THE NUMBERS GAME IN HOUSEHOLD SPENDING

How less are minimum wage earnings in true spend value at this time?

For those who have been reeling from the effects of the economic slump since the onset of the pandemic, it never felt real that the lifestyle of the ordinary consumer has changed, not by the ounce but by the pounds of every consumer’s heartbeat.

The rising prices of commodities, added to, the loss of job opportunities for workers who were forced to rely on the promise of job availability online before the quarantine restrictions took effect, have all contributed to the slimming and zipping of consumer wallets.

Only those who have the big fat budget to brag can actually take pride in claiming that they are not-- at all, affected by the rising prices of commodities.

Let’s take in consideration, the usual minimum wage salary that is the basis for many household expense planning, of an ordinary consumer:

The basis of minimum wage in the National Capital Region, to date, is at Php 610.00 in Philippine pesos.

Using this as a peg for a day’s expenses, with a household that thrives solely on a minimum set earnings, the usual expense tab for the ordinary Filipino in a three-person household is here below computed as:

[ typical recurring expense in an average household]

·         Transportation to go to work

·         Meals for a day x 3

·         School stipend or daily expense and allowance

Here below is a sample of current published and applicable rates by a Filipino commuter:

The price set is at Php12.00 rate per kilometer in a traditional PUV, in the NCR with additional Php1.80 pesos for an additional kilometer distance. This figure is based on the LTFRB transportation fares posted at www.ltfrb.gov.ph, October 5, 2023 media release, where the fare adjustments for jeepney (TPUJ or traditional public utility jeepney ), were published as Php 13.00 per kilometer from Php 12.00.

·         Tricycle fare 10.00 to 25.00

·         Jeepney fare 12.00-13.00

·         Bus fare 25.00

For simplified computation purposes, the average number of commuter rides taken into consideration in this article, “THE NUMBERS GAME IN HOUSEHOLD SPENDING”,  is 4 (this needs further research; no current data is available as of press time).

That is a minimum of two rides for one-way, and 4 rides, two-ways on a 4-kilometer distance ride going to and from work.   

So here, we position a minimum of Php 100 expense for the average household with a one-person worker/commuter who goes to work daily.

Then what is left with the Php 610.00 expense is Php 510. To be divided with many other day-to-day usual expenses such as:

Meals

    Breakfast                    20.00 to 30.00                                                 

                Lunch                         55.00    (rice grains ordinary per kilo)      

                                                    / or  cooked rice @ Php 20.00 x 3 cups

                Dinner                         55.00    (rice grains ordinary per kilo

                                                   / or  cooked rice @ Php 20.00 x 3 cups

    Note:                                      The average price of Php 55.00/kilo is the 

                                                    the common price of rice grains per kilo of the most recent local market research.

 

AVERAGE EXPENSE: 

§  Php 400 without viand/s  (ulam)

Php 60.00-120.00 for additional viand’s expense computation

(average of Php 50.00 – 60.00 depending on kind of viand)

§  Php 520 total expense for meals per average  household

 

·         Stipend for a schooler Php 20.00-50.00 for a day                  

        AVERAGE EXPENSE:

Php 570.00 (inclusive of one allowance for one student)              

In this sample, a savings of Php 40.00 can be benefited by a minimum wage worker, if the household has the same conditions and variant factors as the one stated above, with no room for alternation or sudden change of daily expenses such as additional commutes, expenses for on the day miscellaneous, etc.

But hardly is this expense computation sampling fixed, or perfect, as different situations are applicable to different households.

The factored expenses above can only reflect a bare minimum expense granting that each individual in a household would only consume a one cup per rice diet per meal and that the wage worker only works at a distance location that is between 1 kilometer to 7-kilometer distance (Php 12 jeepney ride + 1.80 per additional kilometer distance/ travel on the road), when taking a jeepney ride to and from the workplace.

This expense sample, is a not run-of-the-mill commuter situation, as most workers come from outside NCR or outside their own place of residence to work, which is the common culture in the Philippines.

 

 

 

Note: The above expense computation and sample, do not include a transportation expense to and from school in a household with a one schooler. This writer puts the peg of an average of one schooler per household, as there are no current statistics available as to the number of learners or schoolers per Filipino household, over at the Philippine Statistics Agency (PSA) Office website and at the Department of Education  (DepEd) website.

This article is written from the POV of the ordinary consumer and without an economic planner and/or statistician inputs for the article, except for the data shares, inspo and data picked from official government agency websites.