Facebook Survey: Where Do Filipinos Spend Their Monthly Salary?

Like many working Filipinos, I’ve learned the hard way how to balance earning and spending. From covering family needs to indulging in personal pleasures, our monthly salaries reveal a lot about Filipino priorities — and quirks.

Even then, it seems how I spend my monthly expenses is far from that of the rest of the working Filipino community. In a Facebook post, TripZilla asked them where their monthly salary goes, and the answers couldn’t have been more interesting and relatable. And oh, it just wouldn’t be Filipino if they didn’t respond in weird online Filipino slang, either!

Also read: How Filipinos Choose to Spend ₱50,000 If They Were Handed This Money

The Filipino monthly salary breakdown

Out of more than a hundred comments, one thing a few Filipinos online seem to agree on is a certain Judith, which I had the privilege of learning about after my colleagues explained the term. Apparently, Judith is a homonym for “due dates,” with a mind-blowingly localised twist.

The term “Judith,” a playful Filipino slang for due dates, is well-known online. It humorously captures the dread of paying rent, bills, and other monthly obligations — a sentiment many Filipinos still relate to today.

Image credit: ngampolthongsai via Canva Pro

Aside from including these and similar utilities among their monthly expenses, some added bills for their credit card and housing or car loans. One Facebook user mentioned paying bills for four different cards. A lot of Filipinos also openly answered their essentials in the form of groceries for daily food, baby needs like milk and diaper, and pet necessities. Insurance, investments, healthcare, children’s tuition, and savings likewise came up in several of the responses.

Alongside these priorities, some have emphasised spending a portion of their monthly salary for personal expenses. One user said she likes to spend on clothing and accessories. A few others brought up travel, skincare, childhood toy collections, Japanese and Korean merchandise, and other online shopping purchases.

Also read: 21 Money Saving Tips to Help Build Your Savings in 2021

Saved by Filipino resourcefulness

Filipinos or those in the Philippines earn an average monthly salary of about ₱15,000, according to Picodi's 2021 report. This puts us on the list of countries with the lowest salaries in the world. That said, resourcefulness has never been a problem for many of us when it comes to monthly spending habits, as proven by the abovementioned insights.

Featured image credit: Satoshi-K via Canva Pro