Frugal Pinoy

In the first part of this series, we discussed how we can be frugal with our food, household needs, and utilities (if you haven’t read it yet, click here). Basically, the post is my personal response to the news about inflation reaching 9.6% this month. There’s also an interesting discussion on the effects of inflation over at the MoneySmarts blog, which you might want to check out.

I generally don’t like those who proclaim that the end of the world upon us, but the rising cost of living presents the perfect opportunity for people to look at their expenses, savings, and income. In this installment, we’ll discuss how to save money on entertainment and transportation to minimize the effect of inflation on our expenses.

Entertainment

Although computations for inflation doesn’t really cover entertainment, cutting a few corners in this aspect can help stretch your income to pay for the rising costs of food and energy.

Movie and book swapping. We discussed the benefits of book swapping in a previous post. The same could be applied to DVDs, VCDs, and video games.  Not only is it cheaper than buying things brand new, but it’s a good excuse to meet up with friends and acquaintances.

Look for cheap/free screenings. The UP Film Institute holds several screenings each month, and the tickets are often cheaper (if not free) than regular movie houses. Of course, they don’t show the latest blockbusters, but they have great alternatives in case you want to see something different from what everyone else is watching.

Wait for blockbusters to come out in video or cable. Not only is it cheaper, but many people can watch at the same time without the cost adding up.

Of course, there are some movies where watching in the big screen makes a difference. These are generally movies with a lot of special effects, such as Lord of the Rings or war/sci-fi epics. It’s okay to watch these movies in the theater, but not all movies lessen in effect/impact when watched in the small screen.

Transportation.

Walk or bike.  I have a friend who bikes extensively and doesn’t really commute that much.  If you’re going somewhere nearby and have time/energy to spare, walking or biking there might be a good alternative.

Practice frugal travel.  We recently posted some frugal travel tips, which you can consider when taking an out of town trip.

Tomorrow, we’ll discuss some ideas on increasing income and managing investments and savings.

How are you dealing with inflation? 

Related post:

• Stretching the peso against the high cost of living - Part 3

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This entry was posted on Saturday, June 7th, 2008 at 9:51 am and is filed under Budgeting, Entertainment, Frugal Tips, Frugality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.