The Budget

So you have finally made up your mind of considering investing.  That's what I felt too when I was starting.  But I did everything in a spreadsheet.  I monitored my income and expenses and then prepared the budget for my calendar year.  Set aside a portion of your income for food items, clothing, shelter, health and hygiene, transportation and communication, occasions, and of course, vacation and leisure.  This is my view of managing expenses.  A balance is a must.  Saving without unwinding is boring and prone to healing.  : )

From that budget, try to find areas where you could cut costs, normally on clothing, transportation and communication and occasions.  It is actually so easy but the attitude to change spending habits is difficult.  You just have to identify which ones are expenses on the luxury side rather than necessity.  Be true to yourself.  It is your budget and money anyway.  It is your life that eventually will harvest the fruits or reap the pains.

Surely, you would arrive at a projected income and never a loss on a monthly basis.  So, where will you put that excess moolah?  If you let it sleep in your ATM, more often it will be withdrawn and spent on useless stuffs or your money will be eaten by inflation.  This is the time you think of investing.  The key here is consistency.  You must apply your financial strategy throughout the days and stick to your budget.  Next post, products to get you started investing.

Let me know your thoughts or if you need help preparing a budget, don't hesitate to interact whether through comments or contact me page.

Onward to Financial Freedom!

The Spark - How I Got Into Investing

It started way back in 2004 after 3 years of having my first employment.  There was this seminar regarding money management and ways primarily on how to save-up for your retirement.

A lot of principles were actually taught starting from 'piso yan' principle, the value of tithing, the 70-20-10 principle, and the four questions.  These were the principles I could clearly remember.  I didn't indulge in all of the principles at once.  In our family, I have not heard of anything related to investments whether it be from my parents or from my siblings or relatives.  Most I can remember is to save and to save every peso you can.  I don't blame them, maybe it was just the way of life passed on by generations.  Put everything I save in a bank and then what?  Perhaps, those were the reasons, why I postponed aggressive investing.  I didn't really know where I'm heading.  Financial freedom was non-existent yet.

Although in the same year, I decided to apply for an insurance.  It was actually a pension plan from a pre-need company which will be discussed soon in another post.  There is a lesson I got from this.  In this blog, you will also see my, let me say, setbacks.  But those will and should never let me down.  Get up and take the learning with you.

I would like to mention that the seminar did not really put me to start investing but rather sparked me to focus first on seeing where my income is going.  I prepared a monitoring file to outline my income and expenses on a daily and monthly basis.  I just want to see whether there is still enough left for me to try investing.  Frankly, I am really mindful of where do I spend my money.  I don't feel the need to apply the principles just yet.

This is also what I want you to do.  Start first by seeing how you are doing in terms of your income and expenses, then we could talk later regarding investing.

Keep following.  If you want a file regarding income and expenses, contact me.