But as a consumer, is it really worth it, at all, to maintain 3 prepaid lines on an Unlimited service? Or is it actually better to just keep a plan and not worry about needing to remain connected to everyone?

Let’s see.

Phones

An old Nokia or Sony Ericsson model from China costs as low as Php 500 in China Phone stores. These models are called “recon” or reconditioned models. These have been manufactured in the Chinese factories that have been commissioned to produce Nokia Phones. For some reason, despite the fact that these are ancient phone models, they’ve kept producing them, just labeling them as “reconditioned.” Either way, these are very cheap phones and honestly, you get what you pay for.

On the other hand, you can opt for a China Phone Dual SIM, which is usually a knockoff of a Nokia phone. They can cost anywhere from Php 1,000 to Php 6,000, depending on the model. If it has WiFi and TV, expect to pay more.

There are also the licensed, mainstream Dual or Triple SIM phones from Cherry Mobile, Torque, and MyPhone. MyPhone was the pioneer in the Dual SIM phone industry, however, the quality of their units left much to be desired, thus, Cherry Mobile and Torque were able to take over the niche they left. They’re still in business, but aren’t as favored by the consumers as much as Cherry Mobile and Torque. These phones can set you back anywhere from Php 1300 to Php 6500.

Then the mainstream big-company phones, usually Single SIM, or, as in the case of LG and Samsung, some models are Dual SIM. These could take up anywhere from Php 1,500 up to Php 20,000+ of your budget. If you’re going for the iPhone, expect to pay at least Php 25,000.

Plans

There are different plans involved. Some plans are consumable, while some have free minutes. Let’s explore those that are closest to prepaid with Unlimited offers: the Unlimited plan offerings. But for comparison’s sake, we’ll also note the lowest consumable plans, and the standard plans with freebies.

Smart:

Entry-Level Promo Plan: Gold Lite 300 (No Free Phone)
Consumable Value.
Free Minutes: 0
Free SMS: 75

Call Rates:
Smart to Smart: Php 2.00 per minute
Smart to Other Networks: Php 7.64
SMS Rate: Php 1.02
IDD Rate: $0.40

These two other Smart Plans come with Free Phones, as well as a Loyalty Program wherein Smart gives the subscriber a new phone every 2 years.

Lowest Consumable Plan: Plan 500
Free Minutes: 0
Free SMS: 150

Call Rates:
Smart to Smart: Php 6.62 per minute
Smart to Other Networks: Php 7.64
SMS Rate: Php 1.02
IDD Rate: $0.40

Plan With Free Minutes And Texts: Plan 500
Free Minutes: 20 minutes
Free SMS: 500

Call Rates:
Smart to Smart: Php 6.11 per minute
Smart to Other Networks: Php 7.64
SMS Rate: Php 1.02
IDD Rate: $0.40

Unlimited Plan: Applicable Only To Smart Gold Lite Plans:

Php 500 – Calls Only, worth 30 days, billed on top of plan.
Php 60 – Texts Only, every 5 days, billed on top of plan.

So, in order to take advantage of Call and Text unlimited on a Smart Plan, you would have to pay:

Php 300 – Smart Gold Lite Monthly Service Fee
Php 500 – SmartTalk Unlimited Call Promo
Php 360 – SmartText Unlimited Texting Promo (Php 60 for every 5 days x 5 times of enrollment to cover 30 days in a month)

Unlimited Call and Text, including Plan Total: Php 1,160 a month
Unlimited Text, including Plan Total: Php 660

Smart Prepaid Version:

Unlimited Call and Text:

Php 500 – SmartTalk Unlimited Call Promo
Php 360 – SmartText Unlimited Texting Promo (Php 60 for every 5 days x 5 times of enrollment to cover 30 days in a month)
Php 50 – Allowance for maintenance load

Total: Php 910

OR

Php 360 – SmartText Unlimited Texting Promo (Php 60 for every 5 days x 5 times of enrollment to cover 30 days in a month)
Php 50 – Allowance for maintenance load

Total: Php 410

There is an offer that gives you free 20 minutes worth of Smart to Smart calls every time you enroll in the promo. It expires when your Unlimited promo expires, as well. In a month, that would give you 100 call minutes (20 x 5 times of re-enrollment in the unlimited texting promo).

Globe:

Lowest Consumable Plan: Globe Fully Loaded 299
Freebies (This Plan may choose only ONE option):

Free 10 minutes of calls and 200 SMS to Globe
Free 5 minutes of calls and 25 SMS to other networks
Free 20 minutes of IDD calls and 10 International SMS
Free Mobile Internet Surfing
Free Unlimited Calls and Texts to ONE Globe or Touch Mobile Number

Call Rates:
Globe to Globe: Php 6.00 per minute
Globe to Other Networks: Php 7.50
SMS Rate: Php 1.00
IDD Rate: $0.40

Unlimited Plans:

Unlimited Text (No Calls) Offer: Php 349
Calls are billed on top of plan.

Unlimited Calls and Texts: Php 599
Calls to other networks are billed on top of plan.

Globe Prepaid Version:

Globe UnliTXT: Php 80 for 5 days x 5 times of reloading to cover 30 days
Globe UnliTXT Monthly Cost: Php 450
(Covers the Php 50 extra for maintenance of the promo.)

Globe Super Unli: Php 150 for 7 Days x 4 weeks
Globe Super Unli Monthly Cost: Php 650
(Covers the Php 50 extra for maintenance of the promo.)

Sun Cellular:

Lowest Postpaid: Easy Line 250

Unlimited Sun to Sun Texting
Free Call Minutes: 600 minutes

Standard Postpaid Line: Plan 350

You may enroll your Plan 350 in either Unlimited Text or Unlimited Call and Text Offers:

Call & Text Unlimited

Unlimited Sun to Sun Calls & Texts
Free SMS to other Networks:  250
(No consumable calls to other networks. Calls to other networks are charged on top of Monthly Service Fee, up to the account’s credit limit.)

Text Unlimited

Unlimited Sun to Sun Texts
Free SMS to other Networks:  250
Consumable Amount: Php 200
(Consumable amount could be applied to for calls to other networks.)

Sun Cellular Prepaid Version:

Text Unlimited: Php 150 per 30 days, includes 240 Sun to Sun call minutes

Call and Text Unlimited: Php 450 per 30 days, includes Php 50 regular load

Thus, if you maintain 3 networks, you’ll be spending:

Unlimited Text Only/Postpaid:

Smart: Php 660
Globe: Php 349
Sun: Php 250

Total: Php 1259

Unlimited Call and Text/Postpaid:

Smart: Php 1160
Globe: Php 599
Sun: Php 350

Total: Php 2109

Unlimited Text Only/Prepaid:

Smart: Php 410
Globe: Php 450
Sun: Php 150

Total: Php 1010

Unlimited Call and Text/Prepaid:

Smart: Php 910
Globe: Php 650
Sun: Php 450

Total: Php 2010

By these figures, you can see that it is more frugal to actually go for the Unlimited Text Only options for Prepaid. After all, you do get free minutes with Sun, and Smart does have free minutes as well. However, in terms of best value for money and freebies, it would make sense to get a Sun Plan, but then keep your Globe and Smart lines text-only.

Personally, it is crucial for me to maintain a Smart prepaid account on unlimited text, because most of my contacts are on Smart. However, I do have a few friends on Globe, and their Immortal Text offer has been helpful. Immortal Text and Immortal Calls are no-expiry enrollments of your regular Globe load. Their previous “plans” were at Immortal 15: 50 Globe to Globe texts/5 minutes of calls per Php 15, and Immortal 20: 75 Globe to Globe texts/10 text to other networks. I only load their SUPER UNLI Php 25/24-hour Unlimited Call/Text offer, as needed.

So my personal set is:

Smart: Php 410
Globe: Php 250
Sun: Php 250

Total: 910

Globe is set at Php 250, because I had loaded only Php 150 last July 2, then enrolled the value on ImmortalTXT and ImmortalCALL subscriptions and I’m giving a generous estimate of needing to load it Php 25 a week for the 24/7 call and text unlimited offer. Now that the promo is gone, I may just load around the same amount, for the occasional text to Globe subscriber friends and loved ones. We’re not sure if there’ll ever be another offer like ImmortalTXT or ImmortalCALL, but I’m thinking about adding another Touch Mobile SIM to my growing collection of SIM Cards. This is because Touch Mobile has cheaper options, like the Php 5 SulitTXT, which is 25 text messages from TM to Globe, for only Php 5.

But then again, maybe it would be easier to just use regular prepaid load, since I’m not even texting a lot of people on Globe anyway. We’ll see.

So, to wrap up, in order to be able to text everyone you need to, across all three maddening networks, you may need to spend a minimum of Php 1,010 a month on Prepaid, or Php 1,259 on Postpaid. Not a lot of difference, actually. On one hand, if you’re looking to absorb the cost of your phone, it actually makes more sense to stay on the Postpaid, since you’ll get free phones every 2 years. While you can get free phones on Globe’s Text Unlimited Plan, and on Sun’s Plan 350, take note that you would have to get a Regular Smart Gold Plan, or its consumable version, for Smart. You cannot get a free phone for Smart Gold Lite.

Maybe the free handset every 2 years is worth it. Maybe you have a thing for phone brands that are not on the phone lineups of either Smart, Sun or Globe. Maybe you’ll be content with just one plan on one network. Or just one single postpaid account on one network, because of the free texts or call minutes. Either way, we’ve given you how the bills look from a Postpaid or a Prepaid perspective, especially on the Unlimited Texting and Unlimited Call and Texting side. Now, it’s up to you to take a look and see which mobile network carrier, and which Unlimited plan or promo is best for you.

Photo Credits: Pinoy Tech Blog

For Part 1 of this article, click please: UNLIMITED MADNESS

***

More On Saving On Phone Costs: How To Make Cheap Phone Calls and Lower Your Phone Bill

Little kid running around the Internets posing as a 26 year old Freelance Online Writer slash Virtual Assistant for Hire. She loves God, Theology, Technology, and Thinking Too Much. And don’t forget her boyfriend.

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Pinoy Frugal Blog has featured several blog articles before about the art of saving while traveling. Traveling is, as we are all aware, one source of money drain. But the fact of the matter is that it doesn’t have to be a huge expense, and we all know that in the end, taking some much-needed vacation time to get away and be with the family reaps benefits that are well worth the costs. One thing to remember when you begin the trip planning part is that you don’t necessarily have to go to a heavily advertised “getaway resort” to have a great trip. If you have young kids especially, remember that children don’t really care about things like a nice hotel or fancy restaurants. For kids, any sort of trip is an adventure. Here are a few things to keep in mind when deciding where your next trip destination should be.

1. Look for options in your own backyard.

While we are all certainly seduced by the idea of going far from home to properly escape, you’d be surprised at the options you have that may be just a few hours’ car ride or a short plane ride away. Camping is an especially good money-saving option for young kids. Kids delight in the outdoors. For me personally, I had much more fun as a small tyke hiking with my parents on the family farm than I had when we saved up lots of money just to go to Disneyworld.

2. Go places where you have family or friends.

While the whole point of a getaway is completely escape your current life, and that may also include getting away from family and friends, there are many money-saving possibilities for going to locations where you at least know someone. For one, you’ll avoid the running around inherent in trying to figure out a place for the first time without an “insider’s” perspective. Also, your contact will necessarily know the best and cheapest places to eat, sleep, and play.

3. When planning an itinerary, incorporate lots of free time.

Although as adults, we want to see and do as many things as possible during a trip in order to make the most of our time, kids get easily tired, hungry, and bored. If you try to squeeze in too many activities, you’ll end up 1. Spending more money, 2. Tiring out the kids and 3. Causing more stress than it’s worth. By incorporating lots of free time every day of your vacation, you’ll surprised at how much more time you enjoy with the kids, how much less you spend, and how quick and easy it is to find spur of the moment activities that produce those unforgettable family moments.

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My eldest daughter is now 9.  She has a fixed allowance of a hundred pesos per week, and after a huge trial and error hilarity, she now know how to manage her allowance.  End result?  By the end of the week, she reports that she still have some cash left because she was being “economical.”  Such a huge word for a 9 year old.  I may have to consider talking to her about the science of supply and demand, but I think she knows that already but does not really understand that it is the same all over the world.

So how did I do it?

A year ago, I made a stupid mistake of forcing her to save.  Forcing a child to save will never work as they needed to learn the most important art of all.  I think it is important to encourage the art of spending first before teaching children how to save.  The more she understand the difference between wants and needs, you’d know you are in the right direction.

When teaching a child the art of spending, you must teach your child the ability to recognize that in every store, you always have a choice.  You need to check out prices between goods.  It is also important to allow your child to recognize the differences between certain products and why she thinks the other is cheaper or more expensive than the other.  For example, (I usually do this exercise at the groceries’ milk section).  From there, I ask my daughter what she wants first (I already know what her answer was going to be ofcourse) and we both said, “Pauls.”  Then I asked her why she prefers Pauls.  And she said cause it tastes good and Daddy said that Australian goods are better than the locals.  So I asked her, how much is the Pauls milk and she said its P69, Mom.  And before I could ask her the follow up question, the smart girl said, “Oh, Mom, we can get Paul because there is only P2 difference between the local milk and imported.”  Smart… she is making a huge display of preference here and she is prepared to justify that choice. Ok.

Then I asked, why do you think the local milk is cheaper by P2?  Then she looked at the shelf again said, “Ah, I really do not see any difference cause their boxes look the same. And both said 1 Liter.”  (Ahhh, observant…)  Then she said, “Ah, I know what the P2 difference is!!!  Its because Pauls is from Australia!  And it takes more money to bring it here than the locals.  Ahh, am I right?”

Then I said, yes you are right, kiddo.  So why don’t you go ahead and check out the rest of the aisle before deciding…  She walked down the aisle looking at the entire shelf of fresh milk and she said, “Hey, Mom!  Selecta Milk is only P34!  Hey, probably we should buy it… but I bet it won’t taste as good as Pauls…”  She started moving away from the aisle and I recognized that she was losing interest already, so I asked her, “Why do you think its cheaper, baby?”  She looked at both and said, “Ahh, they both look the same…  except that Selecta said its Fortified while Paul says its Fresh milk.”  Then she looked up to me and asked, “What’s fortified?”  Then I looked at her while trying my best to remember if fortified milk is best because its fortified with other vitamins and minerals to balance out the saturated fat in pure whole milk.

Learning the differences why products are priced differently from others is good. This help children to go beyond what they see-packaging. Although my children are highly influenced with brands because of what they see everyday (say– Jollibee, McDonalds, Colgate and Coke) Just because they see these brands on their faces, does not mean they are the best and not realistically most economical. (BAH)

Anyway, when children learn to identify and formulate how those prices are the way they are, they’d be able to more or less compare other products from one another and from there make smarter spending decisions.

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Here are simple ways you can curb that anxiety:

Assess and Decide on what is needed before the month of May.

Make a list of ALL the school supplies needed.  Before making your list, I suggest you inspect your children’s old school items before deciding what needed to be replaced and bought. For example, I found that my middle child’s school bag still looked good as new.  One thing about me is that although we only have enough money to go around, when it comes to clothing,  shoes and other frequently used items, I prefer buying high quality items.  I inspected their shoes and school uniforms and decided that some of them are still good to wear for another year and some of my eldest daughter’s skirt needed to be repaired.  Setting aside all those that needed repair, I decided how many blouses, skirts, polos and shorts are needed for this coming school year.

Call School Admission a Month before Enrollment.

I always call my children’s school admission office to check for school fees increase and schedule.  This helps me decide on how much I needed to pay during the enrollment.  Its also advisable to check how much the book fees not to mention those dreaded miscellaneous fees.

Make a Plan.

If you have not done this yet, make a short financial plan.  This should all be broken down as follows:

1) School Fees, including miscellaneous fees

2) School Uniforms including P.E. Uniforms

3) School Supplies

In my case, since I have 3 children, I broke down my budget per child. Once you have added up all the possible expenses, I suggest adding 20% for contingency.

Next plan out how you will be able to pay for those expenditures.  In my case, I have started saving for my children’s school expenses last year.  I try to be at least 6 months ahead when it comes to saving for my children’s education.  I suggest you try to make the habit of setting aside a certain percentage of your monthly income for your children’s education.

Plot your Schedule on your Calendar.

Doing the above will help you curb unnecessary trips to the mall.  It will also help to check out the stores at least two months before shopping and decide where you wanted to buy the school items.  I have also learned that 2 months before June, malls begins there mid year inventory which means there will be huge sales prior to these inventories.  This might be the best time to buy those expensive yet durable black shoes and school bags.

Plan your shopping day wisely and never go to the mall on a weekend.  Avoid the crowd and last minute shoppers.  Spend enough time in the store of your choice so you can still do a quick price comparison. When doing your shopping, stick on your list and let your budget known to your children.

Buy in Bulk for the Whole Year.

In my case, since I have 3 children in school, I save more money buying school supplies in bulk.  Instead of buying one pencil for each child, I opt to buy one box of pencils instead.  The same goes for crayons, markers, notebooks and paper.  Place these supplies somewhere where your children cannot touch them.  I have a school supplies cabinet in my house.  Children can make requests for supplies when necessary only.

So,

If you have done those necessary steps mentioned, you should be able to survive May and June without breaking the bank.  It is also essential to include your children with your planning so they will understand whats vs needs.  Shopping with children does not have to be stressful especially when they know you are hell bent on sticking to the list.  As always, remember to reward good behavior!

How did you do this month by the way?

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Below are a few straightforward rules of thumb you can adhere to in order to ensure that you enjoy the FULL benefits and avoid the problem that many experience with credit cards.

1. Find a good credit card.

Not all credit cards are the same.  Many have hidden fees and charge exorbitant interest rates.  When choosing a credit card, check their website first and compare interest rates, including annual fees and ofcourse the places where you can use them.  There are simply alot of credit cards in the country and you can bet that they wanted you to have one for several reasons.

Be careful with annual fees.  In my experience there are actually some credit card companies who waives annual fees IF YOU ASK FOR IT. You got that right.  You need to ask for it.  If you have good credit standing, the CSRs can easily waive these in mere seconds.

Check out their rebate offers. Some credit card companies offers monthly cash back!  Some are tied in with gasoline companies and stores from which you can earn reward points.  At one point in my life, we earned more than P35,000 of rewards point from Citibank which my husband used to shop in Marks and Spencer.

2.  Study your Credit Card Statements every month.

Be sure to review your statements as soon as you get them.  Take the time to check out the charges and if you keep credit card receipts, this is the best time to do a quick checking, and if you do find some weird charges, call your credit card company so they can check the charges and so you can also dispute the charges quickly.

3. NEVER use your credit cards for ATM withdrawal.

If possible, you’d want to avoid using your credit card for ATM withdrawals or quick cash. Most credit cards charge higher interest rates and sometimes an additional fee when you withdraw cash from your credit card.

4.  Pay your Credit Card balances in FULL each month.

This is one of my mantras.  If you do not have the funds to pay your credit card bills in FULL each month, then YOU SHOULD not use them at all.  Credit card interests can easily snowball and before you know it, you are in neck deep in credit card debt.  NOT GOOD at all.

If this post in not enough, then read Ramit’s blog and he will say it again,

Don’t carry a balance (if you do, pay it off as quickly as you can). Pay the maximum every time. If you can’t pay off a purchase by the end of the month, don’t buy it.- I Will Teach You To Be Rich

However, if you are already in debt, then I suggest going to your bank and re-negotiate the rates.  These banks what their money back and will do almost anything in order to get them.  And on alot of cases, banks can actually lower their interest fees and even create a pay plan that you can follow.

5. Make use of those Rewards Points!

Alot of people actually fail to maximize those reward offers.  I am only familiar with Citibank and they offer an entire BOOKLET that summarizes ALL the establishments they are in partner with.  You can enjoy 10% discounts on restaurants and alot of stores.  They even have partner hotels, spas and resorts that offers up to 30%-50%  low season discounts.

BOTTOMLINE:

There are alot of advantages on having credit cards.  But the disadvantages can outweigh the benefits if you have no discipline and the money to keep on paying your bills at the end of each month.  So use credit cards just like you have the actual cash.  When used properly, you can receive and enjoy great rewards and discounts.  If credit card is not your cup of tea, then what the heck, there’s always Debit Cards!

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If I do not start saving or setting something aside for myself today, how will my financial health be when I am 52?  So if you have learned the power of writing things down, then you must begin today.  I have learned that to get clarity and purpose, it is imperative to write things down.  It helps me gain perspective.  It also make planning for the steps necessary to reach those goals.  Whatever those are.

So if you are like me, a separated woman with several children to raise, then you might be scared shit like me, but hey, never allow fear to hinder you from making and implementing your plans for financial independence and stability!   There are simply alot of places where you can cut corners.  Some purchases are not necessary… remember that silly bag you bought last month?  Where is it now?  At the back of your closet, I bet!

Anyway, before I digress on useless purchases, here are some tips that I have learned to live by:

1. Buy Used.

Knowing what kind of daily comforts you can and cannot live without.  This reminds me of a purchase that my parents made years ago.  They bought this heavy-duty microwave oven that cost more than the usual ovens.  They hardly use it and the thing ended up useless on the cabinet.

You will definitely save more by buying used.  I like buying my books from places like Book Sale and although I buy books from Amazon, I like buying those used ones.  I also save cash by buying used DVDs from ebay.

I have a huge stance on buying used clothing.  I tend to buy high quality clothing for myself and the children.  We seldom shop now, but I noticed that it is still best to buy high quality clothing on sale than those cheap ones that break after a few months.

2. Always Pay in Cash.

This reminds me of several relatives who kept on telling me that I should buy a car.  I told them, I do not have enough to buy one in cash and they said, who told you you need cash?  Just put a downpayment and pay the rest for 3 years!  This is one of the reasons why alot of us are in debt.  If you cannot buy anything in cash, then it means you cannot AFFORD it.

Two months ago, my Macbook died.  I took  it to the Mac Center and I was informed that I fried my hard drive.  A replacement cost more than P4,500.  Not only that, my RAM needed an upgrade if I wanted the latest Mac OS– another P1,500.  And it did not end there, my battery needed replacement as well.  How much is a battery?  P6,590.  Not cheap.

So what did I do?  I have only budgeted P3,500 for the repair.  So, I PRIORITIZED the repair and had the RAM upgrade first.  The Mac technician told me, “Maám if you have a credit card, you can charge the rest there so I can fix everything in one go.”  Although I have one CC, I told him, that I dare not charge anything.  I will be back next week or so for the rest of the repairs.  Know what??? It took me a month and 2 weeks to save for the HDD and the battery.  Did I regret the delay?  No!  Just think of the worry free nights and the no-freaking out-during the 1st of the month when the credit card bill is delivered on your doorstep.  It was definitely worth the wait…

Unless you have a good credit standing and you are like my friend Bing, then you can always use credit cards for emergencies.  But you need to be careful with credit cards.

3. When Making a Budget ALWAYS Include Contingencies.

Make a budget and stick to it should have been the first tip, aye?  But sometimes, we forget to include contingencies when making a budget.  More often, you ended up finishing most of your pay every month.  Not good.  Cut corners and allocate some cash for emergencies.  After a year of setting aside for contingencies, you will thank me, I swear!  It does not matter how small, but you have to start somewhere.  It could be as little as P1,000 per payday.  That’s already P12,000 in a year!  Think about it!

4. You Don’t Have to be Rich.

One of the things I am proud of today is that I am debt free.  Although I do not have alot of savings, I realized that that is better than living a life in debt.  Ofcourse some of you might have the knack of using credit wisely but some are not that lucky.  Think of snowball effect.  Once you are in debt and you fail to pay off your monthlies, these would snowball and the next thing you know, you’d be in debt neck deep.  Not good.

You do not have to be rich to live comfortably.  The rule of thumb is this.  Be happy with what you can afford and ALWAYS live within your means.

5. Be Willing to Make Do.

Living a frugal life is a lifestyle change.  You needed to be able to learn to make do of what you have.  I believe that frugal living is not a life of depravity. This lifestyle is obviously not for everyone.  Let’s face it, there are lots of things that are completely out of your control, but what you spend on is something you CAN control. Learn to say no and make do!

What Now?

Everyone has different ideas of what frugality is.  But to me, being frugal has kept me out of debt.  It has helped me teach my children that saving for things they wanted is a good thing.  Not only are you teaching your children how to handle their cash flow, but to me, this would also help my children to harness their creativity.

Nothing beats planning, budget and saving for your future.  If cashflow has always been a problem for you, then you needed to change your attitude and mind frame in order to live and stick to it to be able to live a life free of worries and debt.

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We live in one of the richest countries in the world, but with the economy in turmoil, having a baby is becoming more and more of a financial challenge.  We always want the best for our baby without compromising safety and quality.  As my husband and I are slowly preparing to become new parents, we are slowly discovering smart money-saving techniques to help us in this tight economy.  Here’s some of them:

1.  Choose the best insurance coverage and get covered. Giving birth to a child is not cheap.  Here in the US, normal childbirth costs without insurance and without any complications would range from $10,000 to $13000.  If there are any health complications for the mom or the baby, that cost could spiral up to $150,000.    My husband and I are both fully employed and have good medical insurance coverage.  When we got married and decided to become parents, we had to put everything on paper to find out which insurance coverage will give us the best bang for our buck.  My company has a PPO (Preferred Provider Organization), while my husband’s has an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization).  There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but in the end we ended up going with his HMO since the premiums are relatively cheaper and it provides very good maternity coverage.  You can read about the comparison between the two from About.com.

The trick is, before renewing our coverages, we made sure that we put everything on paper and did the math.  We took into account all the money we needed to spend during the whole pregnancy journey, not just the money we will be spending during the time when I am in the hospital giving birth to our child.  My husband’s HMO insurance included free ultrasound for all prenatal visits, free yoga classes, and free childbirth education seminars.  I thought it was such a great deal because if we were to avail of these services elsewhere, we would end up spending $5000 more.  Plus, staying healthy during the whole pregnancy will prevent having complications which consequently leads to more hospital time and more money spent.

2.  Before buying baby stuff, do the research and be a smart shopper.  In buying baby items,  our first step is making sure that these items are safe.  One of the websites that we visit to do our research is the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.  Customer reviews also help. But I look for unbiased opinions.

Once we are certain about an item, we look for it in specialty stores like target and babies r us to be sure that it is really what we want.  We note down the price, then go online to find out if we can find a better deal.  Normally, we would find good deals at Amazon or Craigslist.  If you do go this route, don’t forget to include shipping and taxes in your computation.  Sometimes it is still better to go to the store.

3.  Use credit wisely. I have 4 credit cards, but I only use  2 of them.  Both have rewards points on them.  I pay them in full every time, so I never get to pay interest or late charges. What’s best about it is I accumulate points for every dollar I spend which can later on be exchanged for gift items, free hotel stays and free airline tickets.  Before giving birth to our child, I have planned a “babymoon” for me and my husband using the points I’ve accumulated through my credit card.  We have a monthly budget for food, gas, etc.  Instead of using cash to pay for those, I pay it with my credit card and rack up the points.   Then we use those points for entertainment.  So technically, we pay nothing for entertainment.  Plus, we get to improve our credit score by using credit wisely.

4.  Go online to get educated.  Getting educated about pregnancy and childbirth is one of the best tools that any new mom can have.  But it doesn’t have to cost anything.  If you do not have the money to spend for Prenatal information classes or pregnancy books, you can always get those information online.   Two of the best websites that I go to is My Baby Center and The Bump.

I am one of those people who sometimes prefer print media over online media.  Sometimes I have to print out articles to read them instead of reading them from the computer.  If you are one like me, you may want to get free magazine subscriptions.  Here are 2 magazines that are very informative and are given out free: here and here.

5.  Do not spend too much money on maternity clothes.  Being pregnant doesn’t mean you have to be ugly, but it also doesn’t mean that you have to spend ridiculous amounts of money on clothes.  I was surprised to find that bargain stores carry maternity clothes.  Two of my favorite bargain stores, Marshall and Ross, have a maternity section.  Instead of spending $30+ for maternity pants at a regular maternity store, I spent $15.   On my big shopping day, I walked away from the store with 4 items: 2 tops and 2 pants and only spent $50.

It’s easy to save money even with a baby on the way if you look in the right places.

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So how do I manage to take all 4 children in the groceries without breaking the bank as well as keeping your sanity?

DAY BEFORE.

Children needed to be prepared mentally. The day before shopping day, I allow my children to sit with me while I make my grocery list. I also ask each one if they wanted me to include anything in particular. This way, if your children have any request, you already know what and if the budget can accommodate the request. I usually allocate P250 for their request. This would cover requests for soda, crackers or donuts. No sweat!

SHOPPING DAY.

During shopping day, I ask one of the children to read my list aloud so everybody knows why we are going to the groceries. This is also great because you are reminding your children what you are buying, including the purpose of the trip.

When in the grocery, I do not go through all the aisles. I only go through the NECESSARY aisles.  No point parading idly along the other lanes. This also allows you to go quickly in and out of the store especially if you have children below 6 with you.

Let older children help with the picking of items from the shelf. I allow my eldest to hold and read the list while Freida and Tyrell run off to fetch the items. This will give your children a feeling that they are part of a team and builds camaraderie between siblings.

REWARD GOOD BEHAVIOR.

After each trip and everybody has behaved, I give each child a treat. This could be a trip to Dunkin Donuts, or Jollibee.

It is definitely easy to take all children to the groceries. It does not have to be stressful, provided that your children has been prepped and expectations are known and acknowledged.

Here is a fantastic article on Winning Ways to Shop with Children.

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She now lives 3 blocks away from the mall that once was the biggest in the entire world…the northern frozen world, anyway.

If you are lucky enough, you just might see Northern Lights dancing in the sky on late summer nights. Around here, a moose might be seen crossing the backroads. A bear, if you are very very lucky.  Here and north of here, the snowy Christmas scene we so adore in the tropics is seen six months in a year. Beautiful, eh?

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I came to this permafrost nation 6 years ago having the same commonplace cattle’s reason, greener pastures. And indeed it is that. Or if we are to be technical about, oilier petroleum, or liquid gold, or however you want to call that sticky fluid you fill your vehicles’ tanks with. This land I am living produces that, gazillions of it. And is this land rich? Indeed it is!

You cannot die of hunger in this place. You may die with over consumption maybe, but never physiological hunger. Why not you ask? Because this land is rich enough to create social matrices that does not allow that. If you lost your job, you can avail of the employment insurance you have paid into while you were working.

You don’t earn enough? You can apply for social assistance and see if you qualify. Oh, you are discontented with you current salary and would like to improve yourself and go back the hallowed hallways of tertiary learning? You can borrow money from the government to do just that. And you don’t have to pay it back right away. You have 6 months after graduation to pay all those back. And sometimes, they waive a huge portion of that. Congratulations! You just upgraded your job potential and downgraded your student loans. Neat huh?

If only our needs stop there. Oh okay, the needs do stop there. Another sneaky player comes into the scene, our wants. In my previous life, what this is can be called success. Having met my needs is achievement. Not quite here. By virtue of being here, one entertains the myriad of possibilities that now seems reasonable: a brand new car, the latest widgets, even European trips.

All this can be had here, right here, right now. A lot of people do this all the time. Stretching their lines of credits, maxing out their credit card limits. I have been here once before. Never again. We can have these things, all of these things…maybe just not at one single pouring.

Definition of terms:

Line of credit – a huge chunk of change your bank purposely sets aside at your disposal. The better your paying behaviour, the bigger the chunk you have access to. The interest you pay is usually way less than your credit card…usually 5-7%. Amounts can be to the tune of 40% of your annual income. You do not have a plastic card for this. You can transfer amounts thru web-banking to your debit card for your spending pleasure.

Credit card limit – same as line of credit, only with higher interest rates. Interests vary starting from 7 to 21% annually. And access to this is masterfully delivered in that tiny but oh-so-powerful plastic card.

In this society, to be out of debt must be a conscious decision every waking moment. How society entices us to part with our money, and how easy it is to let them!

Let’s see how much in total money you can have access to at one moment. Let’s say you earn 40,000. And let’s assume you have a great credit history, meaning you pay your bills on time and mostly all of the amounts owing all the time. You earned yourself the title, best possible creditor. Your bank is beaming at you and in turn it offers (I know! The bank offers!) you 20,000 line of credit with 5% annual interest. And since you have your credit card (Visa, Mastercard, etc) with the same bank, they gave you higher credit limit too, say 5,000.

And of course you have to shop at Costco where they only accept American Express cards. And since you are fixated with Costco’s great deals, you just had to sign up! And since you so graciously told the truth on their application that you earn 40,000, they in turn graciously granted you another 10,000 credit limit.

So in total, with the line of credit 20,000 and the first Visa credit card 5,000 and American Express card, 10,000, that is a whole freakin huge amount of money! You will, with open mouth, realize, that you have just been given access to almost your entire year’s income.

Herein lies one of the greater challenges that makes men and women alike tremble. What do we do with this power? Indeed how you react to this abundance may surprise you. You will definitely learn so much more about yourself, more than you think you know.

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Air Fare.  Buying your tickets months before your travel date will give you a huge discount.  This is true.  I checked all the airline rates online to determine the best airline rate.  Since Bangkok is fairly one of the topmost destinations for Pinoys who wanted to shop, there are simply a good deal of flight schedules to choose from.  I checked out the Thai Airways website first, then Philippine Airlines then Cebu Pacific the last.  I would have booked with Cebu Pacific but hey they suck remember? So  I decided to take Philippine Airlines and was quite surprised to find that the difference was only P900. To heck with the 900 pesos price difference.

Hotels.  In case of Bangkok, there are simply too many hotels in the city to choose from.  I decided to use Tripadvisor and Agoda for hotel reviews before making my bookings.  Hotel rooms range from USD18-120 per night, and I decided that to be able to gauge the hotels, I used location and distance from the Bangkok Skytrain as my requirements.

Having narrowed it down to anywhere between 5-10 minute walk away from BTS, I started narrowing the locations down by using Google Maps to point out the location of the malls I wanted to shop in.  Since my target was the Central World and Siam Paragon, I decided that staying at a hotel close to the malls would be ok.  WRONG.

Why?  Because the top malls in Bangkok is on the most busiest place in the city, the hotels close to the malls are the most expensive.  Talk about USD120-180 per night hotels… simply out of my budget.  Heck, I was hoping to find a hotel room for USD30-35/ night.  My other requirement is free wifi and stellar reviews from business and solo travelers.

So I went on looking.  Using Tripadvisor and Agoda was a good idea.  I managed to narrow down the hotels near the stations and I managed to narrow them down on my price range, and I ended up with 2 possible hotels:

1- Royal Ivory Nana Hotel- 1 block away from the BTS.  Not bad.  At Bangkok scale, a block could be as far as a 5-10 minute walk.  Wifi is free and the hotel have less than 60 rooms.  Which makes it ideal for solo travelers.  I hate crowds.

2- Bangkok Loft Inn-  half a block away from the closest BTS station.  Great.  I checked out the reviews via Tripadvisor and Agoda, and the hotel got RAVE reviews.

The Decision.  I opted to stay the Bangkok Loft Inn.  Why?  I checked out the age of the hotel and found out that the BLI is newly opened.  This means, new bed, new television, spunkier furniture, and I was right.  Not only that, after making my online booking at Bangkok Loft Inn, I asked if they could arrange for a hotel car to pick me up and they told me their car will pick me up at the airport for free.  Yes… note that almost all big hotels offer free shuttle rides to the hotels… so make sure you let your hotel know that you want to avail for free shuttle ride.

Then, after checking out the prices, I jotted them down using Google Docs and allocated B1,000/day for food.  Yes. I did not want to starve in Bangkok, and I have no plans of eating street food, so I allocated that amount per day for food.  Breakfast only cost USD1/day at Bangkok Loft Inn so I took the room and breakfast deal.

I then allocated the budget I was willing to spend for shopping including the list of items I would like to purchase.  This will help and will prevent you from buying something not in the list and create focus on your hunt for bargains.

I also searched the malls via Google and found out that the malls I wanted to shop in have a sale.  Yes…  Nothing beats than a 70-80 percent off sale on branded items…  Great.

My last day in Bangkok was spent in a night bazaar.  I spent all my remaining baht at Suan Lum Night Market.  I got several Bangkok and Thailand shirts from there, including cheap trinkets and local food items.  I also had dinner in a restaurant loft with my cousins for less than B850.  Not bad.

All in all, I managed to stay within my budget in Bangkok.  Not only that, I managed to get a refund at the airport for my purchases at the mall…  Bangkok was surprisingly easy to move around in.  Although taxi fares are cheaper than Manila, the language barrier can be a hassle so taking the most reliable and safest form of transportation was good.  The BTS is clean and on time.  It can be a little crowded, but the ride is ok since the train is air conditioned anyway.

To book at BLI:

Bangkok Loft Inn www.bangkokloftinn.com

55 Somdet Phra Chao Taksin Rd., Bangyeerua, Thonburi, Bangkok 10600, Thailand
Tel. (+662) 862-0300 : Fax. (+662) 862-0492 : E-mail. Bangkokloftinn@hotmail.com

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