In “The Purple Chair Interview” with Boy Abunda, Kisses Delavin shared that her parents give her an allowance of P1000 per day while she studied at De La Salle University Manila. But here’s the catch: she said that of her P1000 daily allowance, she only spends about P100 and that’s already good for one week.
Is it really possible to fit P100 in one week though? Honestly, it seems a bit unrealistic, especially in Manila.
Delavin said that she always eats at home, which does help save a lot of money. Plus, she doesn’t spend money on commuting since she stays at a condominium located right in front of the campus. But even with those factors, it’s still hard to believe that she can manage to stretch P100 for one whole week. That’s only a tenth of her allowance in one day.
To have a clearer idea on how much a typical DLSU student usually spends in a week, a few Lasallians shared with us their weekly budget and how much of it they actually spend in one week (in pre-pandemic scenarios, of course).
A DLSU student’s weekly allowance can range from around P1000 to P3000, but for some it can be more than enough, especially if they’re keen on saving up. Their spending in a week can range from P800 to P2000 including food and commuting expenses — still much higher than spending only P100.
However, for those who stayed at condo units while studying at DLSU, sometimes a budget of P1000 to P1500 can’t fit in a week — for example, if they have to buy groceries, a weekly allowance ranging from P1000 to P1500 wouldn’t really suffice since groceries can be costly.
Going back to Kisses Delavin supposedly spending only P100 in a week, some find it unrealistic even with factors such as not having to spend on commuting and eating meals at home. Even if you don’t really need to spend on food if you have meals at home, Taft Avenue has a variety of restaurants and other food places that college students can explore. Plus, if you’ve been on food trips with friends, you most likely would’ve explored Taft and discovered yummy food places.
Some have said that spending P100 a week could also be possible though. Some students who stay at condo units while studying at DLSU often have cooked food from home at the ready, so there would be no need to spend on cooking ingredients. So if your ulam is cooked already, that just leaves the rice, which you can buy for around P15. If that’s what your usual arrangement is when it comes to your meals, then yeah it might be possible to maintain spending only P100 in a week.
Yet other students who lived the condo life still aren’t convinced. However, plenty of people online have pointed out that Kisses is inherently privileged than most DLSU students because of her showbiz background. So while we shouldn’t disregard her claim, it definitely wouldn’t be possible without all the help she probably receives.
Regardless, who’s to say that she doesn’t manage her expenses wisely despite the advantage she already has? Kisses Delavin added in her interview that she’s not “kuripot,” rather she’s just smart about handling her finances and tries not to spend a lot of her allowance.
Seriously though, how do you manage to spend only P100 in a week? That’s a whole new level of budgeting! Can we get some tips?
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