Helping me out with some research

[ginapeterb]

Would some of you like to tell me your stories about Remittances.

Some of you will know if not all, I run a website called British-Filipino, I am in the process of doing some research into the remittance habits of Filipinos who are married or living with/engaged etc, to British Nationals.

I am doing a sort of a human interest article for my website on the cultural relationships between the British man and his foreign born wife, how the Filipino culture of dependancy is either accepted into their new way of life once in UK or on the other side of the coin, if it is rejected or there is resistance to it.

I am interested in the following ?

Do you support your family from your own earnings ?

Does your husband know about your remittances or your obligations to the family ?

If so, does he help you with it, or does he not mind, or does he for example not approve of it.

Do you work to send money for relatives, siblings, helping others through school, etc.

Has it put a strain on your relationship, how has it affected you.

I would be grateful if the Filipina's on this forum could spend a few moments and tell me in a few short lines whether they send money, who is it for, and is it an obligation, and if they didnt do it, what would happen to their family or other dependee.

Thanks for your help in this matter.

[andypaul]

Can't answer many of the questions,but was going to going to write a review of my wifes 2nd vist to PNB (queen victoria street) and how tough pnb make it to send remittance and how they seem to not know the products they sell (ie mentioned all over there website but no one knows what it is in the premier british branch of PNB.
How they accidently opened a bank account for my wife instead of sending remittance and advising her she could send remittance for pick up at the counter instead of the cheaper options ie straight to account or via a special card which they know nothing about.
Due to the miss selling of products i will be investigating ways of taking the matter further, as they seem to be very unprofessional in my few encounters.

Im happy to help with remittance to my Wifes little Brother and sister but object to the poorly run (it appears to me) companies we have to deal with. I have investigated the market a great deal and am quite frankly shoocked at the level of the companies operating. For example one leading company uses a public email address for emailing finacial information, others we have used have never asked for any id which is quite frankly outragous.
I do hope the remittance market is soon regulated as i think some MPs are proposing to bring a bill to parliment due to companies going bankrupt recently and having no one body to deal with complants agaisnt remittance companies. The remittance fee may go up 50 p or a pound but at least we would know the money was being handled by companies using proper regulated security and fincial systems.

My Wifes siblings would survie with out her remittance money that she earns herself but it is topped up sometimes by money from me which im happy to do as long as its well spent. It gives them a far better standard of live and better opportunities though better schooling and equipment to study with.

[eula mackay]

I dont support immediate family or any relatives financially.

I do send money for my nephews and nieces during special occassions such as birthdays, christmas or graduation or when i feel they deserve a little treat. Sometimes I shop for them and send it over (rarely though). My husband does not mind because it comes from my own pocket.

As you know Pete, I only recently started working here in the UK. I have not even receieved my first pay yet. Ive been living on my savings since I left Dubai. Luckily I found a job before my savings acct hit zero. I dont see anything wrong with any husband providing for his wife but I prefer to earn my own money. If he gives me a few quid thank you, if not no worries.

I think my husband would moan if I ask him for money to send to the Phils or use my credit card extension to buy pressies on line. I just know he will. Its not that hes tight or selfish but I think....oh..i dont know....he just wont like it or agree to it unless its extremely practical/reasonable.

During my recent trip to the Phils I was meant to get the kids their xmas pressies but never got around to doing it. I told him just the other night id send a few quid to manila for the kids xmas pressies and I did not get a reaction. Hmmm......thank god im working!

[LadyJ]

Do you support your family from your own earnings ?

Yes! But I only support my mother when she really badly need a money..and that's totally OK for me because its time for me to pay her back. She worked hard to earned money for me and my siblings so we can study in a high class school.

Does your husband know about your remittances or your obligations to the family ?

Sometimes Yes but sometimes No! otherwise he doesn't mind because he trust me and he knows that I know how to handle our money.

he knows that I know how to handle our money

Except when we are in the Tesco.

Do you work to send money for relatives, siblings, helping others through school, etc.

Honeslty my mother side is not that poor..so I'm quite lucky that I don't need to send anyone a help apart from my mother.

[joebloggs]

i'll put my wife dress on .. again

and answer on her behalf


yes my husband has sent money to my aunt for many years, for looking after my son, and his cousin. but since i now work, its both our money we send.

yes he knows, as he sends the money and the reasons why we send it and he does know and agree to the obligations . but he complains sometimes when my aunt ask for more and when it goes past a certain limit.

the money we send goes on getting my son and his cousin thru uni.

strain sometimes, when we have bills to pay and we don't have much money left that month.

back to joe , unlike most on here, i take nearly all my wifes wages off her, no i'm not joking, shes left with about £100 a month to spend on herself, i pay all the bills and everything else, and send money to her aunt, and i have done for near 8 years now, firstly to get my wife thru med school, then for her son to goto uni, thou hes in the uk now, hes going back to uni in manila in april, also to pay for his cousin to get thru his nursing degree, hes had a really bad time, so we want to help him.

strain it can be, now with have a baby to pay for, and what we send is quite a lot, 1/5 of our combined wages. so it can be a struggle, but it be worth it in the end, and we will be a lotbetter off , once the wife gets a full time job..

[kimmi]

Joe, u have a dual personality?

[joebloggs]

Joe, u have a dual personality?

split ,
no but my printer has , postscript and PCL

sorry an IT joke

[scott&ligaya]

We are not yet in the UK but still in HK, my wife worked here for 9 years and has her own savings, she does send some money home but is very particular that there is a genuine need and some real return, like nursing diploma, degree etc for her siblings. I always get things for her mum, mainly time saving appliances etc, but Ligaya says she does not want the entire family thinking we will be their meal ticket, she left home at 19 to work and she wants to instill a good work ethic. I do love getting the nephews and nieces stuff and it is not a hardship for us to bear, we are fortunate to able to afford it but I have seen many many horror stories in hong Kong of domestic helpers working years here sending nearly all their money home and it being squandered on drink, mobiles, gambling, kids, kids of kids, husbands of kids etc etc. I feel for these ladies and for all you Filipinas in the UK with unrealistic burdens from ungrateful families. I think we have the balance right and we certainly do not get much pressure. I think UK husbands shoudl have researched the remiittance/dependancy culture and been aware that in many cases you marry the family. As for remitting here in HK because there are over 100 000 of these brave ladies the banks and other providers are pretty switched on even now providing cash via your mobile.

Scott