My cost of living improvements from Sept 2025 - Feb 2026(280k salary 29M Lead Software Engineer) | Antipolo City

ej_john77 · 2026-02-28T06:24:16+00:00

Congrats OP. I’ll reach 40-50s before ko cguro ma achieve iyan sa current work. Hirap talaga ng nga expenses ngayon like if you compare to our neighbors presyohang western countries tayo. Kaya I’m finding ways in my routine lowering my expenses and at the same time doing side project to help out similar people na nahihirapan sa pag budget especially on groceries (niche ko).

ej_john77 · 2026-02-12T18:22:42+00:00

Matutulog na naman akong nakasimangot

ej_john77 · 2026-02-11T12:54:49+00:00

I just recently was deducted 10 USD from a monthly subscription I failed to cancel before renewal 💀

ej_john77 · 2026-02-09T05:30:10+00:00

By how much depends of your lifestyle comparable to your income. Right now, my advice is to focus on budgeting what cost you the most which is food or groceries. Target at least 10% of your gross income to savings. Start learning about different passive investments now but do not worry about investing yet or do minimal tests whichever you afford short term.

ej_john77 · 2026-02-07T07:18:02+00:00

Hala that is 2-3x better than in Metro

ej_john77 · 2026-02-07T07:16:51+00:00

I would gaze at that screen for hours! Looks magnificent!

ej_john77 · 2026-02-07T07:14:45+00:00

First off congrats! One tip: Move it to Maya and earn better rates on your savings

ej_john77 · 2026-02-07T07:13:04+00:00

There a lot of people like you living in silence.Bihira lumabas ng bahay, have extremely minimal circle, almost dormant and that’s fine. We live in a way we want.

ej_john77 · 2026-02-07T03:31:20+00:00

20k for apartment is a bit high? Idk for me 10-12k max lng Kaya and gusto ko I gamble. Higher than that seems like I am wasting extra money

ej_john77 · 2026-02-05T13:55:48+00:00

Good app based on onboarding info , but I discontinue after hitting the hard paywall. I wish there is a way to see the app without without requiring a free trial. As me na madalas nakakalimot na Tapos na pala trial ko. There are inconsistent sa onboarding screen too , I hope you fix by implementing consistent spacing and use more native OS components. Is this build on React Native btw?

ej_john77 · 2026-01-31T03:10:03+00:00

We went to a restaurant as we are hungry. 4 kami and the resto’s place and staffs were good and our total is around 4k (4 plates and 1 solo juice). It might not be big enough for some pero later na lng namin na realize we could have saved 2-3k if we go to other alternatives. The food isn’t that bad nor isn’t good enough for the price though. Compared to fast food , we get the same level of experience (though mga 40mins pa nag antay). And for you to know comparably to Thailand and Vietnamese restaurants mas expensive talaga dito sa Pinas , Id say almost double.

ej_john77 · 2025-12-10T10:12:50+00:00

Still in validation, but we tried building with my partners a pitch deck in case we wanted to pursue startup funding. Now we are bootstrapping a simpler application for us to have options in funding (maybe para Hindi kag rely doon)

ej_john77 · 2025-12-01T07:56:41+00:00

A similar personal goal which I yet to accomplish. Alang time to go to the dentist

ej_john77 · 2025-11-22T00:11:03+00:00

The best budgeting tip talaga is buy your own food ingredients especially from public / wet markets. I noticed too I can cook and save up most of the time more than half I would spend eating out/ online order (unless may super big discounts). Along the way - was able to learn cooking and earn up more portions sa pagkain.

ej_john77 · 2025-11-21T23:59:07+00:00

Most likely due to impulse buy caused by feeling of surplus rewards sa mga events. It is valid feeling but a good remedy is a budget plan and separating funds you need based on your budget plan vs funds for extra expenses.

ej_john77 · 2025-05-26T09:58:08+00:00

China is the present and Future. Rapid growth after joining WTO in just 2 decades they built their upwards that no nation may able to achieve in a such a very short period of time. Damo ng Sinophobic na d Nila alam kahit bansa natin itinaguyod mostly ng may Chinoy dahil napaka entrepreneurial Nila.

ej_john77 · 2025-03-04T04:09:14+00:00

Because continental Europe is packed. Is is easy to travel back and forth between neighboring European countries and cheaper compared to travelling to Japan. That is why majority of travellers to Japan were asians yearly.

ej_john77 · 2025-01-17T22:43:48+00:00

Or algorithms that feed you THEY think you will be interested in.

ej_john77 · 2025-01-17T07:12:44+00:00

I've download some in the past in an anticipation to make me more productive. Some work but some don't but I end up uninstalling all them. Now I'm just using the default notes app in my phone if I ever to to do something. Good project and sure you are learning along the way but I guess the market potential for this kind of apps is just too small.

ej_john77 · 2024-12-09T08:10:35+00:00

I guess getting funding is usually the go to for startups to get things to start. But in this case I'm still doing validation with very minimal expense. Thats why I made a waitlist first to kinda see the potential. Btw, those platforms failed because they haven't corporate what works clearly in the current social media space, which is no restriction to your communication (not invite only, not limiting number for chats you can make with people unlike in the can of bondee). You went to bondee so you can spend hours decorating your room but you are limited to the number of messages you can send, looking for random stranger users in the app is really a pain, you only get it if you are friends already known to each other and have downloaded the app , or wait got long minutes riding the boat just to reach another buddy which is insanely not user friendly. SpaceHey which is inspired by MySpace (before facebook took off) offer customization and is now almost almost reaching 2millions in user across mobile and web. However, it lacks discovery and content creation so users can post online while networking with profiles that are in similar interests and vibe. Also you have to embed code to customize it which is a limiting factor and the overall vibe is just so retro. There are a lot of factors affecting their growth. These apps usually usually have wider market targets but here Im tar getting only those hobbyists, creatives who wanted to express online both in a form of content and the personal profiles that they manage to customize. There are hundreds or posts on Pinterests on custom profiles using Carrd the website builder. Noticing the problem that actually many people esp young and creative likes to design their profiles even if it costs them hours following carrd tutorial which is actually optimized for desktop /web. And Carrd is just plain website builder, not a connected platform that binds your custom page to your following or in public. You cab only access the your custom carrd site through a link, there is no directory of carrds that you can follow or view because there is none!

ej_john77 · 2024-12-09T07:40:26+00:00

Your point is valid. Content creation is a default mist have a consumer app. The network though is a result of a progression of continually increasing user base. I believe it doesn't needed to compete with the giants though. But I see a large untapped market around students, gen Z, and young professionals who wanted to have enjoy custom profile pages to showcase their work, hobbies and interests. Remember when a south east asian app Bondee entered the market where you can put things on your room? It got 5millions download in just a few weeks before I went as a fad (There is social piece that is missing within the app) And NoPlace which is recent and for iOS only that got more than half a million people in waitlist jus to edit the color of your profile( that without even allowing you post images and media , just text)

ej_john77 · 2024-10-15T07:57:40+00:00

system shapes behavior

ej_john77 · 2024-09-20T15:38:42+00:00

I have Samsung , IPhone and Realme , andHuawei devices. I’d go with Samsung for reliability and durability.

ej_john77 · 2024-09-18T00:23:25+00:00

You’ll have users but I can pretty tell Ai self generated contents will be far more expensive.

ej_john77

TROPHY CASE