I came across this today in a news letter I receive from my traveling Portable Income folks, Jon and Kathryn’s newsletter.  They are the couple with small children who have figured out how to travel the world living strictly from their on line income and building memories as well as savings while they avoid that thing I call nasty, a J.O.B.  (Just Over Broke).  You can read their whole newsletter here … it’s interesting, given the number of folks who are always writing in here seeking ways to get enough income to live independently … in the Philippines, or elsewhere.

Money & Bundling

Have you ever noticed that you can’t buy penny candy any more? It’s simply impossible to get a small bite of candy. You have to buy a giant candy bar or large bag. Nor can you go to the… Read More >>

Now I know Jon and Kathryn have been as close to the Philippines as Indonesia, but I don’t think they have ever visited the Philippines ‘proper’.  I’ve invited them, who knows maybe they will one of these days.

The part that struck me regarding the little bundling snippet is, they surely haven’t gotten wind of one of the biggest unique industries here in the Philippines, tingi or “retail packaging”.  There are small packs of every item you can imagine, especially at the local sari-sari (variety) store … usually one on every corner and a couple in the middle of each block as well.

photo credit: dchristian.robert

You want laundry soap?  Figure out how many loads will you do because you buy individual sachets good for one load each in a small machine.  Want candy or gum?  “Sold by the piece”.  Do you smoke?  Ciggies are sold ‘by the stick’ … one at a time, typically only foreigners by a whole pack of 20 or … extremely rare … a “ream” of 200 as we call a “carton” in the US … after all, cigarettes are bad for your health, you never know, you might die or quit smoking (hmm, redundant writing, Dave, dying is the ultimate quit smoking technique) before you burn up a whole pack of 20, and then what would you do with the ones left over?

There are times when this ‘tiny pack’ syndrome can get annoying, but over all it makes lot of sense … it’s one of the main reasons, I think, that the cost of living is cheap here … you buy only what you need, when you need it, in the smallest possible quantities.  You’d be surprised what this will save you in the long run.

I enjoy watching the occasional cooking show on TV.  Two people I particularly enjoy are Martha Stewart (yes, I like Martha … more dangerous than discussing politics with some people I guess) and Gaida De Laurentis.  One thing I always notice about their styles … you can tell their backgrounds and how they were brought up since little girlhood just by watching them cook.

photo credit: Art Comments

Although Martha is likely the richest of the two, by far, Martha (born just a few years before me in my home county, Hudson county, New Jersey, daughter of hard working blue collar parents) will never open and use a can or jar of something without making simot, (scraping the sides and getting out all the ingredients she paid for).

Giada de Laurentiis

The lovely Gaida, on the other hand, was born rich and has always been that way in a family associated mainly with the never-never land of the movies, living large and loving it.  She never, I mean never, rinses out the leftover in a can or scrapes her mixing bowl clean on camera … that’s only for poor folk to do, to her, obviously, rich pretty much equals waste.  Because she can.

Martha would love it her in the Philippines.  Gaida?  Well with her movie star looks and her exotic, European presence she’d get lots of attention here, but she sure wouldn’t win any awards for being tipid … cheap or economical.

What about you?  Do you rinse your cans?  Would I find mayo or peanut butter remainders on the sides of the jars in your trash?  Do you throw cans and jars in the trash, or do you save them for the bote (bottles and cans) boy?

These are araw-araw (everyday) things you have to think about regarding living in the Philippines.

Popularity: 5% [?]