How to survive with $5.00 for at least 3 DAYS in the Philippines
Living in the Philippines is very difficult if you are unemployed and especially if you do not have any source of income. That’s obvious because the prices of almost all goods here are mostly expensive, most particularly foods.
Careful budgeting is really necessary if you care about savings. When I heard the news about the typhoon Basyang three days ago, I planned to prepare sufficient supply of foods that could last for three days. By the way, Basyang was the tropical storm with the international name Sanba.
And as soon storm warning signal no. 1 was hoisted all over Lanao del Norte (where Iligan City is geographically situated), I went to the local market and bought my usual $5.00 food budget which could last for three days.
With just 5 USD (or 250 PHP) in my pocket, I bought 1 kilo fish, 5 eggs, some dried fish and 2 kilo of rice. This fish is locally known as Bariles and it is also known as yellow fin fish to others. It cost me 2 USD (or 100 PHP) for the entire fish.
I bought the whole fish and asked the vendor to slice it in equal proportion and I got a total 14 to 16 slices all in all. Once I got home, I cook the sliced fish as Paksiw. Paksiw is a Filipino soup-based dish which literally means “to cook and simmer in vinegar”.
This recipe is ideal if you intend to preserve the food for days. Moreover, the ingredients that you’d need for this dish is very simple. You’ll need at least vinegar and salt for this one. The vinegar I used was tuba which is vinegar extracted from coconut. I prefer using this as its sourness is milder than those in pouch.
The procedure is also simple, you’ll just cooked and simmer the sliced fish in vinegar and water with salt and small amount of grounded garlic. I added garlic to at least add aroma to our dish. Of course the proportion depends on you, for me I prefer paksiw to be salty rather than very sour.
By the way, I fried 3 slices of that yellow fin fish for my first meal that day. I was so hungry that time and so I fried it so that I could already eat. I think I don’t need to write how I fry the fish because it is so easy LOL!
Then I bought 2 kilo of rice for 2 USD or 100 PHP. The price of rice ranges from around 38 pesos to 50 pesos depending on the variety. The ones which are sold at 41 pesos are already in good quality and I usually bought this variety.
Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the rice I bought as it was never my plan to share this here in steemit. But anyway, just for a quick update, it’s already been three days but I still got a rice supply good for 2 meals.
Also, I bought 5 pieces of eggs for 20 pesos, that’s 4 pesos each. In the Philippines, it’s really noteworthy to be a suki of a certain vendor. To be a suki you have to become a usual costumer of frequent buyer of goods from that certain vendor.
Through this, you can save when you buy goods at bulk. The eggs aren’t really large but it is still fair enough for that price. Then lastly, I bought a quarter kilo of dried fish at 30 pesos. With a quarter of this, I got a total of 12 pieces. Fair enough for very cheap price.
Dried fish is usually fried and is best served during breakfast. I always partnered it with sunny-side up egg and coffee. Thankfully, the storm has no devastating result in my place and has been already out of the Philippine area of responsibility.
You may also share in the comment section below your thoughts and your food list and budgeting plan especially during crisis and disaster. Thank you for taking the time reading my post and God bless us all!
Hey! looking at your posts and I find this one particularly interesting. I grew up in the PH and now married an American and living in Thailand. I always tell him we eat a lot of fish in the PH. And now opening this post, I proved him that 90% of what you bought is fish and he laughed proving Im indeed right. Looking at you post actually made me hungry for some paksiw! And those tuyo! I missed those.
Great challenge of fitting 250 pesos for 3 days meal!
a beautiful writing
Thank you :)
Yan ang Pinoy madiskarte! nakakamiss na din ang tuyo...
Dyn naman sanay ang Pilipino ang magkasya sa tinatangkilik...
kasabihang tagalog " matutong mamaluktot kapag maiksi ang kumot"
Maraming salamat po sa pag basa :)
Yesss, kahit ung dulo ng daliri sa paa kinakagat na ng lamok hahaha. Umusli kc te.
hahaha... oo nga... wag lang may dengue ang lamok...
salamat din... nakakatuwa kase madaming Pilipino na pala sa Steemit.
Ay dami na natin, cguro isang baranggay na! Hahaha
Naks pang 3days nana nimo? 1 week nana nku hahaha.
At least 3 days na hehehe.
Wahahaha grabi pang diet ana ha! Hahaha. buhat ug mga design pra s stach chris atong ibutang sa tarpuline.
Dili man ko kabalo mag design ma'am, di pud ko kabalo mag photoshop.
Ay preha ta, mag shop na.lng ta ug puto, hahaha.
Ay kog ma'm ma dra sir, matigulang tag samot, ate na lng at home pa, hahaha
Hahaha ayaw oy, dapat ma'am! Hahaha!
I was too busy at school and we don’t have television in our boarding house. I just heard about the strom from my classmates and wasn’t able to prepare for it. Fortunately, the storm didn’t last for too long and hasn’t made damages here in Iligan. But for me, I could by easy open canned goods, noodles, eggs and also dried fish to survive for 5$ in 3 days here in the Philippines. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! Always a good read! 😊
Thanks for your comment lol.
samoka hahahaha
Saan aabot ang Php250 mo? hahaha
Hahaha, bili ng cornetto.
Charoot kamahal ana na Cornetto hahaha.
Daghan man nga cornetto hahaha!
Mao pud diay hahaha!
Dghana sa cornetto ana brad uii... share your blessings dayon.. haha ^^
basta pinoy madiskarte :D PERO ako hindi ang mama ko lang ang na ba-budget sa food hahhaha :D
Dapat ka na din matuto dumiskarte madam hehehe.
Lodi!!?
Thanks fan HAHAHA!
three days? 1 week man gale na sa ako sa una. hahaha
At least three days, you know me, I love eating. Haha!
hahaha. one eat naman lang ng 250 sa imu rn
Nope hahaha, tipid nako karun.
cost saving? haha
Great post! It's amazing how much you can get for that amount. It really makes me think how some of us take for granted what we have. A lot of people complain that they cant make ends meet on budgets that are much larger than yours without even being aware that people live on much less every day. It really puts into perspective how much some of take what we have for granted.
Thanks for sharing and helping some of us put things in perspective! My wife has made the same dish for us on a few occasions! She also prepares this dish we call "soupy-soup" that can last us an entire week.
I hope I get the chance to meet you someday at one of our meetups in the PH!
Yeah, I learned to save even now that I have a good source of income :) This is all because of steemit!By the way,I am intrigued by this "soupy-soup" dish. I am really interested to know more about that dish my friend.
Can you share it with me cloh? I would really appreciate it :)
It's her family recipe. It has chicken, chorizo, vegetables, and I think some chicken stock and you add rice to it. Not sure what it is called, but it tastes good and can last an entire week.
Ohhh, that's interesting. I will look for that recipe in gooogle hehe. Thanks for the insights :)
Grabe ang sarap! haha Madiskarteng pinoy!
Maraming salamat :)
Paksiw,habang tumatagal mas sumasarap pa.
You are absolutely right!
Yummy foods at a cheaper price. I love fried yellow fin eespeciallyits black part on the side. Mura naman po 1 kl ng yellow fin, d2 po sa luzon 250-300 buong isda.
Mura nga lang, 1 kilo = 100 pesos. Medyo maliit yang isda, nasa 1 kilo lang :)
Ang dami pa din talaga mabibili sa P250 basta madiskarte at marunong ka magtipid. Nice post!
Oo marami pa mabibili ng 250php basta hindi ka lang namimili ng kakainin.
I'm amazed at how cheap the eggs and fish in your place. Its half cheaper here in Cebu... :(
I think goods are really cheap in the market (or maybe not). Just find a suki, that's one way to save.
lamias buwad! hehehe..