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

It's My Birthday Month!

You need to set aside money to celebrate. That's one thing I learned from my Kuya when he taught me how to manage my money better (shared about it here). I used to just save and save and it was hard for me to spend money for myself. With a better perspective on managing my money I learned to enjoy life better. It also allowed me to learn new things. 

Last year I made sure to celebrate my birthday for a whole month! Haha. It was the first time I did it. Of course the "celebration" was just at home. It culminated with the Westies surprising me with some cake and flowers. I like how that month went even though we were cooped up at home and far from family. What I liked about it was showing gratitude by celebrating my life. 

I always took it for granted that I'd wake up everyday. After having two PEs I realized that our time here is borrowed. It's really up to God whether we're still around the next day. I struggled with shortness of breath for many months. Thanks to the intervention of my doctors, I got better. I'll never be the same, but I'd like to believe that God has other plans for me. 

So this month I'd like to celebrate life and be joyful that I'm still here. I have several birthday wishes: (1) Be reunited with my family; (2) Have good results for another procedure I have to go through; (3) My whole family to be healhy, safe, secure, blessed and happy; and (4) Understand what my next mission is.

Day 4 Minimalism Challenge, Get rid of digital devices. I had a lot of online errands today so I couldn't stay offline. What I did today was review old devices I still own and don't use anymore. I have a netbook and an old laptop I don't use anymore.  The netbook still works I think and might work better if you use Neverware on it. The old laptop will need a lot of repair because the keyboard died already. Good thing there are ways to get rid of your e-wastes here in SG. I'll probably ask Sweetie if he has any stuff he needs to get rid of too. 

CB///*Yr2/115 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/138 #NewG331 #Home89 #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 

Left My Wallet at Home! Gaah!

Half-way to the hospital for my follow-up check-up I realized I left my wallet at home. I had taken it out of my bag last weekend and forgot to return it inside my bag. I realized I left it because I was wondering why my bag seemed spacious. I wasn't worried I won't get back home, I was annoyed I wouldn't be able to get some stuff at the grocery.

I didn't want to be late for my appointment so I just went to see my doctor. He was happy with my progress. I told his nurse I hope I didn't need to pay for anything since I left my wallet at home. She said not to worry since the fees and medication were going to be charged to insurance. Whew!

Just me and Mr. Cat today.

I really wanted to buy Sweetie some coffee buns. His favorite is from a bakery at the Bugis MRT Station. Luckily my coin purse was in my bag. I walked past the bakery to check the price and then went to the side to count my money. I managed to buy 4 coffee buns and skipped buying my favorite bun.

I was surprised to see that the MRT entrance into Bugis Junction is already open. I stopped in front of Cold Storage to just look longingly at what I wanted to buy (new flowers). I passed by Toastbox and saw they had my favorite bread. I hoped I had enough coins to pay for it. Luckily I did.

While waiting for my doctor I checked my bag if I had any money in the bag. I had my coin purse, but nothing else. I realized I probably had cash in my MRT card, in apps on my phone and there's Paylah. I have colleagues who go out without any cash (now I remember my manager owes me $20 since March). In Singapore you can go out and just have your money tied to apps or your cards, no need to bring cash. I follow a budget so as much as possible I don't use my credit card because spending tends to pile up if you do.

Before I went home I discovered my Starbucks app had some money in it. Of course, I got some dessert for me and Sweetie. I usually take a taxi and pay cash to help uncle taxi drivers. Today I had to take Grab going home since I didn't have enough money on me. Maybe I'll just buy the grocery items I need tomorrow after physiotherapy.

Going out without my wallet wasn't a disaster. I'm happy I was able to buy coffee buns for Sweetie. I just need to make sure I don't forget it again tomorrow!

CB//161 #StuckAtHomeDay/191 #WFH109 #StayHome #BeKind