The 52- week money challenge

I gave my friend Mikah a bill organizer, a dainty little notebook that aims to track her expenses, bill due dates and the like.I used to hitch with Mikah, and during those short 20-minute rides, we discuss everything from girly stuff, to her little Chesca's misadventures even personal stuff like our finances. It is my little way of doing my part in helping her achieve our goal of being more financially stable. I attached a simple note to my humble gift that read:

" Here's something that will help you reach our goal #savings #paychecktopaychecknomore #ococvirgo I LOVE YOU (with pikit-mata feelings) "

I too need to re-allign my spending patterns, more so now that I have grown-up responsibilities like paying our house's mortgage and giving my share for our electric bill payment. While browsing, I came across stuckathomemom.com . This 52-week money challenge got me curious and decided that I will give it a try.

Stuck at home mom prepared a jar for the money challenge. She saved a dollar for every week of the year. So for the first week, she placed a dollar in her jar, 2 dollars were placed on the second week, and 3 dollars on the third week. and as the weeks progressed, she added the equivalent dollar amount. 

She even provided this table to help track the progress of her savings:

After 52 weeks, she expects to save a total of $1,378 or something close to 60,000.00 in pesos (at 1USD= 43.50PHP). Being the neophyte saver that I am, I do not feel so confident that I can live up to the challenge of progressively saving 43.50 pesos every week. So instead I created my own table. which you can see below:

I plan to save 25.00 pesos every Friday starting on the first Friday of January. And as inspired by the stuck at home mom, I will also try to post a weekly update. I plan to post my updates every Monday, I intend to call it Money Matters Monday.I expect to get 34,450.00 the day after Christmas. I could use the money for our New Year Celebration as I intend to welcome 2015 with a bang! 

me want...

Last year, I made a Christmas wishlist and got most of the stuff that I wished for. Not everything came to me as a gift though, there are things I had to purchase myself. 

I did not get the oven toaster, and in as much as I planned to buy it myself, I kind of lost interest (i hope just temporarily) in being a master chef.

I bought the juicer, and used it for probably a maximum of 7 times. I went back to using my old trusty blender. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised with the ginger, not a huge fan of ginger but once it is juiced together with apples, carrots and a bunch of spinach, I had fun sipping it. Unfortunately cleaning the juicer is a huge task.

I got a huge bottle of Nenuco, journals and pen, pens,pens!!!

This year, I am again making a list... and checking it twice. The following are the things I would love to have for 2014. After all, I have this nagging feeling that I have been very behaved this year and is probably on santa's "nice" list.



Belle De Jour Power Planner

I have always been fascinated with journals... I call them organizers. But don't get your hopes too high, I may not be able to fill this up very nicely. But I will try to. Although I have already received a nifty little weekly organizer complete with the daintiest post-its and a little envelope that I presume will be for cash.. or receipts from my favorite couple elaine and emer ( yeah I know it is not yet Christmas and I shouldn't be opening gifts yet... I have low EQ... sue me.) I would really love to get this one. If I don't get a it as gift, I will not go out for coffee for 2 weeks and buy it myself from this site : http://belledejourpowerplanner.com


Handkerchiefs

Yes for real. I want handkerchiefs. But I hope whoever gives me handkerchiefs would not feel bad if I lose them. It is a very popular gift item but I have not received any. I sneeze a lot, and in my desire to do away with disposable napkins and do my share in helping the environment. I will start to use handkerchiefs in 2014.

Wristwatch

I can't remember the last time I wore a wristwatch. I used to be addicted to watches, I lost count of how many Swatch watches I owned and eventually lost. I wear them to sleep, even as I take my shower. They say using the mobile phone to tell time is now a thing of the past,so I guess it is time for me to get a watch. The one above may be too fancy for my pay scale, as I always say, "act your wage" maybe what I can save up for and buy is nothing close to the one above. Maybe this one will do:

Bicycle

A simple one. Maybe something I can buy from a Japan Surplus shop. Just so I can use something for short errands within the subdivision. Not too familiar with bike specifications, but one thing I know, I won't be joining any triathlon event nor do I plan to bring my bike to the nearest offroad trail. I just want a bike, two wheels, a pedal and a handle bar. 

Gym apparel

The bitter truth is I am obese, and losing these bulges is starting to be really frustrating. I have done everything from starving myself and taking nothing but lemonade for 5 days, Brazilian Coffee that keeps me up all night, appetite depressants, juicing, meal replacements... but I have never really paid much attention to spending time burning calories. As early as now I have already purchased vouchers for gym sessions. And now I need to make sure I have the right apparel to motivate me.


Pen pen pens!

There is never too much pens for me! 

Just a few stuff that I would aim to get in 2014... aside from World Peace. Looking forward to a prosperous, stress-free and kilig-filled year ahead! I CLAIM IT!!!