'Staycation' as the frugal alternative to a vacation
Staycation is the new buzzword, probably because of the rising cost of gas. Generally, it means staying in your own home or in your own hometown during a vacation instead of going far away. What can you do during a staycation?
Take a photo walk. If you’re into photography, you’d be surprised how many photo opportunities there are in your neighborhood. For example, here are some thumbnails of photos taken by my partner in our subdivision:
Just go around armed with a camera and explore the area and look at it with a fresh perspective. You can easily turn the regular, mundane things you see into something extraordinary.
Eat someplace new. Whether it’s a new turo-turo place in your area or a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop, there’s probably some place in your hometown where you haven’t eaten yet. I have yet to explore all the restaurants and eateries in Marikina. Doing this instead of an out of town vacation will prove to be interesting and it will introduce you to new nearby favorites.
Make a great home-cooked meal. Nothing beats a delicious gourmet meal you make yourself. If you have some free time and you want to learn to cook new dishes, use your staycation as an opportunity to do this.
My favorite site for recipes is AllRecipes, especially since users are allowed to rate or comment on the recipes. Here are some great, simple dishes you can try:
- Scott Ure’s Clams and Garlic
- Hot n’ Spicy Spareribs
- Marinated Grilled Shrimp
- Lemon Garlic Tilapia
- Spinach Tomato Linguine
You can also go to SuperCook to find recipes for ingredients that you already have at home.
Visit the local parks, museums, and galleries. Most cities in the Philippines have museums, art galleries, and parks. To enjoy them, we just need to know where they are and what they have to offer.
If you want more ideas on what to do during your staycation, I recommend taking a look at these other articles:
- 5 Tips for a green staycation
- List of staycation suggestions
- 7 Tips for a fantastic and frugal staycation
Free ebook on how to save gas
WiseBread is giving away a free downloadable ebook titled “Wise Bread’s Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to raise your fuel economy”.
The tips range from the simple (make fewer left turns, keep tires well inflated) to the advanced (hypermiling, drafting). Anyone who drives a car can benefit from these tips.
To download the ebook, go to the site and subscribe to it via email or RSS.
You won’t regret the subscription. Apart from the fact that it’s free, their tips are always practical and useful. I’ve been reading WiseBread since they started, and I’ve learned so much from their blog.
Image Source: WiseBread.com
Read MoreIs it cheaper to be a vegetarian?
With most meat and fish costing more than P100/kilo, I can’t help but ask myself if it’s cheaper to be a vegetarian. Check out the prices from various markets/stores below:
Balintawak Market in Quezon City:
Tomatoes (1 kilo) – P25
Kalamansi (1 kilo, big size) – P20
Carrots (1 kilo) – P30
Potatoes (1 kilo) – P28
String beans (per super fat bunch) – P10
Lettuce (1 big head) – P15
Saba (biggest size) – P1.80 per piece
Coconut (biggest size) – P15
Squash (medium size) – P20 per piece
Pechay (1 kilo) – P20
Broccoli (per kilo) – P40
Pineapple (medium size) – P15
Source: MoneySmarts
At the Marikina market:
Eggplant – P50/kilo
Red onions – P82/kilo
Ampalaya – P80/kilo
Squash – P10/ large slice
Okra – P32/kilo
Broccoli (one large stem with leaves) – P 48
Potatoes – P 28/kilo
String Beans – P 20/kilo
Lettuce – P20-P28 per head or P60 per kilo
At Makro:
Eggplant – P49/kilo (for a 2 kg pack)
Cucumber – P39/kilo (for a 2kg pack)
Ampalaya – P72/kilo (for a 2kg pack)
Squash – P17/kilo (for 3kg and above)
What would make vegetarianism exponentially cheaper is that if you buy in bulk and store most of your purchases in a chest freezer. But not all vegetables freeze well – especially those delicate veggies that have a lot of water. For example, you shouldn’t freeze lettuce, cabbages, and other leafy veggies, tomatoes, and cucumbers. I’ve found a very helpful page with instructions on how to freeze specific vegetables. Here’s an excerpt on how to freeze eggplant:
Cut into slices, sprinkle with salt and allow to stand 30 minutes. Drain off excess liquid and fry gently in butter or margarine until just tender. Cool and pack into plastic containers. Seal and label. Keeps up to 3 months.
(Source: Freezing Vegetables from Garden Guides)
Vegetable prices may be cheaper than meat, but there are some ways in which vegetarianism might actually cost more. It especially depends on the types of vegetables you buy, among other things.
When is it more expensive to be a vegetarian?
- When you’re shopping for a household that can’t live without meat. For example, a family of 5 where only 1 or 2 members will be vegetarian. In this case, buying vegetables for the vegetarians and mostly meat for the omnivores will just add to the overall household expenses (and overall cooking hassle!).
- When you’re dining out. Generally, vegetarian restaurants tend to be more expensive than their non-vegetarian counterparts (not always, but usually). This is probably because they are seen as “specialty” restaurants. However, if you eat a vegetarian dish in a regular restaurant, the veggie dish might be cheaper compared to the other meat-based meals they offer.
So, the answer to my question is: it depends. If you’re simply feeding yourself or an entire household that is willing to make the switch, then it’s definitely cheaper, especially if you’re buying in bulk and freezing the vegetables. In my case, I have yet to convince my entire household of 4 to switch completely, but I am making more vegetable purchases than usual.
Do you think it’s cheaper to be a vegetarian? How much of your diet is made up of veggies?
Read MoreWhy should I be frugal?
In this blog, we’ve already defined frugality. Basically, it’s getting the best value for your money. Value could mean quality, saved time, and convenience. In the end, you’ll be the judge of that value.
But after defining frugality, I asked myself this question:
So what?
So what if I save money? So what if I spend less on an item? Does this make my life better? Am I a smarter person because of it? Am I being kuripot for the sake of being kuripot?
It’s probably time to talk about the reasons why I’m frugal in the first place.
I’m frugal because…
… I want to save money to spend it elsewhere. It’s true – I cut corners as much as possible so I can spend my money on other things. This includes the following:
- Travel. I want to travel as much as possible. But doing so costs money.
- Hobbies. I love to read, paint, and build model airplanes.
- Dreams. Learning how to fly a plane is one of my dreams. It’s also one of my dreams to build a house in the province. Of course, if I’m going to turn my dreams into reality, I need to have the resources for them.
- Retirement. Spending my old age relying on allowance from my kids and a measly pension terrifies me. I want to live my later years as comfortably as possible.
To make these things happen, I need to spend money on them. My frugality allows me to save thousands of pesos each month to reallocate into these 4 different things. If I just bought groceries at the convenience store (expensive) and didn’t look for deals and bargains, I’d be able to spend less on these things I really, really want to spend on.
… I don’t think it’s logical to spend more than I have to for an item, unless convenience and time were a factor. If I can buy an item for P30 at the same quality as buying it for P60, then why spend more? It just doesn’t make sense to me, unless the 30-peso item is out of the way and hard to get to.
… I want to spend money on things I want without worrying. It’s okay to spend on big ticket items if you are truly passionate about them (like a technophile wanting an iPhone, or a coffee afficionado spending on exotic coffee beans). However, what’s important is to plan for these things. It would be very, very sad if the things you are passionate about (whether it’s iPhones or expensive coffee) will drive you into financial trouble. These things are meant to be enjoyed, not to make us more stressed worrying whether we have enough money left for bills.
So frugality is NOT about hoarding money and stashing it in a bank somewhere just to add to your net worth. It’s about channeling your resources to things that are more worthy of your hard-earned money. It’s about making independent decisions, and keeping yourself worry-free.
I may lose my job tomorrow, but my frugality has given me peace of mind. It has also allowed me to step closer to my dreams. This, my friends, is why I am frugal.
Why are you frugal? What got you interested in frugality?
Read MoreHow to Buy Gadgets and Tech Toys Without Breaking the Bank
Since I’m tech-inclined, I have a soft spot for gadgets. Most Filipinos do. Kaya nga kahit tricycle driver may cellphone. Once, I even rode a jeep with a TV, DVD player, mp3 player, and one of those portable landlines (you can use it for P5.00 for 3 minutes – how entrepreneurial!) Let’s face it, we’re addicted to gadgets. But whenever we see a new, shiny gadget that catches our eye and tempts us to empty our wallets, there are a few things we should do:
Do research. I’ve previously talked about doing online research before buying something.This especially applies to gadgets, where the internet is just crawling with consumer reviews on many tech products.
Play the waiting game. Remember when the Asus EEE PC first came out? Many people got so excited and they just bought one. Now, not only has ASUS made improvements on this product, but several competitors stepped up to the plate and made better, faster, more reliable ultramobile laptops. Now, people are selling their used EEE PCs or internally wishing for a better and newer unit.
The thing is, when a new gadget gets that popular, competing manufacturers will always try to outdo each other – giving you more (and better) choices later on. Plus, the manufacturer will try to fix problems that their first release had. Now, instead of just buying an Asus EEE PC, people who want ultramobile laptops have several brands and models to choose from.
Also, “new” technology gets cheaper when it gets a little older. So waiting a year or so to get that “latest” gadget will usually give you better, less expensive options.
Prioritize features over brands. Instead of thinking “I want a Macbook”, think in terms of features. You might think you want a Macbook, but does it have the features you need? A wiser thing to say is “I want a computer that has an 80 GB hard disk, which is enough for my needs, and has a RAM of 1GB and a dual-core processor, so I can multitask”. Mention a feature, followed by why you need it.
Also, when you’re buying expensive gadgets, oftentimes a sizeable percentage of the cost is the brand alone. This is why you shouldn’t consider brand as a primary criteria for buying a gadget.
For example, did you know that many laptop brands don’t even manufacture their own laptops? ECS (or Elitegroup), MSI, Quanta, Compal, and other lesser-known laptop manufacturers create the basic parts and builds the laptops, while the bigger brands such as Dell, Acer, Compaq just add customizations – if at all – and slap their brand names on the final product. (Additional sources: Manufacturer Relation Matrix, Laptop Worldwide, and Notebook OEM/ODM Relationships) Although the example I’ve used is for laptops, this can also be applied to several tech products. Apple doesn’t even manufacture the iPhone!
Really, what it all boils down to is features, reliability, and longevity. Which is why reading reviews and technical specs of a gadget will be worth more than just buying from the brand that does the most marketing.
Read MoreFrugality Extremes: The All-in-One Celebration
Someone I know is getting married.
On her baby’s baptismal day.
Which, incidentally, is also the baby’s first birthday.
In other words, she’ll be having three celebrations in one – the wedding, their child’s baptism, and the baby’s first birthday. When she was asked why she made these 3 occasions fall on the same date,she answered “Mas matipid eh!”
Although I can’t argue with that, because it would usually be cheaper to celebrate once for three different occasions, is this something you’d be willing to do?
Read MoreHelp Iligan and CDO
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