MONEY MONDAY : Week 12 of the 52-week money challenge

Checked my jar: I now have a total of 1, 950 pesos. In as much as I have been a lazy blogger, I have not missed any "put-that-savings-in-the-jar" duties. And I have also not forgotten to remind my friends to do the same. 

Hate to say it but I almost gave up on this challenge... after I saw my Income Tax Return Documents. Looking at how much of my hard earned money went to taxes made me feel not too good about talking about my savings. If only half of it had gone to my savings. It is just too frustrating because before I saw my income tax documents, I kind of thought, although admittedly with much haste and optimism, that I would like to have at least a million pesos in savings before I reach 40... that is a little over 4 years from now. But now I can honestly say, there is little hope that I can achieve this. After all, the most effective way to save more money is to make more money. 

So how can I make more money?

Maybe I can take on a part-time job? I have always dreamed of being a barista. Just like Lego's Larry the barista.

photo grabbed from lego-minifigures.tumblr.com

 Early on, as I was just starting my airport career, I thought I can manage to get at least 4 hours a day of working in a place where everything smells like freshly ground coffee. But I guess it is too late now. I barely have time to go unlimited chikahan with my friends over a venti frap.

Maybe I can go ask my boss for a raise? Much as I seem feisty and confident that I am a diligent worker, I have never in my entire life as an employee sought an audience with my boss to ask for a raise nor had I bargained that I need to be given more than what they are willing to give me. For one simple reason: I have this firm belief that a good boss sees and recognizes his employees efforts. I am not one to exalt myself, so I wait.

Maybe I can find something to sell? Last December's pastillas gig did get me a few thousand pesos. But it was something seasonal, I am still waiting for a eureka moment... then discover a perfect item to sell that would create an everlasting demand. 

photo grabbed from ideachampions.com

Like a carpet with built-in compass to cater to our muslim brothers? Or a self-cleaning feeding bottle? 

A million pesos, in 4 years, without me selling any of the stuff I currently own or worse, any of my internal organs...hope seem frail.

MONEY MONDAY : Week 7 of the 52-week money challenge

Can you really save on group buying sites?
Let me share with you my love-hate relationship with group buying sites. 

I think it was in 2011 when I started to get interested in Group buying sites, the fact that I do not have a credit card (yes I do not have a credit card) has not discouraged me from purchasing stuff online. I can always  deposit my payment and more recently I have discovered that I can pay for my group buying site purchases at any 7-11 branch. 

I have purchased quite a few vouchers that I did not use :

• a voucher for unlimited wart removal. 
• 5 vouchers for discounted frozen yoghurt. 
• 2 vouchers for spa treatment
• voucher for a  baby back rib meal
• 10 vouchers for underarm IPL treatment

Safe to say I should spend less time online right? But wait, I did get to grab some nice deals:

• vouchers for lipocavitation treatments. Used 4 out of the 5 vouchers.
• tickets to a soleslam event. was able to go to the event and even won a shirt but was too lazy to claim it.
• Elorde Gym vouchers
• Gold's Gym vouchers

I have learned my lesson the hard way. I still Group buying site-hop but before you click that buy now button, let me share some tips:

1. Read the fine print! Some items are only available for pick-up. Some needs additional delivery charges. If it sounds too good to be true, then maybe it is. Travel offers normally say airfare is already included, but see if it also includes taxes and other surcharges that you need to pay to the airline. 
2. Try to look around for similar products. Most often than not, I see the same product at sulit.com for a cheaper price. 
3. Don't be pressured to buying by the "time remaining before the offer expires" if it is just something "nice to have" and not a necessity. Based on experience, they extend offers.
4. For food/ restaurant vouchers, try to do a little research. Read blog reviews, read the ones that was written by someone who had to pay for the meal and not by someone the establishment has invited.  Same goes with travel offers with accommodations. Ever reliable google can surely be of help. 
5. Try to contact the merchant for clarification or more reliable information.  I bought vouchers for 4 boxing sessions at Elorde gym. The first time I used my voucher, I asked the receptionist if they have plans to offer the discount again some time soon because I was interested to buy more.  I was told by the receptionist that they have an ongoing offer at another group buying site. Got me 15 more vouchers.
6. Location location location. A spa package in QC for just 450 pesos seems very tempting. But I am sure I will be stressed all over again with my commute back to Cavite after the my massage. 
7. and lastly keep track of the vouchers' expiry date. Before I purchased vouchers for 15 boxing sessions, I made a mental note on how many times my schedule will permit me to go to the gym before the vouchers expire. 

It's a Monday, I hope you all had time to put your 7th installment in the jar last Friday! My jar now has 700 pesos after I placed my 7th installment. Lucky 7. :)

MONEY MONDAY : Week 6 of the 52 - week money challenge

HEALTH IS WEALTH!!!

It is the time of the year when I feel very grateful that I am not sickly. I just received my sick leave commutation! Out of the 15 days that I was entitled to last year, I only filed for 1 sick leave, so that means I will have extra money equivalent to 14 days!!! $$$

I can spend this money freely, no budgets, I can splurge, treat myself to a day in the spa or buy me a new pair of Jordans. But it seems like I am getting used to this saving habit. So after I have spent half it and kept some for my gym expenses,  I decided to save the rest too.

I bought me a new pair of shoes, a dress, a blouse and one of those collapsible storage wardrobes. I have saved a portion of it too for gym membership, something I did not initially include in my forecast of expenses for this year. But lately all this gym/boxing sessions has been giving me feel-good endorphins so I might as well include gym expenses. Besides who wouldn't want to spend a little more time sweating in the gym when...

and for those of you who do not know him,here's a glimpse at who this Daniel Matsunaga is...

www.showbiz-portal.com

Check your company's perks and benefits too, there might be some way to get extra cash. Take my company for example:

1. PERFECT ATTENDANCE -to ensure that our operations people are well motivated to go to work, we have a perfect attendance program. Every quarter, A PHP 250,000.00 cash prize is equally divided to all those who qualifies for the perfect attendance incentive. No sick leave, no unplanned leaves and no tardiness. Those who can maintain this for a whole year will share among them a PHP 400,000.00 cash prize! That is quite a lot I tell you.

2. SICK LEAVE COMMUTATION - Those like me whose middle name is "TARDY" might not be able to be a candidate for the perfect attendance incentive. I love going to work, it is just that there are times I am too lazy to get up early. But even if I am a bit under the weather and even if I sneeze my nose out, I would still report for work. Every year we are given a total of 15 days paid sick leave. All unused sick leave credits for the year are carried over to the following year. Anything in excess of 25 days will be paid in cash!

3. FRAUDULENT DOCUMENT DETECTION - I had my share of "NBI AGENT" moments back when I was still a check-in agent. This incentive program was put in place to avoid documentation related fines and charges. There is a PHP 1,000.00 incentive for every falsified, tampered or invalid document that an agent detects and has prevented from leaving the country.

4. TRAINING HONORARIUM -  Be a line trainer and get to be paid whenever you hold a class. I used to teach Dangerous Good Awareness Course, Departure Control System Course and Basic Ground Handling Courses. It may not be much but anything extra is welcome.

What incentive programs does your company offer?

Have a good week ahead... by the way, my jar now has PHP 525.00. How about yours?

MONEY MONDAY : Week 4 of the 52 - week money challenge

I have a confession to make... I failed to put my 4th installment to the 52-week money challenge last Friday in my jar (which I keep in our office). I attended to a 10am meeting, a lunch meeting that lasted for almost 5 hours and had to finish something that was needed first thing on Monday. Left the office a little after 8 pm and was already waiting for my shuttle ride home when I realized that I totally forgot about my jar. 

So, the following day, after a little gym-pigout  session with my cousin Ken at Glorietta, I went straight to the office to work on something with our finance department and at the same time update my jar money.Today, I placed my 5th week installment since I will not report for duty for the rest of the week. January is almost over, and I can almost smell the next payday. I revisited my budget, or as I call it my money envelopes and it looks like financially speaking, January has been a good month.

I saw this interview with a former beauty queen and she explained that she uses money jars to manage her budget. Since jars are a bit bulky and I do not have tons of money to place inside, I decided to modify it and use an expanding envelope instead. 

I prepared a total of 9 envelopes, each representing an expense that I have to allocate money for, with a corresponding index card to monitor the flow of cash. Then I bought one of those expanding envelopes and labelled each division according to my expenses. So every payday, I withdraw everything from my bank account and divide my earnings. 

MORT - MORTGAGE

The amount of money I set aside for the monthly amortization of my housing loan.

BILL - BILLS

That portion of my salary that I set aside to pay for my share in our electric bill.

DINE - DINNERS/ COFFEE

I would allot a small amount. Something I can spend for little coffee chismis nights with my friends or any of those little unplanned dine outs. 

PEFX - PERSONAL EFFECTS

Toiletries, foodstuff, pens, books,  gym expenses... anything I would like to buy for myself... a dvd of a movie and some chips to have a movie marathon with my nephews.

BDGT - BUDGET

My 2-week allocation for my expenses to go to work.

MISC - MISCELLANEOUS / UNEXPECTED EXPENSES

food for our cat Motmot, emergency fund just in case anything in the house needs to be repaired or bought, little gardening hobby expenses... stuff like that. 

RTRE - RETIREMENT

The "thou shall not touch" envelope. I know I should have started with my retirement savings the moment I received my first ever paycheck, but it is never too late to start. This savings will ensure that I will have a lot of time reading a book while sipping an ice-cold glass of fresh juice when my knees are already too weak to walk while wearing 4-inch heeled stilettos.

TRVL - TRAVEL 

"Travel brings power and love back into your life" - Rumi

Last year, I spent money I don't have to travel. I availed of a loan and now I am in debt. I am still paying, and will continue to do so for the next 12 months for that 21 day- US trip 3 months ago.  I am not saying that I will never do that again, but this travel savings will ensure that my next travel will not make me think about selling my kidneys. 

SAVE - SAVINGS

Whatever money I have allocated for other expenses that I did not spend. 

I do not have a budget for clothes, bags and shoes... because we are given a clothing allowance, if there is something I really really really want to buy, I will wait until the next payday to see if there was anything left for me to spend.. or maybe use the money I have set aside for coffee nights to buy a new blouse. 

So there. That is how I budget my money.  modify it according to how you spend your money, maybe fewer envelopes? or a few more to cover car amortization, or if you are strict about tithing or for the kid's school expenses. It does help in making you aware where your hard-earned money goes. 

MONEY MONDAY : Week 3 of the 52-week money challenge

How's the jar so far? Mine got 75 pesos richer last Friday.

Last week I promised that I will share what I want to buy with my jar money. I initially planned to spend all my jar money to welcome 2015 differently. Like check-in with my family in a hotel, grab a sumptuous dinner ( buffet maybe) watch some fireworks and sleep in a room with really nice fluffy beddings and the softest pillows! But that was before I realized that the math wizard in me took a vacation and that I made a mistake in computing my year-end savings. I thought that after the 52-week period, I will have a little something over 26,000.00. After realizing my mistake, turns out I will have exactly 34,450! Now that may be too much to be spending on just one night. And besides, for me the highlight of this checking-in thing is me sleeping on the nice bed.

I had quite my share of duty travels. And if some might find it an opportunity to be able to explore a new place for free, I on the other hand consider it a treat to be spending time lounging around in my room. Remote control in my hand, and me tossing and turning on nice comfy beds. PERFECT! So instead of splurging all my savings on just one comfy night in a hotel room, I have decided to buy myself a new bed! 

The last time I bought a bed was 7 years ago. My mom picked a single bed for me.  I was used to sleeping on a king sized bed with at least 4 pillows but since I downgraded, I had to give up 1 pillow. In 2012, my mom upgraded her bed and I got to use her old queen size bed frame. My tita was kind enough to buy me a new mattress, unfortunately it was smaller than what my bed frame requires. Not complaining here, after all beggars can't be choosy. So for more than 2 years now I have been using this bed. And I think it is time for an upgrade. And that is how I will spend my jar money.  I have yet to go around to find the perfect bed frame, but as of now, what I have in mind is similar to this and I plan to have a picture of this bed frame pasted on my jar:

  photo grabbed from  classicmoderninterior.com

My cousin Carlo said it is important to have a reason for doing this 52-week challenge. And I agree with him 100%. You can't say that you are doing it "just because", because if you are, I am pretty sure that it will be so easy for you to just give up and not finish the whole 52-week. I think we all need to have something to look forward to, something we would want to have, for us to stay motivated to finish the challenge. 

Me, I am so looking forward to sweeter dreams and better nights, by myself ... or with someone (I swear I do not mind sharing) ... in 2015. 

I have hurdled 3 weeks... 49 weeks to go!

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!

MONEY MONDAY : Week 1 of the 52-week money challenge

I initially planned to buy a cookie jar for this challenge. So before I went home last Thursday, I dropped by the mall to find a suitable jar. As I was about to pay for a one hundred peso cookie jar, I realized that I shouldn't be spending for something that is geared towards me being able to save. I returned the jar and decided that I will just look around our house for a jar that I can use.

I found an empty coffee jar, removed the label around it and decorated it with washi tapes... and here it is:

Before I left the office last Friday, I placed 25 pesos inside the jar.  So that's week 1 for me, 51 more weeks to go.

I posted a similar photo on my facebook account and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to inspire some of my friends to do the same. A friend of mine suggested that I increase my weekly savings. But I declined and told her I wouldn't want to fall short in the middle of the challenge and not be able to finish it. See 25 pesos may seem to not be a lot, but come May, I will be needing to place at least 500 pesos a week, or set aside 1,000 pesos every time I get my salary on the 15th and the 30th of each month, that will progress to setting aside at least 2,000 pesos every payday come October. So before deciding on the initial amount that you will place inside your jars, please take a moment to see if that amount is workable.

Next week, I will post some ideas that my friends have suggested in line with this challenge. But before I say have a good week ahead, let me share with you the spreadsheet that I have prepared for a colleague's daughter. My friend expressed her enthusiasm to do this challenge too and I have offered to help her with her spreadsheet. She plans to involve her little girl Belay and requested me to make one for her too.

Happy Monday everyone!