Is your electric bill higher than your savings?

With the rising cost of fuel and energy, many Filipinos are feeling the pinch. But financial fitness isn't about deprivation—it's about strategy. In this session, Registered Financial Planner David Angway breaks down how to audit your household expenses, save on energy, and protect your lifestyle even in the middle of a crisis.

Inside the Session: Financial Fitness and Crisis Management: Strategic Advice for Managing Household Expenses by David Angway, RFP.

0:00 - Introduction and Show Opening

0:45 - What Are the Biggest Monthly Expenses of Filipinos?

2:30 - Why 33% of Your Salary Goes to Rent and How to Fix It

4:10 - How to Save Money Without Sacrificing Your Lifestyle

6:00 - Why You Need Multiple Income Streams During a Crisis

8:20 - Inflation at 4.1%: How Rising Prices Are Draining Your Budget

10:15 - Hidden Expenses You Are Probably Ignoring Right Now

12:40 - How to Cut Your Subscriptions and Save Instantly

14:30 - Decluttering and Garage Sales as a Side Income Strategy

16:00 - Why You Must Track Your Expenses Every Month

18:10 - Practical Tips to Lower Your Electricity Bill

21:30 - The Truth About LED Bulbs: Are They Worth the Investment?

24:00 - Window Type vs Inverter Aircon: Which One Saves You More?

27:00 - Simple Budgeting for Beginners: The 3-Question Method

31:00 - How Your Social Circle Affects Your Financial Habits

33:20 - Transportation Hack: Why a Second-Hand Motorcycle Saves You Thousands

35:00 - Final Tips on Energy Saving and Financial Fitness

Most Filipinos are not broke because they do not earn enough. They are broke because no one ever taught them how to look at their money clearly. That is the honest truth that financial planner David Angway laid out in a recent interview on Real Time with Leah, aired over DYVS Bacolod.

The conversation was practical, direct, and packed with advice that most financial content skips over. Here is everything worth writing down.

The Three Biggest Monthly Expenses Draining Your Budget

Ask any Filipino where their salary goes and you will usually get a shrug. According to David, the answer is almost always the same three categories: transportation, rent or mortgage, and internet or communication bills.

Recent survey data puts housing costs alone at around 33% of a typical monthly salary. That is one-third of your income, before you even talk about food, clothing, or debt. If your utilities are eating up 55 to 65% of what you bring home, David puts it simply: you are being squeezed dry.

The takeaway is not to panic. It is to see the number clearly. You cannot change what you cannot see.

You Do Not Need to Sacrifice Comfort. You Need Another Income Stream.

This is where David parts ways with the typical advice. Most financial content tells you to cut back. David's position is different. If you genuinely do not want to give up your lifestyle, the answer is not subtraction. It is addition.

Build a second income. Then a third. Your current salary was designed for your current lifestyle. If your expenses grow and your income stays flat, something eventually gives. That something is usually your peace of mind.

His line from the interview is worth repeating: sometimes the best addition is subtraction. Know what you need to add to your life right now, and what you need to subtract to make room for it.

Hidden Expenses You Are Not Counting

Digital subscriptions are the silent killers of modern budgets. Because they are automatic, they feel invisible. David's advice is simple. Go through every subscription you have and ask one question: did I use this in the last 30 days?

If the answer is no, cancel it. A gym membership you visit once a month is not a health investment. It is an expensive reminder that you meant to work out.

He also pointed to entertainment stacking. If you are paying for five streaming services and only actually using one, you are funding entertainment you are not watching.

Beyond digital spending, David flagged one more overlooked habit: friends and social circles. The things your community normalizes, you tend to buy. If everyone around you is spending freely, you will spend freely too. The reverse is also true.

Track Your Expenses or Lose Your Money

David made this point with a question that lands: if someone asked you right now where last month's salary went, could you answer specifically?

Most people cannot. And that is exactly why they keep ending up in the same position month after month. You will not change a habit you cannot measure.

His mother keeps a physical notebook. Every peso in, every peso out. Thick notebook, no digital system, completely effective. The tool does not matter. The habit does.

Practical Ways to Lower Your Electricity Bill

This section of the interview was dense with specifics, which is the kind of content that actually helps people.

Run your washing machine at night. Electricity demand is lower after hours, which means your appliance runs more efficiently. Set your aircon to 25 degrees Celsius. Anything below 20 is burning through your bill for marginal comfort gains.

Clean your aircon filter regularly. According to the latest data David cited, proper maintenance can reduce energy consumption by up to 6%. That is not a small number over the course of a year.

Switch to LED bulbs. Yes, they cost more upfront. But a 200-peso LED bulb used daily over three years works out to about 18 centavos per day. You will not find a cheaper source of light.

Fill your refrigerator. An empty fridge works harder to stay cold. This is called thermal mass, and it is the reason a full fridge is actually cheaper to run than an empty one.

Unplug appliances you are not using. Not just turning them off, unplugging them. Standby power is real and it adds up over 30 days.

Window Type vs. Inverter Aircon: The Real Answer

David broke this down cleanly. A window-type aircon is cheaper to buy but more expensive to run, especially if you are switching it on and off throughout the day. Every cycle spikes your power consumption.

An inverter unit costs more upfront, sometimes 18,000 pesos or more, but it adjusts its power draw based on room temperature. Once the room is cool, it pulls less electricity. Over time, the savings are real and measurable.

If you have a window-type unit, use a timer. Set it for the hours you actually need it, particularly at night, and let it do its job without the constant on-off cycle.

Simple Budgeting for Beginners: Three Questions

David reduced budgeting to three honest questions.

Where are you right now financially? What is your income today? How much can you realistically save each month?

Once you can answer all three specifically, not in vague terms, you have a starting point. From there, set one clear goal. Not ten goals. One. Give it a deadline. Work backward from that deadline to figure out what you need to do each week.

Complexity kills follow-through. Simple systems survive.

The Transportation Hack Nobody Talks About

David mentioned this as a closing bonus, and it deserves attention. He switched from a car to a second-hand motorcycle. His petrol savings went from spending 300 pesos for roughly 10 kilometers in a car, to stretching the same 300 pesos across an entire week on the motorcycle.

By his own calculation, he saves at least 3,500 pesos per month on transportation alone. Over 20 months, the motorcycle pays for itself.

Key Snippets for investors

"You cannot change what you cannot see. Track your expenses or keep wondering where your money went."

"Sometimes the best addition is subtraction. Know what to add to your income before cutting what you love."

"33% of the average Filipino salary goes to rent. That is before debt, food, or anything else."

"Your community shapes your spending. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, financially included."

"An LED bulb at 200 pesos works out to 18 centavos per day over three years. That is the cheapest light you will ever buy."

"Fill your refrigerator. An empty fridge works harder and costs you more every month."