stop people from giving themselves immediate gratification in getting some shiny cellphone that can play MP3s and can take pictures.

I actually took the time to observe the activities around me and saw that the store is actually filled with customers and almost all sales persons are attending to wannabe cellphone owners. Money doesn’t seem to be the problem, or we are simply just being Filipino. Eh?

I know that is what we Philosophers call hasty generalization, but don’t get me wrong, Filipinos are probably the worst when it comes to celebrations and holidays. Why do you think we tend to use holidays and other events as an excuse to splurge? Have you bought something that you totally thought was great when you were in the store and after a month, the item you bought started to accumulate dust somewhere around the house? When was the last time you actually bought something you did not even need?

Ofcourse, I always say that stores and the mall are there to tempt us to happily part with our money. Inexchange for our money, we buy items that makes us happier and content. You might say, hey, I really needed that iPod! Or that new phone. But sometimes our urge to splurge carry alot of meaning. Perhaps you felt a little annoyed and pressured at the office and just the thought of buying something expensive gives us some sort of high.

I can understand this alot. Before I separated from my husband of 7 years, I used to use shopping as a means to get out of my dissatisfaction on my married life. This holds true to alot of women. We tend to use shopping, going to the groceries, buying clothes we did not even wear, and silverware that ends up under the sink.

So how can we learn to separate our emotional needs from our finances? I actually learned about this the hard way, but hey, its better late than never, right? So, here’s the trick, when you are upset with anything, do not go out of the house or if you do, go somewhere to unwind somewhere where you do not need to spend anything. Go take a walk at the beach, the park or even the library. Stay away from the mall or even those expensive designer lattes.

Use other ways to curb your own frustrations by gardening, or even taking a long quiet bath. If you are finally settled, you will probably forget the reason why you wanted to buy anything in the first place.

Practice and relax before going to shopping. A calm person in the mall is a reasonable person. I promise you, you will more likely spend less.

So what about the cellphone? I ended up going out of the store with a smile on my face and yes, with my money in tack intact and yes… a half-broken phone. (smile)

I simply agree with Frugal Trader that buying the cheapest thing on the rack will not necessarily save you more. This is so true. Even before things went rough with me financially, I have always been into quality goods. With frugal means, I still opt for quality clothes and toys for my children. Not only that quality goods last longer, they do look better.

One classic example are toys. I can get a cheap toy car for my boy at a Taiwanese store here which cost around P30. A branded toy from the department store or Toy World will cost around P250-350. The main difference will be on the durability. A good, quality toy will generally last a year or so, while a cheapo toy will shatter the moment you throw it on the wall. Not only that, cheaper toys that breaks easily is hazardous to your children especially if you have other children under the age 3, and that most number of emergency room incidents were caused by toy-related accidents.

Clothes is another thing. Cheaper jeans here will cost P150, while branded ones will cost around P450-650 in the department store. The cheaper jeans after a few washes fade quicker than the branded ones. Not only that they fray quicker than the quality and expensive materials. One major example are the Guess Jeans I have bought my daughter 5 years ago. It actually cost me P1,000+ then, but the jeans are still being used by my youngest child since the pants did not look old at all. The material indeed is softer, but the over-all look is still great. Did I get my money’s worth? You bet!

Ofcourse cheaper things are made from cheaper materials. Buying them cheaply might save us NOW, but they will have to be replaced quicker than you expect. You might be surprised how much you have actually spent on things that you may not be using now because they have worn off. Now, since you were unable to utilize the clothing longer because it broke on the seams, wouldn’t that be considered as waste now?

Do you have shopping tips to share? Pass it on to me and I will give due credit! Email all comments and suggestions to frugal.pinoy@gmail.com

Is it possible to celebrate Christmas without breaking the bank? How?

Plan ahead

Begin shopping for your noche buena dinner in November. Know your menu so you can streamline and schedule the purchases of ingredients. You can opt to buy the expensive ingredients this month and buy the cheaper ingredients on December so your budget for that month can accommodate for other pressing purchases.

Last year, my children and I spent our noche buena on a shoestring budget. Our menu was:

I managed to save a few some cash by:

1. Opting for pansit bijon rather than spaghetti. With the bijon, I used only 1 breast of a chicken, one pc of carrot and half a head of cabbage. This for a 1/2 kg bijon. To make the pansit real tasty, I used real chicken broth from scratch the day before;

2. I decided to shop for the vegetables in the regular market; It only cost me less than 100 pesos for the vegetables for the chopsuey, and hey, my chopsuey was meatless (1/2kg baguio beans; 1 pc. sayote; 1 pc. carrot; 1/4 head cabbage; 1 small head of brocolli) . For tasty chopsuey, use oyster sauce or hoisin sauce– 2 tsp will do.

3. For the fruit salad, I bought a cheaper fruit cocktail brand. I used 1 pack of branded cream and half a can of condensed milk.

Focus on your family

Good relationship within the family supersede good food. Try to focus on enjoying the company of your family and friends during the holidays. With some planning, you can actually have a frugal noche buena without ending high and dry financially…

Do you have any frugal ideas? Frugal Stories? Email me at frugal.pinoy@gmail.com

Christmas time is here and I know money-wise we will be strained to spend more in order to celebrate and be able to give. Practicality should come first so here are some gift ideas and places where you might be able to find affordable and age-appropriate gift items:

Gifts for young children. For infants, I can suggest age-appropriate toys. Teething toys are practical, as well as toiletries. For toddlers, you can get them colorful educational toys.

Gifts for young girls ages 5-10. I would suggest something practical like bags with some Disney character on them– (read: High School Musical Characters, or Hannah Montana). Ofcourse there are a whole range of expensive items but you can always choose those that are not too expensive. Try those small pouches, picture frames, hair accessories and watches.

Gifts for young boys ages 5-10. Well, cartoon characters are still in. (Spiderman, Superman, Wall-E, and even High School Musical items) For boys I would suggest school items too, especially books. If the child is into GBA or Play Station, you can give GBA cartridges and discs.

Try buying your kiddie gifts from Kidz Kraze Children’s Bazaar at the Creative Trade Center Compound at #6 Industria St., Libis, Quezon City. You can visit them on November 14-15, 21-22, 28-30, and December 5-7, 12-14, and 19-23, from 9AM to 6PM on weekends and 1PM to 6PM on weekdays. They have alot of discounted branded toys, children’s clothing and shoes. [Via Shopcrazy]

For discounted books, National Bookstore’s Children’s Reading Fair is still on until November 16.

For more frugal suggestions or inquiries, send email to : frugal.pinoy@gmail.com

Grocery shopping is actually one of the easiest way to save money. When one is shopping, you always have a variety of choices to choose from. Products have become more competitive and cheaper brands does not necessarily mean ineffective products.

Here goes:

1. Do your shopping once a month. Small trips are expensive. Less trips to the store means you save on transportation and gas.

2. Make a shopping list. And since household shopping is indispensible, I bet my savings that you have a flexible grocery list already and can run along the aisles of the grocery store even with your eyes covered. Make sure to write down the estimated price (base it on previous month’s purchase) and tally everything so you would know more or less how much everything would cost you.

3. Double check bar codes and prices as declared on the shelf. This is important. Its known that the bar code system in the shops are convenient for the stores and not necessary for you. Double check the bar code at the back of your items against the code and price on the aisle.

4. Try store brands. Many store brand items actually come from the same factories as named brand items. They are just packaged differently. Store brand items can save you 20 to 30%.

5. Stock up. Buy and stock up items you know your family consistently consume like eggs, rice, milk, noodles, oil and diapers if you have babies.

6. In season items. When it comes to fruits, buy fruits that are in season and shy away from imported fruits and vegetables. Like I say, buy local.

If you have other frugal shopping ideas, please email me at : frugal.pinoy@gmail.com

One of the stress of planning for the holidays is how to be able to go through it without entirely breaking the bank. And if you have no passive income or even holiday savings to delve into, then celebrating the holidays might bring you more problems than goodwill.

Before planning anything, bear in mind the REAL reason why you want to celebrate the holidays. And to me, that does not mean celebration by consumption, because I am sure you can find other ways to celebrate the holidays other than hanging around the mall salivating over the high tech goodies and mulling over the 50% offs in the mall. Remember, stores have one primary thing in mind– TO GET YOU TO SPEND YOUR MONEY.

Here are a few ideas on how you can avoid breaking the bank during the holidays:

1. Avoid the malls like a plague. This is important because as early as October, the malls are already cranking up their advertising power to get you to spend some or more (even better) by shaving off or using “the we are on sale ploy.” Ofcourse, this would be a good opportunity for you to buy gifts and this leads me to the no. 2,

2. Avoid the malls like a plague. This is important because as early as October, the malls are already cranking up their advertising power to get you to spend some or more (even better) by shaving off or using “the we are on sale ploy.” Ofcourse, this would be a good opportunity for you to buy gifts and this leads me to the no. 2,

3. Give discounted gifts. If you need to buy a gift for an officemate, classmate, family member, children or spouse, October and November would be the best time to buy your gift for the holiday. You can get clothes off the rack or on discounted prices. You can buy CDs for your officemate and perhaps some toys for your children. If you really felt compelled to give gifts, then buy them at discounted rates. Just be careful and check out the items before paying for them because some discounted items especially clothing sometimes are damaged (missing buttons, imperfect hems, etc…)

4. Make a shopping list before hitting the malls to avoid other sale diversions. Buy what is necessary and get out of the mall. Your list has to item and shop specific, for example: if you want to give CDs to your nieces, decide on what CD and which CD place to buy before leaving the house.

5. Use debit cards instead of credit card. Debit cards are good as cash. This is why a budget and shopping list is important. You do not want to be buried in credit card bill during the holidays. Just imagine yourself paying off your credit bills on something you gave your officemates… Not to mention your forlorn face and agony when you see your credit card bill come January…

I know, I know… Christmas is giving, but we must give within our means. If we cannot pay for it in cash, we cannot afford it.

For more frugal suggestions and inquiries, send email to; frugal.pinoy@gmail.com