Groceries for our helper

[mama7]

Hi mga sis! ano bang binibili niyong breakfast/snacks para sa mga helper niyo?

here’s mine 

- Tasty bread

- Cheese spread (yung sa sachet lang parang Zesto)

- Coffee & Coffeemate

- noodles at pancit canton - pili na lang siya sa umaga

-energen / bearbrand cereal drink

- powdered juice

- 1 pack biscuit ,1 pack chichirya or Sugo peanut

Toiletries:
- Bath soap and shampoo

- cotton buds, feminine wash, cologne -tamad kc maligo

- vitamins

lahat ng snack at pang breakfast good for 15 days dahil 2x a month lang kami mamili.iba breakfast nya dahil di kami kumakain sa umaga ni hubby 10-11 am gising namin..mabuti nga natuto siya paunti -unti na yung food sa cabinet namin eh hindi niya pwede basta gagalawin kasi sa amin na yun at may sarili siang cabinet na lalagyan ng food niya sa kitchen..bibigyan naman siya once magbukas kami ng kahit anong snacks namin lalo na chocolates.

[aquacharly]

Breakfast is part of their marketing -  ayaw nila canned/processed food. Prefer paksiw,  homemade tocino,  - ewan ko na basta they follow a 15day menu.   The maids & drivers prefer kinda heavy breakfasts coz they don't like to do AM snack. When the pool boy (actually matanda na yan) comes TThS - breakfast din sya.  He brings them tuyo or  some dried fish now and then.   If the tuyo quality is good - the cook offers some to my husband.

This is the cute thing in our household now -- the house staff  have an afternoon merienda menu that we the family get really interested in.   Pahingi! Lol.

Arroz caldo, pancit, Biko? , bibingka,  some kind of suman,  chicken mami,  that kind of stuff.  And the walang kamatayang turon we are all addicted to now.  3 wks na ata we have all been eating turon of Saba with langka.  Pati yung village Eco-aide sweeping  our perimeter streets eh nabibigyan ng turon.   It's good the kids don't stick to their biscuits, chips, etc.  It's even better that they like local snacks -  masipag yung cook and the kitchen helper to make all that stuff nowadays. 

Ewan ko ba, my house staff have gone on a health program ata.  Particular sila about what they eat nowadays. On the afternoons I hanker for Balut --  and a driver will go buy -- I ask sino pa ba may gusto? Ilan?  Aba, wala na may gusto now!  Nobody wants to eat some of my  chicharon bulaklak  now too. 

It is well understood in the house that the family food is off limits.   Our ref & freezer are different from their ref & freezer in the service kitchen.   They have their own coffee, tea, canned milk, sugar (family uses coco sugar), rice & biscuits/crackers.  Basta everything in the family kitchen is off limits. 

As for toiletries:  every month, they have a grocery allowance of P500/helper.   I have them separate their purchases at the checkout counter parang hindi ko na check their purchases.  Anything over - they pay. 
But the laundry soap and detergent is on my bill, together with all  house detergents.

[imeego]

they eat the same breakfast that we eat..actually di ko na nakikita kasi nauuna na silang kumain, so kung ano niluto nila for us i think yun na din kinain nila coz we dont buy naman separate breakfast food for them..usually, rice talaga ang breakfast namin, kahit sila i think preferred nila to eat rice for breakfast..they don't have a separate supply of rice na, ang binibili namin isang kaban at kung maubos we just order kasi may nagsusupply naman..we dont strictly monitor rice consumption so di namin gaano katagal ang isang kaban sa amin

snacks: hubby and i dont eat snacks, so we just buy for them, usuallly bread, sandwich spread, coffee, sugar, juice, biscuits/crackers..they have morning and afternoon snacks, what we buy is good for 2 weeks na din kasi we only do grocery shopping 2x a month..but, kung may cake, ice cream whatever sa ref,  allowed sila kumuha...good thing with my helpers di makapal mukha nila, pag di pa na-open di sila kukuha and they wait for our go signal naman, meaning kukuha lang sila pag inalok na namin ang off  limits lang sa kanila is food ng kids ko..

what i noticed sa helpers ko, di sila masyado sa meat or minsan sawa na siguro, so may supply din sila ng fish, veggies, plus naglilista din sila sa grocery list ng sardines, noodles...i think eto niluluto nila pag lunch..di din kasi kami kumakain ng lunch ni hubby..

toiletries: i just buy packs of bath soap, shampoo and toothpaste for them..yung laundry  soap/detergent they can get from the supply naman so di na naka-separate to

[nicoletta]

Right now, we have 1 all around and 1 yaya.  I am thinking of getting another one that we can teach to cook so we have food all the time.  Our all around does not know how to manage our food kasi, and sometimes I eat canned goods unless I have her prepare ahead of time vegetables or something.  My husband likes to eat meat, and I am not much of a domestic goddess myself so I don't know how to manage, not to mention i just gave birth and i am breastfeeding.

So it's common na pala to supply the soap and kikay stuff of our maids?  Our yaya did mention that and since her salary is not that high, i think ok lang naman for us that we shoulder it provided ok naman siya.

[Angelite]

Basta kailangan pag bibili ako ng mga kikay stuff nila may whitening effect (whitening lotion, whitening sosp etc). Patok sa kanila iyan.

[nageinna]

with our old yaya, very generous ako in giving her groceries. very masipag kasi and maalaga sa baby ko. i buy her groceries every month, like coffee, noodles, biscuits, etc.

with our current yaya, i just give her coffee every month. then my MIL gives her 20pesos every morning to buy pandesal/breads for her breakfast. i found out from our other helper na she gets food from our pantry often, so i dont buy her groceries na. inis lang si hubby kasi nagsumbong yung isang helper namin na daig pa daw kami kung kumain ng fruits, 3x a day, lunch merienda and midnight snack! and yung mga mahal pa na fruits kinakain, plum, peaches, lemon. so ayon we felt off.

[bagaholic_chewy]

Kung ano food namin, yun din sa kanila. Minsan if wala kami, they cook tuyo, daing or whatever. Nalalaman namin kasi me naiiwang amoy sa kitchen minsan. Sometimes, hubby and I prefer oatmeal lang and/or bread for breakfast, we tell them the night before para ang lutuin lang nila kinabukasan e food for them. Pag sa labas kami lunch or dinner, sometimes they eat the leftovers or yung mga takeout namin na nasa ref, para daw di na sila magluto. At para mabawasan leftovers sa ref. Their call.

Same for merienda, most food items e for everyone, free sila to open and eat them (including imported chocolates, chips, etc). If meron specific items na di namin pinapagalaw, we tell them beforehand para alam nila na off-limits yun. Minsan, they make turon, ginatan, champorado or pancakes for snacks for all of us. Di naman sila abusado at medyo mahina din kumain (compared sa amin ni hubby, hehe). Minsan kami na mismo nagbubukas ng imported snacks para pag bukas na e di na sila mangimi na kumuha. Minsan kasi kahit sabihin naming ok lang e nahihiya pa din sila to open sealed food, especially pag imported, kaya kami na nagbubukas for them. Minsan, if napadami sila merienda, they skip dinner. Basta sabi ko lang, pag nagutom e kumain kasi baka manghina naman sila kaka-diet.

I basically let them decide what food to cook for all of us. Sometimes lang we have requests (like me, i'm breastfeeding so pag namamalengke nagbibilin ako na bumili ng pang-tinola tsaka leafy veggies, etc). Recently, hubby and I decided to minimize pork consumption so i started making a suggested weekly lunch&dinner menu para me guide sya sa pagpalengke. But i told them na they can still buy and cook pork for them, basta lutuan na lang nila kami ibang ulam na hindi pork.

Sometimes, they buy local tsitsirya and snack items using their own money. I take note of those and buy them sa next grocery trip ko. Or if kasama sila mag-grocery, i let them pick their snack items. As much as possible kasi, I don't want them to spend their own money for food, kasi I know pinapadala nila a large part of their salaries sa families. Mantra namin ni hubby, walang magugutom sa bahay namin. Hehe..

Sa toiletries, we provide the basic stuff -- soap (me specific whitening soap silang request, hehe), shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, cottonbuds, alcohol. The rest ng kakikayan, own expense na nila. Minsan, pag galing kami byahe, we buy them colognes or drugstore makeup (powder, lippies) as part of pasalubong.

Toilet paper, laundry detergent, fabcon, etc -- they're free to get and use from the household stash. It's for everyone's consumption.

[twelvth_goddess]

This was my typical grocery list for our previous yayas. I've not had a yaya for 8 months now so malaki tipid ko not just with the sweldo but groceries as well.

- bread
- chiz whiz or peanut butter (either lang)
- coffee, sugar, cream
- energen
- powdered juice
- noodles and pansit canton
- 2 packs of biscuits
- soap, shampoo, toothpaste
- vitamin c

We shared our food with our helpers but there are certain food na samin lang. They are never to touch my daughter's food. Yung ibang pangpaarte nila like lotion and whitening stuff, sila bahala bumili non, may sweldo naman sila.

[nikki]

Ang usual stuff - bread, coffee, few canned goods, powdered juice, noodles/pancit canton. Minsan may pabilin when I go out to buy grocery like fudgee bar mga ganyan. Basta hindi sila gugutumin sa house. In fact, when they first arrived ang papayat. Eh ngayon, conscious na at gusto mag diet.

As for toiletries, I only bought them when they first arrived.  After first sweldo, sila na.  Basic medicines, I also provide pag humingi.

[nicoletta]

They have:
- Gardenia, or whatever my yaya chooses for them
- Peanut Butter, sometimes imported brand like skippy or peter pan because I can't finish naman the jar
- Coffee and Coffee Mate, sometimes my yaya would buy creamer with no brand
- Canned goods and hot dogs
- Skyflakes
- Tang/ Eight o'clock
- Milo, this is for my yaya kasi she doesn't drink coffee

I would like to think they are happy with what we provide.  Since we only have 2 to 3 house helps at a time, we can still cover for everyone. We only have 1 kitchen so we use the same things for cooking, and we see everything.  Sometimes if we don't share the same meal, they either cook noodles or vegetables.  They don't seem to like fish na tuyo or tilapia kasi they don't order.  They eat the fish that we do, not naman salmon, but the white fish for fish with taosi and the like.

[imeego]

^sis sa 3 helpers mo, gaano katagal sa kanila ang big loaf of bread? .i have 3 helpers kasi, nagugulat ako kasi they consume 1 big loaf in one day lang, kinabukasan another loaf na ulit..also, 1 bottle of goya spread 1 day lang din...di naman sa nagdadamot but we only do grocery shopping every 2 weeks at nahihirapan ako mag-estimate kung gaano karami ba dapat iprovide kong merienda nila..ang nangyayari kasi wala pang 1 week ubos na lahat so sometimes they buy biscuits sa store using their own money na..

These are the usual stuff i buy for them:
3-4 big loaves of bread
I big can biscuits/crackers (graham, sky flakes etc)
2 kinds of spread (goya, peanut butter, jam etc alternate lang)
Instant noodles
Canned goods
Coffee (3 in 1 san mig)
Powdered juice
Toiletries (soap, shampoo, toothpaste)

Plus, binibilhan din namin sila ng box of donuts or cake pag galing kami mall usually on weekends..

They have 3 full meals naman, same lang sa amin..

[chelsea1212]

Our helper eat the same food that we eat (though oriented naman siya na may mga food na para samin lang ni husband, but lately pati yun kinakain nya tsk),just the same we buy her snacks and stuff.

Snacks (twice a month):
- Milo
- Skyflakes
- Chips
- Bread
- Peanut butter or Eden Cheese or Lady's Choice Bacon spread
-Noodles and Pancit Canton
- Canned goods (sardinas or tuna ang gusto nya palagi)
- Powdered Milk
- Others (eg. Bread pan by oishi ang kinukuha nya lagi sa grocery aisle)

Toiletries (once a month):
- Shampoo of her choice
- 2-3 bars soap of her choice (gusto nya yung kojic or kojie san, ayaw daw nya nung mga safeguard and the like)
- toothpaste of her choice
- Sanitary napkins
- Vitamin C
- Lotion 

I also give her weekly budget to buy her own fruits, pero mas gusto nyang gamitin yung cash pang-load nya. Kapag din nag ttake out kami or padeliver ng mga food, she's allowed to take her share din.

[nicoletta]

imeego

The 2 loaves of bread would last for a week kasi one of the maids bring baon to work where I make her clean.  Sa palaman naman matagal na sila hindi humihingi ng replacement sa 1 big jar of peter pan peanut butter and cheese spread, though I bought Mayo din pala yung sa plastic lang para matipid. 

[imeego]

^thank you so much sis so now i realized na medyo over na talaga yung consumption ng helpers ko LOL..ako kasi 1 sandwich is enough na..pero sa kanila napansin ko talagang di nila titigilan until maubos pati yung spread pinapapak so ubos din yung food allocation nila in less than a week lang

[AVIDGOLFER]

graveeeeeee....ang big time ng mga tao dito...eh ang foods na binibigay nila sa mga helpers nila yon din pagkain ko.....LoL

[teal_rayy]

^ Nothing wrong naman with sharing if kaya naman ng powers    Para magstay din helpers at hindi din mabilis maghanap.

[khriseeee]

For snacks:
Gardenia bread
Pandesal
Palaman - tuna spread (they make their own), cheese whiz, star margarine
Sky Flakes
Fruits-Indian Mango, watermelon, banana, etc
Sometimes they cook their own - biko, ginataan, etc
Pancit canton
Coffee, bearbrand
Cornicks

For meals
Various cuts of pork - my yaya doesn't eat chicken or beef
Fish & veggies - I give them 500 a week for whatever they want to buy. They told me the fish from Unimart isn't fresh, eh I don't go to the wet market, so I give money and they buy from the mini wet market behind our condo.
Pasta
Sardines

Funny, my yayas and HH are on "diets" so they don't eat a lot anymore.

[vhanya]

We go to the grocery once a month for the house's needs. Separate ang marketing for fruits, veggies, meat, fish etc which get delivered every once a week at home by a supplier.

We have a big house staff (helpers, cook, drivers, guards, nurse). Mas marami pa yung staff compared sa amin haha! When we go to the grocery, que S&R or Unimart yan, I bring the mayordoma. She has a list of all their needs and our needs. They can get whatever they want (food, toiletries, uniform, slippers etc). The househelp are pampered when it comes to groceries kasi I believe para di ka na nakawan ng food, might as well have them buy what they want to eat. Usually the food they cook for us, sobra rin so pati yun binibigay ko after we eat even if nakaluto na yung cook ng separate food nila. We have a strict rule sa house when it comes to cooked food: wala dapat leftover food so after meal, either they eat the leftovers or itapon, unless told otherwise lalo na if MIL cooks my favorite pasta lol.

Funny thing dito sa bahay, when they arrive from the agency or the province ang papayat ng mga yan. Pag umabot sila ng 1 yr dito, anglalaki na lalo na the drivers and guards! So i guess wala naman sila reklamo when it comes to food and other stuff they need coz they are provided with more than enough.