Still, even for those who felt the improvement of the economy, belt-tightening is, and will be, a normal part of everyday spending. This is particularly true considering the forecast of not-so-rosy economic times ahead. Using a simple scoring system that took into account the three key economic growth drivers for developing Asian economies -- investment, consumer spending, and net exports -- banking giant BNP Paribas said that the Philippines could be among the worst hit among Asia’s developing economies by a looming slowdown in the US economy, Inquirer Business reports.

Even in the U.S., Americans are "trading down" on account of the slowdown of U.S. economy,  as reported in ABC news. Families trade in their SUVs with motorcycles to save on installment fees and gas costs. They forego morning coffee lattes or taking lunch outside. There is an increasing trend of "trading down" one's lifestyle to save on expenses, as much as US$40,000 of annual savings. That's more than one and a half million Pesos.

Really, if you forego your daily fix of P85 brewed coffee, even if only during the 5-day workweek, that's roughly P20,000 of savings in a year. Just use the office coffeemaker instead. If you add the savings for home-cooked lunch or "baon" -- and I do bring baon for lunch -- that would be considerable. Of course, there are other "little things" that could be given up to increase savings. Perhaps you could tell us your trading down "little things".