The Two Hundred-Peso Challenge
Every single school day, I face this scary challenge. With only PHP 200.00 in my wallet, I have to budget it carefully just like a mother does for me to get back home safely. Okay, I have some of my savings in my wallet and I can always run to the nearest ATM since I always bring my ATM card with me, so technically I have more than that in my wallet, but I hate it when I have to spend more than what my daily allowance can buy especially when I have to withdraw money using my ATM card which is connected to my bank account. Right now, my Banco de Oro personal savings account is so low that I’m not earning any interest. So yeah, that’s how poor I am these days.
This year, we have seen drastic changes with prices of the basic commodities we have in the market. The buying power of peso has significantly dropped. Uh, why am I talking about economics? Haha. But you get the point. The poor people were pushed farther beyond the poverty line. I guess, even the richest families in the county could feel the effects of this crisis. No one can’t deny that we are experiencing such problem.
For the past two years, my daily allowance was PHP 150.00. And that was more than what’s enough for me. I could still get savings out of it at the end of a tiring day at school. When this school year had started, I realized that PHP 150.00 is no longer enough for me. I asked my mother for an increase, and fortunately, she agreed. But even though I have PHP 200.00 now, I still have to ask myself if my remaining money could still get me back home whenever I spend for something. It’s scary, you know. What if I spent more than what I could and that has left me only a few coins? What if all the ATMs went offline simultaneously? What if no one was willing to lend me money? What would happen to me? Where would I spend my evening? In my friend’s apartment? Well, that’s something that I don’t want to experience.
So where does my allowance go? Fifty percent of it goes for my jeep and tricycle fares. Around 28% is dedicated for my lunch, and the rest is for my other expenses such as photocopies of our lectures1, pre-paid load, and whatnot. Seriously, two hundred pesos is not enough, but I’m not going to ask for another increase in my allowance.
For the next two weeks, I’m absolutely sure that I’ll eat in a fast food chain at least five times. Don’t ask how I knew that. Obviously, that’s not going to help me with my allowance problem and the two hundred-peso challenge will be more difficult than ever. You see, when I eat at a fast food chain, I always get tempted to buy the most mouthwatering meal (which is always the most expensive meal) plus a yummy dessert. Can you suggest something that will prevent me from looking at the menu? Haha.
This only means that I have to extensively cut my expenses. We are no longer in those days when PHP 200.00 can buy many things. For the mean time, we have to say goodbye to our luxuries. But then again, let us not lose hope that in the near future, we can say hello again to them.
So… </blogging> eh? Well, I hope not.
- I’m tired spending for these. I’ve got tons of photocopied materials in my room already and I’m pretty sure that I’ll have more of them. [↩]
