Tag: finances

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Dealing with Windfalls

This year is getting to be very good in terms of financial blessings. The first quarter alone saw the hubby and I receiving some unexpected incentives at work. Then, during the second quarter, our mid-year bonus arrived and a few more monetary benefits came after that.

Receiving windfalls (in our case, it’s usually from work and nothing else) is always a pleasure and a reason to give thanks. By giving thanks, I mean saying a short prayer of gratitude to the guy above and sharing the blessing (in whatever form or way we like) with our loved ones.

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How I Try to Live Below My Means

You’ve heard it before. Living within your means is good. But living below your means is better. I have been living within my means for as long as I can remember. And I found out it’s doable. But living below my means???

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Source: As indicated in the image.

When I started having solid “financial goals” this year, I thought about trying to live below what my income can afford. You see, the hubby and I keep our salaries to ourselves and we just share in our household expenses, mortgage payments, and other bills. (This setup is subject to change any time we I deem it necessary.) The exact percentages I cannot divulge here, but let’s just say he’s a real gentleman.

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A Money Saving Challenge

One random weekday, the hubby showed me this link to a blog post sharing about a saving challenge. I immediately got interested and asked the hubby if he wants to do it with me, not individually but more of a joint effort. A day after, I’ve seen the same topic on a blog I follow and my determination grew even more. Fast forward to last January 7th, the hubby and I finally decided to take on the challenge. We started that same day.

Dubbed as the 52-Week Saving Challenge, this unique concept of saving money is pretty simple. Basically, it allows you to save up moolahs gradually but surely. Each week, you keep an amount that accumulates as the weeks progress. The total amount you’ll save gets bigger and bigger in the process. At the end of the challenge, on the 52nd week, that is, you will save as big as P68,900 (Pinoy version, in Philippine peso). Cool, ayt?

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Freedom from Debts

I remember early this year, I told myself (and probably shared in this blog) that I wanted to be debt-free. No, not just me, but my husband as well. We have some credit card debts that need immediate financial attention. I’ve heard of other people’s horrible stories on credit card debts and while we’re far from credit card-related trouble, I can’t imagine ourselves getting into the same situation. It’s like it’s gonna be the end of the world for me.

I noticed that in the past two years, a good chunk of our supposed-to-be savings just went to our credit card obligations. I know there’s nobody else to blame but us. We made a lot of impulsive purchases (I once bought tons of cheap postcards just because they were on sale!) and spent money before it even came. Truly, a bad spending habit that needs to be curbed before it’s too late.

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On Living Within Your Means

I came from a lower middle class family. Unlike other families where both parents are working, it was just my dad who had a job. My mom took care of our home, of us. It was in my early years that I fully grasped the meaning of living within your means, through the examples and practices of my parents.

Then, my mom had a budget to follow and I believed she was able to manage her spending most of the time. Maybe it’s because she knew she couldn’t overspend because it would make her children hungry and her husband disappointed. During those times when she did overspend, she was smart enough to cover for it by borrowing money from friends. A not so smart practice, but at least, she was able to feed us and we didn’t go hungry for our dad to notice.

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Managing Credit Cards

UPDATE as of January 2015: I’m back to having just one credit card now. You might want to know how I became credit card debt-free. 🙂

I used to own only one credit card. Then it became two. Currently, I own three credit cards from different banks. So far, and thank God, I’m managing all three well. But it’s not a walk in the park, you know. Like many people, there are times when I get to overspend and end up getting charged with interests and late payment fees.

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Having credit cards can be stressful, too. That’s why managing your credit cards well is a must. I’m not an expert at credit card debt management but here are some things I do to make sure my credit card debts don’t balloon to alarming levels:

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