Well, it didn’t necessarily come easy–I worked most of my life to earn that generous government pension. Now my only job is to spend it wisely and make sure the money doesn’t run out before I do. I do maintain and loosely follow a budget, and most months I’m able to stick a few dollars in my savings account for a rainy day. Which is not to say I don’t occasionally go on a bit of a spending spree. Take yesterday as an example.
I did my weekly grocery shopping at Royal as usual. Total came to 9500 pesos (I use a 50 peso to the dollar as my rule of thumb conversion). I paid my driver 1200 pesos for his vehicle and time.
A friend has an ill and elderly father hospitalized in a city several hours from her. I sent her 7500 pesos so she could pay him a visit. I remembered how much it meant to my mother when I came home a couple of weeks before she died.
I gave my regular weekly stipend of 2000 pesos to the woman whose family I’ve “adopted” since her American ex-husband died and the support money he sent to feed his three kids ended.
I heard from another young woman who advised that school is starting next week and she needs to purchase uniforms for her two kids. She said she was willing to “work” for it and since she asked so nicely, I agreed. I paid her 3500 pesos for her efforts.
Later in the afternoon, I headed out to Alley Cats for the dart tournament. We played doubles again and for the second time in a row, I drew Anabelle as my partner. I wasn’t expecting much because there were some very strong teams in the mix, but to my surprise, we made it through the winner’s bracket undefeated.
Over the course of the evening, I bought two beer cards for me and several lady drinks for my partner, Anabelle. When it came time to pay the tab I owed 2100 pesos.
After darts, I hoofed it over to Sit-n-Bull for a late dinner.
The fish and chips were 350 pesos. I also got the last pecan pie available for another 350. I had the pie boxed up for take-out. Adding in the beer I enjoyed with my meal and a generous tip, my dinner excursion set me back an even 1000 pesos.
I took a trike ride home for 100 pesos. Got inside the house and realized that I had left my bag with the pecan pie inside the trike. Damn it! I was so craving that pie last night. Ate some rocky road ice cream instead, but it didn’t make me feel any better about my lost pie opportunity.
So, let’s total up how much my Tuesday set me back–hmm, 26,900 or $512.00. More than usual, but really not so bad considering the special circumstances I dealt with throughout the day. When I go out at night, I carry 5000 pesos with me. Most nights I don’t spend half of that. At this rate, I reckon I can keep on living large for the foreseeable future. My only real concerns are continued inflation and a fear that Brandon will cause the dollar to crash with his irresponsible policies. Since I’ve been coming to the PI I’ve seen the exchange rate as low as 42. Anything 50 or above I’m good. Now, obviously, I can cut way back on my frivolous spending habits (no lady drinks would cut my bar tab in half) but hopefully, it will never come to that.
So, there you have a snapshot of what it costs me to live here. YMMV. Of course, everything is relative. The beer that cost me six bucks a bottle in Korea is less than $1.50 here in most bars. I’m living a lot better here on a pension than I could there. But damn, sometimes I do miss those Korean sweeties.
Congrats re: darts. You win some, and you win some.
Fish & chips look pretty good, although the fish pieces look a bit stubby and truncated. Compare.
Nice to have all that money rolling in, eh? What level were you when you retired, like GS-14 or 15? I’ve always found it ironic that you’re a conservative, but you worked for the government, and you continue to receive government benefits. Uncle Sam thanks you, I’m sure! What turned you against him? And how many other conservatives, do you think, are quietly working in government positions? Is there a right-leaning Deeper State hiding under the Deep State?
John the poet. Better than that Baptist fella.
I forget. Did we ever get a story of why you elected to live in the Philippines rather than Korea? We know the how : a long saga that earned you the ‘ Technically, I’m still married to my third wife’ T-shirt. .. but why ?
With your generous pension you could still live a decent life in Korea 🇰🇷, and enjoy the unique 4 seasons ( only country with such an invention 😉 👅 ), and drink that strong ale in green bottles 🍼, not quite vodka but a spirit nonetheless.
Yet you chose to forego all that and settled on the archipelago.
Second part to my question: if South East Asia 🌏 and its fruits is what drew you there , why not Vietnam or Thailand? I heard that the melons 🍈 👀 Pattaya are bigger 👀 😳 🤔
Had this decision been made prior to the unfortunate dissolution of your matrimonial sustenance?
As to you your conservative leanings, I’m as loathe to discuss politics as much as I abhor chatter about horoscopes. But Kevin is right as usual 🙄 I’m sure you’ll label yourself a staunch libertarian, and chastise those who suckle at the government teat as you enjoy the fruits of your long-suffering labor to Uncle Sam. As far as uncles, he’s not so bad in as much as he steals your youth but does return a bit of it if you stick around long enough 😉
I’m glad to see that you’re truly spreading your largesse. The dedicated weekly support of that family 👪 is something that the gods ,old and new, will grant blessings 🙌 Even if you take your vows by candlelight , there’s still mercy for those who care for widows. We don’t say it enough on this forum, but you’re a good man.
Now to add this most important line: that Annabelle is a darling ❤
Have you gotten your eyes checked recently 👀? Why the complete silence 🔕
Is your pension indexed to inflation (or at least the CPI)? I thought that a lot of government pensions were CPI indexed, unlike those few remaining private company pensions?
I am certainly no fan of Biden, but then again, certainly no fan of Trump either. LOL. But, the foundation for inflation was set during the Trump administration. Yes, Biden has not helped matters at all and his administration will take the hit for it, but the train had already left the station by the time he became president.
Look at inflation. There are three major causes (no particular order):
supply and product disruptions from Covid
large fiscal spending, especially ~5Trillion for Covid relief with 5 major bills enacted
Fed printing money like crazy over the years, especially since March of 2020 (something like 80% of all dollars in existence were created since March of 2020
People can assign various weightings to the above categories, or might argue there’s another that should be elevated among these three. Note all three are bigger than just the Biden presidency. Most of #2 was enacted before he was in office, as for number 3, none of the current Board of Governors are Biden appointees, and Covid obviously predates him.
If you want to see a scary chart, look at the link below put out by the St. Louis Fed
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WM1NS
Anyway, I am a firm believe that economically, any President gets too much credit when things are going well, and too much blame when things are going poorly. There are so many things globally (and even domestically) that affect the economy and are relatively unmoved by the President.
Kev, re: the fish and chips–it was advertised as three pieces and that’s what I got. Yeah, they weren’t big pieces like the photo you shared. It was tasty enough though.
Yes, I retired as a GS-15. As to the politics, it’s technically a violation of law (the Hatch Act) to engage in political activity on the clock. Still, you can get a sense of where people stand. I was actually a moderate Democrat and voted that way until 9/11 changed my worldview, primarily because I started getting my news from sources other than the Washington Post. I was shocked to discover that the bias in the MSM is not so much in what they report, but in what they leave out. Now I get lots of perspectives from sources on the internet and make up my own mind.
I spent 24 years of my federal career with the Postal Service. It really was pretty much apolitical. The Postmaster General was not subject to Presidential appointment and the Board of Governors didn’t change when a new administration took power. So, politics really didn’t matter much.
My five years with the Department of Education were entirely different. My boss there was a far-left liberal and I came on board at the same time GW Bush was elected. So, of course, all the top leadership was replaced with Bush appointees. I could hear the chatter throughout the halls as liberal heads were exploding. Bush even visited our headquarters once early in his term. My boss was not pleased!
My time with the Army was much calmer. Although the top Defense Department leaders are appointed by the President, the military mission remains pretty constant and not subject to political whims. I honestly had no sense of where the General Officers I worked for stood politically. That’s how it should be.
Anyway, within the bureaucracy I’d reckon the liberals far outnumber the conservatives. I don’t think working for Uncle Sam changes your outlook, I think lefties tend to gravitate more to government jobs. Implementing the policies of the leadership, regardless of party, is just the day-to-day grunt work. I never saw any of my fellow employees try to subvert whatever mandates we were given. The deep state I guess hadn’t seeped down to my level.
James, yes I could afford to live in Korea, albeit with a reduction in some of my lifestyle choices (like frequently going out to the bars and buying lady drinks), but where’s the fun in that? I do miss a lot of things in Korea, but once I lost the wife my life there just felt sad. I needed to move to overcome that.
Before deciding on the Philippines, I did visit Thailand and Cambodia. Ultimately, the choice came down to there being less of a language barrier here. Cambodia is still my Plan B, and Vietnam is also in the mix should I ever decide to depart the PI.
It is ironic in a way, but the women were a factor in choosing to leave Korea. I love Korean women but they don’t love me. And once you are over 60 in that culture you might as well give up on romancing a sweet young thing–you become invisible to them. Of course, now I’m in the land of “age is just a number” and the gals all love that big bulge in my pants (my wallet), but here I am as lonely as ever. I guess maybe I’m the problem.
I have no issue with the rank and file folks slaving away in government service. I disagree with the policies and priorities of our so-called leaders, but politics doesn’t play a big part in the day-to-day functioning of the federal bureaucracy.
As far as my “charity” work goes, when I moved here one of my goals was to make a difference in the life of some of the unfortunates I encounter. I won’t deny my selfish motivation for helping others is that it helps alleviate some of the guilt of living rich in a poor country. At least for a few folks, my being here makes their life better.
Ah, Annabelle. Yeah, I was hot for her when I met her as a tourist. Once I made the move, she was the first I tried to date. For whatever reason, she wasn’t receptive to my advances. I went on to other things, none of which turned out well for me. We’ve had fun as dartmates lately and she has at least hinted around that she’d like a boyfriend. I asked her what happened when I tried four years ago and she said that I “gave up to easy”. Hmm. Well, I do enjoy her company. Stay tuned!
Brian, yes I do get an annual CPI adjustment to my pension. Never quite catches up to the rate of inflation, but it is much better than nothing. There is no question that my Civil Service Retirement System pension is probably the best thing going, private or public sector. So good in fact that they ended that program in the 1980s for newly hired federal employees and replaced it with something far less generous. I was grandfathered into the old system, so I’m a lucky man.
I couldn’t get your link to load, but for the most part, I agree with you. I don’t do politics much here anymore, but I was never a big Trump fan–it’s just that he was a better option than that the crook Hillary. And things were certainly better with Trump than under Biden so far, IMO. Yeah, there would still be consequences for all that “free” COVID money the feds spent. But under Trump, we were net exporters of oil. And Biden on day one ended the programs driving that by executive fiat. The cost of fuel impacts the price of all goods and services, so in that respect, Biden gets full blame for inflation.
Having said that, I do agree that Presidents get too much blame/credit for the good and bad. Their policies and appointments however can certainly make things worse. Biden (or whoever is actually running the show) has been a disaster in that regard. I really hope Trump doesn’t get the nomination in 2024, there are much better options (I’m getting to be a big DeSantis fan).
Anyway, I appreciate your thoughtful comment and insights. We are not so far apart.
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