Filipinos are using various cost-cutting measures to cope with rising food and fuel prices including scrimping on food purchases, reducing power consumption and spending less on entertainment, according to a study by market research firm TNS Philippines.

In the TNS survey conducted last July 4-14, more than half of Filipinos (54%) said their purchasing power is lower now compared to 12 months ago. It said weaker purchasing power is felt more by the lower socioeconomic classes D (55%) and E (57%) compared to class ABC (37%).

The survey showed that 35 percent of Filipinos said their purchasing power remained the same while 11 percent said their purchasing power got stronger.

Asked how they foresee their purchasing power in the next 12 months, 55 percent of Filipinos said they expect it to be even weaker. "This is especially true among the lower class. Majority of the upper-middle class say they expect no change in their purchasing power," the study said.

Forty-three percent of Filipinos cited rising food prices as the number one issue affecting their lives, followed by inflation with 26 percent. One out of every two Filipinos in the lower E socioeconomic class cited rising food prices as the biggest issue affecting their lives compared to 42 percent from the D class and 32 percent from the upper ABC class.

The survey revealed that Filipinos are maximizing their spending power by buying cheaper brands of food (64%) and reducing amount of food per meal (27%).

In the National Capital Region, 51 percent said they are reducing the number of viands (ulam) they eat per meal. Other steps cited by respondents to cope with rising food prices are: buying rice from National Food Authority (25%), buying canned food/instant noodles as substitute (23%), reducing purchase of non-essential food (21%), lessening frequency of meals every day (10%) and buying cooked food from karinderyas (8%).

TNS Philippines Managing Director Gary de Ocampo said Filipinos are scrimping not just on food but on other basic items such as soap or small luxuries such as cigarettes.

"People are really downgrading. They're switching to the cheaper brand of cigarette and cheaper brand of household items. Some respondents in our qualitative surveys even said they are switching to the cheaper telco to cut on mobile phone expenses," de Ocampo told abs-cbnNEWS.com.

Cutting power consumption, transportation costs

The survey showed that 69 percent of Filipinos nationwide are cutting down on their power consumption to reduce their electric bills. Aside from cutting down use of electric appliances, 11 percent of Filipinos also admitted cutting down on their use of mobile phones.

The survey showed that Metro Manila residents are the most affected by the rise of fuel prices (20%) compared to the rest of the country (15%). Twenty-two percent of class ABC respondents cited fuel prices as a major concern compared to 15 percent from class D respondents and 11 percent from class E.

To cope with the fuel prices, 44 percent of Filipinos said they are either walking or riding a bike instead of taking public transportation. In Metro Manila, about half of respondents (48%) said they have started to plan trips in order to control fuel consumption while 31 percent are even leaving their private vehicles and taking public transportation instead.

Education spending takes a hit

One trend revealed in the survey is a cut in education spending by some families. To cope with the economic crisis, some adults (31%) said they are reducing the daily allowance of their kids who go to school while others said they are forced to transfer their children from private to public schools (9%).

The survey showed that six percent of Filipinos have already pulled out some or all their kids from attending school while five percent said they are allowing their kids to work so they can stay in school.

Joy Casuga, TNS Philippines Research Director for Political and Social Sector, said the survey results validated reports about the effect of the economic crisis on families.

"This is the reality. These are true not just in the provinces but also in Metro Manila. It means that families are really being forced to cut back on education to focus on the three basic necessities, which are food, clothing and shelter," she said in a separate interview.

Fewer vacations, trips to the mall

The survey also showed that more Filipinos are spending less on entertainment as a cost-cutting measure. Seven out of ten Metro Manila residents said they go to malls less often now while 57 percent said they eat out less often than before.

Other measures cited by Metro Manila residents to cope with rising costs of entertainment were taking fewer out-of-town trips (34%) and watch fewer movies (29%).

The survey said that while cost of housing has increased, very few found the need to alter their dwelling situations. At least 14 percent of Metro Manila residents said they would move to an apartment with a lower rent.

Other measures cited to cope with higher housing expenses include moving in with a friend or relative and renting out space to boarders.

Analysis of the data shows that 99 percent of Filipinos will scrimp on food while 87 percent will spend less on utilities to cope with inflation.

The nationwide survey was carried out from July 4-14 among 900 respondents 18 years old and above across all socio-economic classes. Margin of error at 95 percent confidence level is +/-3 percent for the national aggregate figures and +/-7 percent for National Capital Region data.