had a thought today. i'd have to start working my ass of in two or three months time... hopefully... but i have started giving up on my ambitious plans to even get to save a 100K at least by the end of the year. my friend was right, no matter how much you work your ass off, you can't save as much money as you want if you're staying here in this country, unless you're a professional (lawyer, doctor, etc.), a business owner, a celebrity, a professional athlete, a politician, or a corrupt government official. rarely do normal employees earn enough to even save for rent.

case in point. last summer, during my practicum in the glamorous world of an advertising agency, i was exposed to the truth. the agency that i worked with is a multinational firm, in fact, it's one of the more popular around the world. one of my bosses there, an account executive graduated from ateneo two years ago. since then, she has been with the agency. since then, her salary has been 10k net. she has been asking for a raise, and yet, until today, she still has to wait for another six months to get a 2k raise. her counterpart on the client side (who only handles one brand), say from unilever, on the other hand gets almost 30k a month. how sad is that? our department boss who also handles multiple brands earns a mere 40k, while unilever's counterpart would get almost twice the pay.

when i learned about this, i sat and contemplated about this harsh reality. i have personally witnessed these people spending their nights in the office and they don't even get paid for overtime. the only bonus they get is having their dinner charged to their clients. they don't even get cash. plus, they don't get their company-related expenses reimbursed on time. thank God these people belong to well-off families, if not, only God knows how these people can actually survive.

my boss was right. her parents invested a lot of money for her ateneo education. at least from the school's current rate, it's now P40,000 plus a sem for tuition alone. allowance, transportation, food expenses are not part of the amount. now, she only gets paid such a low salary.

my advertising teacher shared with me a joke they have in the industry. AEs (account executives) live a class A lifestyle, with a class E salary, which is undeniably true. what makes matters even worse for these people is that they are usually treated badly by their clients. they literally are their slaves. and the saddest fact of it all, these AEs prepare the contracts for the talents of the different ads. they see that artista A gets paid 80k for just one stupid provincial show to promote product X. when i was doing these papers, i felt bad myself. from movies, television shows, and other forms of medium, advertising people are portrayed as living a glamorous life. they look rich. in reality, they don't. my bosses would often complain on how difficult it is for them to make both ends meet. of course, the people on top really do earn a lot, but come to think of it, only a handful gets to be fortunate to last in the industry long enough to make them earn so much.

last night on oprah, donald trump was giving pieces of advice on "how to be rich". first thing he emphasized was that you need to enjoy what you do. with our country's current economic condition, having the luxury of enjoying your work (or working on what you enjoy the most) and at the same time earning a lot is quite impossible.

last saturday night, i tried my hand on budgeting my possibly would-be salary when i start working. suppose i'd earn 12k a month (a supposed standard for fresh grads) here is my budget breakdown:

mrt from to makati* (if i'd get a job there): 14 bucks x 2 a day x 5 days a week x 4 weeks in a month = 560

trike from mrt station to house: 20 bucks x 5 days a week x 4 weeks in a month = 400

food (supposing i'd spend 100 a day): 100 bucks x 5 days a week x 4 weeks in a month = 2000

phone bills: 1250 bucks a month = 1250

personal care products and other grocery items: 1000 bucks a month = 1000

night outs: 350 a night x 2 saturdays in a month = 700

movie: 150 per movie x 3 movies in a month = 450

miscellaneous: 800 bucks a month = 800

a grand total of P 7,160 a month.

thus i only get to save: P 4,840 a month.

4840 x 12 + 12,000 (13th month pay) = P 70,080 is the only amount i can realistically save in a year's time.

if this were the case, it would actually take me...

two years to get a 15-inch superdrive powerbook (without virtual pc and office for mac).

more than a decade to earn enough for a brand new car.

more than a decade to earn enough for a trip abroad (either in europe or in the states).

more than two decades to earn enough for my own condo.

more than three decades to send one child to school (from nursery to college).

it's true. the things being sold in this country are relatively cheap if one converts his dollar to peso. however... think about it. if our cost of living is so high in this country and we have such a low value of currency, then we're dead. unlike in the states, things might appear more expensive, but a lot more people can actually afford them because of how high their employees earn there. not to mention, the products there in the states have more variety, quality is assured, and customer's satisfaction and rights are indeed guaranteed and prioritized. for instance, if one is not happy with the product (even a shirt) that he/she bought, he/she can actually return it to the store without any questions within 30 days and will even get his/ her money back. i have known people who have moved to the states and it took them less than a year to save up for a second hand car.

reality has set in. now, what the hell do i do? i am very much tempted to defy what i have said earlier and move to some other countries to earn currencies of higher value than the peso. my friend shared with me yesterday than she has a friend who now works in singapore, in her twenties, who gets paid around P60,000 a month with all her transportation, food, phone (IDDs included), and lodging expenses answered by the company. it'll probably take me forever to have that for a salary if i stayed in this country.

when i watched the news lately, especially of the OFWs who survived the tsunami, i feel for them. as much as they miss their families, and fear their lives endangered, they'd rather work abroad because in no way can they earn enough for their family to eat three decent meals in a day in this country. as the filipino doctor in maldives featured in pipol last week said in the interview, with the huge compensation you get, what you get paid for is not only your talent, but more of your homesickness. and for them it's really worth it. sadly, i would have to agree with them.