while going around old commercial haunts after more than a year away, i was shocked to see how some things that i took for granted had gone up in price like double the price. not that its cheap living in new york (the only thing you could get for a dollar is a newspaper or a small plastic cup of sago and gulaman or buko juice at the pinoy stores), but still, time was you could get a value meal at McDo or Jollibee for 40something. eh now, it looks like most of them are closer to the P100 price range.
buying some groceries the other day at Gale, a thousand bucks just got me a small plastic bag of just a few items.
definitely not good. but while i'm back home on extended vacation, i decided to eat home rather than outside. i've been meeting old friends for lunch and not having drinks in bars.
and if a friend says that the new FHM ain't worth the money, then i'm not getting it at all.
have you been penny-pinching, er ... centavo-pinching as well?

there should be a previous topic on this entitled 'how have you coped with the trying times?' or something close to that

The old RP-FHMs weren't worth it either. Most of the people they featured were ST stars like the Viva HBs who regularly pose for liquor calendars and whose pics you can find circulating in the e-mail. Unlike the US version where they feature people like Amanda Beard, Linda Tom or Jaime Lynn DiScala whose photos you will never see distributed en masse.

Most major cities in the US are very expensive places to live in. Widely-followed economists like Morgan Stanley's Stephen Roach and popular financial advisors like Suzy Orman have been advocating / openly insinuating that Americans ought to get used to spending much less then they are presently used to from now onward regardless of which direction the overall economy will go. Job volatility, lower overall average wages (as wealth concentrates in the hands of a few people), narrow career options, and higher college and health care costs will be some of the harsh realities of the future economy and people better be doing all they can to maintain healthy household cash flow to keep them through difficult times if and when this happens. It's just unfortunate that politicians never openly discuss, or worse, create positive and misleading spins on, these things because these topics are unpopular.

Some of the little things a growing number of US residents can do that may go a long way are: using public transpo, shopping in 99-cent stores for comparable products (I really enjoy shopping here especially after I finish counting how much I saved), spending less on un-necessary consumer luxuries (i.e. self-brewed office coffee instead of Starbucks latte), and sending kids to state universities (whose tuition fees are steadily rising even for in-state residents but not yet as expensive as private universities). Good thing about Pinoys in the US is that we were brought up to endure sacrifices that average Americans may consider to be hard.

I am fortunate not to have a family to support or a home to maintain, so I haven't had trouble stretching my paycheck, but I have found myself actually spending more these days -- that is, I'm training myself to buy my own necessities, e.g., toiletries and (ahem) feminine hygiene products , rather than relying on my parents to keep me in shampoo and soap and...stuff. I also do not rely on them for other personal expenses like transportation (commute fare/gas money) or food, which is the way it should be because I'm earning money now.

One thing I've noticed is that in more recent years, a lot of off-price stores have cropped up. Most of the time they sell only clothes or gift items, though, unlike the discount stores in North America that sell practically everything.

Hmm, there could be a market niche there...

amen. bro, thank God for those 99c stores.
regarding FHM, i don't just buy them off the racks unless sulit talaga. for one, most of the stuff are just filler material. i just go for the soft porn. okay, at least i'm honest about it.
now les this thread become x-rated ....
you know life sucks when ...
the big mac is actually close to being bite-sized
the only thing you can get for a peso is a storck
when rush hour means you want to get out of the motel fast coz of the expensive rates
bwa ha ha

We had this talk w/ our friend who just recently came back from the phil. He said it was cheaper cuz of the money exchange is like 56...to a $1 well ala lng heavey spender give tips daw like P200...philosophy nya minsan lng daw iyong mga waiters to get that kind of money in one serving.... 99 cents store are somewhat a help....expensive nga masyado if you live in the city.

you're right on the money there. Americans are slowly feeling the effects of hard times no thanks to their President. but what Americans are going through is nothing compared to what Filipinos are enduring for several decades with no hope in sight and things just keep getting worse. a great majority of Filipinos live in poverty and misery throughout their existence from marcos to GMA.
Just look at the contrast. Nasubukan ba ng mga kano na lumipas ang mga araw na walang makain, wallow in deep depression and show suicidal tendencies or run amuck, helpless in times of severe illness, powerless against oppression and injustice, live in horrible conditions, succumb to insanity, sell their flesh for food, etc.? Filipinos are powerless against Administrations who, from marcos to GMA, have not done any genuine service to the people, but only give false promises and in the end, they have nothing else better to explain the mess to Filipinos but say it's the fault of the past Administration and simply say what we heard so many times na: "magtiis pa ng konti."
swerte pa ang mga kano. when all else fails, they can kick out their president and something can be done. Dito sa pinas, niloloko ka na nga at lahat, ma-uupo pa ulit na presidente sila.
i'd like to see americans experience what we are going through. pero i suspect they cannot last long. heck, how can you expect americans to last when during the NY blackout, hindi sila makatagal yung pang araw-araw na mamuhay sila sa hirap na tulad na dinranas ng karamihan na mga Pilipino.