

ILLUSTRATOR Carlo Maala

Do you keep a budget? “Sa ngayon, mayroong akong natatabing P1,000 tuwing kinsenas—hinuhulog ko sa bangko. Tapos ‘yung natitira, sa budget pang araw-araw, sa 15 days, tapos ‘yung bayad sa cable, sa kuryente, saka sa tubig.”

How much does your family spend on food and groceries on a weekly basis? “Sa palengke, mga P3,000 siguro sa isang linggo.”

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One thing your family needs but can’t afford. “Medyo may kulang lang—kasi nagpapaaral pa ako eh—sa tuition. Medyo kinakapos kami d’un minsan.”

One thing you want to buy but can’t afford. “Mountain bike lang naman. ‘Yun ‘yung hilig ko. Medyo pag-iipunan mo lang talaga bago ka makabili ng parts na magaganda.”

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ILLUSTRATOR Carlo Maala

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Do you keep a budget? “I take home a solid P20,500 a month. Around P8,000 goes to monthly transportation, food, prepaid load, dates with my girlfriend; and P2,000 for my Internet connection. The other P10,500 is for my savings—but sometimes, P4,000 of that goes to my sister’s monthly tuition fee.”

How much does your family spend on food and groceries on a weekly basis? “Roughly P1,000 to P2,000 every two weeks.”

One thing your family needs but can’t afford. “We badly need to relocate to a place nearer my work, or near my siblings’ school. Transportation expenses are just too much. My daily budget [for transportation] is P300, and that can be trimmed down to nearly half if we could only afford to relocate. But since our priority is getting my siblings through school, [that] isn’t possible yet.”

One thing your family wants to buy but can’t afford. “A makeover for our house: some new tiles, cement old floors, and paint some old walls.”

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ILLUSTRATOR Carlo Maala

Do you keep a budget? “My wife and I keep a rough budget. We set aside a fund for savings and for bills, but we don’t keep track of every expense. I set aside at least half of my income for savings.”

How much does your household spend on food and groceries on a weekly basis? “Around P2,000 to P3,000. My wife and I mostly eat out, so our groceries are just bare basics and breakfast food.”

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One thing your family needs but can’t afford. “A decent home that’s not too far from the workplace and perfect for starting up a family—ideally, a three-bedroom house with a garage.”

One thing your family wants to buy but can’t afford. “When it comes to material possessions, I don’t think there’s anything my wife and I really want to buy right now. But we do want to go on a month-long trip to Japan! That’s something that’s presently difficult to attain, money and time-wise.”



ILLUSTRATOR Carlo Maala

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Do you keep a budget? “My ultimate rule is 40-40-20—40 percent goes to savings, 40 percent goes to spending, and 20 percent goes to business and investments.”

How much do you spend on food and groceries on a weekly basis? “My dad would always say, ‘Magtipid ka na sa lahat, ‘wag lang sa pagkain.’ On groceries, I spend P2,500 to P3,000 for a week to a week-and-a-half.”

One thing your family needs but can’t afford. “I was brought up with the mentality that you don’t need expensive stuff, so we can afford anything we need.”

One thing you want to buy but can’t afford. “I cannot afford to buy a house yet. I’m starting up with a condo, then a few investments.”



ILLUSTRATOR Carlo Maala

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Do you keep a budget? “I set aside 30 percent for my personal expenses—for food and everything else. Then 20 percent is more of...I share it, with my family, with my cousins. The remaining 50 percent is savings. But when I say savings, only 10 percent goes to the bank—the other 40 percent, I invest it in properties and stocks.”

How much does your family spend on food and groceries on a weekly basis? “Around P2,500 weekly. That’s just junk food, sandwiches, snacks, milk; because I always eat lunch and dinner outside, so I don’t cook.”

One thing your family needs but can’t afford. “We can afford whatever we need.”

One thing you want to buy but can’t afford. “Right now, I want a Jaguar XF. I have the money, but it’s just not in my budget.”



ILLUSTRATOR Carlo Maala

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Do you keep a budget? “Actually, no. I don’t see the point in keeping a budget anymore. But I do have a rough idea. I’m probably able to save about 75 percent of what I make—I put that in properties and other investments. I live off of 25 percent of what I earn. Sometimes, I can save 90 percent or 80 percent, but the rest, I enjoy it. If I blow everything—say, 30 percent—it’s okay. I don’t really feel guilty, because I know that 70 percent is already set aside.”

How much do you spend on food and groceries on a weekly basis? “When I go to the grocery, if I have to watch my budget, I won’t be able to indulge myself in buying, for example, organic stuff. I don’t want to live my life like that. I used to have a concrete idea of how much I spend in a week, when I was still struggling. But I focus on other things now.”

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One thing your family needs but can’t acquire. “I try not to need things. You can be the wealthiest person in the world, but if, at the end of the day, you still keep needing some things, that’s not really being rich.”

One thing you want but can’t acquire. “A part of me still thinks that it would be nice to come home to a family—by that, I mean a wife and more children, maybe, and especially a son. Truth be told, that’s probably the only thing I don’t have at this point.”

This article originally appears in our March 2017 issue as "The Numbers Game."