This is a question that popped into my head this weekend.
No, I am not pregnant nor engaged to be married.
But I have been wondering (more and more, it seems) how my parents did it and how the hell I'm going to do it. And thanks to a long discussion with the boyfriend I realized that I've been crunching numbers thinking only of myself and the boyfriend while he has been thinking of a family of four.
Which made me feel like an absolute bitch and spoiled brat.
Boyfriend = 1, Kulot = 0.
So of course I went on a Googling rampage. "The cost of raising a child in the Philippines" didn't get any great hits, and looking at the numbers for raising a kid in the US ($11,650 to $13,530) or the UK (£10,040) was just too depressing and unfathomable. I started running into sites with big words like "expenditure" and "Gini coefficient" that made my head hurt.
I still haven't gotten an actual number (if you know it, please share!).
In the meantime I've got statistics and articles like these to give me sleepless nights:
Preliminary results of the 2009 Family Income and Expenditure Survey released by NSO showed that Filipino families earned P206,000 on the average last year, or P17,170 a month, higher by 19.1 percent from P173,000 in 2006.
How much does it take to lead a decent, but probably “lower-middle class” existence?
This year, to be counted in the country's elite segment, a family must earn at least P199,927 a month - or about P2.39 million annually.
This last figure (P199,927 a month)--and the fact that the article tagged it for "the country's elite segment"--is what freaks me out the most. The boyfriend made a rough CE of the cost of raising two kids (with one helper and one driver) for a year and it was close to that (but we wouldn't buy clothes for anybody for, well, forever, nor go on a trip to anywhere).
So again I wonder how our parents did it. Or how the hell I'm going to do it. And I can't even say I'll just get a dog because the way things are going I won't even be able to feed him.
NUTS!
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6 comments:
Boyfriend is right to plan for 2 kids. Friend with five kids told me that the major expenses only really kick in with 2nd kid, bec with 1 you can still pretty much live in same apartment and keep a small car and just add a little to your living expenses.
y-slaybelle--
Anak ng...(literally).
Sigh.
But in OTHER NEWS! CONGRATS ON ZEE BABY!!!! Was so happy to see Mike post pics :) :)Give your little one a kiss for me :)
we have one kid and we're still just figuring it out :) I also don't know how our parents did it, but I do know that if they were able to do it then there's no reason why we shouldn't also.
so far, it's just a lot of changing habits. If we spent like there's no tomorrow before, now we keep track of expenses :) that already helps a lot :)
Kaye!
Nakakabuang isipin. Kaya bilib na bilib ako sa inyo ni Reg (at sa lahat ng mga magulang)!
But you're right--if our parents were able to do it, we should be able to do it as well.
...Maybe it's time to make an Excel sheet...urgh ;)
Hugs to the Three Platons!
Kaye,
How strange! I replied to your comment but it disappeared!
Bilib talaga ako sa mga Parental Units like you and Reg! And you're right, I have to be positive and think na if our parents were able to hack it, dapat keri rin natin.
...So maybe it's time to bust out the Mighty Excel sheet for expenses. Urgh :)
Hugs to the Three Platons!
oh yezzz... the Mighty Excel sheet is my very good friend right now :p haha!
i just keep in mind that I'd be a sorry-assed kid if I'm not able to pass on what my parents gave me. :p It's the best way I can say thanks :)
(no doubt tho, tis very hard!)
see ya soon i hope! :D
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