5 Saving Techniques for Pinoys in their Twenties
It’s our habit to reward ourselves of something after
being able to save a significant amount of money. We always think we deserve a
little treat for a deed accomplished or after a week’s hard work. At the end of
the day, we suddenly realize that we spent too much, and we don’t have enough
until the next payday. Back to zero!
Need to start saving again.
Do you have this type of mindset? It’s like a
never-ending cycle most especially if you don’t change your spending habits. Stop fooling yourself into spending
more money. At first, rewarding yourself feels good, but in the end, your
wallet will suffer the consequences. It is better to fool yourself into saving.
Here are 5 things you can deliberately do to
strategically and effectively save money:
Put Sentimental
Bills on Your Wallet
Most Pinoys
are extremely sentimental. We keep things that remind us of something or
someone. Even tiny things like candy wrappers or a bus fare ticket provides a
sentiment to somebody.
Why not use your trait of sentiment in saving money?
Put all the sentimental bills in your wall, even include the old bills of you
want. This can help stop your urge to buy impulsively because the money in your
wallet will hinder you to spend it.
Spend Less, Earn
More
Every 15th and 30th of the month
are the usual dates for employees to get their salary. Those are the most
anticipated dates among blue-collar workers. It’s the time they feel “rich”,
but after a day has passed, they feel “broke”, especially when they use their
money to pay bills or buy some stuff.
You don’t have to live from paycheck to paycheck. If
you can control your expenses, you can definitely earn more by spending less. How
to do it? Easy! Just create a budget plan that includes your income, allotted
money for necessities, bills and target amount of savings. Try to evaluate your
cash flow. Are spending less than you earn? Build your wealth by putting some
of your money into a savings or retirement account before you have the urge to
spend it.
Cut Unnecessary
Expenses
You may not notice it but you have a lot of
unnecessary expenses daily. Even if you decide to save and don’t have the
intention to buy any luxury items, the things that make up your basic
necessities may be the ones that keep you spending too much.
There are some things you include in your grocery list
that turns out to be unnecessary. A good example are the items on big discounts
at grocery stores. Because it’s cheaper, people tend to buy more than enough.
If you buy items in bulk, there’s a chance that it might go to waste especially
if you and your family cannot consume all those food items you bought.
Make a grocery shopping list and evaluate the items
that you regularly buy. From there, you can cut out unnecessary items you often
buy.
Save Coins and
Money from Holidays
Filipinos love it when holidays come. Whether it’s the
yuletide season, regular New Year or Chinese New Year, most people try to be
merry by spending money on foods and other items. It has become a tradition not
just to the Chinese but also to Filipinos to scatter money for good luck.
Instead of spending the money you got from those
events, it is better to save those by placing it in a motivational jar. Seeing
money from the jar will motivate you to start saving even small amounts of
cash. It is better if you’ll constantly put money in it or provide a schedule
such as weekly or monthly that you’ll put a certain amount on your jar. You’ll
be surprised how much you have saved through the month or year.
“One man’s trash
is another person’s treasure”
You’re in your 20s. You are in a generation where
fashion trends come and go. A lot of desirable things such as shoes, clothes,
accessories and other trendy items may entice you to make a purchase. Chances
are, you have a lot of items that may have bought throughout the years that you
do not use anymore.
Instead of throwing away the items you do not use
anymore, you may sell them through a garage sale or make a mini “ukay-ukay” of your clothes. Filipinos
love the idea of second-hand items because they can purchase imported items in
low prices. There are also a lot of online marketplaces where you can post
these items and get customers fast.
Pinoys can do a lot of ways to save money. The tips mentioned
can also help especially when finances becomes a problem. The biggest challenge
is to stop procrastinating when saving money. Filipinos have a Mañana Habit where they prefer to do
things they can do now for later. Even in their finances, this habit is
applied. They have the ability to save now but they are held aback by their
expenses. Start by changing your spending habits and then motivate yourself to
save now. No, not tomorrow and definitely not later.
MONEY MAX
MoneyMax is the Philippines’ foremost online platform for comparing financial and telecom products and services – fast, comprehensive, and free. We aim to give the power of smart purchase decisions back to Filipino consumers by providing everything they need to become financially savvy. Find out more at MoneyMax.ph.
