The Citibank booklet had an enticing title, ?Financial Tips for Parents.? On the first page was a quote, ?Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation,? attributed to C. Everett Koop, former United States surgeon general (sort of the equivalent of our health secretary).

Inside were figures on how much it would cost to put a child through several local and international universities, broken down into the present, as well as projecting five years, 10 years and 18 years ahead. There were also tables showing how much you would need to save per month to have enough to get one child into those universities eight years and 13 years from now.

I totally agree with the main message of the booklet: ?The earlier you start, the better.? But the figures were also a grim reminder of how difficult it is to save for college, especially in the Philippines with its weak economy and an educational system that is pretty much left to the private market.

Let?s look quickly at the figures (it?s impossible to get figures from nice, neat tables into a newspaper column so bear with the numbers):

Multimillion

The current projected cost for a four-year degree program is listed as P180,000 for the University of the Philippines (UP), P543,124 for Ateneo de Manila University, P667,334 for the University of Asia and the Pacific (UAP) and P788,130 for De La Salle University (DLSU).

Citibank offers figures for six foreign universities as well, but let me just cite three and what current costs are for a four-year degree (and note the dollar sign): $24,530 for the National University of Singapore (NUS), $52,253 for the Australian National University (ANU), and $88,010 for Oxford.

Are you feeling consoled now about the figures for the Philippines? You shouldn?t be. If you were a Singaporean, Australian or British national, you?d be paying much lower fees, maybe even lower than what Filipinos have to pay for a local education. The figures given are for foreign students, including Filipinos rich enough to send their kids abroad.

If you just started parenting, as I have, you?re supposed to have an advantage because you can start saving now. The problem is that tuition rates will also keep increasing over the next few years. Citibank?s estimates for local universities? In 18 years, a four-year education could cost (I?m rounding off the seven-digit, multimillion-peso figures): P2.2 million at UP, P6.7 million at the Ateneo, P8.3 at UAP, and P9.8 million at DLSU.

Still dreaming of an overseas education? Eighteen years from now, you should have $136,383 to go to NUS, $290,523 to ANU, and $489,326 to Oxford.

Citibank has computed how much you need to save per month if you want to have the tuition money 18 years from now. Hold your breath now as I share those figures: P6,379 for UP, P19,248 for Ateneo, P23,650 for UAP and P27,930. Dreaming of Oxford? Apply now to become an expatriate (if you haven?t heard, Ate Gloria?s preferred term over ?overseas Filipino worker?) and make sure you set aside $352 each month for NUS, $750 for ANU and $1,263 for Oxford.

Since Filipinos are so enamored of an American education, let me give you the monthly savings you?ll need for two US universities: $2,690 for Harvard and $2,700 for Stanford. But don?t get deceived by the $10 difference: If your child ends up in Stanford, you?ll have to get a car because they have a terrible mass transit system there.

All said, it looks like a lot of belt-tightening for a UP professor to get a child to college, emphasis on ?a? because Citibank computations are all for one child. All the more reason for family planning.

I checked with one of my junior faculty who has a young son. He and his wife are both assistant professors, each with a take-home pay of P13,000 a month. Monthly expenses include P16,000 for groceries, P4,000 for rent (subsidized UP housing), P1,200 for utilities, P2,500 for a helper. Preschool fees run up to P30,000 a year. Savings? What savings?

Yes, the children of UP professors are exempted from tuition at UP, but many UP professor?s kids have broken their parent?s hearts by insisting on another school. You might want to prepare the kids early, as some of my UP professor-friends are doing, partly in jest of course, ?Anak [Child], if you want to study in one of those other schools??icy emphasis on ?other???you have to know I won?t be able to afford it, and you?ll have to start saving now.? You can show them my column today.

?Anting-anting?

Projections are projections. Eighteen years from now it could be better, or worse. Whatever, we need to think ahead, and work on saving, difficult as it may be.

I?m fortunate that besides UP, I have the Inquirer (now don?t get ideas about huge payments, let me just say I write partly out of love for the Inquirer, and readers) and an occasional consultancy. But I still find myself thinking twice, thrice, before buying something. Sometimes I tell a pushy shop owner or sales clerk, ?You know, if you had caught me five years ago when I still didn?t have children, I?d buy this item even without your sales talk, but now it?s going to be more difficult to convince me to buy.?

It helps to bring young children with you when you shop. Besides pricking your conscience, they?re so unruly that you can?t browse too long in a store and, inevitably, you cut your shopping trips short because they?re the ones who whine about going home.

Because mine are so cute (modesty aside), shopkeepers always remember them, so when I do stray into an antiques store without them, the dealers inadvertently keep me away from temptation by asking, ?Oh, how?s the baby??

Besides bringing your kids as anti-splurging ?anting-anting? [amulet], always plan your shopping. Make a list of what you need, not what you want. Immunize yourself against all those glitzy ads. If an item does catch your eye, check it out first at several stores, to evaluate the product and to canvass prices. Also do an Internet search for customer reviews of the product and you?ll be able to access all kinds of remarks from previous buyers, often pointing out limitations, if not defects.

Sidelines? There?s the proverbial schoolteacher selling everything from ?longanisa? [native sausage] to insurance policies (it used to be educational plans). As for mutual funds and stocks, investing in them now is like trying to make money in a casino.

Don?t forget the most important investment: a strong early education to prepare the kids to get into good schools, including possibly a government-run science high school, and, later, UP. Maybe, too, they?ll get a scholarship to one of the better universities.

Finally, make sure they learn to save as well, and acquire a work ethic, just in case they have to be working students.