Finances and Such ... Philippines

[Tahoma 2,291]

...I definitely think it is naive to think brand name anything is going bring happiness.

For some people, it may not buy happiness, but it will make a big down payment.

[TnJ 131]

For some people, it may not buy happiness, but it will make a big down payment.

This makes me think of a woman the other day whom bought food with food stamps yet drove off in her Mercedes. A lot of good brand names do when you can't afford to eat. I'm sure the down payment alone would have fed her for months. It's sad what some consider a priority, but what is worse is that our tax dollars get to pay for other people's poor choices and abuse of the system, Yay!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Kids!

What they promise now is subject to change, when they are married, and when they feel comfortable with their situation in the US. Don't ever forget, a woman always has the prerogative to change her mind.

Ask her if she will put it in writing.

[Tahoma 2,291]

This makes me think of a woman the other day whom bought food with food stamps yet drove off in her Mercedes. A lot of good brand names do when you can't afford to eat. I'm sure the down payment alone would have fed her for months. It's sad what some consider a priority, but what is worse is that our tax dollars get to pay for other people's poor choices and abuse of the system, Yay!

If food stamp abuse makes you sad, you probably shouldn't look into corporate welfare or military spending because food stamp waste and abuse is a drop in the bucket compared to those. It'll make you cry.

[Leatherneck 693]

Chinook is from the province. She now works as a registered nurse here in the U.S. She can afford to buy whatever she wants, but she's not really interested in designer items and name brands.

She's usually very thrifty. However, she bought us a seven-day cruise to Alaska. We're leaving tomorrow. Bon voyage!

Enjoy the float and all of that great food!

[Hank_ 9,173]

Chinook is from the province. She now works as a registered nurse here in the U.S. She can afford to buy whatever she wants, but she's not really interested in designer items and name brands.

She's usually very thrifty. However, she bought us a seven-day cruise to Alaska. We're leaving tomorrow. Bon voyage!

Have a great cruise!!

We are doing our mini-wedding, filing AOS, then jumping on the bike and heading to Disneyland...

[thewaywardwitch 6]

I didn't think being generous and giving gifts to the significant other was being questioned. Who wouldn't want to do that for the one they love? I was thinking more along the lines of financial support. I guess I am lucky I don't have a very needy fiancee. Lucky for her because she only gets more from me, and we will both contribute to our needs when we are married. I agree that even girls from provincial areas aren't so naive to not know what the "hot" brands are, but I definitely think it is naive to think brand name anything is going bring happiness. That's just me though. I am thankful I have a woman that supports me in this belief. Being thrifty allows one to spend money on more important and/or useful things such as trips to see the family, but I guess a name on one thing is more important to some people than buying the exact same thing without the name at half the price. Que sera sera

well, opinions of people varies from one to another. i am not saying buying brand names and signatures stuff could bring happiness entirely to both of you and your fiance. lol i own expensive stuff waaaaayyyyy before i met my fiance, i love them, but it don't make me a materialistic person, does it? does one have to give up little things that can make her happy? if your husband is not capable to give you things or is not willing to pay extra for something that you wanna buy, don't impose. i know how to handle my money real well. i make sure my needs comes first. i am blessed i found the right one for me, my fiance never questioned me being like that or anything. we have the same view about a lot of things. i have always been like this and he knows that. i have a family who gives me expensive gifts, too. my point is as long as you are not demanding your husband or anyone to buy you and you can afford it yourself, go ahead. these are mere vices some women has, but life and happiness does not depend on it. NEVER.

you are lucky you found your partner who thinks the way you do. that's all that matters, right?

[thewaywardwitch 6]

For some people, it may not buy happiness, but it will make a big down payment.

yep, if you look at it the other way, they're actually good investments.

[kev_n_jena 89]

My wife knew how kuripot I was right away. I made sure she knew everything about me so there would be less surprises when she arrived. As it turns out, she's as cheap as I am on most things. She worked for 2 1/2 years and just turned in her resignation today so she can stay home with our new son.

Her family lives in N. Samar and there aren't many ways to make a living there. She supported them on her promo salary before she met me. Luckily her Dad found work about a year ago. They don't have much and there are still three young kids to feed and clothe there. She's done her best to help them out over the past five years but now it's time to take care of our son and save for him.

She would never think of buying expensive branded items. She cringes every time she opens her wallet and the moths fly out. She spent $150 on a shopping trip one time and it almost killed her. I heard about it for months.

[SuperDuper! 230]

Enjoy the float and all of that great food!

We took one cruise, and it will be our last cruise. It's boring, self-indulging, and ya feel like a captive on a ship. Seeing so many fat people just feeding at the trough every day made me sick. I think it was the "Best Hairy Chest" contest on the promenade deck, that put me over the edge. A weekend trip to Vegas,,,,,Now U R talking!

[rlogan 2,036]

We get all kinds of name brand stuff. Shirts are $2, pants $6 at the thrift store. I got sweatshirts from obscure religious camps, rock bands I don't like, and sometimes get comments..."Oh dood those guys are great, saw them in L.A."

For cars we have mostly Subarus - eight of them including the one I buried for a septic system. The most expensive thing in the yard is a 55,000 lb dump truck. That was five grand, but looks like four. We prefer the newer rigs, the newest one is a '91 Toyota truck, and we use that for logging so it's by far our favorite. I had a Honda CRX we got for $300, but they clocked me at 104 mph in that thing so it was best to get rid of it. The ticket cost more than the car.

We like to keep our car payments to a few hundred ideally. Not per month. Total. She helps her family, but that is her business.

Anyway, it is real important how we look to others so clothes are important. If you don't wear clothes people are going to stare. With cars, they have to be reliable. If you have eight of one model, it's a cinch you can get at least two running at the same time.

[Tahoma 2,291]

Enjoy the float and all of that great food!

Thanks Leatherneck...We're really looking forward to it. Vacations the past three years have been road trips throughout the western U.S., so this cruise will be a nice change of pace.

Have a great cruise!!

We are doing our mini-wedding, filing AOS, then jumping on the bike and heading to Disneyland...

Thanks Hank...Looks like you'll be plenty busy too. The bike trip to Disneyland sounds great and I hope you get some flawless weather for it. Keep the rubber side down!

Chinook and I are planning an August road trip from Seattle to LA via the coast highway, and I'm trying to convince Chinook that Disneyland is a must-see in LA.

We took one cruise, and it will be our last cruise. It's boring, self-indulging, and ya feel like a captive on a ship. Seeing so many fat people just feeding at the trough every day made me sick. I think it was the "Best Hairy Chest" contest on the promenade deck, that put me over the edge. A weekend trip to Vegas,,,,,Now U R talking!

Yeah...Chinook and I love Vegas too! We stayed at Caesar's Palace last year and enjoyed a Celine Dion concert at Caesars.

Alaska cruises are not exactly party boats, so there mercifully won't be any hairy-chest contests.

Chinook and I enjoy photography, and this cruise is all about scenery, wildlife, and historic Alaska-panhandle towns. Glacier Bay National Park is a highlight of the trip.

We also enjoy the slots, so you can bet that we'll be hitting the ship's casino. We plan to enjoy the evening shows, and the music and dancing too. There's also a lot of classes on board that are free to attend.

I doubt that we'll feel like a captive on the ship since there are stops in Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria, B.C., and we have shore excursions planned at the first three towns.

[kev_n_jena 89]

We get all kinds of name brand stuff. Shirts are $2, pants $6 at the thrift store. I got sweatshirts from obscure religious camps, rock bands I don't like, and sometimes get comments..."Oh dood those guys are great, saw them in L.A."

For cars we have mostly Subarus - eight of them including the one I buried for a septic system. The most expensive thing in the yard is a 55,000 lb dump truck. That was five grand, but looks like four. We prefer the newer rigs, the newest one is a '91 Toyota truck, and we use that for logging so it's by far our favorite. I had a Honda CRX we got for $300, but they clocked me at 104 mph in that thing so it was best to get rid of it. The ticket cost more than the car.

We like to keep our car payments to a few hundred ideally. Not per month. Total. She helps her family, but that is her business.

Anyway, it is real important how we look to others so clothes are important. If you don't wear clothes people are going to stare. With cars, they have to be reliable. If you have eight of one model, it's a cinch you can get at least two running at the same time.

The Subarus you mention remind me of my Father. He had 4 AMC Eagle station wagons all the time for the rural mail route. He usually kept 3 running and one for parts. He gave me one to drive to work when my other car died. After a snow storm the engine compartment was packed with snow and I didn't clean it out. The car backfired and blew a whole in the top of a piston. I removed the the plug wire and drove it on 5 cylinders every day for about 6 months before I sold it to the junk yard. Top speed was about 50 mph.

I like your location description. "No town thank God". We've done our best here to stay isolated, living on a dead end road in the woods with no neighbors visible from our property. Getting more than 2 inches of snow means plowing ourselves out if we're home or in if we're at work.

[LSnBigBear 61]

Woooo good timing on this topic.. We had a knockdown drag out on this money topic. All is well now and we love each other the more we learn and openly discuss items. My fiancee works and earns. She did take a little bit less paying job in March so I told her I would send her $50 a month to help cover her internet and food. She really only needs about 25 5o offset her wage difference but I cannot send less than $50 unless someone knows a different route versus Xoom or WU???

She is oldest and now gives her parents 500-1000p monthly.. I am okay with this and will always budget the $50 to send there even when she is here. I have learned to always make, really anyone but Filipinos in generel believe 1000p or 20 dollars is alot of money.. And with family 5000p at Xmas is enough as it is more than double what they would have been able to celebrate with. Now if I hit the lottery or get back to my 2010 wages then we can afford to do more but still not spoil. I explained to my fiancee that we need to put back money here in reserve for her parents medical and for her (my fiancee) to have airfare in the event her folks get sick or worse. Now her parents are not old so we have time,,,, but one never knows.

We do openly discuss budgets. She has viewed my budget and understands. We have even discussed HER saving as she wants a baby. I am 46 and raised my son's but will go along with her wishes as I love her. Cheapest to do invetro is in Vietnam as I had vasectomy (how did we get off topic lol) so she needs to work and save $5000 for this.. Covers it all even airfare....

As for shopping. GoodWill has great deals on name brands. My buddies filipina wife loves to shop there..

Okay we have now covered BBQ which I love and vascetomys lol... I pity the nice man that started this post lol....

Edited May 26, 2012 by LSnBigBear

[MangoAve 25]

Filipinos, if they come into any money they will try to live like a king for one day. They don't care if they are poor the next day. They have a lot of pride, too. As was mentioned, they care about the brand name only. Levi's over there are knock-offs. I met one guy making the counterfits. Money goes a long way there, esp in certain islands. Manila, is mahal. Boracay, mahal. A coconut from the market in Boracay is like $3 US. I know one small market it was p15. It was p45 at a larger market. They will make due with whatever you send.