Local showbiz personalities, Lucy Torres-Gomez and Ruffa Gutierrez, share tips on thrift under the present global economic crisis.  In separate interviews with the two celebrities, PEP found out that Lucy and Ruffa have been practicing ways to save their money and resources.

Lucy's only extravagance with hubby Richard Gomez is dining out and buying books.

"We're both not maluho, Richard and I," said Lucy.  "But if we look at our credit card bills, it's not really luxury items.  It's usually Amazons, books from Amazon that we order really in bulk, and restaurants because we really love to eat out."

But the couple realized that they should start spending less on dining  in fancy restaurants.

"Before, we'd eat out like six times a week, five times a week.  We always use the card because I really enjoy the points you earn and redeem. I find some thrill in that. Then, there's the mileage for the Mabuhay Miles, I really like that.  So, when I look at our bill, ang laki ng bill namin, it's all restaurants.  And I said, 'This can't be.  It cannot be this way.  It's too much of a sin.'"

What did she and Richard do to avoid shelling out money on expensive dinners? They still go out once in a while. What Lucy found out though was:

 "I kind of figured out why do we always eat out, because our cook wasn't so good.  So, what I did, I enrolled her in a series of classes.  I enrolled three of our helpers.  So, now they know Japanese, they know Spanish, they know Chinese.  So, if we're craving for anything, they'll cook.  We invested in cooking lessons but it really cut down din our expenses sa pag-go out."

Plus, the couple invested in kitchen renovation.

According to Lucy, "We just renovated our kitchen because it's really not a decorative or designer kitchen that nobody uses.  The kitchen is the most used place in the house.  There's even more reason now to just stay in and eat in the house because our cook is so good already, and Richard cooks!"

RUFFA'S TAKE ON THE CRISIS. Like Lucy, the Ruffa and Ai  host said that if there's one thing that she would not think about spending more money on, it would be food. 

She said, "Sa pagtitipid sa lahat ng bagay, one thing na hindi ako nagtitipid, sa pagkain.  Kasi importante pa rin na kumain tayo ng healthy food.  Kung pati pagkain tipirin mo, kumain ka ng mga germs, ganun din, dadalhin mo ang mga bata sa doktor, di ba?  Mas magastos pa."

Ruffa also observed that even if the global financial crunch does not affect her directly, she's aware that many people are suffering from it. 

"I know naman what's happening around the world," said Ruffa.  "You know, I was just in the States and more than 2.6 million have lost their jobs.  Grabe, talagang lay-offs everywhere.  Talagang nakikita ko na talagang hirap na hirap ang mundo."

She added, "You know, kailangan kahit na it's not directly affecting you, kailangan magkaroon naman tayo ng malasakit sa kapwa, so spend less.  Kung hindi ko naman kailangan, hindi ko binibili.

"Marami din akong mga ways na ginagawa.  Kumbaga kasi, dapat i-prioritize mo what's important to you now, rather than spend on a lot of things."