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Hi everyone! Today we have an amazing article from our SavingsPinay Guest Blogger of the Month.
Two weeks ago I received an excellent article from John Sulit that I know most of SavingsPinay readers will enjoy. Now that we are in the last month of the current year it is recommended to take time and reflect on our spending habits once and for all. This article sent by John from iMoney Philippines will help up understand why most, if not all, Pinoys find it difficult to save money. Comment below and share your thoughts if you agree in any of the item John mentioned.
Hope you enjoy the post that John wrote for us!
A lot of Filipinos think that saving is difficult because it
requires huge budget cuts. When you say savings, you automatically think of
economizing, and not being able to fully enjoy your hard-earned money. However,
it’s just a matter of having nerves of steel to save money automatically, and
then reaping the rewards in the future. Admittedly, it’s not as easy as it
sounds. Especially when you have all these things to factor in.
1. No money to save
As reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority last year,
there are approximately 12 million Filipinos living below the poverty line.
When you have no money to spend, naturally, you have no money to save. A large
percentage of Filipinos are unemployed or living in poverty. Those who are
employed and earning money are not earning enough to even have money left to
save.
2. Delaying saving
How many of you tell yourselves to start saving money, but
then that day comes and you just shrug it off and postpone it to the next
payday? You do this every time there’s an emergency that you need to pay for,
or there’s a new product that you absolutely must have. Before you know it, a
whole year has already passed by and still zero savings!
3. Bad spending
habits
When you have money, you usually spend
it extravagantly on yourself and your family. After all, that’s the reward of
all your hard work. In just a matter of days, all the money that you have left
just goes to pay your bills, with no extra to go to your savings account.
You use whatever cash you have left to pay off existing
loans and your growing credit card debt. And then when that’s settled, you feel
comfortable enough to start using your EastWest
credit card again. You even apply for a new personal loan so that
you can purchase those things you were not able to purchase before because you
were paying off your debts.
4. The need to help
family and friends
The Filipino is all about the family. You work hard to
provide a good home for your loved ones, send your kids to good schools, and
make sure they have a pretty comfortable existence.
But this amount of love and care also extends to your
parents, siblings, cousins, nephews, and nieces, and even your goddaughters and
godsons. When a family member is struggling financially, you will still take
them in your care, even if you can no longer afford it. Because that’s just how
Filipinos are; family always comes first.
5. Limited knowledge
When it comes to savings and investments, a lot of Filipinos
lack education. Not everyone understands the different methods of money
management, or ways you can invest your money, or how the banking sector works.
Most Filipinos who don’t speak or understand English also have a hard time
understanding bank terms and conditions and other complicated banking services
and concepts.
Consequently, you end up just receiving your paychecks
without exploring how else you can make your money grow. Oftentimes, you are
intimidated by or scared of investments because of your impression that it’s
only for wealthy people, or for people who are experienced in finance and money
management. You get intimidated by figures too complex to learn and financial
jargon too confusing to remember.
6. Having no
financial plan
When there’s no financial plan in place, there is no urgency
to save money. You will not be forced to take a portion of your income to build
an emergency fund because you don’t have an emergency fund to begin with. Most
likely, the only financial plan that you have is to receive your salary every
payday, settle your bills, and pay off some of your debts.
Related Links:
About the Blogger
John is from iMoney Philippines, a financial comparison website that caters primarily to the Philippine market. It lets consumers find and compare various financial and consumer products like credit cards, mortgages, fixed deposit, broadband, and insurance policies. You can also go to their Learning Center for similar helpful finance articles
Final Words from SavingsPinay
Thank you so much John for making this wonderful post. I know you've shared some valuable information to all SavingsPinay readers too. To anyone who'd like to submit a guestpost you just like John you can send me an email at izzaglinofull@gmail.com or message me via SavingsPinay Facebook Group.
This blog already moved to www.savingspinay.ph If you want the latest tips and stories on budget, savings, investments, productivity and making extra income go HERE instead.
