Getting use to the peso rate

[stevewool]

The other day we sat down to work out the financing , we have the house budget which is still doing ok and we have our everyday living and here is the problem getting use to the peso rate .

Lets buy this and let’s buy that , wow that’s cheap only 48 peso for a gator aid , let’s buy 4 and this has been going on for a few days, silly me thinks wow only 48 peso but thinking only 48 English pence , I would never over spend on these items in England , I would never buy these items in England either, time to put my kuripot head back on , we have another 11 weeks to survive , so it’s going to be more visits to the wet market and lots of water too.

[expatuk2014]

I always shop here telling myself £1 is 65 pesos, and 1000 pesos is £14 as the pound averages around 64 -65 pesos today however its 67 pesos at the time of writing this. One thing to remember here in the Philippines  prices can vary a lot depending on where you buy things ! One example is a 4 pack of Australian Bundaberg Guava drink on shoppee one price 500 pesos another price 999 pesos ! And the same thing in S&R is 360 pesos ! Even the price of water varies. As for Gatorade I like it but it does not like me ! The wife uses the wet market a lot but she insists she goes alone or with her sister as if im there its the whitey price 🤣 everything my wife buys she writes in her book and i transfer it every few days to a spreadsheet on the pc since 2011 we have reduced the cost of the power supply and the water supply by almost half ! As they say every little helps !

 

 

[hk blues]

Like most, I did the conversion thing when I first came here, but slowly have gotten used to working in pesos and no longer automatically do the conversion.  In fact, If I do I tend to use US dollars as it's a simple 50 rate.   

[Tommy T.]

21 minutes ago, expatuk2014 said:

The wife uses the wet market a lot but she insists she goes alone or with her sister as if im there its the whitey price 🤣 everything my wife buys she writes in her book and i transfer it every few days to a spreadsheet on the pc since 2011 we have reduced the cost of the power supply and the water supply by almost half ! As they say every little helps !

It sounds like you are on the right track to keep aware of your expenses. I never go to the wet market with L because she tells me that she would get hit with the "foreigner" prices... And yeah... electricity is the killer here - water is practically free... when it runs...

[stevewool]

24 minutes ago, expatuk2014 said:

if im there its the whitey price 🤣 

 

 

 

I am going to show Ems this and I shall never have to go there again, 

[Marvin Boggs]

I'm lucky in that its a $ conversion for me, which is easier math (50:1) approx.

 

Most things, I just automatically think about in pesos.  We put together a household budget after the first few months; that's what she gets, and there ain't no more.  We use my account for savings.

 

[Mike J]

38 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

It sounds like you are on the right track to keep aware of your expenses. I never go to the wet market with L because she tells me that she would get hit with the "foreigner" prices... And yeah... electricity is the killer here - water is practically free... when it runs...

My wife tells me the same thing, but after six years everyone in Moalboal knows that she is married to a Kano. 

[Tommy T.]

1 minute ago, Mike J said:

My wife tells me the same thing, but after six years everyone in Moalboal knows that she is married to a Kano. 

Davao City is big enough that this is not a problem for us. I never accompany her to any of the three or so wet markets that she frequents... So we are lucky for that. By the way, last check at the SM store here was P565/kilo of prime bariles... The wet market price was something like P350 or 400/kilo... Just need to verify that it is fresh every time...

[hk blues]

Just a general observation, but things ain't all as cheap as it first seems - at least for us foreigners.  Food shopping is a notably expensive thing but we are spoilt in the UK in terms of grocery shopping.  So, it can be easy to blow the budget at first until our brain starts to localise.  When I first came, the extra 2 pesos on a bottle of San Mig light didn't seem notable but I do notice now when the stores up their prices.  Doesn't stop me buying, mind you!  

[Arizona Kid]

When the peso is at around 50 per dollar, I'm a happy man. In the 16 plus years I  lived here I've seen it go as high as 57 and as low as 39 briefly. You just have to go with the flow. Not a problem.