Monthly income / salary

[vanity fair]

Curious lang ako how much is the monthly income / salary ng mga tao ngayon.  I'm a real estate broker so wala akong fixed salary.  Hope you can share yours.

[FayeP]

share ko sis sakin...

31K gross from regular employment (composed yan ng salary, allowance at night diff)
5-6K from direct selling ng Avon, Natasha, etc

[J.warner]

I stopped working last March when I moved to Aus.  My monthly salary then was 42k incl allowances. Naliliitan pa ko nyan kasi ang complex ng work. I had my training in the US.  Tapos stress pa byahe everyday to Makati.

Yung mga coworkers ko sa US before earns almost 1M pesos each month. Pero mga seniors na yun. Tsaka malaki cost of living nila. 
Sa totoo lang maliit ang swelduhan natin sa Pinas pero kung di naman sobrang stressful ok na din. Atleast satin pwede ka mag room for rent 7k. Stress lang talaga byahe satin gawa ng traffic. 

[soniawalsh]

8th year teacher. take home after taxes = roughly $3400/month. and that's in one of the highest paying districts in the state.

[changelessme]

I work for a mining company, my gross income per month is more or less $5,500

[amethyst028]

Curious lang ako how much is the monthly income / salary ng mga tao ngayon.  I'm a real estate broker so wala akong fixed salary.  Hope you can share yours.

hello. i worked for my family business and i only get paid 15k per month. instead of ask my parents for a raise or complain na ang liit naman ng salary ko i decided to work on the side.

kahit anong extra income as long as within my interest ginagawa ko, andiyan ang online selling ng mga kung ano-ano, i also became a licensed broker, house contractor, landlady, manufacturer, franchise owner etc while still helping the family business.

so wala iyan sa laki ng monthly salary it is how the person manages his/her finances and what you can do with what you have. as a licensed broker when i get commission direcho sa bank, as a contractor same rin direcho sa bank. i make sure it stays there until i see a good investment either a property or a business franchise.

just sharing para sa mga walang steady income or maliit ang salary and always complaining. ganun talaga maliit ang sweldo sa pilipinas, diskarte na lang at tamang pag hawak ng pera.

[bratinella08]

I agree with sis amethyst028, wala sa laki or liit ng salary. My monthly income plus allowance is P36k. We define our own success and happiness. Contentment and financial management are the keys.

[mei-mei]

I stopped working last March when I moved to Aus.  My monthly salary then was 42k incl allowances. Naliliitan pa ko nyan kasi ang complex ng work. I had my training in the US.  Tapos stress pa byahe everyday to Makati.

Yung mga coworkers ko sa US before earns almost 1M pesos each month. Pero mga seniors na yun. Tsaka malaki cost of living nila. 
Sa totoo lang maliit ang swelduhan natin sa Pinas pero kung di naman sobrang stressful ok na din. Atleast satin pwede ka mag room for rent 7k. Stress lang talaga byahe satin gawa ng traffic.

I have to agree with this. I also viewed PH salary as too small when I was living there. Initial feeling when salary got adjusted when I got posted overseas was joy. But then, after years of working overseas, I also realized that the stress level in working overseas and living in a country where you will always be a 2nd class citizen is 10x or 15x your previous life in Manila, even considering traffic. So if your salary went up 5x-8x, lugi ka pa din.

I started reflecting how many minutes/hours I spent in a day with funny friends and colleagues in the PH. I read a study how laughter actually keeps us healthier and less risk to illnesses like cancer. I can't even get 10% of those "laughter hours" here abroad. Aside from people being more serious, because Filipinos really are laid back and humorous back home, people here value their time so much. They wouldn't waste how many hours a week to meet up with you for no special reason. People just don't hang out with each other for hours here, even fellow Filipinos who also adjust to the culture of the country.

So, people have to think hard before moving overseas. What really is your priority? If you have loans and you want financial independence, then go ahead, grab that chance to work temporarily abroad until you paid off your loan. If your priority is your career while you're single or without kids and you'll get that career growth overseas, then also go. But, if your priority is family and health, I can honestly tell you there's no better place to be than in the Philippines, even with all the traffic and inefficiencies. Filipinos are really a happier bunch of people so it's good for one's health to actually be in that kind of environment.

[thatprettyghoul]

My salary is 30k/month and I work in Bulacan. Sa North area ako kaya mas fresh ang hangin at hindi ganun katraffic unlike pag Sta. Maria, Bocaue, Marilao area. I prefer sa province kasi less traffic, less expenses, at nakakauwi ako sa bahay everyday.  Single ako enough na sya sakin kasi I am living with my parents and they still provide everything kaya wala ako binabayaran na bahay, utilities, and groceries. Gastos ko lang pamasahe at food sa work (pwede nga din ako magbaon kung gugustuhin ko since nasa office naman ako) , phone line, insurance and occasional shopping the rest savings. Medyo sinwerte lang na may kabuhayan din parents ko. When I got married last year, I moved out of my parent?s house, bumukod kami at yung husband ko ang nagsustain sa aming dalawa financially. Kaya same expenses pa din nung single ako. Ngayon stay at home preggy mom ako. No salary for me at si husband na sagot sa lahat.

[Rory_Lorelie_Gilmore]

mei-mei hear, hear!

[winkar22]

mei-mei, thank you! That's a very good insight. May I ask saang country ka nag-work?

We're planning to migrate in Australia or Canada. My primary reason is ayoko na mag-work.  I want to take care of my kid (kids in the future). And kung dito sa Pinas, nakikita kong malabo sya. Mahirap kapag si hubby lang ang nagwowork (considering mas mataas din ang sweldo ko kay hubby). I have friends in both countries na stay at home moms and they say na kayang kaya kahit isa lang ang nagwowork.

Second reason yung environment. Gusto ko tumira sa mala-province na lugar (currently living in a condo in the city). Yung tahimik and my kids can explore nature.

Third reason is yung government. Umay na umay na ako sa sistema dito satin. I don't think may pag-asa pang mawala ang corruption dito.

[mei-mei]

^ Re: Australia: It's supposed to be a laid back country but only if you don't work, maybe. Work stress for me is the same as with other countries. The added non-work stress would be keeping your guards up against being discriminated, maybe additionally if you have kids. As I said, you will always be a second-class citizen even if you shifted citizenship. I have many Filipino friends who moved their families to AU, have been living there for more than 10 years, and I honestly can see they're not seen as equals as, let's say, the Whites who live there. There's also some unspoken divide between the migrants, with the Arabs and Chinese being the bigger group. Then you do all the housework, simple carpentry, because maids and handymen are very, very expensive. That's another big stress for me. 

What I have a problem of since before, one fact I realized, is that Filipinos who migrated overseas mostly tend to paint a rosy picture of their lives abroad. They will only tell you about all the pluses, some not even enjoyed by them, but never tell you the negatives. It could be because of pride, to show that they have done so well after moving out of the country. A lot of times, they don't share the reality. Like I have friends who took 1-2 years to find a decent office work when they moved to AU or Canada after they got PR. They had good corporate positions/roles in SEAsia but it's not that easy to get an office job when you go to a first world country and you're a Filipino. They would take blue collar jobs to get by while looking for office jobs, or some would even grab contractual office clerical work to get into the corporate world. So it's already a big plus if your company has office in AU or Canada and they will just move you there.

Being a stay at home mom is ok if you're content with living a minimal life. I don't know your comfort level but that is not for me. I have a friend in AU who got sick and needed to stop working so her husband was the sole earner for a few years, the years I was there. Husband works in an office since they have been there for more than 10 years and even had their kids there. They were barely making ends meet because the expenses with 2 kids are quite high plus they also needed to support the mother-in-law back in Ph. The plus is healthcare is cheap if you're sick. I also have relatives in the US that I looked up to when I was young, thinking they're earning so well after living there for 20-30 years, assumed they work in the same corporate atmosphere because they also told us big company names. Then when I was already working and went to the US, I realized all along they were blue collared workers. Like they work nga for this big hotel but valet attendant pala or sa xxx company nga but sa retail section pala. Then I saw na pinagmamalaki nila na higher salary grade na sila na $19 per hour rate nila kasi daw yung usual nasa $13 lang sa work na yun. Sa hourly rates kind of work, they are needed only 6-7 hours usually. Sa 5-day workweek, that's only around P140k - a salary you could earn in the Philippines.  Sa dami ng tax sa US, parang same din sa binabawas na tax sa Pinas. Then of course higher din cost of living abroad.

Kaya nga I realized na makikita mo din how really comfortable yung friend or relative mo abroad by how frequent they go home to PH, if their parents or siblings are in PH. Because it's a lie to say they do not miss them. All Filipinos abroad miss the PH when they're away from it, if they grew up in PH. All long to go home even just for a visit. My friends who have average or good lives overseas are able to go home at least once a year. Or if no family sa PH, how often they travel for vacation. Pag hirap umuwi, naintindihan ko na their lives are not as rosy as they paint (or brag).

[simang]

That's refreshing to hear mei-mei. Naalala ko nung HS ako, when asked if I dream of working abroad, I always say no, di ako fan. Sabi ng isang teacher ko, I only say it cause I'm young and I don't have a family to raise yet. Pero when I had my family, mas lalo kong naappreciate yung life dito sa Pilipinas. Even when I had the opportunity to work in the US (been there and hindi talaga ako naimpress, lol), I had all my doubts when I had my daughter. I still want to raise my child here.

Most of my college friends are in the US. Sabi nila, yes life there is not as laid back kagaya dito, but if you're surrounded with the right people, masaya naman daw. So the key is to find the good people. Siguro advantage sa kanila na halos mga schoolmates rin namin yung kasama nila doon (same field) so magkakakilala na talaga sila to begin with. Sila na yung naging family nila doon.

Pero agree ako na in terms of compensation, kaya rin kitain here sa Pinas. But not with the same profession definitely. For example, my sister in law who's a nanny in the UK earns as much as my sister who is a big time accountant here in PH. Siguro what other people look for is the opportunity, kasi here sa Pinas if you're not as privileged, there's really no way for you to earn that much money. Same with my profession, di ko kikitain dito yung kinikita ng friends ko sa US. But I can earn that much if I do other things (run a business). If goal mo lang is employment, then definitely go abroad for 'greener pastures'. But if may chance ka naman magbusiness here, for me okay pa rin dito.

I also agree with amethyst, that there is no such thing as maliit or malaking sweldo. All depends on your lifestyle. Yun lang ang ayaw ko here sa Pinas, masyado na yata kinain ng consumerism ang mga Pilipino, haha. Marami pang hindi financially literate kasi inuuna ang pabida sa social media. Reklamo sila na kulang sahod pero every weekend samgyupsal, every seat sale nangunguna sa pagbook. I'm not against treating yourself once in a while. Pero if we prioritize the more important things, even the minimum salary can be enough (sadly though, yung mga minimum wage earners, sila pa yung maraming sinusuportahan na anak or magulang).

----

On topic, I work from home with one full time client and another part time. Then I run two small businesses on the side. Income from the business isn't fixed, but lahat yun always direcho sa savings and insurance ng daughter ko. We live off of my husband's income, so my income all goes to savings/insurance and our house amortization.

[J.warner]

Thanks for your valuable inputs sis especially Mei-Mei.

Im also based here in Australia and currently pregnant. Will be a full time mom. Hubby is our sole provider. I told him I prefer to raise the baby in the Philippines because I dont feel at home here. I cant even keep up with their accent considering I worked for international companies for 9 years before.  The only prob is he cant get the same salary if we move to the Philippines. So mukhang stuck kami dito sa Sydney.

Hes working as an analyst in a bank and earns about 160k in pesos malinis na yan, excluding taxes. For me malaki sya pero for him maliit. So yes tiis tiis muna dito kahit ayoko ng winter and spring (malamig!) at miss na miss ko na ang pagkaing pinoy at murang bilihin sa atin. Here our apartment rent alone costs $1,840 a month or 66k in pesos.
Sabi ko nga sa kanya in my desperate plea to move back kahit $1,000 a month lang sa Pinas mabubuhay kami as a family 😆 Pagiisipan pa daw nya.

[Ghell06]

Great thread. Ff

[winkar22]

^ Thank you sa insights. Napapaisip na tuloy ako. Lol.

Most of my college friends are in the US. Sabi nila, yes life there is not as laid back kagaya dito, but if you're surrounded with the right people, masaya naman daw. So the key is to find the good people. Siguro advantage sa kanila na halos mga schoolmates rin namin yung kasama nila doon (same field) so magkakakilala na talaga sila to begin with. Sila na yung naging family nila doon.

Isa sa worries ko with living abroad is yung discrimination. Pero I think depende siguro sa community. My friends are in Adelaide and then I have relatives naman in Canada (Winnepeg). And that's where we plan to migrate if ever. I'll ask my friends and relatives ulit about your insights.

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On topic, I work in IT field 70k.

[mei-mei]

Pero agree ako na in terms of compensation, kaya rin kitain here sa Pinas. But not with the same profession definitely. For example, my sister in law who's a nanny in the UK earns as much as my sister who is a big time accountant here in PH. Siguro what other people look for is the opportunity, kasi here sa Pinas if you're not as privileged, there's really no way for you to earn that much money. Same with my profession, di ko kikitain dito yung kinikita ng friends ko sa US. But I can earn that much if I do other things (run a business). If goal mo lang is employment, then definitely go abroad for 'greener pastures'. But if may chance ka naman magbusiness here, for me okay pa rin dito.

I also agree with amethyst, that there is no such thing as maliit or malaking sweldo. All depends on your lifestyle. Yun lang ang ayaw ko here sa Pinas, masyado na yata kinain ng consumerism ang mga Pilipino, haha. Marami pang hindi financially literate kasi inuuna ang pabida sa social media. Reklamo sila na kulang sahod pero every weekend samgyupsal, every seat sale nangunguna sa pagbook. I'm not against treating yourself once in a while. Pero if we prioritize the more important things, even the minimum salary can be enough (sadly though, yung mga minimum wage earners, sila pa yung maraming sinusuportahan na anak or magulang).

Agree with these. What I forgot to add, why I dislike the "rosy painting" of overseas life is because it wrongly influences a lot of Filipinos to go overseas and give up their already good life in the Philippines. Ok lang if, like what you said, sa mga tao na walang good opportunities sa bansa like nurse sa Pinas vs nurse sa ibang bansa, normally better off ka sa labas dahil kawawa swelduhan ng nurse sa atin.

Pero yung mga nakikita ko na managerial roles na sa atin, maganda na trabaho, or expats/OFW na nga sa Singapore, Malaysia, or Hong Kong (lalo na yung sa mga IT field) tapos niyabangan ng friend sa AU na sobrang better ang AU, mae-enganyo na lumipat only to find themselves accepting a major downgrade job in AU (or Canada) then ayaw aminin dahil sa pride and then they do the same to other Filipinos, magyayabang na ang ganda ng buhay nila doon. It becomes a cycle of wrongly influencing people to migrate because they see only mostly the good and so few of the "cons".

I personally know people who are bank managers in PH but gave those up to go to SG because they believed life is better with the higher salary. Then, and ended up working in the Dollar Store in SG. I think they are not earning much more than their previous salaries in PH. Kung hindi naman 5x-10x upgrade ng sweldo, hindi worth it. Taas pa ng cost of living overseas so they don't enjoy the same comfortable lifestyle in PH + they're away from their families pa. But because of pride, they refused to go home. Then when they post in FB, it's always around the nicer places in SG or their shopping items so their friends back home will have the same desire as them to migrate to SG. Vicious cycle.

[otra_vez]

just sharing para sa mga walang steady income or maliit ang salary and always complaining. ganun talaga maliit ang sweldo sa pilipinas, diskarte na lang at tamang pag hawak ng pera.

Very true. That's what I always say, too, especially to people I know who are struggling-- it's how you manage money that spells the difference.

Regarding life abroad-- what you ladies said is true. All of it. I live in the deep south and despite it being cheaper than other parts of the US, it's still a struggle. It's hard to find a job and I've experienced working in retail, including a back-breaking stint at a supermarket. The pay isn't really all that especially since the cost of living keeps going up and in many cases, there's no real medical insurance to speak of. Sometimes it gets you down, especially when you think of all your accomplishments in The Philippines. Like, I always think, dang, I might have been something back home. Pero dito, nada. And it's not like I'm in a competitive market like New York or LA or San Francisco. So sometimes, it makes you think if you should have just stayed home. That may well explain why your friends and relatives don't talk about the negative stuff because it is a source of embarrassment. So hayaan niyo na lang sila, I guess? I'm very open to my closest friends and I certainly don't try to paint a rosier picture of my life. But no, I'm not one to air out my dirty laundry either. That could be the case as well, for many Filipinos abroad.

I will say though that the advantage of these blue collar experiences is it's truly humbling. When I'm in The Philippines and I encounter people who are rude to SAs, waiters, etc., I want to scream.     

[TysLolakins]

^That's why my husband has this joke,  to help/entice your worst enemy in Pinas to come here in the states and if you can do that, then you more than got your sweet revenge if that person had badly wronged you in the past, LOL. 
From personal experience, it isn't all bad living abroad, been living here since 1980. It was tough finding that first job as companies only look at local experience.  Instead of going into retail or doing clerical work,  my uncle insisted I went to a computer school and I have been in the IT dept since completing that program. It all boils down to what we make of ourselves, be it here or in Pinas. 
And I always tell friends and acquaintances  to stay put if they're already comfortable esp now that everything is available everywhere and everybody has access to all the conveniences.  Unlike before, esp before the advent of technology,  when living abroad was such a big deal, that anything 'stateside' was better. hahaha.

[amethyst028]

also add ko lang, keep learning new things, keep studying and evolving. kasi kung gusto natin mas mataas na salary/income we should upgrade our knowledge din. ako kasi ang dami ko inaral, until now i am still attending classes about real estate and construction. the courses i am taking are expensive, may mga free classes or cheap ones but i choose yung expensive so i can network. mga classmates ko may politicians, actors, lawyers, may mga nagtatayo ng malls, roads and bridges construction projects etc. i also read a lot of books about business, finance, investments, marketing, economics pati history and biographies.

plan ko rin mag abroad before SG lang sana para malapit kaso yung course ko hindi in demad and i know mahihirapan lang ako maghanap ng work. mas mahirap mag stay sa phils. actually, first job ko P5800 lang take home pay ko minus mga deductions. pero sabi nga grow where you're planted. tiis lang then keep upgrading your knowledge and the salaray/income will follow. pag tumaas ang income huwag isasabay ang expenses. keep your expenses at a minimum that's how you will stay ahead.