sending a income

[stevie c]

yes steve i agree entirely send what you can afford because submit your bank statements to the british embassy for your girls visa application you need to show an healthy account so send only what you can afford in my opinion.

[Notavirusalso]

yes steve i agree entirely send what you can afford because submit your bank statements to the british embassy for your girls visa application you need to show an healthy account so send only what you can afford in my opinion.

Not strictly true as my bank statements diddnt exactly show a healthy balance but it did show that I had never gone overdrawn, that there was a regular verifiable source of income and that I was sending a regular amount to my WIFE.....and ofcourse only send what you can afford ..how can you send more ?,,, but reading some of these post on this thread there seems to be a lot of very cyinical people around or mabey they were burned badly and have not revovered yet...you cant "say dont be materialistic" to someone in the same breath as "not with my money its mine all mine" but I do hope that the girls whom are being taught how to be independant appreciate it.....humm ? wonder if they can learn other leasons from that also ? have a nice day, play nicely

[stevewool]

lots of very good comments on here today lads thanks for the advice it all does help and i hope it helps you too, we are not alone

[sparky]

lots of very good comments on here today lads thanks for the advice it all does help and i hope it helps you too, we are not alone

flook me- i aint sending any money over to lil green men as well as the wife

[malditako]

hubby used to send me 500 to 600 pounds a month...having a baby is a bit expensive

[stevewool]

£500 to £600 wow you are lucky

[malditako]

£500 to £600 wow you are lucky

looking at the rates now...its not that big i can say with all the bills and baby stuff...cost of living in the philippines is continously increasing each day while pounds decline at the same time.

[Englishman2010]

I think 500-600 GBP is reasonable if the man has a baby to support.

However, if the g/f or fiancee does not have children and is able to work, I see no reason why she shouldn't make an effort to find work even if it is only for a couple of hundred pesos a day. In my situation, I would make up the difference from her earnings to ensure she had a decent standard of living. I don't think anyone should be picky about what job they do to make a living.

Personally, I have a good professional job and have been well educated and I don't want to do a hard physical manual working job, but if I was unable to do my current job and needed to earn money to survive, I would take on anything for an income - Street cleaner, toilet cleaner, security guard ...etc.

[malditako]

I think 500-600 GBP is reasonable if the man has a baby to support.

However, if the g/f or fiancee does not have children and is able to work, I see no reason why she shouldn't make an effort to find work even if it is only for a couple of hundred pesos a day. In my situation, I would make up the difference from her earnings to ensure she had a decent standard of living. I don't think anyone should be picky about what job they do to make a living.

Personally, I have a good professional job and have been well educated and I don't want to do a hard physical manual working job, but if I was unable to do my current job and needed to earn money to survive, I would take on anything for an income - Street cleaner, toilet cleaner, security guard ...etc.

if i am a man i wouldn't let my gf/fiancee/spouse cleaning the street, toilet...ect same with my husband....aim high

[Englishman2010]

if i am a man i wouldn't let my gf/fiancee/spouse cleaning the street, toilet...ect same with my husband....aim high

I agree you should aim high, but if you hit rock bottom, you still need to survive. No one should be picky about what job they do if they can't afford to eat. I have a good job now, but I did some rotten jobs when I left school to ensure I could survive, including cleaning out live sewers and repairing drains

[Steve.r]

if i am a man i wouldn't let my gf/fiancee/spouse cleaning the street, toilet...ect same with my husband....aim high

Some people have no choice!! Never take advantage of a good thing!
I believe you have been extremely lucky, some of us are not so lucky.

[gWaPito]

I think 500-600 GBP is reasonable if the man has a baby to support.

However, if the g/f or fiancee does not have children and is able to work, I see no reason why she shouldn't make an effort to find work even if it is only for a couple of hundred pesos a day. In my situation, I would make up the difference from her earnings to ensure she had a decent standard of living. I don't think anyone should be picky about what job they do to make a living.

Personally, I have a good professional job and have been well educated and I don't want to do a hard physical manual working job, but if I was unable to do my current job and needed to earn money to survive, I would take on anything for an income - Street cleaner, toilet cleaner, security guard ...etc.

I agree, £500 per month for someone who has babies. When you consider the cost of baby formula is just as expensive in the Philippines as it is here in the west
We all want our babies to grow big and strong, the first 2 years in a childs life are so important, the foundations for the rest of there lives

[fred]

I agree, £500 per month for someone who has babies. When you consider the cost of baby formula is just as expensive in the Philippines as it is here in the west
We all want our babies to grow big and strong, the first 2 years in a childs life are so important, the foundations for the rest of there lives

for a 1 to 3 month old baby a tin of formula costs about 280 Pesos which last a week..That increases to 2-2-1/2 tins when the child is 6 months old so throw in the nappies and call it 20 quid a month.
A Filipino run 1 bed apartment can be rented from 2.500k per month in Manila and the average low income Filipino family spend probably no more than 500 a month on electricity..(forget A/C)
A single Filipino can eat and drink in a fast food shopping mall joint 3 times a day for about 180 Pesos. That includes meat veg , rice and and 3 glasses of water. or about 100 per day or less if they do their own cooking.(being generous here)
Purified water is 25 P for a 5 gallon container and should last one person 2 weeks.
General water supply around 100,Pesos per month.
Internet cafe that I use (province price) 12-15 Pesos per hour.(Manila price from 25 Pesos per hour).

[joebloggs]

looking at the rates now...its not that big i can say with all the bills and baby stuff...cost of living in the philippines is continously increasing each day while pounds decline at the same time.

how many people do you know who earn 40kphp a month in the phils ?

[malditako]

how many people do you know who earn 40kphp a month in the phils ?

lots joeblogs lots...includes some of my relatives and neighbors just inside our village neighbors can afford to pay house monthly amortization of 50,000 a month and maintains a nice car kids go to private school...one of the warden from british embassy is one of our neighbor and he knows lots of filipinos can do much more than foreigner can earn a month.

[Englishman2010]

how many people do you know who earn 40kphp a month in the phils ?

There can't be many. Perhaps a very small % of the overall population earn even half of or a quarter of that. Speaking for myself, I know my g/f could never expect to earn anything close to that in the P.I, and as such she should not expect me to provide that kind of lifestyle for her yet.
What we are talking about is survival, load for the phone or internet and a few luxuries every now and then. Someone made the distinction between g/f and wife earlier in the thread. I agree, if it is your wife then you should give more. In my case, it is my g/f, she is in her 20's intelligent, able bodied and has no good reason to not get a job. I have to work for a living and to help her out, there are some days when I hate my job, but I still have to go to work everyday because if I don't I wont be able to pay the mortgage, bills or eat. There is no one who is going to help me, and you can forget the state, £64 a week doesn't even pay my gas and electricity bills let alone everything else. It has always been my view that everyone should try their hardest to help themselves first, and if there is someone who is prepared to assist them, they should consider themselves to be very fortunate and should neither expect it or demand more.

[Arthur Little]

Someone made the distinction between g/f and wife earlier in the thread. I agree, if it is your wife then you should give more. In my case, it is my g/f, she is in her 20's intelligent, able bodied and has no good reason to not get a job. I have to work for a living and to help her out, there are some days when I hate my job, but I still have to go to work everyday because if I don't I wont be able to pay the mortgage, bills or eat. There is no one who is going to help me, and you can forget the state, £64 a week doesn't even pay my gas and electricity bills let alone everything else. It has always been my view that everyone should try their hardest to help themselves first, and if there is someone who is prepared to assist them, they should consider themselves to be very fortunate and should neither expect it or demand more.

s, also ... and very true!!

[Steve.r]

Reality check, here in the Uk, if you are on Job Seeker Allowance you receive £64.30 a week. Thats 4372 peco. Could a filipina live on that a week ?

[KeithD]

Reality check, here in the Uk, if you are on Job Seeker Allowance you receive £64.30 a week. Thats 4372 peco. Could a filipina live on that a week ?

I certainly hope so as we know people in full time jobs on P6000 a month.

[IainBusby]

Reality check, here in the Uk, if you are on Job Seeker Allowance you receive £64.30 a week. Thats 4372 peco. Could a filipina live on that a week ?

That's as much as many Filipino families have to live on each week. I think that if you send much more than is required then it's likely to create a dependancy culture within the whole family which will continue long after your mahal gets to the UK and which could cause problems in your relationship at a later stage. You should always remember, they all survived long before they had a foriegner in the family and on far far less in most cases.

[Arthur Little]

You should always remember, they all survived long before they had a foriegner in the family and on far far less in most cases.

Precisely ... !

[Steve.r]

That's as much as many Filipino families have to live on each week. I think that if you send much more than is required then it's likely to create a dependancy culture within the whole family which will continue long after your mahal gets to the UK and which could cause problems in your relationship at a later stage. You should always remember, they all survived long before they had a foriegner in the family and on far far less in most cases.

Exactly my point Ian

[subseastu]

Exactly my point Ian

We send money to the family for specific things, banka boat, fishing nets etc. This is to try to get them as self suficent as possible. THen they in theory can provide for their kids, send them to school and on to a reasonable job. So hopefully they're not overly dependant on me, thats the plan anyway.

[aposhark]

That's as much as many Filipino families have to live on each week. I think that if you send much more than is required then it's likely to create a dependancy culture within the whole family which will continue long after your mahal gets to the UK and which could cause problems in your relationship at a later stage. You should always remember, they all survived long before they had a foriegner in the family and on far far less in most cases.

Spot on as usual Mr. Busby

[fred]

Hmmmm... Might be a bit tight Steve..
It depends where she drinks!

[5olidsnake]

the cost of living in philppines is 5x cheaper or more, so if the amounts remitted are convert, it is the equivelant to to somebody sending me here £2500/£3000 per month.

if a kind person was sending me that kind of cash in the uk, i would love it.
i would not work, go to the town shopping everyday have a kfc then maybe cinema watch the latest movie, then trade in my mobilephone because it is one month old. sounds familar "malling diba"

my wifes auntie is a school teacher and is paid £150 per month, she is the bread winner for the whole family (6+ adults)and they live a normal life, not easy but they are content

100% fred is correct with his budgeting,

[fred]

100% fred is correct with his budgeting,

Thanks for the endorsement solidsnake.. Just trying to keep it honest!!

[bornatbirth]

£150 a month for 6 adults plus all the kids.

hello pretty filipina, im a westerner heres your £10 a week, im sure you can manage on that.

how cheaply one can live, doesnt mean we want our filipina wife too or are some just tight s

[Notavirusalso]

send all you can afford, that is the best you can do ofcourse, I personally send a lot more than the £200 quoted else where in this thread but them Mari is my wife so its her money aswell and like most of us here I am on an average wage but my family come first allways... so just do the best you can by her Steve

[Arthur Little]

... this thread has been a bit of an "eyeopener" for me. Guess I must've been lucky, in that, I never needed to send money to the Phils. NOT that I could've afforded to anyway since, at the time I first met Myrna [in September 2008] I was already retired and not yet old enough to qualify for the State Pension. Moreover, I was in receipt of what's known as 'Guaranteed Pension Credit' (to top-up a modest occupational pension) awarded to persons aged between 60 & 65, whose income fell below a minimum national threshold. Thankfully, Myrna earned a decent salary as a High Schoool teacher - a post she relinquished after we married and applied for her Spousal Visa.