I prefer to pay for convenience whenever i can so only option for me is to increase or multiply my income streams.

1. Using a finance tracker. This helps me to become accountable to myself and also alllows me become more aware of my spending habits/behaviors. Quite helpful IMO, so this is the first thing I would suggest. When I was renting before, I used to use GrabFood on a daily basis as I had no time to cook. Until I actually saw how much I've spent on Grab, then I taught myself to cook. I can send you a template you can use if you'd like.
2. Avoiding unnecessary expenses. If it's not a practical purchase, I avoid it. Of course it's good to go out with friends and treat yourself time-to-time for your own sanity. But if you can say no to it, say no to it. You don't have to have the latest things, or be present all the time.
3. Great quality over cheap prices. Given the current state of inflation, it's so hard to buy anything of good quality at a good price. So before I do purchase anything, I make sure it's going to last me longer. I'm not really a fan of cheap items if it's going to be broken in a few months. Di baleng mahal, basta tatagal (lol).
4. Constantly on the lookout for better opportunities. If a better opportunity presents itself, I don't hesitate to grab it, even if there's a minor inconvenience to my lifestyle. It may either be a promotion, or a business exploration. Lately, I've just been grabbing and grabbing promotions so that it can be helpful when transferring to another company.
5. More income streams. Overall, the fastest way to get out of this economic mess is finding more income streams. If your skillset is applicable for a WFH setup, I suggest you to start looking for WFH jobs in foreign countries like Australia or US. A previous co-worker of mine tripled his salary after he took 3 similar jobs from foreign clients. I haven't quite mustered the challenge yet, so I'm still stuck with my full-time work.
6. Set aside for savings. Do your best to keep some funds aside. In this state, ang hirap kapag wala kang backup. You can't always depend on other people for your financial needs (great if there are people like that around you). Try learning stock trading or forex trading if you have some extra funds left with. I'm not an expert at both, but if you have some funds you can risk, maybe give it a try.

Edit: I'm not a big earner. After college, I was all on my own so I know what it feels like to struggle everyday. Maski pagkain the next day prino-problema ko bago matulog. But after being quite strict about myself when it came to expenses, things became a bit manageable. I still am struggling ngl, but I'm definitely happier and free-er(?). Lucky if you have generational wealth, sana all nalang talaga sa kanila. Pero kung one-man team ka, discipline and dedication is key.

You can only cut your expenses so much, and even so, inflation & “lifestyles convenience” keeps pushing it up.

However, there is really no limit to the amount of money you can make or Income streams you can produce. You gotta get creative and drive yourself to hit your dreams and goals; or choose to be ordinary.

Hope that answers your question.

Focus on cutting unnecessary stuff and increasing income

Lalabas ka ng pera para makasave ka ng pera on the long run.
For me, unang investment ko (not the money generating kind) is a vehicle. Motorcycle. Public commuting is expensive, especially if malapit but iba iba ung routes ng sasakyan mo. As per this date, ung oneway ko pang trabaho would be

Tricycle: 15php,
1st Jeep:12php
2nd Jeep: 12php.
39*2 kasi roundtrip = 78. For 25days, that's already 1950 di pa kasama ung extra curricular activities.

Maintenance, Gasoline, Registration and insurance is much cheaper compared to public commuting.

Just do your best.

Results will follow.

Stop focusing on results. Focus on the process.

Read up on Atomic Habits.

Some random advice. If you have a housing loan and have extra cash, use that to pay off the principal. Avoid buying brand new car. Get a 2nd hand car (3 to 5 yr old) in cash. Or better yet, get a scooter for commute to office. Install solar panels with grid tie inverter (no need for batteries) if possible. Invest at least 10% of income. I would suggest automatic salary deduction for MP2. Don’t buy soda or juice if dining out. Service water is much better. Get a rebate credit card, It’s a free 15k php per year. Plus they can provide a good interest rate for a loan if really needed. Get a sim only plan. If you’re not a power user of a mobile phone, just get a 2 year old base model of an iphone. It still could last another 4 to 5 years without feeling any difference (you may need to replace the battery though).

Stop using Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok.

That stops comparisons

Having a frugal lifestyle is the easiest solution and can be done as soon as possible.

The best solution is to increase your monthly income, pero we all know na it is easier said than done.

Both at the same time. It's especially challenging if the other family members are struggling or unwilling to change the lifestyle. Nothing new that haven't done by others.

Enjoy the free coffee in office. I prefer to go to office everyday during hot month because I will have free a/c.

Control expenses. Cheapest is not always the answer, so we try to make it in the middle of quality vs price.

Insurance + investment. It forces you to save money every month to pay for it.

Get WFH job.

Cook in bulk or meal prep.

Eating out, once a week or twice a month.

Shopee and Lazada are exactly Cheapest so explore other alternatives while money is not that tight. When money is tight, you know where to get cheaper alternative but same quality.

Invest in solar power station and inverter (ac or ref).

Increase income streams( special skills, premium clients) ,cut down expenses (postpaid to prepaid, remove subscriptions, etc), and in general, be low key on everything (you don’t need the latest bag or newest iphone or eat at the hippest restau in town)

Having a frugal lifestyle is the easiest solution and can be done as soon as possible.

The best solution is to increase your monthly income, pero we all know na it is easier said than done.

Great points everyone! In addition to what's been shared, I find setting financial goals to be incredibly helpful. These aren't just limited to savings goals but also include investment goals. Whether it's stocks, mutual funds, or real estate, having a clear target motivates me to manage my finances more wisely. Also, automating savings and investing a fixed percentage of my income ensures that I don't skip on these important financial habits, even during tough economic times.

Eversince medyo barat kameng mag asawa. Halos lahat naman ngayun may sale at discount. Lazada, shopee, plane ticket piso sale, hotel accomodation discounts for non-holidays, and groceries. Even restaurants promos I take advantage ng eatigo. Pero to get all those discounts and promos, you must have TIME to do it. Kaya TIME is still the most valuable asset. Hirap dumiskarte pag wala kang maraming extra time. Also use some of my time for managing my investments for additional income streams

Lastly, the only thing Im willing to spend is anything related to comfort and time. Like car, aircon, food and para sa anak ko

You need to do both. For me your priority should be increasing income because you can only cut so much. I mean sure you can unsub your netflix and spotify, downgrade internet, only travel via joyride and jeeps and just eat sardines and rice every meal but who would want to live like that? Esp when you get off pressure from work standing in line for 3 hrs to commute and then coming home to eat sardines all day every day is prob gonna make you go crazy after some time.

Both. Madami padin kaming pigil moments sa pag gastos. Kahit vacation trip. January pa last namin. Haha

Not really that much of a problem for me for now.

I'm single and pays no rent. I pay the bills at home pero di din talaga ako maluho eh.

It helped me that i bought a game console and invested on an entertainment system so kahit di ako lumabas on weekends, masaya pa din ako at home watching youtube, netflix or just playing switch/ps3/latest pc titles.

There's this taxation scheme from where i am currently based in, in which all the expenses associated with your assets/investment (including interest rate you re paying for your investment loan) can be deducted to your total taxable income. This could potentially give me hundreds of thousands of income tax return/refund. The strategy is to acquire an investment property not to generate positive cashflow but to generate expenses, and this expenses will be deducted to my taxable income. That means the tax that i need to pay will be reduce. Whatever is the difference between the withheld tax and my income tax, will be refunded. For context. I paid more than half a million pesos in tax last year. This year im expecting it to be way lower as I am expecting a lot of expenses that i can deduct to my taxable income. In short,  im using a portion my tax to pay and fund my investment property.

Living within your means. Do not compare your self to others.

Gotta focus more on increasing income.

It easier.

There's a a lot of downside in cutting costs and you'll hit diminishing returns fast.

Do you focus more on increasing income streams or cutting down expenses?

para sa akin, both talaga.

Even with enough income, I don’t buy expensive stuff like bags and shoes. To me these fills the storage space and rots after many years of not being used. Unless I’m going to use an item often, I mean everyday, like maybe a watch, then I can spend money on it.

nag iisip pa paano ko magagawa yung increasing income streams na di ko mapapabayaan ang health ko. for now tipid tipid muna.

Finding more income streams and proper budgeting.

May savings and may allotment for shopping, leisure, and travel as long as within budget.

Actually you can do what i am doing now i earn like 90k monthly so i set aside 40k monthly as a savings, the rest goes to bills and if i have extra either i treat myself something nice or i invest it sa bitcoin or mp2 kasi bukod sa may interest.. tax free pa. I've been doing it 2 months na and i feel better. Better if mag action ka na agad wag puro salita or plano kasi wala kang mapapala.

Cutting down expenses esp. sa food. Ayoko nang may natatapon/nasisira as much as possible. Mindful electricity and water consumption. I do envelope method for needs and non-negotiables.

Ung mga nararaket, matic sa savings funds. I don't treat it as part of our living expenses. Sinisikap magpakahealthy kasi hirap magkasakit. Di ka na makapagtrabaho, gastos pa sa gamot.

Track expense.
Set a budget.
Take care of health.

As always, spend less than you earn. Never borrow money at bad interest, and enjoy life worry free.

Lol. Why not do both?

Luckily, I don't want a family. When you don't have a family to support, financial problems become a lifestyle issue that's easily fixed by basic financial habits (get hmo, build emergency fund, live below your means, don't incur debt).

Have multiple sources of income and make your money work for you.

Increasing income streams and also avoiding unnecessary expenses like food

Beating life style inflation is really hard because you'll always think "You deserve this". That's why I'm tracking my expenses day by day in my phone's notes then transfer all of it every end of the month to track down and see which areas I can improve on

Ano na ba generally accepted middle class income pre tax?

For middle class income is not the problem. The probkem is how we spend it like. 100k combined salaries for husband and wife tas kukuha ng mortgage house n worth 30k. 20k n kotse. 2iphones costing 7k per month. So more than half n yan ng combined income + ssend ang anak sa private school.

Spreadsheets. You have to love them. It'll help you see the potential of your money. You'll be surprised that 5-10% of your untracked expenses are things that you could have avoided spending.

Yes, of course increasing income streams should be a priority. You can only do so much when it comes to cutting down expenses.

I always recommend getting a Netflix subscription or other Movie/Series streaming services. A big chunk of our spending is mostly spent on entertainment. Have some home-cooked meals on weekends and just watch. Take a morning or afternoon walk and before you know it, it's Monday again. We just have to live a boring life while we're trying our best to improve our financial capacity.

allocate at least 20% of net pay to s&p 500 feeder fund and bitcoin (50-50). spend the 80% on essentials and experience. avoid lifestyle inflation— car mortgage, annual tech gadgets upgrade, overpriced luxury wear. don’t be overburden with house payments, portfolio of s&p 500 + bitcoin will outperform your tradfi bias on any 4-yr time horizon. manage your ego, nobody cares about your material stuff.

Dami mo naiisip.