Live Like a King/Queen Without Breaking Your Budget

Text by: Liezl Ramos
Photo by: Dix Perez
Styled by: Guada Reyes
Makeup by: Cathy Cantada for The Studio
Hair by: Jerry Javier for Piandré Salon


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Who says you need to have a million bucks to feel
like a million bucks? Hardly anything in life comes free, but a little
ingenuity goes a long way in getting you big, big discounts.
Living
on the cheap is an art. Those who have mastered it can create an
atmosphere of luxury and privilege in their lives, without anyone
knowing the better! You can do it too if you make an effort to
cultivate these five must have traits of a peso-pinching princess:
1. Be a Sensualist

Only a true lover of the good life will have the drive to keep constant
lookout for ways to gratify her senses with beautiful objects, gourmet
food, luxurious fabrics, aromatherapy, and other things that make one
feel special. There should be no guilt attached to the relentless
pursuit of pleasure so long as you didn’t have to lie, steal, or kill
for it.
“My brother and I grew up with an ultra-kuripot spinster aunt who never missed a chance to remind us that our lolo
started out with nothing and had to make extreme sacrifices so our
family could enjoy the life we have today,” shares Mayette, an
advertising account executive. “Our aunt lived her whole life in a
state of austerity that bordered on the pathological. She kept our nice
Noritake dining set in storage saying it was ‘pambisita lang,’
and used cheap, mismatched plastic dinnerware for everyday. Our house
was full of worn-out furniture and appliances from the ‘60s and ‘70s
that came with the house when my lolo first bought it. She
couldn’t make herself buy anything new. It was crazy! We had money to
buy new stuff but she was stuck in this remember-your-roots drama and
it deprived all of us, most especially her, from enjoying the very
comforts my lolo had worked so hard for us to have.”
Mayette’s aunt has the classic prinsesang gusgusin
guilt complex that causes her to cling to a Spartan lifestyle despite
having the means to uplift her status. This tendency stems from the
typical belief that hedonism in any form is a negative trait which, if
indulged, will cause the reversal of one’s good fortune as punishment.
Lack of appreciation for the good life means there is no impetus to try
and live a life beyond one’s means without necessarily spending more.
If you find yourself suffering from the same complex, believing it is a
lesser evil to continue wearing your acid-washed jeans and hi-top
Reebok than spend P250 on a new outfit from Tutuban, realize two
things: First, there will be no violent reprisal from the Fates just
because you decided to pamper yourself a little, and second, it’s not
going to cost as much as you think. There are ways to enjoy certain
luxuries without being extravagant, and you’re worth it—even if you
can’t afford it.

2. Be Resourceful
How is it
possible to have more for less? It all boils down to the law of
substitutes. Never take no for an answer if the only thing standing in
the way is the small matter of a price tag. There is almost always a
cheaper alternative if you look hard enough and are smart enough to
make use of the resources available in your community.
Take
the example of Susan, an advertising copywriter, who tries to be
imaginative in creating fun but low-cost “gimmicks” with her friends.
“When it’s my birthday and the barkada
expects some sort of a celebration, I hold my party between 2 to 5 p.m.
when it’s too late for lunch but too early for cocktails and dinner so
I don’t have to spend much on food and drink. I usually use our house
as the party venue, but once, my birthday coincided with a promotion
from my boss so I had to have a double celebration which included both
my barkada and my officemates. To accommodate more people, I
rented our village clubhouse for P500 and contracted one of my mom’s
friends to cater at a discounted rate. It was so much cheaper than if I
did my blow out in a restaurant for all those people.”
Persistence
almost always pays off. Instead of giving up at the first sign of
difficulty, shift gears and rethink your options. The only thing
getting discouraged accomplishes is reinforce the fact that you didn’t
get what you wanted. As long as you keep trying, it is only a matter of
time before you achieve your goal.
“I really, really wanted to have a pair of those embellished slippers that are so uso
these days,” says Lulu, an aspiring stage actress. “But my income is
irregular, and I was in between jobs, so it really didn’t make sense
for me to splurge on something that can go out of style in a few
months. My younger sister, who’s a Fine Arts sophomore in UST, came up
with a brilliant idea for me to make my own knock-offs. We bought some
plain tsinelas from the department store and decorated them
with glittery beads and sequins from Carolina’s. It was so much fun
coming up with our own designs. It was so cheap, we were able to make
several pairs—glitters for evening and ethnic beads for the beach!”
3. Be Frugal

While cultivating your taste for the good life, don’t let delusions of
grandeur cause you to lose sight of reality and the oftentimes harsh
economics that go with it. In the same way that you try to be clever in
finding ways to enhance your lifestyle without spending more, be aware
of your basic expense patterns and trim down where possible. Living in
wasteful excess will not give you the sense of opulence you’re trying
to infuse your life with. It will only send you further down the road
to the poorhouse.
Maricor, a fresh graduate who
is currently busy job-hunting, makes it a point to use readily
available consumer products to keep her spending down. “The labandera
at my boarding house charges P500 a month for four loads of laundry.
There’s no way I can afford that—I don’t even have a job yet—so I wash
my own clothes. It’s not as hard as it seems. I buy detergent powder
for about P30 at the supermarket. Just one scoop is enough for a load
of laundry, and is so efficient I just leave the clothes to soak for a
few hours then rinse. No need to make kuskos and palu-palo.”
Her
roommate Cecil adds her own money-saving tip: “There’s a dress code in
my office that requires all female employees to wear skirts with
pantyhose everyday. I commute to work and I’m on my feet most of the
day, so my nylons last for two uses at most. Sobrang gastos talaga. But there are ways pala
to make pantyhose last longer. After they’ve been washed and dried, you
can slip them into Ziploc bags or any bag that will keep them dry, then
stick them in the freezer overnight. Afterwards, thaw them out and let
dry. It really makes them stronger. I also bought a pair of surgical
gloves from the drugstore to use when I’m putting on my stockings so
they don’t get snagged on my nails.

4. Be Imaginative
Sometimes you might have to go one step further and engage in elaborate planning to feign the feeling of luxury.
Vangie,
a physical therapist, shares the lengths to which she has gone in her
quest to get a taste of high living. “It was taking me forever to save
enough for a downpayment on the townhouse I’d had my eyes on for two
years. I was possessed by this insane desire to know how having my
dream house felt like, so I scoured the classifieds till I found a
posting for a fully furnished house for sale in an exclusive
neighborhood in Pasig and set an appointment for viewing. On the day of
my visit, I wore my new pantsuit and borrowed my brother-in-law’s new
Ford Lynx to drive over. I walked around the premises with the
discriminating air of a serious buyer. I fussed about the pool and
jacuzzi, bounced on the hundred-thousand-peso beds and couches, and
took off my shoes and walked barefoot on the Kashmiri carpets. I
imagined it was all mine, from the German kitchen to the home theater
system. You must think I’m weird, but it gave me the thrill I was
looking for and it inspired me to work harder to make my dream come
true.”
There’s a little of Vangie in
everyone—whether it’s being chauffeured around for a day in the company
Mercedes, or trying on an expensive gown or a genuine diamond tiara yet
have no intention of buying in some store. Enjoy these little
“escapes”. They’re harmless as long as you know the difference between
fiction and fact, and are great perk-me-ups. Let it serve as an
inspiration to move one step closer to the luxurious lifestyle you
dream about.
5. Be Realistic

In the end, it all still boils down to hard cash, so don’t get so
caught up in your fantasies that you forget to make concrete plans to
achieve real affluence. Substitutes are good, they can give a semblance
of the feeling of prosperity you are aspiring for, but at the end of
the day, nothing beats the real thing.
Try and
make your goals as clearly defined as possible. Attach a monetary value
to each and time frame for achieving them. For example, instead of
simply wishing for a new car and letting it end there, be more
specific. What model do you want? What color is it? Should it be brand
new or can it be second-hand? How much will it cost? By when should you
have it? How can you earn money to pay for it?
In
planning your dream vacation, don’t stop at vague statements like
“Someday I’ll go on a European tour.” Do your research: Which airline
will you fly and what day of the week should you make your trip to get
the best deal on plane fare? Which hotel or hostel will you stay in
when you get there? How much should you spend for sightseeing,
shopping, meals, and other incidentals? The internet is full of free
information you can use for your research.
Making
real plans and doing research are activities which will keep your goal
in your consciousness constantly, and this intense mental focus can
accelerate their actualization.
The whole point
of living on the cheap is to exercise a little creativity to make your
everyday working-class existence more stylish and comfortable even as
you steadily work your way towards true abundance.

Tools for Building Contentment in Your Life
Sarah Ban Breathnach in her book Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
suggests some tools to help people become more aware of the abundance
that is already present in their lives. According to her, we cannot
expect more from the universe unless we learn to appreciate what we
already have.
The Gratitude Journal

Find a beautiful blank book and every night before going to bed, write
down the five things that you can be grateful for about the day. Even
after you’ve had a rough day, write down the very basic things that
went right, like making it home safely despite the baha, or
having a nice warm bed to retire to after being on your feet all day
working. This focus on gratitude and abundance rather than lack will
promote a sense of fulfillment and hope in your life.
The Personal Treasure Map

Buy a blank artist’s sketchbook from the bookstore, grab a pair of
scissors, glue, and some old magazines. Whenever you see pictures of
houses, vacations, jewelry, or anything that represents something you
wish to have in your life someday, cut it out and stick it in your
Personal Treasure Map. Constantly go through these pictures to remind
you of your goals and don’t underestimate the power of visualization.
It really works!