Next Level Adulting

 I was going to blog about this yesterday, but got distracted and the thought slipped my mind. Remembered it a few hours after when I was, well... adulting. If I new there was a next level to "adulting" in your 20s, I could have saved myself from the pain I've been going through the past few weeks. 

If you're in your 20s or even younger, I have one important advise for you -- keep your affairs all in order. The only thing I have in order are... my photos. Majority (I can't claim all) of my digital photos are in proper folders and kept in Google Photos. I used to store them in countless CDs, but after Typhoon Ondoy I have been putting them on the cloud. Well, managing photos is the easiest of the lot. Managing countless documents and papers requires skill and a lot of patience. 

Here's a general list of what you need to keep in order:

1. Medical records

2. Utility Bills

3. Car/vehicle documents (OR/CR, maintenance records)

4. Property records (mortgage, title, real property tax records)

5. Bank accounts 

6. Employment records (or business papers)

7. Travel documents (passport, visa etc.)

8. NSO Certificates (birth, marriage etc.)

9. School documents (diploma, transcript of records)

10. Legal documents (contracts, affidavits, SPAs etc.)

11. IDs (license, TIN, voter's etc.)

My idea of organizing documents was to put them in folders/envelops. Sweetie leveled it up and put them in clear folders so it's easier to find. Good thing we'd spend time organizing papers whenever we went home. It made it easier to manage things remotely. Miggy just had to find the right documents for car registration and paying real property tax. 

My Mom was really good at managing. Her long banking career was interrupted only because of me (I was fragile since birth hehe). She had a proper filing cabinet and an enviable filing system. I remember she started purging documents after Daddy passed away. I've had to rebuild her system the past two weeks. It was hard especially since the papers were not properly kept. I did discover though that most utility companies have online customer portals now. That helped a lot especially for bills that were missing. 

I feel so accomplished after rebuilding my Mom's documents. I still need to find a couple of things and I hope I don't uncover more unpaid stuff. The boys are taking care of the docs for our homes. We're trying to find the best way to file everything properly. It really gets gnarly when you don't organize often. I digitized all of my Mom's bills and now I'm asking her if she had a pool installed because there were two months last year when her water bill was 5x than usual. 

And having everything organized is a good way to understand how you could live better. My cardiologist forced me to organize all my medical records so it would be easier for other doctors to review me. I just share an online folder for my newer doctors. I also have a calendar of when I have to do annual car registration and pay real property tax. Keeping scanned copies of all your docs also helps. 

Oh, now I understand when elders used to tell me that high school is the best part of your life. :)

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely

Adulting 101

To be honest, I only learned how to manage a home when Sweetie and I got married and moved to our own home. I remember I was shocked when Sweetie said he preferred not to have househelp. We always had helpers at home which meant I focused more on my studies/work, other activities than learning how to cook and home management. 

We had a lot of misadventures when we moved to our first home. We shared this on our "Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal". Our brand new washing machine almost blew up. Our sink billowed white smoke. The worst was the septic tank incident. My Mom eventually took pity on us and got someone to help clean the house and do ironing once a week. I think she got worried we might eventually end up hurting ourselves trying to learn the ropes of home management. 

Here's what I learned through the years:

1. Pay your bills on time. Aside from utilities, always pay your credit card bills in full. That also means do not spend beyond your capacity. Save if there's someone you need to buy. 

2. Invest in good appliances. I learned this from my Mom. Her appliances really last a long time (her Whirlpool fridge is as old as Miggy!). The Union fan I brought to Singapore ten years ago, came back home with me. 

We used our first washing machine for 9 years.
It was still working when we gave it away because we decided to get a bigger one.

3. Your first home may not necessarily be your last. This was advise given to me by my Ate. We've lived in 8 different homes in the last 11 years. We moved based on need and our lifestyle. Now that we're permanently home and we won't be traveling we'll be settling in a permanent home now.

4. Budget to save, work to be financially free. I set aside money for savings before I spent it and eventually adjusted it based on the goal to be eventually financially free. I'm not financially free yet and still working on my strategy. 

5. Enjoy the chores. Yes, you need to embrace the fact that chores will always be waiting for you to do. I enjoy doing the laundry and have a science on how I do it. I feel so satisfied when I'm able to complete it. Sweetie took over it the past year, but I started doing it again yesterday. I ended up feeling unwell though, haha, but I was happy I was able to do it again. 

6. Get help where you can. You can't possibly do everything. We continued to have someone come in once a week to do cleaning and ironing for us. Before we went home last week we had our place deep-cleaned. It would have been dreadful if I ended up inflamming my sinuses with dust, hehe. 

7. Ask for help if you need it. It's been very useful for me to check the posts of our neighbors when they need help for something. I normally check previous posts first on our group before I ask questions or I ping a friend or neighbor to ask directly. I needed to have our sliding door fixed and easily found recommendations on who to contact. It's fixed now, yay!

8. Think twice before buying home items. It takes me years before I finally decide to buy something, i.e. my KitchenAid stand mixer. I always ask myself if I'm really committed to it and I set goals I need to meet before buying something. I'm also changing my grocery buying strategy since we ended up throwing away a lot of stuff before we went home. I will strictly adhere to my meal plans to make sure I only buy what's needed. I'll also probably put in an inventory system so we don't duplicate stuff. 

9. Do tasks by parts. What worked for me was setting tiny home goals per day since I have to manage my energy. I would set one reachable home goal a day. This way I don't end up procrastinating, haha. Give yourself a treat when you complete the task. 

10. Stay healthy, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Too much of anything is bad for you. Don't forget to love yourself. 

Remember, there's no formula to be a perfect adult. Just do what you think is right for you. Our parents had to help us in the beginning to show us the way. Eventually my Mom said we were already doing well and she believed we could do anything now. I still ask my Mom things when I'm in a bind hehe. 

#Home14 #NewG230 #Xmas38 #StayHome #BeKind  

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

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 

The Quest to Keep it Simple

I can just imagine my brother laughing at me when I say I'd like to keep things simple. I'm quite fussy in more ways than one (well I do have a medical condition), but I've been trying my best to keep things simple just like my Mom.

Invest in Stuff that Need to Last

When I was a kid we rarely went to buy stuff at the department store. I remember when I was in first grade it was a big affair when we went to SM to buy my first Gregg shoes. My Mom wanted me to use Gregg shoes because it was a shoe brand known to last. Unfortunately my feet didn't agree so my Mom exchanged it for several pairs of shoes (Gregg shoes was expensive). One pair was the popular Kung Fu black shoes which I used every single day until it retired and then there were several pairs of colored shoes. From this I learned, for everyday use buy what's going to last and for frilly stuff just buy the inexpensive one (just make sure though you are in agreement with the expensive stuff you buy). I follow this guide for buying gadgets and home appliances.

Haggling and Going for More Affordable Clothes

For times when we needed to buy clothes my Mom would schedule trips to Baclaran. I have a godmother who has a store there and we always made a stop at her shop. I learned to haggle from my Mom, but nobody compares with how my grandma could haggle. She was really good and oftentimes got merchandise at 50% off the price. Majority of my clothes came from Baclaran until I was in high school. It was my Dad who used to bring me to SM to buy clothes when my Mom was away traveling. When I was in university I discovered University Mall and Giordano from my classmates. Until now though I cannot get myself to buy very expensive clothes. I get more excited over "sales" than "new season".

Less is Better

Now this is something I am still working on. All of my material possessions went under water during Typhoon Ondoy and that's when I realized I had too much stuff. I ended up throwing out a lot of my things because they were rendered useless. I also realized I was too much a pack rat.

I had a seatmate at work who didn't have a single thing on his desk. His desk looked like no one occupied it. One day I told him, "Hey Shannon when I grow I'd like to be like you." He gave me a big smile and proceeded to remove stuff from my desk which he thought I didn't need. Most of the things he said I didn't need were mementos from trips and gifts from friends from the community. He said just keep stuff that you really use everyday, other things you can just probably borrow (yeah he used to borrow a lot of my stuff haha). He also said that he cleans out his closet every quarter and he pro-actively removes clothes he hasn't worn for 3 months.

Looking at the clutter on my desk I'm still very far from being like Shannon. After Typhoon Ondoy though I've managed to reduce drastically (Sweetie yes that's drastic) and moving to a home that's a third of the floor space we used to have really forced me to go for less stuff. I still love to shop, but I'm now more mindful to just buy what I need and what I would actually use. It's going to take awhile for me, but I guess it helps as well that Sweetie reminds me to fix my clutter every so often (organized chaos remember?).

Managing Your Money

Whenever I slacked off in school my Mom would remind me that she won't be around forever. I have reason not to believe that because at 80 my Mom is stronger than me although I've been finally able to beat walking faster than her in the last few months. Her secret to her good health is gardening!

When I was younger I would feel bad whenever my Mom would tell me she won't be around forever. I eventually realized that she was telling me this so I would become independent and make the right decisions. I became a Mom at the tender age of 18 and you can just imagine how I thought my life was a huge disaster. I only thought about that for a second actually because I knew I had to plan because I had a little one I had to care for. My parents put me back on track (back to school). I took it as my salvation, finished two degrees and figured out how to earn for my son.

After graduation I took it upon myself to ensure I covered everything Miguel needed. His milk. His toys. Doctors appointments. Tuition. I still got support in the beginning, but eventually I managed. I remember I was the last person I knew who traveled to Boracay because I just didn't have extra money for traveling. My Kuya also taught me that one should just buy what you need and not what you want.

I read that one has to have savings. For many years I didn't have that. I was at some point in debt because I paid for my MBA tuition using my credit card (thanks Titay for bailing me out). The extra money I had I would buy Miguel nice toys (those expensive models you build) not for him to enjoy, but to learn (came in handy when he was into robotics). It was only in my 30s that I was finally able to start saving.

One important thing I learned is not to upgrade one's lifestyle because you had a salary raise. I remember when I moved to Singapore I managed to live on just SG$50 a week. I was able to do this because I eat mostly in the office and just eat at the Kopitiam. It's been almost 5 years I've lived here and I still buy most of my toiletries from Manila, eat at Kopitiam's only on weekdays and buy only what I could consume. It's hard and there are days I indulge too (but with a limit).

So how much should one save? I don't really know, but what I follow is I remove my savings from my monthly salary and then I set aside money for tax and then I pay my bills. I have a set weekly allowance which I try my best to follow (as I said it's very hard!), but with the money for savings, taxes and bills set aside I'm really forced to just spend within my means.

I only use my credit card when I buy appliances (I prefer to pay monthly at 0% interest) and to book flights. Pay everything monthly so you don't spend on penalties. One thing though that I'd really would like to do this year is invest money in something that can be a source of income when I retire (suggestions are highly welcome). My Kuya said that if I plan to set up my business I should start it while I'm still working. That's something I would really need to think more about since my energy is pretty much depleted with work and running a household. This part needs more thinking time :)

So in summary -
1. Save.
2. Be mindful of your spending.
3. Save first before you spend.
4. Do not use your credit card like it's a license to buy everything you need. Use sparingly and pay everything when the bill comes.
5. Invest (I'm still figuring it out).