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lettuceLeafer wrote (edited )

Is it okay for me to critique this budget bc I have some questions.

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lettuceLeafer wrote (edited )

Okay so I'm a big budget fan. Like I account for every dollar not out of necessity but out of enjoyment. So my comments will be based on me enjoying budgeting and not me telling u how to live.

So to be clear I'm exchanging the Philippines peso to USD so I kinda know how much your spending. It looks like the exchange rate rn is about 0.01977. So my understanding that the Philippines is one of the cheaper places in the world to live even in the city. But also wages are low af due to to many factors including being a colony in the USA. I know this bc it's a key destination for pedo expats from the US who want to live off capital gains.

Okay so thats my background and reference for your area. I could be very off but I am quite confused by the budget for many reasons. So food the only groceries you plan on buying when you live on your own is bread, a gallon of milk and a lb of cheese a month. I don't know you personally but thats pretty weird not gonna lie. As a fan of budgets I wouldn't plan on you never getting sick of only having milk cheese and bread to snack on at home so maybe plan for a little bit more on groceries in case you might want to mix it up.

I don't know water prices in Philippines but it seems reasonably budgeted for.

Then when you first said fast food expenses I thought it was in a year and I thought that was a lot. But then when you said that it was monthly I was just so confused like there has to be a miscommunication. Like if someone in the US makes as much money after taxes as you have budgeted for fast food a year they can get a nice house, afford multiple children, have a decent retirement, decent new car ect. You couldn't afford to live in Seattle or Chicago but you could do this in most places even many cities. 283,500 PHP is a lot of money in the US. Its a metric fuck ton in the Philippines even in a city to my understanding.

I'm not even sure how its possible to spend that much money on fast food in a month so there must be some miscommunication. Like if you eat a big mac meal every day 3 times a day in the US that will only be 27,741 PHP a month. So I'm not sure how 283,500 a month is even possible. I guess it could make sense if you are talking about eating out in general and not eating just at mcdonalds or wendys or whatever.

The rental estimate checks out imo. I would prob expect a little bit more just in case but overall it seems good. Though I have little understanding of Philippines costs so I'm not the person to ask.

So I can understand how one can spend 175,273 a month on charity and mutual aid. Damn thats a really big mutual aid fund considering most mutual aid costs very little to do. You can really fuck shit up with that much money a year. Tho I wouldn't recommend spending money on mutual aid until you have secured a way you have set up a method to reliably get that money. If you are spending money you don't have to prop up a mutual aid program that is a little callous imo.

With such high spending amounts your are saving far too little imo. Though considering your age it is a pretty good amount if you want to retire at 60. Its about the bare minimum imo.

One critique I have had is you don't seem to have a grasp on many other expenses. How are you getting to work? Will you be able to walk? Where is a good pair of walking shoes budgeted, where are things like furniture, soap ect budgeted. You have said you budgeted for saving for items but you don't seem to have a good estimate on how much you are spending on quality of life / essential items other than shelter and food. Plus if I were you I would get a more solid grasp on how much you are buying on nonessential items like a computer ect. Yes you have a good chunk of money budgeted for it but you don't seem to calculated how much you need to save to maintain your current / desirable lifestyle.

The average net salary after taxes (assuming contractualization has been abolished) is P 2,957.14

This is a very bad tactic for estimating income. What position are you going to work in then calculate the average for the city you will live in. Lumping in doctors, rural farmers and urban poor living in expensive cities is not an effective way to know how much money you will make. Using average net salary to know how much you prob will make is a really bad idea imo.

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moonlune wrote

sick, that was a fun and interesting read :)

Do you have any good budgeting guides or software or websites to recommend?

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lettuceLeafer wrote

Hmm, it's been a while since I did most of my learning tbh. So I'm not super sure what resources to recommend. I use a spreadsheet to organize my accounts and assets. With the group at the top and the monetary edits below to track income, gains, losses and spending.

I think the sub poverty fire is a website quite interesting.

Regarding budgeting itself Im mostly self thought and taught by my parents so I can't give any good recommendations.

I've honestly considered offering finance and budgeting tutoring since it can be hard to get into if you are just starting as an adult. I could never figure out a way to approach it that I would be sure to validate people's oppression, not poor shame, advocate for capitalism or defend the brutality of the current economic system.

So if you would like some more personal help I would be happy to offer and test out my approach. If not feel free to ask for some more general advice.

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Fool wrote

283,500 PHP is a lot of money in the US. Its a metric fuck ton in the Philippines even in a city to my understanding.

Actually that has to be a typo, the most expensive thing on the Phillipines McDonald's¹² menu is 690 and "feeds four people", eating 3 a day is only 64,170.

Seriously that budget is $180 USD a day, if per month.

I'm guessing that's actually the figure for a year, since 283,500 / (365 * 3) is around 250 which is still higher than the single person meals on the McDonald's menu. To compare the other figure this is about $15 USD.

So... around 30 McDonald's meals a day...

¹ I also imagine a person could find something better and cheaper from a street vendor or similar. ² Yes, I am using footnotes on a forum comment!

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d4rk OP wrote

Thanks for that analysis, it's mostly apt and it's an amazing read. a few notes tho

Then when you first said fast food expenses I thought it was in a year and I thought that was a lot. But then when you said that it was monthly I was just so confused like there has to be a miscommunication. Like if someone in the US makes as much money after taxes as you have budgeted for fast food a year they can get a nice house, afford multiple children, have a decent retirement, decent new car ect. You couldn't afford to live in Seattle or Chicago but you could do this in most places even many cities. 283,500 PHP is a lot of money in the US. Its a metric fuck ton in the Philippines even in a city to my understanding.

the calculation was made on the assumption that one eats a McDonald's savings meal every day, the alternative is the groceries, I just accounted both as an either or

I'm not even sure how its possible to spend that much money on fast food in a month so there must be some miscommunication. Like if you eat a big mac meal every day 3 times a day in the US that will only be 27,741 PHP a month. So I'm not sure how 283,500 a month is even possible. I guess it could make sense if you are talking about eating out in general and not eating just at mcdonalds or wendys or whatever.

I agree, many fast food/foreign stores are way above their western mark-ups, it's simply put, unfair to the working class family who can only live on such a thing.

So I can understand how one can spend 175,273 a month on charity and mutual aid. Damn thats a really big mutual aid fund considering most mutual aid costs very little to do. You can really fuck shit up with that much money a year. Tho I wouldn't recommend spending money on mutual aid until you have secured a way you have set up a method to reliably get that money. If you are spending money you don't have to prop up a mutual aid program that is a little callous imo.

This calculation was made on a certain personal policy of mine 50% for personal expenses 30% for Mutual aid or charity 10% for growth and 10% savings. So, yes, following my lifestyle, I agree with that assumption tho.

One critique I have had is you don't seem to have a grasp on many other expenses. How are you getting to work? Will you be able to walk? Where is a good pair of walking shoes budgeted, where are things like furniture, soap ect budgeted. You have said you budgeted for saving for items but you don't seem to have a good estimate on how much you are spending on quality of life / essential items other than shelter and food. Plus if I were you I would get a more solid grasp on how much you are buying on nonessential items like a computer ect. Yes you have a good chunk of money budgeted for it but you don't seem to calculated how much you need to save to maintain your current / desirable lifestyle.

in terms of my transportation, I plan to live in the city center which allows me to just walk to work. I also have a lot of hand-me-downs personally and many clothes, shoes, et al. from previous eras, I live in a medical family in an Asian country so you can imagine how well off they are but they care more about stuff and images than people which is the thought-process that got me to writing this budget, planning to run away.

This is a very bad tactic for estimating income. What position are you going to work in then calculate the average for the city you will live in. Lumping in doctors, rural farmers and urban poor living in expensive cities is not an effective way to know how much money you will make. Using average net salary to know how much you prob will make is a really bad idea imo.

I mean I agree with this point, I'm just using this as a footnote that my possible first job will be within this ballpark, give or take 15% or 20% at any direction. I will consider that the expenses exist within the context of my first job and the lifestyle I live and possibly people in my generation have similar lifestyles (this is already bare minimum because I haven't accounted for insurance, healthcare, trans people, gamers, vegans et al.).

But largely a good read, thank you

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lettuceLeafer wrote (edited )

Cool, youre welcome.

planning to run away.

I wish u luck

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