Of Personal Finance

I’ve just recently discovered the awesomeness of personal investing. Yes, I’ve known there are riches to be digged in the stock market, but it’s just now that I’m really appreciating it. It all first started with my desire to pay off all credit card debts and so, I twisted my arms and legs last year just to get me started. I had these feelings of panic and nausea back then every time I think of my total monthly balance and it made me cringe. And so I read all personal finance blogs, Yahoo’s Finance section and any other resource I could find to educate me on how to go about really paying off debt. It was a very unsettling feeling- when I thought I can never get up from the shithole that I was in. Luckily, I had a very POSITIVE influence that I really, really stopped swiping my way to the end of each month while I delivered my salary to the payment centre the day I received it. How did I do it?

• ·         I lumped my purchases in my Metrobank Card then called HSBC for a balance transfer. Between the two, HSBC had the better rate for Balance Transfer at that time. Then, when it was done, I cut my Metrobank Card so that I can focus on paying for the monthly due on my HSBC card.

• ·         Of course, there will always be temptations to use that card again for a new shirt or an awesome pair of shoes, but I resisted it by drawing a budget for myself. I added all my expenses in a month, then subtracted it to my total net income. After that, I set a daily allowance for myself. In order to stick to it, I also modified my lifestyle of eating out whenever it is salary day. Well, this will not be a walk in the park I thought but I tried the first month, second month and so on. Although there were times I gave in to temptations, I just regarded it as a setback and then stuck to my budget again.

• ·         After that, it was going smoothly. However, I actually had budget for spare expenses such as when I really, really need to it out or when I just can’t resist to buy new stuff. This has worked for me because if I get to spend it, then no harm done because I’m still in line with my budget. And if I didn’t get to spend it, I saved it.

• ·         Now, for saving. I allocated 1K each month to my savings envelope and I never defaulted because I already made it a habit to stick to my daily allowance. In fact, it was not that a big sacrifice actually. I found out that 1K is not a huge deal so I forget about it the moment it was dropped inside the envelope.
• ·         Finally, when January came this year, I was already looking for other ways to earn or let my little savings earn for itself. With reading various financial articles, I learned that you can actually earn more when you put some moolah into stocks or mutual funds. And so the plethora of research came and I decided to try my first ever investing experience with FAMI- the investing arm of Metrobank. Since their office is near ours, it is convenient for me to transact with them.
•          Finally now, I’m just waiting for next year to reap the rewards of my investment. With all things bright in the Philippine economy, I’m confident that I will be able to profit from my fund of choice. Although it may not be that lucrative, but still, the earnings of my standby money will be more when compared to just leaving it in a savings bank account.

More posts about investment and personal finance are to come at AT. These are exciting times!

Ben-Hur

My last days of December 2008 was spent here at Cebu City with my youngest brother. He was given cash as Christmas gift by my mother to buy new shirts and a pair of jeans. So off we went visiting malls and searching for the best “fits” for him. After the hassle and bustle (roaming malls is not really my thing), we hurried to go rest in my room.

We had dinner at a nearby barbecue stall and went to my Ramos barkadas for some drinks of beer. Although my brother is still in high school, I allow him to accompany me with these gatherings because I believe that exposing him to “realities” of life will be better rather than restricting him to have drinks with other people. I think that the more we restrict youngsters with their “new-found vices”, the more it will drive them to be rebellious. I want my brother to discover new things with me and thus be guided on what's really right and wrong. Actually, I am also learning from the process of teaching him the more important aspects of life.

Although I haven't been to Church for a while, I made it a point that we attend the mass that day so that I can impart to my brother that going to church should be part of his Sunday (if not everyday) routine. So off we went to Sto. Rosario Church which I have grown to love back from my College days at USC. The reading that Sunday was about the Holy Family. And the officiating priest during his Homily simply called families who have eleven children with them at the mass. He called it sort of a "Bring Me" game and promised to give a price of P500 from his pocket. Since no one approached him with eleven children, he proceeded on to call: "families with 10 children- nobody came up the pulpit; families with 9 children- still nobody came up; 8 kids- nobody stirred; 7 kids- nobody came yet; 6 kids- still none; at the count of: “5 kids! Bring me five kids, with father and mother...” At last, a throng of kids moved in front of the altar with the youngest carried by the mother. The people clapped their hands and the family received the P500 gift which the priest doubled to P1,000 so that the whole family can go to Jollibee after the mass, as he said. He then continued on to preach that the purpose of his “bring-me game” is to encourage people to hear mass as a family.

“How many of you comes to mass with the whole family?” This question still rang in my ears as the priest gave us his last blessings when the mass ended. What with everyone's busy schedules, it is in fact very rare that my own family goes to Church together. I myself find some excuse every time my Mother asks us to accompany her to Church. I made a resolve then to make it often to mass. And thankfully enough, I haven't skipped Church for three consecutive Sundays now. Not yet, anyway. So the mass we attended that day was really enlightening not only for my brother but for me, as well.