Salary increase celebration

June 27, 2018 (Wed). Ford's company just had their annual wage and work review and we were happy kasi syempre may salary increase ang asawa ko. The increase will take effect starting July.

To celebrate, nagpakain si Mayor sa labas. Where else eh di sa favorite naming Il Uk Jo Korean-Japanese Buffet Restaurant. Susme, parang nung Father's Day lang eh nandun din kami.

We were contemplating kasi kung sa isang ala carte restaurant kami kakain o doon (wala naman kasi kaming ibang gustong buffet restaurant dito). Nanaig ang pagiging praktikal, nanalo ang Il Uk Jo. kasi kung sa ala carte kami, hindi pa kami mabubusog sa $50. Sa Il Uk Jo, less than $55 lang eh busog na busog na kami. Yun nga lang, ang diabetes! Kaso may excuse naman kami to cheat di ba?

Children below 4 years old are free kaya isa pang gusto namin doon. Eh kasi hindi naman kumakain si TanTan ng food nila, sayang kung ipagbabayad namin tapos walang kakainin. Nagbabaon pa tuloy kami ng Mc Donald's Happy Meal for him.

But anyway, narealize namin na mas ok talagang kumain doon pag lunch time kasi mas mura ang rate. Mas makakamura ka ng around $15 for two persons.

Now about the salary increase.

To be honest, medyo malaki naman siya. Ang problema lang kasi talaga eh malaki ang tax. Sa compute ko, around 60% lang din noon madadagdag sa monthly income niya. At dahil nga lalaki ang gross income ng asawa ko, lalaki rin ang percentage ng income tax.

You know what, minsan bitter si Ford haha. Kasi sobrang daming privileges daw ng low-income families - at the expense syempre of middle-income earners. Kawawa raw talaga ang professional class kasi sila ang talagang nagsa-subsidize sa lower class. Syempre ibang usapin ang sa upper class.

I can't blame him. Nakakalula naman talaga ang annual income tax niya. Equivalent na sa yearly income ng isang 'ordinaryong' empleyado dito.

Not that super laki ng income niya. Kung sobrang laki nun eh di sana hindi na namin kailangang mamroblema sa pagbili ng bahay dito sa BC. At sana hindi na namin kailangang magtipid. Sadyang malaki lang talaga ang deduction sa kanya kanya ganun.

Pero usapan lang naman yung bitterness na yun, syempre talagang nagpapasalamat kami. Ang sabi ko nga sa kanya, mas mabuti ng siya ang nagsu-subsidize kesa kami ang under welfare. Hindi naman maganda sa pakiramdam na umaasa ka sa tulong ng gobyerno noh. When he lost his job in Edmonton, nakakakuha siya ng Employment Insurance (EI) from the government every 2 weeks. And although he paid for that insurance (through monthly deduction sa sweldo niya) and is very much entitled to it, nandun pa rin yung feeling na ayaw mo ng ganun. Na mas ok pa rin na may trabaho ka at kumikita ng sarili mong pera.

Salamat po, Lord, for all the blessings!

Always check the receipt

I went back to tracking our expenses since we got back here last June 8. As I have mentioned in my previous post, naglilista na talaga ako ng mga nagagastos namin everyday para namomonitor ko kung magkano ba talaga ang total expenses namin every month.

At nawindang ako ha! In 20 days na nandito kami, would you believe na $2133.04 (o around Php85,500.00) na ang nagastos namin? Walang fixed expenses (like apartment rental, electricity, phone, insurance, etc.) na kasama yan ha. Talagang mga purchases lang.

Grabe, ang gastos ko talaga. When Nathan and I were in the Philippines, sobrang liit lang ng gastos ng asawa ko. Ako talaga ang factor kung bakit hindi kami yumayaman lol!

Oh well, sabi naman ng asawa ko eh ayos lang yan. Kasi may mga pinagkagastusan naman kami na hindi naman palagi -- katulad ng renewal ng costco membership ($60), bike at helmet ni Nathan ($103), graduation cash gift for Ford's inaanak in the US (USD100 or CAD135), etc. Saka dahil matagal kaming nawala, ubos talaga ang grocery stock dito sa bahay (hindi kasi nagluluto ang asawa ko) kaya malaki talaga ang napamili naming pagkain the past 3 weeks. Tapos bumili pa kami ng mga Pyrex glass food containers at ilang frying pans. Ah basta, try kong pababain ang expenses namin next month. Kailangan talagang magtipid kasi nga magkaka-bahay na kami uli. Ang dami-daming gastos!

Anyway, medyo nagka-backlog ako sa pag-tabulate ng expenses namin kasi nga may mga pinagawa sakin ang asawa ko the past nights. Kagabi ko lang naayos uli ang listahan ko.

And guess what, ito ang nadiscover ko:

Twice akong na-charge sa popcorn! Waaaaah!

I know na $1.00 lang yan (plus 5% tax) kaso nakakasama pa rin ng loob syempre. Php42 pesos din yan kung iko-convert.

I don't blame the cashier naman kasi I am sure she didn't intentionally scan the item twice, overly sensitive lang siguro ang scanner. Ako naman was busy putting the other items on the counter kaya hindi ko rin napansin. But I should have checked the receipt after. Pwede namang pasadahan ng tingin saglit.

This isn't the first time that it happened to me in Dollarama. Probably two years ago, I paid $30+ something without checking the receipt. Medyo nabigla ako sa total amount na lumabas sa screen but I paid anyway, without bothering to check the receipt. Two days later, nang makita ko ang resibo sa bag ko, I was shocked kasi may unang tatlong $3 sa list of purchases ko. Talagang wala akong binili na ganun kahit anong isip ko. Kaya pala umabot ng $30+ ang total ko kasi almost $10 na yung na-mischarge sa akin. Pero syempre wala na akong nagawa, pano ko pa babawiin yun? Sobrang nanlata talaga ako.

Hay tapos eto na naman ako. Buti nga yung $1 ang nadoble. Paano kung yung $4?

Lesson learned na talaga! From now on talagang babantayan ko na ang pag-scan ng items ko sa lahat ng bilihan. Tapos iche-check ko ang receipt after.

No more US trips for now

My husband went to our bank the other day to request for a bank draft because he wanted to send a little amount to his godson in the US who just graduated from high school.

Medj nalungkot kami when we learned na ganito na pala ang palitan ng Canadian to US dollar ngayon.

Waaah! It will mean one thing -- no more cross border trips for now. Naglu-look forward pa naman ako na mag-Seattle uli at mamili ng Tender Juicy hotdogs sa Seafood City dun. Saka mag-Jollibee uli syempre. Pero it's really not the best time to go out of Canada. Walang value ang datung namin.

My in-laws, who are based in California, were also asking us to visit them again (kahit kami lang daw ni Nathan since may trabaho si Ford). Ang sabi namin mahirap kasi nga ang baba ng Canadian dollar. Ang lahat ng bilihin dun parang magiging sobrang mahal ang labas, hindi ka rin mage-enjoy kapag ganun.

Hay, kelan kaya tataas uli ang Canadian dollar? Mahirap i-wish na bumaba ang US dollar eh.

Low conversion rate

If you are a Canadian or Canadian resident vacationing here in the Philippines, you will feel sad because the value of your dollars is (still) low and very much lagging to its US dollar counterpart.

As of last January 14, CAD1.00 is only equivalent to Php38.44. Obviously, hindi pa rin nakakabawi talaga ang Canada from its economic crisis in the past years. Pero kahit paano nag-improve na, dati umabot pa sa Php31.00-32.00 lang ang conversion eh.

TIP: If you are going to the Philippines and will, of course, be spending money here, better send money through remittance na lang to a bank account here. Mas mataas ang conversion kaya mas malaki ang value ng dollars mo kahit na magbayad ka pa ng remittance fee.

Daily Expenses List

We started tracking down our expenses (again) since July 1st. We did the same thing last year and it was super effective. By listing our daily gastos, we became more cautious and conscious on how we spend. Na-itemize namin lahat ng expenses - food, car, house maintenance, dining out, miscellaneous, etc. Dahil dun, nakapag-stick kami sa budget namin.

And yep, we did it the old-fashioned way. Mano-manong lista. Mas madali kasi kesa i-excel, pwede kang maglista anytime na may libreng oras ka. Hindi mo na kailangang magbukas ng computer. Saka isa pa, I am and will always be a pen and paper girl. At least nagagamit ko ang ballpens ko. Nakakamiss din kasing magsulat sa totoo lang.

Anyway, with the same intention of saving up, mukhang palpak na ang simula namin. Imagine, in 18 days, nakaka-$2100 na kami! Wala pang fixed expenses dun ha (like rent, utility bills, car mortgage, insurance), puro food, kain sa labas at luho lang. Kung kelan pa kami naglista saka pa lumaki ang gastos nakakaloka.

We started the month wrong yata kasi. Canada Day noong July 1 so naumpisahan agad ng gastos that long weekend. We went pa to Seattle Premium Outlets at nakapag-shopping ko konti. Tapos kain kami ng kain sa labas. Idagdag pa ang pag-splurge sa Paw Patrol toys ng mag-amang Coblancs (around $180 na as of this time). Tapos panay bili rin ako (guilty!).

Whew, sa bagay, ok na nga rin na nakapaglista kami. At least may idea na kami kung magkano na ba talaga ang nagagastos namin. Mahirap yung vague eh, ung alam mo lang na malaki pero wala ka naman talagang actual figure.

Tagtipid na kami in the remaining 10 days. Goodluck naman samin.

Scary economy

We had dinner at Ate Celina's the other night and we sort of discussed briefly the current economic situation of Canada. It was then that I learned that the current exchange rate of Canadian dollar to Philippine peso is only 32 to 33. I was shocked, ganun na talaga kababa? Wala naman kasi kaming pinadadalhang pera sa Pinas kaya hindi ako aware.

Before I slept that night, I googled. Tsk, ganun na nga talaga kababa ang palitan.

To be honest, I am starting to panic. With this economic slowdown caused by the falling price of oil, syempre damay lahat ng industry. I've heard a lot of job layoffs. What if my husband lose his job? We're a single-earner family, yari talaga kami.

Oh well, praning lang talaga ako. I really can't handle financial stress, baka masira ang ulo ko.

Buti na lang mataas ang EQ ni Ford. During lunch yesterday, I asked him:

CES -- Naku Daddy, paano pag nawalan ka ng work? Paano na tayo?
FORD -- Eh may EI (Employment Insurance) naman. Saka survival job, marami naman.
CES -- Sus, magkano ba nakukuha sa EI?
FORD -- $2,000 ang maximum.
CES -- WTF!!! Eh pano magkakasya yun? Kailangan kong magwork! Kasi kapag nag-odd job ka eh di mawawala pa yung EI mo. 
FORD -- Hindi naman laging ganun. Magkakawork din uli ng maganda pag ok na uli ang ekonomiya.

Whew, such positivity! Pero mahirap maging positive kung may house mortgage, kotse, at sandamukal kang bills na binabayaran noh. It's not as if we live in the Philippines, madaling umutang sa magulang kapag ubos na ang savings.

Tapos tiyak na tataas pa ang bilihin. Canada imports most of our food (80% of fruits and vegetables yata ay from US) kaya tiyak magmamahal lahat. Lalo na for us Pinoys, most of our grocery items are "imported" from the Philippines. Huwag na munang mag-Chippy at Ligo Sardines.

When will this 'recession' be over? Nakakamiss na ang Canada na "rich andabundant" sa totoo lang.

A few days ago, I was making kulit to Ford kung kelan kami pupunta ng California (at his parents' place). He finally decided na sa May, maga-apply na raw siya ng leave. But with my recent learning of the current status of Canadian dollar, parang ayaw ko na muna. Walang value ang pera namin. I am planning to shop pa naman sa mga outlet stores sa US. Tsk, dati almost 1 is to 1 ang US at Canadian dollar. Anyareee?

Hay kasakit sa ulo. I better stop overthinking na nga muna.

Nathan's first check

We received yesterday Nathan's first check from the Canadian government. This benefit is called Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB), a tax-free monthly payment made to eligible families to help them with the cost of raising children under the age of 18.

Ford and I were so excited haha! The amount (which is for two months: December 2014 - January 2015) is not that big actually because it's computed based on the family's annual income. In fact, in can only buy a box of diapers. But it is still a benefit that we Canadian residents are entitled to nonetheless.

We are still waiting for another check, that of Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) which is given to families with children under the age of six years regardless of income. It is paid in installments of $100 ($160 starting January 2015) per month per child.

These child benefits are one reason why it's awesome living in Canada! =)

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POSTSCRIPT: We already received the UCCB check last January 23 (Friday)!

Lucky Cessie

What will you do if one lunch time, a crisp $20-bill magically appears in your paanan? This happened to me last January 11, 2014 (a day before our second wedding anniversary) at T&T Supermarket in West Edmonton Mall.

I was waiting for Ford near the dining cashier area while he was getting our food at the barbeque station when my huge tote bag accidentally bumped a stack of chips. I picked the pack of chips up and voila, a 20-dollar bill was also there on the floor!

I looked around, searched for anyone who might be looking for it. Nada. So I decided to keep it. I can't do much, right? I felt sorry for the owner though.

So back to my question. With $20 at my disposal, I of course went to Dollarama for my guilt-free indulgence!

You see, if I spend $20 on food, that would just be 2 burgers, 2 fries, and 2 drinks. In Dollarama, I was able to take home a lot - glasses, soda, tissue, kitchen clips, socks, measuring tape. At may sukli pang $3!

My good fortune in two plastic bags!

To the owner of $20, again I am so sorry. There was no way  that I can find you so I decided to keep the money.

Please be assured that your $20 made a 'jobless' person very happy.