Working Mommy Blogger from the Philippines
A lot of finance experts said this again and again, it is important to have an emergency fund. Unfortunately, if you look at the reality especially among Filipinos, how can they save up for an emergency fund when they are already struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis. How can they save for future emergencies when their daily wages is not even enough for basic necessities like rice, coffee, electricity, and meals.
As parents, we want to give the best quality of life to our children. This starts from the day they were born, we wanted to give the best health care by looking for the best doctor. When it’s time for them to start going to school, we searched high and low for the best school that will give them the excellent education. Aside from that, there were the material things such as clothes and toys that we give on special occasions or just any ordinary day because we think our kids deserve the best things in life.
But you know what, one of the most important thing we can teach our kids is the value of money and how to save. They may have the best education and may have a successful career that pays well but if they don’t know how to save and grow their money, it’s not gonna work out in the end.
The holiday rush is real! Lots of people are flocking to the malls buying presents, parties and reunions here and there, deadlines to beat, etc. In our case, we will be spending the holidays in Boracay. That’s why I have to double my effort to finish all the office works.
Sa sobrang busy ko, I forgot to give a little amount to Nanay who will spend Christmas with my brother. Nanay just underwent cataract surgery that’s why I told her not to cook for Christmas and just order food.
…Nowadays, I only go out if it’s really necessary, like going to the grocery, bank errands, picking up school requirements, or if there’s an emergency. And when I do need to go out, naka-plan na talaga ang agenda ko for the day. Para hindi sayang ang paglabas di ba… Anyway, ang pinaka-challenging lang naman sa to-do list ko is bank errands. As much as possible, I don’t want to line up inside banks… with this pandemic, ayokong mag-stay sa loob ng establishment with a bunch of people waiting for our turn.
The other day naglambing si Nanay, she asked if I can send her money kasi hindi pa raw nagbabayad yung renters nya. Usually, I will deposit money to my brother’s account and then he withdraws tapos bibigay kay Nanay. They prefer to have cash on hand, si Nanay pa rin kasi ang nagbabudget at namamalengke sa kanila kaya gusto nya laging siyang may hawak na cash haha. Senior citizen na raw sya, anong alam nya sa mga online payments, sa palengke daw, kailangan cash ang bayad. Ang hassle lang kasi my brother will commute pa to withdraw money in ATM. Pero not anymore because I learned an easier way to send and claim money thru Smart Padala.
With this COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most valuable lesson it gave all of us is the importance of SAVINGS or having an EMERGENCY FUND. Who would have thought that the whole world’s economy will come to a halt? And that everyone, rich or poor, is affected. A lot of people lost their jobs, and a lot of businesses were severely affected, yung iba nga have no choice but to close shops.
That is why it’s really important to SAVE FOR THE RAINY DAYS, having an emergency fund or savings will help us in case there will be scenarios like this in the future (wag naman sana…)
I learned the value of money from my parents. Papa was a seaman and is the sole breadwinner of the family. When Papa is on board, then my mother has a monthly allowance to spend on our expenses. But when Papa’s contract is finished, he returns home while waiting for the next contract. Minsan matagal, there were times na he will have to undergo trainings again bago makasakay ulit at his own expense. So whatever he earned while he is abroad, may mga times din na nauubos. At a young age, my parents taught me na kahit malaki ang sahod buwan-buwan, hindi dapat ubusin yun. You have to save a portion of it para may dudukutin ka in case walang income in the next few months.
It’s that time of the year when children got monetary gifts from their ninongs and ninangs. It’s also the perfect time to teach them about saving money. We are about to open a new kiddie savings account for Gwen here in Cavite so I listed down some of the banks that offer savings account for kids plus its perks.
