Busy, Busy February

It’s just the middle of February, yet I feel like several weeks have already passed since my birthday month arrived. So many things are happening… and I’m just so grateful for everything! Although there are still times when I get so budget-conscious, I do strive to think rich! You see, December is not the most expensive month for me despite it being Christmas and all the holiday expenses it entails. My most "wealthy" time of the year has always been February. Every time it comes around, there are just so many stuff happening — Chinese New Year (eve and the day itself), Valentine’s Day (pre, during & post), Reggae Fest, my birthday (pre, during and post), long weekend c/o the Edsa Revolution celebrated every 25th and other gimmicks squeezed in between. Pocket-wise, that’sA LOT to handle. So, to be more practical about it, I initiated some useful ways to make Peter’s salary last even more… 

1 ) Thank God for invites! This means, free food, free drinks and no entrance fees. Plus I get to meet interesting people and make new friends. I even get to invite my gal pals and they don’t have to shell out that much. Winner, huh?! 

2) Spend time with my bestfriend Mer by simply hanging out at a nearby cafe, smoke cigs (for her)  and drink water (for me). It’s free!

3) Avoid getting drunk. This means, ordering a bottle of beer instead of cosmopolitan or other more expensive mixed drinks. I’m not only saving my liver from future health complications, I also get to dance more and stay up late more which equates to total enjoyment.

4) Having friends connected with a band who can sneak in a bottle of wine in an event with no corkage fees (Michelle). This means free alcohol consumption for the whole night! Therefore, the money that was supposed to be spent for my drinks can be used to buy souvenirs and trinkets from the event. Awesome!

L-R: another Gozum dress, my heart cake, my valentine bag

 5) Instead of spending thousands of  pesos for a bouquet of flowers (that wilt after a couple of days) and a restaurant reservation for Valentine’s (food does not even match Peter’s recipes) , Peter bought me several dresses, one of which is from Maria (which is on the more pricey end but he didn’t  mind) and the rest was from my favorite shop, Genevieve Gozum. To top it all of, he still managed to buy me a heart-shaped cake and a really funky red-white-black bag plus one giant special siopao which he gave me late last Valentine’s night when he got home from work. The nicest thing about it was, I wasn’t even expecting it. *mush*.

(Left: The original Maria Tube Dress from which my fuschia birthday dress design comes from… Isa Alvarez, my couturier, just had to make little adjustments to fit my body type; Right and Below: The dresses I wore on these events were gifts from  Peter)

6) Instead of spending my birthday somewhere exotic like last year when we went to Isla Verde with our folks and to Baguio with our friends, or celebrate it in some bar like in Hard Rock Cafe two years ago, I’m celebrating it at home in the company of friends, good music, my digital nail art and Peter’s superb pasta dishes. The money I saved for this was used to pay for the cable installation for our 2 bedroom TVs amounting to P4K (I’m still thinking if I want our living room TV to have cable connection too…Peter might not have time for me anymore, hehehe) and Sam’s medicated dog food which amounted to P1350.

7) For the past two consecutive Wednesdays, I hitched a ride with Peter in order to get to Ortigas and QC to do some errands. Lunch was always served at home and I did everything that’s on my list for that day by multitasking. Because I was so busy, I’ve forgetten to eat  dinner on both counts and near closing time of the mall, I just bought myself burger meal take-out from Jollibee as I watched the last full show of a nice movie (National Treasure & Jumper). By the time I was done, Peter’s also done with work and together, we’d gone home for some real home-cooked meal c/o our helper Emy and a few episodes of Kyle XY.  

I guess these measures I took helped a lot. They’re not bad at all, right? Anyway, more blessings are coming our way so I should just welcome these graces as they come. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, folks!