A very personal blog

Money Diaries: A Week in April

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Inspired by Helga’s post, I decided to create a diary of my own as well!

I’m living with my parents so there are a lot of things (ie. my entire life) I’m getting for free. I was even hesitant to try this ‘cos I know I don’t usually spend much on a regular day *ehem* so what’s the point. But I wanted to know how much I’m actually spending, and I have a feeling I’ll end up crying with all the blessings I have, and filled with gratitude for my parents who work so hard so they could provide me with a life of comfort.

Arg. I’m starting to tear up already.

Also I’m ready to get surprised if I actually come out with a spending problem. Hope not.
By the way, my daily allowance is ₱200. That covers fare to and from the office, and food (even though I have packed lunch). I work the graveyard shift so I’m a bit confused how to divide the days for this post, so let’s just say each day starts when I wake up and end when I go to bed (~8pm to 12pm next).

★ Monday (April 3)

Parking –  ₱50
Plain iced coffee from McDonald’s – ₱47
Chicken and mushroom pot pie (₱45) and revel bar (₱35) from Family Mart –  ₱80

I love Family Mart’s pot pies, they look pricey for such a small treat but they’re really delicious! Iced Coffee actually costs  ₱47 but I always pay 50 and keep the change in the car so I don’t really get to keep it hehe.

Total – ₱177

★ Tuesday (April 4)


Parking – ₱50
Plain iced coffee from McDonald’s – ₱47
Chicken and mushroom pot pie and revel bar from Family Mart –  ₱80
Banana from Mini Stop – 17

Somehow, I’m already used to banana costing that much.

Total – ₱194

★ Wednesday (April 5)

Parking – ₱50
Plain iced coffee from McDonald’s – ₱47

You see, I love McDonald’s plain iced coffee I literally drink it everyday, at least whenever I’m taking the car to work cos I can drive-thru on the way. Hopefully I won’t overspend on food today because apart from my baon (kamote and fried fish), my sister also bought me cheeseburger and fries so yey!

Total – ₱97

★ Thursday (April 6)

Was supposed to commute to work today but I woke up late so had to bring the car.

Parking – ₱50
Plain iced coffee from McDonald’s – ₱47

I’m basically enjoying this routine. I’ve been sleeping very late these days but my daily iced coffee fix solves my sleepy problems at work quite effectively. My mom will be arriving from China this morning and I wanted to come fetch her at the airport but I have to stay 8 frigging hours so no chance I’m catching Dad’s 5am ride.

Unless of course I time out early. Which is what I did haha.

Jollibee chickenjoy with rice –  ₱83 (NAIA 2 price. Hay)


Total – ₱180

★ Friday (April 7)

Quite an uneventful day.

Parking – ₱50
Plain iced coffee from McDonald’s – ₱47


Total – ₱97

★ Saturday (April 8)

Wedding errands totally racking up my expenses arg. Today we headed to Makati to fit gowns/suits at Chungdam bridal. Jeckie and my sister came with me. Then we ate lunch at New Bombay (I LOVE IT), then looked around Glorietta/SM Makati for suits hehe.

Ah yes, we’re not the superstitious kind, I don’t mind having my fiance tag along during gown fittings haha.

Gas – ₱200
Beep card reload – ₱100
MRT to Buendia station – ₱0 (₱24 charged to Beep)
Taxi to Chungdam – ₱100
Taxi to Glorietta – ₱50 (split the bill)
Lunch at New Bombay – ₱470/head (split the bill)
Parking at Trinoma – ₱90

Total – ₱910 AAAARGH


★ Sunday (April 8)

Today we attended a food tasting event with Queensland Catering at Las Piñas. It was suuuuuch a hassle for us because we’re from the far north and we didn’t know how to get around so yeah. Grab here and there, plus a couple of stress factors with Queensland = hay ewan, will post about them separately!

Gas – ₱300
Plain iced coffee from McDo – ₱48 (LOL it’s 1 peso more expensive at Don Antonio branch)
MRT to Ayala station – ₱0 (₱24 charged to Beep)
Lunch at Project Pie – ₱355 (OH HOW I MISS YOU)
GrabCar to Ysabel’s Garden, BF Resort Village – ₱174 (promo!)
Skyway toll fee to Filinvest exit – ₱164
GrabCar to ATC – ₱54 (promo!)
Beep card reload – ₱50
P2P bus to Greenbelt – ₱0 (₱50 charged to Beep)
Plain iced coffee from McDo – ₱47 (my 2nd today)
Parking at Trinoma – ₱100
Midnight snack from McDo (regular cheeseburger meal, plain iced coffee, apple pie) – ₱138

Somebody stop me from drinking iced coffee.

It was a very tiring day for Jeckie and I. Had to adjust our budget, finalize guests, talk about suppliers and stuff. Ang daming kelangan gawin! We’re 5 months away from the big day

Total – ₱1,383 HAIZT


GRAND TOTAL – ₱3,085 

That means I’m averaging ~₱440/day which is overspending in my terms. In fair, all my weekends are going to be busy because of the wedding planning so there’s that. I gather it’ll be like this for the next 5 months holey moley. Weekend expenses are erratic as hell.

Final thoughts. I enjoyed doing this post. I got to see how much I’m spending and I realized I had to adjust my expenses as well, as in increase my budget for EVERYTHING arg.