NU12 by Rachelle Roque - New Spending Habits

Hi Sir,

Here's my 10th NU12 Topic: Spending Habits

I recently attended a personal financial management seminar in our office. It's titled Pisobilities, facilitated by Colayco Foundation. The speaker discussed the different type of investment such as stocks, bonds, etc; though these things are not new to me because I took up an INVEMA elective in AGSB. But what struck me most is when he said that we should save 20% of our monthly income for investment. I think that sparing 20% of our income is ideal, and it will not be easy for all of us. But it doesn't mean that we can't start investing at all. We can start little by little, maybe start at 5% and make it 10% after a few months, until it reaches 20% or even more. With what's happening around us, we should all learn to save.  And not only to save, but to invest that money to yield more interest; remember that we have to beat the inflation. And here are some simple tips that I think can help us save money:

§  Leave our ATMs, and just bring enough money for daily expenses – this will help us avoid unnecessary expenditures

§  Just have 1 credit card or eliminate it at all – I think having a credit card is good for emergency purposes. Not only that, it can also be a good strategy to float our money for 1 month. If its 0%, then we can take it as opportunity to grow our money through some sort of short-term investments than use that money to immediately pay for our purchase. But we have to be sure to use it responsibly. If we can't control it, better to just deactivate it.

§  Avoid going to Malls when there is Sales or checking in Groupons websites if we don't really have plan to buy everything – Thinking that the item is a good buy because of discounts, sometimes give us a tendency to buy something we don't really need.

§  Book low class hotels when travelling – When we travel, we spend more time on tours than staying in our hotels. So, I think getting a 5-star hotel is not necessary; we can just settle for cheaper ones as long as it's still clean, comfortable & safe.

§  Bring sandwich or cookies when going to the office/school – Snacks in the business districts and school are quite expensive, so it will be cheaper to prepare one in our home.  Mark-up of coffees in coffee shop e.g. Starbucks are really high so if you must, just brew your own in the office or find other alternatives if possible.   3

Regards,

Rachelle