Cost Cutting Suggestions, Anyone?

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Mr Lee
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I get a lot of people emailing me and sending me pm's, asking me if I know ways to cut corners and keep the cost down and of course there is going without things like A/C, cable TV and not going out to eat, but maybe others have found some cost cutting suggestions they might like to share?

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TheMason
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I get a lot of people emailing me and sending me pm's, asking me if I know ways to cut corners and keep the cost down and of course there is going without things like A/C, cable TV and not going out to eat, but maybe others have found some cost cutting suggestions they might like to share?
The biggest variable in my monthly expenses is the cost of food. If you are willing to shop at the local market instead of the malls and choose non-Western brands for things you can really cut down on your grocery bill. It also pays to shop around though. I've found that some things are cheaper at the local market and some are cheaper at the mall grocery store. You just need to do your research and shop accordingly. Thinking in pesos is also a good habit to get in to and it really helps me make better shopping decisions. I used to willingly pay an extra 10p for cigarettes because it was more convenient. It took me a while to realize that I was wasting 500p per month by shopping where it was more convenient instead of more economical. My monthly budget is 20k so 500p is a significant bit of the budget. Of course, I've since quit smoking so now I save even more.
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Mik
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Live alone or live with someone with a higher income than yours..

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tropicalwaste
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Live alone or live with someone with a higher income than yours..
Lol.. good advice
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tropicalwaste
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A few ways to save money :-1. Start growing some of your own food.2. There is always someone selling chickens or goats etc. locally so keep an eye out for one and get it while they are in from the provinces to sell.3. Get your own pigs/goats/chickens a lot of people say there is no profit in it but forget to look at the fact of self sufficency as 1 pig = enough meat for a family of 4 for a year and should save you at least 30% of what you would pay if you bought the meat at a supermarket over the year instead.4. Only run A/C at night once you get used to it being off during the day you wont even notice. Rent a house with bladed windows on at least 2 sides to allow a breeze to pass through the house (hopefully you have field on at least one of the openings or you are above street level where its cooler.5. Buy what you need and not what you think you need. How often do you go to the supermarket and buy things like potato chips that you later regret eating the entire pack. They are expensive and bad for you at the same time so best you just dont buy them at all.6. Fix a beer budget for a month as alcohol seems to be one of the big problems within the expat community. Once the budget is gone dont top it up as this will also help keep your consumption in check.7. Bulk buy when things are on special offer or get a cheaper deal by buying from a wholesaler. E.g. rice buying from someone who supplies the restaurants instead of the supermarket (like my wifes uncle who supplies a lot of the restaurants in Cebu).8. Get more social locally. A big part of the problem in Cebu is people get bored so go driving etc. You will find there are sports facilities nearby that are cheap but also let you make friends that can make life easier. E.g. badminton,tennis, basketball, soccer (football to us Brits!) or Airsoft. Cheap sports that keep you fit and cut your "im bored" budget.9. Dont buy a car public transport is by far the cheapest way to travel. Vehicles are prone to falling apart and expensive fuel. I have 2 cars and a scooter for getting around but generally prefer the scooter because its cheap and quicker than a car unless im heading into the provinces. 10. Remember your not a tourist. Dont let people rip you off and only hang out at the tourist spots now and again. Why pay extra for food and drinks which are cheaper nearby.Ill cut it short here as no doubt people will start to lose interest in my post :SugarwareZ-034:

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Gold Heart
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I think suggestions for savings can be measured by the amount of loss or sacrifice one has to make to achieve them. Going without things certainly can be done and that is one way to save money. Cutting back on things is another which also involves sacrifice. Doing more work like raising animals or farming is a lot of work unless it is a chosen hobby and something you enjoy. I understand these do save money and are good ideas for those who will enjoy. Reducing waste or maximizing purchases are the best ideas to me -- things like buying in bulk are good suggestions. One is not sacrificing anything with these ideas -- I would hate to think reducing my alcoholic consumption is on the block. One of my largest expenses is electricity. I received a suggestion to turn off the hot water on the water dispenser which has a hot and cold option because we seldom if ever use hot water and have a microwave in which hot water can be obtained in 3 minutes or less. Not sure how much this saves but it was not a big sacrifice. If we used the hot water frequently -- this would be another matter. While in the US I purchased a 220 V hot water heater timer. I now have the hot water heater to run from 4AM to 10AM which are the times we take showers. In the event that we take showers at other times I can manually turn it on. I'm not sure they have these here in the Philippines or not as I did not know where to look. I paid a local handiman electrician to install for 500 P. We also have a pool and either forget to turn the pump on daily or accidently leave it on unnecessarily. I found a pool pump timer and now only run the pump for 1 hour a day and never have to worry about forgetting -- another 500P installation. While I'm new to Cebu, I found the cost of electricity here shocking -- much more than my central air bills in Raleigh North Carolina in August. As the VECO bills show a graphic view of consumption year to year, I find my consumption is now 1/2 that of the previous tenants same time last year. Of course I do not know the size of their families or personal habits.Food is the next biggest expense in the budget. I'm still looking for new ideas and I've learned from some of the posts already. I look forward to more on the topic -- especially those that don't involve sacrifices.ThanksRon - AKA Gold Heart

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Mr Lee
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Ron, one of the things we use is an on demand water heater on our showers and bathroom sinks and those can be shut off also but do not use any power except when the hot water is turned on. We also use some powerful fans to blow the air around our condo and that way we can turn the air up one more degree. I too find electric in Cebu very high compared to Florida and living in a condo helps because we only get sun on one side a couple of hours a day and one thing that is saving us a bunch on electric is room darkening lined curtains, I cannot believe how much a of difference it is just when I pull them back. The curtain place we used is close to the Diplomat hotel but I do not remember the name right now and will post it later on because they were very reasonable.

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Gold Heart
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Mr. Lee,Curtains seem like a great idea and investment. I'll have to look into darkening lined curtains options. We have purchased and use a number of free standing fans. I find if I am one right at me -- I can do without aircon. We do run ours in the bedroom at night. Probably A habit of years in the US cuddling under covers helps us sleep.I've seen the individual on demand water heaters and if I owned my own place, that would be the way to go. We stayed in the Sophia Suites while looking for our place to stay in Cebu and they had these heater units under the faucets in the baths feeding the sinks and showers. They could be turned on and off with variable temperture settings. Unfortunately I'm renting so we are stuck with a central electric water heater. I have to limit my permanent investments and there is no immediate electrical in the area where the water enters. I can take my timer switches when I leave.Thanks for the suggestions.Ron AKA Gold Heart

Ron, one of the things we use is an on demand water heater on our showers and bathroom sinks and those can be shut off also but do not use any power except when the hot water is turned on. We also use some powerful fans to blow the air around our condo and that way we can turn the air up one more degree. I too find electric in Cebu very high compared to Florida and living in a condo helps because we only get sun on one side a couple of hours a day and one thing that is saving us a bunch on electric is room darkening lined curtains, I cannot believe how much a of difference it is just when I pull them back. The curtain place we used is close to the Diplomat hotel but I do not remember the name right now and will post it later on because they were very reasonable.
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Mr Lee
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Mr. Lee,Curtains seem like a great idea and investment. I'll have to look into darkening lined curtains options. We have purchased and use a number of free standing fans. I find if I am one right at me -- I can do without aircon. We do run ours in the bedroom at night. Probably A habit of years in the US cuddling under covers helps us sleep.I've seen the individual on demand water heaters and if I owned my own place, that would be the way to go. We stayed in the Sophia Suites while looking for our place to stay in Cebu and they had these heater units under the faucets in the baths feeding the sinks and showers. They could be turned on and off with variable temperture settings. Unfortunately I'm renting so we are stuck with a central electric water heater. I have to limit my permanent investments and there is no immediate electrical in the area where the water enters. I can take my timer switches when I leave.Thanks for the suggestions.Ron AKA Gold Heart
The place who made the curtains was Curtains Unlimited on Ramos street and when walking from Robinsons and towards Diplomat, it is on the right side a couple of blocks before you get to the Diplomat Hotel. I believe the owners name is Dan and they were extremely reasonable for a heavily lined curtain which had a thick white blackout separate curtain behind the regular curtain. My downstairs neighbor also bought a different color and that one came with the blackout attached but they did not have one of those in the color my wife wanted and I believe his was even a little less. If I remember correctly it was about p10,000 for each sliding triple glass door including the curtain rod and installation but that was a couple of years ago so it might be more now. I would say that it was well worth the money and has probably already saved us the cost by now.
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Guardian
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Plan ahead to where you will live so you can walk to most places you wish to go to, drink water instead of other drinks, eat local type foods, use florescent bulbs and unplug and shut off things you are not using, and save water from shower heads in buckets when showering that can be used for watering the plants or flushing the toilets. I always keep a few buckets in the shower to capture the extra water and then use it for other needs. Waste not want not. :SugarwareZ-034:

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