MONEY MONDAY: Week 2 of the 52-week money challenge

Why just 25 pesos?

Most of my friends are wondering why am I just saving money in my jar in increments of 25 pesos. As I have mentioned before, I am a rookie at saving and I do not want to fall short in the middle of the challenge and not complete it until the end of the 52-week period.

It may seem so manageable at first, 25-pesos for the first week, 50 on the 2nd and 75 on the 3rd week. Let's see how much I would need to put in the jar on a monthly basis :

The first 4 months are very manageable. Come May, I will need to save at least 1,250.00 per payday to ensure that I can put 2,500.00 in my Jar for that month. Before deciding the initial amount, I considered the following:

1, My monthly take-home pay. That part of my salary that I get to keep, what remains after all the government fund contributions (SSS, PAG-IBIG, Philhealth) and taxes (a.k.a. Napoles fund) has been deducted.

2. My fixed monthly expense : housing loan amortization

3. Bills.

4. daily allowance

5.entertainment allowance (movie, coffee with friends)

6.retirement and travel savings

7.Personal expenses (toiletries, gym membership, foodstuff)

After looking at my income and expenses, I concluded that all I can afford is to set aside for the jar is a saving scheme that increases by 25.00 increments. The savings is something that will be nice to have, but ultimately, my daily expenses and monthly obligations should be considered first. I did not consider my bonuses as they should not be part of my budget, after all, bonuses are not always guaranteed.  It will not be safe to assume that I will have a salary increase as it was only last October when the government ordered a wage increase. 

I also considered the following:

1. Increase in SSS and Philhealth contributions

2. possibility of a MERALCO increase

3. possibility of a fare hike

These additional expenses may or may not happen, but in the event that it does, it will be totally beyond my control. So to be on the safe side,  I choose to allot more that what I am normally spending to these expenses than to allot that money for my 52-week challenge. 

A cousin of mine, Lara, told me that she will do it in increments of 50.00 but will do it the other way around. She said she will do it this way because she expects to receive  the holiday bonus pay this January.  So for the first week, she will place 2,600.00 in her jar, 2,550.00 on the 2nd week and 2,500 on the 3rd week. By the end of January, she will be having 12,500.00 in her jar!!! WOW! but I personally wouldn't want to do that. As it has always been evident that I am not one with commendable EQ level, I am pretty sure I will be tempted to spend the contents of the jar early on. But of course, that is just me. I still wished her luck and I do honestly hope she can finish the 52-week challenge. 

Next week, I will tell you what I am saving up for... and why it is necessary to know as early as now how you intend to spend your jar money!