3 Envelopes of Your New Life: Financial Goal Fund

This post is the last installment for my 3 Envelopes of Your New Life and again I'd like to extend my appreciation for the support on this series. In case you are visiting my blog for the first time I recommend checking my latest series called Top 10 Most Important Lessons in Personal Finance that can help you a lot in building a stronger foundation for your financial freedom.

Anyhow, the past posts on 3 Envelopes of Your New Life has been about the Emergency Fund and Fun Fund so better check out both posts before dealing with the rest of this post, ok?!

A Financial Goal Fund is an envelope where you could park your money reserved for your financial growth. This is something that you save for your first time investment such as opening a stock market account, mutual fund and/or UITF. This could also be your parking lot for a future business that you want to embark with and other factors that could affect your financial life in the future.

Uses of Financial Goal Fund

• Are you in debt?! Then put up a Financial Goal Fund! Your goal is to probably pay off your debt as soon as possible so this envelope will be helpful. Each cut-off save an amount in this fund and make sure to pay your dues.
• Have you ever thought of investing?! Then put up a Financial Goal Fund! When I opened my FAMI Account I never had any savings and that led me to have a two-month hiatus on my mutual fund top up. Since I did not accomplish a Financial Goal Fund, I found it hard to adjust my income to the additional monthly expenses. The Financial Goal Fund will definitely be a huge help in funding your investments from account opening to additional investments.
• Do you have this business side of you?! I repeat, "walang yumayaman sa pagiging empleyado". No matter how big your income is, becoming an employee will never make you truly rich. You will be deducted by huge tax and your time and your whole system will as always be your resources. What if you can't go to work?! Then you won't have income for the said day, right?! You need to strive and become an entrepreneur if you really want to earn money that gives you much confidence and assurance in life then put up your own business. Whether its an online shop, buy and sell, offering a service or become a freelancer, a business will make you from someone to somebody. Thus, your Financial Goal Fund could be the answer you've been waiting for.

How much should my Financial Goal Fund have?

Just like the Fun Fund, a Financial Goal Fund will depend on your goals. For example, your goal is to pay your. 5,000pesos personal debt by the end of January 2015. This means you have a month to raise and to save 5,000pesos on your Financial Goal Fund. Same thing with opening your first investment.

Where should I park my Financial Goal Fund?

Since this fund is meant to be spent on your financial goals I suggest parking it on a Savings Account wherein you will have an easy access of withdrawing or transferring online. Remember that Financial Goal is your actionable items and something that needs to be responded so make it easier for you to achieve one.

Jump start your Financial Fund by the following tips:

• Eliminate unreasonable expenses. I have made a solid post called Want More Money? Cut-off on These 6 Financial Traps. Try to read the said post and all your savings could be put on this Financial Fund.
• Set your financial goals as early as today. Know what your vision is and where you need to work with in order to create a new life.
• Assess your current spending plan. Do you use a budget technique?! Whether it's one of the app I mentioned in Four Budget Apps you Need to Have or a notebook style, budgeting will help you have concrete knowledge on your current status. This will also help you build decisions for this Financial Goal Fund such as new investment, new business ideas and so on and so forth.

Financial Goal Fund can make you progress in life as it acts as your seeds planted for future harvest. You need this envelope to fund your finances more. These are your stepping stones for producing the result you want to produce. Do keep one now before it's too late.

3 Envelopes of Your New LIfe: Fun Fund

Last week I mentioned the 3 Envelopes of Your New Life that I truly wanted to share to you guys. The said envelopes have helped greatly in my financial journey and I am very glad that through my constant reading from other financial blogs, new knowledge is opened. I probably got the idea of this 3 Envelopes from a fellow blogger too but I truly forgot who he/she is since I have been doing the envelope system for a year now.

As the first envelope I mentioned a quick post on the Emergency Fund. I even discussed on the said envelope where you should put your emergency fund and also some tips on how to achieve one. I have received an impressive amount of support so thank you very much!

To continue on today I will be discussing the Fun Fund. Now you might have the idea when I say Fun that this is an envelope reserved for your hobbies, recreation and other personal matters. Well, that's true but then the core of Fun Fund is often than not abused by others.

Fun Fund was supposed to be money you spend to satisfy your happiness and personal goals. If you love to travel, this could be the fund you need to reintroduce in your finances. Bloggers like me use this Fun Fund to fund our projects for you guys and same goes with an ordinary parent who wants to save some money for a trip abroad.

There Three Uses of Fun Fund (that I know of)

1. To fund something that could add value in your life. This includes short courses, gym membership, travelling and so on. Just anything that could give a much new meaning in your current state of mind.

2. To fund something that you have been putting off all your life. If you have been setting aside something like an idea or a dream and it includes a whole lot of money then the Fun Fund could be the answer you have been waiting for. This eliminates you in feeling guilty towards big purchases for you know that you are slowly but surely saving up for that thing.

3. To fund as backup for out-of-the-blue expenses. There are expenses that come unexpectedly that will put you in a bad situation financially. This could be a great use for your Fun Fund. I, for example, emptied our gas tank at home unknowingly. Thus, I was forced to shed money to buy a new gas tank or else we can't cook. That amount is almost half of my daily rate at work so of course it was huge for me. Thankfully, my Fun Fund is secure so I get the amount there.

How do you save for a Fun Fund?

Unlike Emergency Fund that has a recommended maximum amount of worth 3-6 months of your expenses, Fun Fund will solely depend on you alone. How much do you want to save? I personally does this technique for my Fun Fund wherein I don't withdraw all of my earnings in my payroll and leave a considerable amount every month. Now after almost 10 months or working, that Fun Fund is almost nearing half of my Emergency Fund which is very cool.

All you have to do is to be intentional. If its something you love then it might be worth the shot. Remember that the Fun Fund will always have to depend on your personal choice.

 
Other Applications of Fun Fund

• If you are a makeup lover this could be your very fund to use on branded makeups like MAC, Nars and Bobbie Brown.
• If you are a traveller this could be your fund for trip abroad.
• If you are a techie person this could be your fund for big gadget purchases.
• If you are a mother this could be your fund to create a holiday vacation with the family or to buy appliances.
• If you are in a long term relationship leading to marriage this could be a great fund for your dream wedding preparation.

Ensuring a Fun Fund along your financial journey is highly advisable for the said fund more than the other two Envelopes of Your New Life is your source of motivation in life. This could open up new experiences and new lessons that you can cherish to. Remember the lesson on Spend Intelligently? Truly, a Fun Fund should be part of your goal this New Year.

YEAR-END REVIEW- My 2014 Financial and Personal Goals

As I may have honestly admitted over the past posts my 2014 Financial and Personal Goals has been an epic fail. I wasn't able to accomplish even half of my list which you could as a page. I even said that my goal is more of a wish list rather than a goal board and hopefully the 2015 Financial and Personal Goals will be better. 

A copy of my 2014 Financial and Personal Goals. Those crossed out were the only ones I was able to achieve.

FINANCIAL AND PERSONAL GOALS 2014

It's a good way to start the year right by setting SMART goals. I am hoping you will be with me in this journey. On bullets are I am continuously working hard to achieve.

• Seek God more, be mindful of my tithes and my Sunday service.
• A closer family

1. Have a good following in this humble blog.
2. Make it to top 50 financial blogs for 2014.
3. Have my SSS ID
4. Have my Passport
5. Have a driver's license
6. Have a Unionbank EON card for my Paypal account
7. Have a PSBank debit credit card
8. Have a FAMI Mutual fund investment
9. Have my first try on stock market through COL Easy Investment Program
10. Have my emergency fund (I am planning to have all of my sideline or hosting payments go straight to my emergency fund)
11. TRAVEL! TRAVEL! TRAVEL!
12. Celebrate my 21st birthday with a party :)
13. Buy a DSLR camera
14. Put up a photobooth business
15. Put up a Events company business
16. Have 500,000pesos before the year ends.
17. Build my Portfolio Income
18. Search for a town house that i will be investing in for 2015

IzzaGlino's Best of the Best for 2014

You may have known already that aside from this financial blog I also own a beauty and lifestyle blog for frugal Pinay at izzaglino.blogspot.com The blog is mainly concerned on beauty products, makeup, OOTDs and many more that shows the other side of me. More personal too at some point.

Anyhow, due to the busy schedule I still can't come up with a new post so I decided to share the series that I've been doing to the other blog wherein I list the Best of the Best Products that I found out in 2014. This again is first published on IzzaGlino and I will appreciate if you drop by to that said blog of mine.

Enjoy!

EYE PRODUCTS:
 (Published on December 3, 2014)

LA Colors Perfect Curve Mascara

1. Nyx Single Eyeshadow in Brown. Nothing can substitute the love that I have for this NYX Single Eyeshadow in Brown. I use it on my crease, I use it to contour my nose and I use it to neutralize loud colors. I had it for a long time but I still have enough of the product.

2. L.A. Colors Perfect Curve Mascara. I highly suggest that you try this mascara. Not only is it budget-friendly but this mascara is great in creating length and curly lashes even without curling!

3. Pinkies Collection Brow Pencil. This has been a favorite of mine for its very easy to use, its long and only 99pesos! I love how this could make my brows look amazing!

Me showing how the Shawill Eyebrow Kit works

4. Essence Eyeliner Extra Long Lasting. This has been the only liquid liner I bought for 2014 but this baby served me right. I love how I can create cat-eyes easily and that fact that it lasts long enough.

5. Shawill Eyebrow Kit. Speaking of brows, Shawill Eyebrow Kit has also became my companion for 2014. This is very long lasting and you can easily pull off well-made brows by just filling in the sparse areas. What I love about this more is that it comes with two shades, making you have the opportunity to choose.

3 Envelopes of Your New Life: Emergency Fund

If you've been into personal finance blog for a long time, I'm sure you have encountered the term "Emergency Fund" for a lot of times.

Emergency Fund is money that you put aside and intend to only use for emergency situations. This Emergency Situations are/but not limited to the following:

1. Accident or Medical Emergency

2. Natural Disaster

3. Fire

4. Anything that's a matter of life and death

5. You lost your job

Dealing with an emergency situation does not only make your stringer as a person but will also let you experience how well you handle  financial decision in life.

Your emergency fund is your first line of defense in case something goes out of the way. If you fail to have an emergency fund, you and your loved ones will suffer all at once.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much should I have in my Emergency Fund?

3-6 months worth of your income. This is the basic fund that you need to save. If you are earning 10,000 a month, your emergency fund should be 30,000-60,000 pesos. This is to ensure that you still have enough money to continue your daily needs for the next 3-6 months.

2. Where will I put my Emergency Fund?

There has been a long battle between keeping your Emergency Fund in hand and handling it to banks. I, personally keep my emergency fund with my BPI Save Up plus Insurance account. Click here to learn more about BPI Save Up plus Insurance. You can also open just a basic account for it though the risk of your withdrawing is higher specially if you opt for an ATM-based. The good thing about BPI Save Up is that I cannot withdraw my money. All I can do is transfer it to my active account which gives me more time to think again of my action. The bottom line is, you need to put in the safest place you could find. 


3. Can I invest even without the emergency fund?

It is highly advisable to first secure an emergency fund before any investment, big or small. Emergency Fund is very much useful for investments on the stock market as the risk is very high. You can also use this fund if in case you want to open your small business (and even online) for you'll have spare money to maintain your operation.

4. Emergency Fund or Pay for my Debts?

Of course there will be a big difference when it comes to either paying your debt or going for an emergency fund but for my personal view it will help better to secure your debts first so they won't hunt you down in the future. If you are in big debts you may settle those that have higher interest and slowly pool some small amounts to start your savings.  And also please note that you won't have any other debt other than the current just to minimize the wound on your financial state.

I hope that this blog post helped you!

Introduction: 3 Envelopes of Your New Life

In my blog post, How To Stop Living from Sweldo to Sweldo I explained the importance of slowly building 3 Envelopes of Your New Life.

This has been a technique that I did that led me find relief on my cash flow. With this in mind, I learned to better allocate your money. I make sure to include a portion of my income with these three envelopes before I spend on my other needs and most specially my wants.

These 3 Envelopes became an essential part of my 2014 Financial Journey.

And I want to share this knowledge to everyone! So I decided to create a mini series of the 3 Envelopes of Your New Life wherein each Friday I will further discuss an envelope, give examples, tips and even free PDFs!!! :)

I hope you can be with me in this mini series so make sure you follow me via RSS to get the updates on my blog for free straight in your Inbox.

Also be part of my VIP email list by just writing any concern and/or note at izzaglinofull@gmail.com

The 3 Envelopes of Your New Life is an ideal read that you shouldn't miss as it's very timely now that a new year will soon begin. Plus, this might be the very answer you've been waiting for if and then you suffer from any financial issues such as:

1. Debt

2. No Savings

3. Impulse buying

4. Lack of Financial Goals

5. Recreation Tips on a Budget

Tomorrow, December 19 the first and second post will be up so be sure to check out my blog, ok?!

Be better in your finances. Save Now, Invest Now and walk your way to success. Sign up in my Email List and receive templates to get you started in your Financial Wealth. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for better updates. Godbless.

My BPI Express Credit Card

When my sister told me one night on our home that she wanted me to be her supplementary card holder on a BPI Credit Card she's planning to open, I immediately immedietly said, yes.

I know it was a sudden move but I thought this is my chance to finally do something that I've been putting off for a long time.

I had a brilliant idea of a niche blog that will just focus on everything about events like wedding, debut, kid's birthday, milestone birthday, Philippine holidays and so on. And I wanted it to be business blog. Something that could make me earn a passive income in a long run.

Anyhow, I need a domain of course just to make it more official and easy to remember. And I can only buy that domain online and with the help of a credit card. To cut the long and boring story short, I now have a credit card!

I had my first transaction for a domain that cost me about 890pesos I believe and thankfully it was on the week that my payment for freelance writing went in. I have a reserve money to pay on this credit.

From then I never had any transaction with the supplementary credit card. I was afraid and I don't want to use it not unless I really have to.

I opt for cash and I just temporarily erased the "credit card" idea in my mind. I actually hid that in a safe place.

I had people talked to me (and read somewhere else) how destructing owning credit card is. However, I feel positive that it all comes with the person using it.

You have to find the right intention in owning a credit card. You have to become a smart shopper too. There is also a fine line between  treating your credit card well.

• Do not treat your credit card as extra cash. You are borrowing money and you owe to pay that amount in a due date.

• Do not treat the credit card cash advance as an emergency fund that when everything goes wrong in your finances you can just easily pull off some money.

• Do not treat your credit card as the only solution to your problem.

The thing is before you get a credit card you should know the pros and cons first. And I believe when I decided to own a supplementary credit card, though I am now given the power to purchase what I want within the credit limit, I had this per-knowledge on how to use it and how to make it beneficial for me.

I also feel like as I adjust a supplementary holder, I don' have that much say on what I can buy since my eldest sister will probably sees it and ask me for sudden  big purchase.