Were You Part of the Happy Savers Club?

I was a young child when my Mom opened a savings account for me. The Happy Savers Club was a promo of a bank meant to encourage young children to start saving. I don't remember when my Mom closed the account, but the last balance was 231 pesos, haha. She eventually opened a proper account for me.

My Mom was a banker. She retired because of me. I was a handful to take care of since birth and that forced her to retire. She told me her first job was a bank teller and she eventually moved to the bank's headquarters. She loved going to the bank and I was always in tow. That's how I learned and became comfortable doing banking errands. 

Mom's way of teaching was always practical. She used newspapers to teach me how to reach. I remember she'd have me read the headline out loud everyday. That's what she did with banking chores. She had me fill out the bank slips for my accounts. 

When she opened a new account for me after the Happy Savers Club, she told me to have a goal. I don't know when I declared that I was going to save for my future wedding. I mostly deposited gifts and savings from my allowance. The account grew very slowly. I eventually didn't use it for my wedding, I used it to pay for graduate school tuition. 

It was worth spending my lifelong savings for schooling. It really helped me progress in my career and helped me make smarter decisions for me and my family. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Live Within Your Means

I was a teenager when my Kuya taught me this valuable lesson. He sat me down one day and told me to always weigh in whether a purchase is a need or a want. That was a good guide to live within your means.

 

Since then I learned to be cautious about making purchases, especially large ones. I purchased devices through installments and made sure to pay the bill on time. When I buy gadgets I make sure they would last a long time and I only replace them when they don't work anymore or are worn out. It also takes me a long time to decide whether to buy an item. 

I've wanted to purchase a second sewing machine for more than a year now. I have researched and canvassed what I want to buy. I have not bought it because there's so far no need (and space for it). I dilly dallied over buying a sewing machine for over two years, Sweetie bought it for me, haha. Well, it's still working, so I really have no reason to buy a new one. 

I think what also helped me was growing up with a Mom who lives simply. She only had branded bags because Titay would give it to her as a gift. Mom also rarely wore make-up and also usually got her supply from Titay, haha. My grad school professor explained it's a matter of putting it in proper perspective. Are you buying a car to get from point A to point B? Or are you buying a car to show off? 

Followed Kuya's advise and even when I moved to Singapore, I lived like I was still in Manila. I did that because I wanted to buy our own place. Looking back, I may have gone extreme because I was so cautious at spending. Good thing Kuya taught me another way to manage my money and since then I've been able to enjoy the fruits of my labor more. All the years of hardwork culminated in purchasing our dream home. 

One thing I learned in the last few months is to make sure you are surrounded with people you can really trust. We all worked hard and thought we were secure in the knowledge that we are able to take care of Mom. None of us touched the money our parents gave us because we allotted it to take care of her. What we did not know was someone else was spending it for their own lavish lifestyle. Envy, after all, is the root of evil.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Prioritizing

Oh boy, this month is proving to be an expense filled one. Aside from from the usual expenses - utilities and groceries - several things cropped up at the same time. We were planning to move forward with our home development project, but health has to be prioritized. We're still in the process of signing up for medical insurance so this means everything is out of pocket for now. Yikes!

Luckily, my original pulmonologist here still treats us as family. My Dad was his professor and he has cared for us through the years. I was really surprised about his generosity because it's been 2 decades since I last saw him. It was his wife, my original cardiologist, who discovered I had mitral valve issues. 

We met with him yesterday through a video call. I was so nervous because he spoke to me in Bicol dialect throughout the consultation, haha. Good thing I understood everything (I can understand, but I struggle speaking the dialect). All good for now, but he wants to determine the cause of my PEs. He also prohibited me from going near a hospital. He also said not to mess with my blood thinners. 

Car expenses also kicked in. I had to get my car registered so that meant spending for emission testing and insurance. I realized my car hasn't had any maintenance since 2019, so Hyundai's quote is a crazy amount. Well, at least I could delay that to next month since getting the car fixed isn't urgent. I thought about selling my car, but decided to keep it for now so Miggy can learn how to drive (important in case of emergencies). In time, we plan to sell both our cars and get a new one. 

All is well, just need to prioritize our expenses. It just means our home will still be messy. As Tita Dine told me, it more important to be happy and live in love than have a tidy house. I totally agree with that, haha. I'm also back to being cheerful since the nasty infection seems to be gone. Yaaas! God is good! 

#BeKind #StayHome #VoteWisely

How Managing My Money Better Made Me Happier

When my Kuya gave me advise on how to manage my money better I realized I wasn't enjoying my hard earned money. Whenever making a purchase I would debate with myself if it was a need. It prevented me from growing and being happy. 

I was that way because I was fearful about saddling my family with medical expenses. I was leading my life in fear and that was wrong. It showed I had very little faith. It also showed that I wasn't truly living. I just followed a routine and it was a huge disservice to my family. We could've made more happy memories.

Managing your money better helped in my healing journey. Changing how I budgeted helped me grow and be happier. I find reasons to celebrate and reward this with good food. My quilting skills have improved because I invested in learning new things. I worried less because I worked on my investments. I've been able to focus on recovering. Here's the breakdown my Kuya gave me - 

I'm now transitioning to a new phase in my life. With faith and a lot of prayer I hope I've made the right decisions to be financially free. It's also a good thing that I stuck to the same spending habits I had when I had before moving to SG. I missed out on a lot of experiences, but at least I won't have a hard time adjusting again to life back home. 

CB///*Yr2/156 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/179 #NewG291 #Home49 #Xmas102 #StayHome #BeKind 

Steps I've Taken to Be Financially Free

Two months ago I wrote about my Kuya's challenge for me to be financially free before I turn 50. I started by understanding my monthly and annual expenses. One key advise of financial advisers is to understand what you're getting into. I read articles and watched a lot of videos. I also attended the Truly Rich Club workshop on understanding the stock market.

There are so many financial products out in the market. My Mom was a banker so her expertise was more on growing your money through savings. So I broke down my research into three: (1) financial products I could do through a bank; (2) investments (stocks); and (3) real estate. 

To be honest for many years I let my Mom manage my money. I would just deposit my savings and she'd take care of moving it to a time deposit. I decided to take over my accounts when I took a break so Mom didn't have to stress about it. After assessing my savings situation I inquired from the bank how I could earn more interest from my savings. 

Regular and time deposit savings don't really earn much interest. In fact, I learned if you leave your money just on savings you'll eventually lose money. The first thing the bank asked me was my appetite for risk and how long I could keep the money. Here's a list of options they gave me:

• Insurance
• Unit investment trust funds
• Bonds
• Treasury bills

I wanted something which could provide me cash every month so getting more insurance wasn't the best option for me. Bit wary about the current state of affairs back home so I'm still assessing whether bonds and treasury bills will be a good investment. So far the UITF is the best option for me. 

I learned a bit about stocks when I was taking my MBA. I just needed more guidance about what to invest on. I signed up for the Truly Rich Club a few years ago and finally attended a workshop on the stock market. It gave me a better understanding on what I'm getting into, plus they give advise on where to invest every few weeks. 

I started investing last March and I'm happy to share that one of my investments gave a dividend already (like PhP100+ only haha). It was small, but encouraging. The important thing about investing in the stock market is to assess your appetite for risk. It's also better if you do it for long term investing. TRC is hosting another stock market workshop on June 19. If you want to sign up as a member, here's my affiliate link and here's my 10% off coupon code - TRC101727AFF- if you just want to join the seminar.

I'm hoping that the interest from bank investment can provide my monthly needs. I'm so far just a third covered for my projected monthly expenses. Will be working on this quest more. I'll write more about real estate on another post since there's a lot of stuff about that I'm still studying right now. 

Hope this helps you as you work towards financial freedom!

PS Just also wanted to say I'm so grateful I have a Kuya who's been providing me guidance. I thought it would be great to share the stuff I learned from him (like the quest to be financially free). 

CB///*Yr2/54  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/81 #StayHome #BeKind

How I Started on My Quest to Be Financially Free

It was my Ate who taught me to be organized. When we spent summers at her bunkhouse in Batangas she'd leave us a lot of things to do. She was big on making lists and that somehow rubbed off me. She's a chemical engineer and that meant she's very process oriented too. I remember peering in her notebook when she was still studying and it was full of process flow charts. 

I learned the adulthood ropes by myself. Ate and Kuya had their own families already before I became a teenager. I was in my late 20s when I read a quote that said something like "You're an adult if you pay your bills on time". I was still living with my parents, but I had monthly bills and Miggy bills. I also learned from a friend to always pay your credit card in full every month. 

Eventually I had to manage two households, my home in Manila and Singapore. That meant two sets of monthly bills. To stay on top of it I created a spreadsheet to track the bills. It's already a template that I copy monthly. This makes sure I pay all the bills. It also helps me stay on budget. Early this year I made a review of my basic monthly and annual expenses and that's how I developed my target to be financially free. 

Here's how I broke down my future expenses:

Ideally you should already be free from mortgages and any bank financing payments by the time you become financially free. After computing my basic expenses I now have an idea how much monthly passive income I should develop. As my favorite finance vloggers always say, develop a diversified portfolio. I've been working on it little by little for some time now.

I've had to adjust my initial target to cover health expenses. When I first started working on this quest I didn't have any maintenance meds. My doctor told me this morning she's appreciative that I have very good understanding of my condition. I told her it's important for me to know because I need to think about my future. 

Hope this post was helpful for you to start thinking about your future. It will probably take me time to write about investments since I'm still studying it for now. 

CB///349 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/12 #StayHome #BeKind 

The Quest for Financial Freedom

Many years ago Kuya gave me a challenge. He said I should be financially free by age of 50. And everytime we meet up for Japanese buffet he'd check on my progress. To be honest I only started thinking about it seriously two years ago. 

I'll tell you a secret, I did not like my finance classes. I seem to have done well though because I was offered to teach finance after graduation! I turned it down because it wasn't my cup of tea. That inspired me though to do better during grad school. I tried my best to understand what my professors taught. All I remember now is I had good marks when we were tasked to create a stock portfolio. 

That was the last time I really thought about managing money. Kuya kept reminding me though. The last time we had Japanese buffet he taught me how to properly manage my monthly salary. Here's the breakdown:

The breakdown totally changed how I budget my money. I had been on paranoid saving mode since I had heart surgery in 2013. That meant I was saving over enjoying and rewarding myself. It was a great guide for me to get me going to meet my financial freedom deadline.  

So as much as finance/investments isn't my cup of tea, I swallowed the bitter pill and started working on my future. I started with computing how much monthly expenses I have if I lived in Manila. After that I started assessing what I can invest on. They did teach most of it in grad school. There's stocks, mutual funds, real estate, UITFs, dividen pay funds, bonds and many others. 

The options are dizzying, but the first thing you need to determine is what kind of risk you are willing to take. From how I've been behaving I'm a low risk person. So I've been studying. I've been binge watching vlogs of Chinkee Tan, the Truly Rich Club, Fitz' Ready to Be Rich, Marvin Germo and many others. They all have one common advise, "Know and understand what you are getting into". Aside from watching videos I also do a lot of reading. 

I think I may meet the deadline earlier hrhrhr. 

P.S. Was this post useful for you? Comment down below if you want me to share more about how I'm working towards financial freedom. 

CB///348 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/11 #StayHome #BeKind 

Broke Until 30

I was broke until I was about 30 years old. My salary all went to Miggy's tuition, upkeep and his toys (yup, he always got rewards for good grades). And I remained broke because I also saw myself through graduate school. My Tita had to help me pay off my schooling debts (thank you Titay). I was only able to start saving when I won 100k at the Ad Congress.

This was our wedding arras given to me by my Mom. It was from her arras when they got married.

I saved as much as I could growing up. I had a "wedding fund" which I eventually used to fund my graduate studies. I didn't ask help from my parents to fund grad school because I put them through so much already and they were still taking care of me and Miggy. So I made sure I provided for Miggy's schooling. While all my friends were going on trips and enjoying their 20s, I had to be prudent with my spending because I had responsibilities. Would you believe I was already in my 30s when I first went to Boracay? (And that was a business trip!).

After that super dry period I told myself I needed to save. I had to. I was 28 when my cardiologist told me that I needed to eventually have heart surgery. You can just imagine how worried I was, but with hardwork and many, many prayers things just worked out. There were also many angels along the way who helped me.

I think one of the things that should be taught early in school is financial planning. My Kuya gave me a challenge a couple of years ago -- to be financially free by the time I'm 50. The clock is ticking so I'm trying to work my way towards it. My Kuya gave advice last year on how I can manage my money better especially since we're an empty nester now (no more tuition fees to pay!!!).  Here's what he suggested I do (I compute it after setting aside money for tax) --

10% investment to build passive income
10% to upgrade yourself
10% to celebrate
10% keep for emergency
55% everyday expenses
Start at 5% tithing

What I like best about this plan is the amount set aside for celebrating. That helped me move on from the mindset that I'm still broke. I've been that way for fifteen years and it's been easier for me to spend for my boys than to spend for myself. I guess that's how it is when live in fear (I don't want to leave my family in a bind). Now that Miggy's done with school, I could relax a bit and enjoy my hard-earned money. Kuya's list is helping me better plan my future.

Eating at Jollibee is celebration enough for me.

It's never too late to start saving. I was a fresh grad when my Kuya taught me not to spend beyond what I'm earning. The only financial hole I fell into was my student debt. I was stuck in it for a long time. After I got out of it I made sure I did not fall into that trap again (well taking graduate studies eventually paid off). I've also disciplined myself to live within my means.

What about you? How do you save?


CB//160 #StuckAtHomeDay/190 #WFH108 #StayHome #BeKind