P100
by Anna Patricia G. Valerio on September 8, 2008
There’s only so much one can buy with P100 these days.
Eager to find out if living on only P100 daily could still be done, I took on an allowance diet. For one whole week, I only had P100 for my daily allowance.
It’s very challenging to budget an amount that is only equivalent to what I used to get back in high school—half of my daily allowance now, in college. Every time I wanted to buy a meal that’s priced above P70, I felt slightly irked. But I quickly reminded myself that I had to settle for a less expensive meal. It was, after all, part of the experiment.
Cheat and cheapskate
Trying to live on P100 could be difficult, but it is by no means impossible. For the first time in years, I started to feel in control of my expenses.
My battle plan came in the form of sandwiches. Since I’m in school practically the whole day during Tuesdays and Thursdays and usually spend around P150 on lunch and snacks on these days, I thought that one foolproof way to lessen my food expenses would be to bring my own snacks to school.
But I have to admit—I cheated on some days.
The plan worked. I didn’t have to spend money on merienda anymore, and even had some amount to spareat the end of the day. But I wasn’t always so lucky.
See, I’m always thrown in unforeseen – and unfortunate – circumstances. It didn’t really help my cause when I suddenly got my period, ran out of cell phone load, and broke my shoes. Needless to say, I had to go over my 100-peso limit and shell out more money when these accidents happened.
Of course, things weren’t always so dismal for me. Always giving in to impulses for immediate gratification, I surprised myself when I exercised some self-restraint and turned down my whims of buying some dessert. Although it was quite frustrating at first to be faced with so many choices and have such a limited amount of money at my disposal, I figured that I could get used to this.
Just when I thought I was getting the hang of it, I find out that Gaby* (IV AB MEco), a self-confessed kuripot who has been budgeting a 100-peso allowance since she entered college, thinks that her 100-peso allowance is more than enough to cover her school expenses.
“I don’t usually buy snacks and drinks. [I] drink from the fountain. I also make sure that my food [expenses] won’t exceed 60 pesos,” she says. “I could actually live with an 80-peso allowance,” she adds, much to my chagrin.
But it seems that Gaby is more the exception than the rule. Majority of Ateneans receive allowances that go beyond P200 and would perhaps be taken aback by the mere thought of having anything less than P150 for an allowance—especially with the continually rising prices of food sold in school.
Of course, it still wouldn’t hurt to try working with a smaller allowance for a change.
The penny-pincher’s pay-off
Although I’d gladly switch back to my 200-peso allowance at the time, I must say that living on a 100-peso daily allowance wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. Aside from saving half of my allowance that week, I found out how carelessly I’ve been spending my allowance prior to this, and had promised to be more frugal since.
If there’s one thing I learned from all this, it’s that P100 isn’t such a measly amount to live on—especially for a non-commuting, non-driving student like me. With a little creativity, discipline, and, especially in my case, luck, that 100-peso bill could go a long way.
*Name has been changed to protect the identity of the individual
