4 Tips on How to Save Money

“It’s not how much money you make. It’s how much money you save.”

Nagsimula ako magkaroon ng ipon noong college pa ako. 

Nakita ng katrabaho ko dati ko kung gaano ako katipid. Kadalasan kasi tuna at nilagang itlog lang ang ulam ko. Nauna pa nga sila sa akin nagsawa sa baon ko, haha

Ano ang resulta dahil Nag Ipon ako?

Isa sa mga benefits ng maaga akong nag ipon ay,

Nakabili ako ng mga assets tulad ng computer, shelves, chairs, at table para sa office ko. Nakabili ako ng mga libro at nakapag enroll sa seminars na gusto ko.

Heto ang ginamit ko para mag-umpisa ng business noong 24 years old ako. Buti na lang at nagsimula ako mag ipon ng P1,000 kada buwan noong 7 years ago.

Para sa iba, maliit lang ito. Pero heto lang kasi ang afford ko na i-save noon. Kahit ganoon, masaya pa rin ako dahil hindi ako baon sa utang.

Sa mga gusto ng tips on kung paano magkaroon ng ipon, this blog is for you.

4 Tips on How to Save Money

1.     Start with Your Why

Isipin mo muna kung bakit gusto mong magkaroon ng ipon.

• Gusto mo bang mamuhay ng comfortable?
•  Gusto mo bang bumalik sa Pilipinas para makasama ang mahal mo?
•  Gusto mo bang umahon sa pagkakabaon sa utang?
• Gusto mo ba bumili ng assets tulad ng lupa at commercial building?
• Gusto mo bang mag aral ng masteral mo?
•  Gusto mo bang magkaroon ng sariling business?
• Gusto mo ba mag invest sa business ng iba?

Kapag naisip mo na kung ano ang goal mo, lagyan mo ito ng deadline.

2.     Avoid Bad Debt

May dalawang klase ng Debt. Ito ang Good Debt at Bad Debt. 

Ang Good Debt ay yung inutang mo para may magamit ka sa expansion ng iyong negosyo. 

Ang Bad Debt naman ay inutang mo for personal consumption tulad ng car, motorcycle, clothes, bags, shoes, travel, atbp.

Paano kung may gusto kang bilhin?

In case na may gusto kang bilhin for personal consumption, keep in mind na mas marami kang matitipid kung bibilin mo ang bagay na gusto mo in cash.

I know that this is easier said than done. Pero may reward sa mga taong marunong maghintay (hugot, haha)

Alam mo ba na mabibili mo lang ng 10k ang isang 30k worth na item kung babayaran mo lang ito ng cash instead of availing an installment na aabot ng 2-3 years to pay.

Nagbabago ang amount based sa price ng item na gusto mo at gaano mo ito katagal bayaran. Bottomline, ganyan pa din ang deal.

3.     Start Small

Be realistic here. I-consider mo muna kung gaano kalaki ang salary or baon mo. Then i-consider mo din ang fixed living expenses mo.

Mag simula ka munang mag save sa amount na kaya mo. Ang importante dito ay maka pag save ka kahit magkano lang.

Kapag hindi masyadong mabigat, madali kang magiging consistent.

4.     Save First, Before Spending

Important na unahin mo muna ang mag save hanggang may hawak ka pang pera.

Kailangan mo ito unahin para malaman mo agad ang budget mo for your leisure. Kapag kasi may budget ka, maiwasan mo ang overspending.

Kadalasan kasi ng mga tao na nag spend before saving, ay wala na natitira pera to save.

Observe na

Marami sa mga nananalo sa lotto, ay nagiging mahirap ulit dahil hindi marunong mag save ng pera.

Kung hindi ka marunong mag manage ng konting pera, mas mahihirapan ka mag manage ng malaking pera.

Always remember that “It’s not how much money you make. It’s how much money you save.”

What To Do Next?

1. Share this if you know someone who will benefit from this blog.

2. Comment your answer:

• Why Did You Save?
• What are the Saving Tips that work for you?

6 Lesson I Learned in my Early 20s (6 of 6)

𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞

Most students want to get good grades. Most people want to get fit and healthy. Most employees or business owners want to earn more. These are examples of the results most of us want.

The point I want to share is that we can’t control our results. We can only control our efforts. If we improve our efforts, the results will improve too.

Examples of How I Measure my Efforts to Get the Results I Want

1.     𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝

When it comes to getting healthy, you can’t control your weight, but you can control the 𝑐𝑢𝑝𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 you consume every meal.

2.     𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞

When it comes to getting fit, you can’t control your shape, but you can control the ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 you attend the gym or the kilometers you run.

3.     𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬

You can’t control your grades, but you can control the 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 you put into reading or answering exercises at home.

4.     𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

You can’t control your sales, but you can control the 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 and the 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 you post online and offline.

5.     𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩

You can’t control a happy relationship, but you can control the 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 you spend with your loved ones.

A 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭

Notice how I make my efforts become 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 and 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. Example of these are:

• I consume only 1 cup of rice in every meal.
• I go to the gym or workout at home at least 2-3 times a week.
• I write and post valuable content at least once a week.

You see. If your efforts are measurable, you can execute them easily. If your efforts are measurable, you will know if you become successful.

You may not see results instantly in doing it 1 hour a day or 1 day a week

But a lot of little things equals a lot.

And it all starts by making your efforts countable and measurable.

Recap

This is the last lesson in my series 6 Lessons I Learned in My Early 20s. As a recap, the 𝟔 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐈 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧 𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝐬 are:

1. Know What You Want In Life ASAP
2. Fire First, Aim Later
3. Protect Your Name
4. Protect Your Time
5. Never Stop Learning
6. Make Your Efforts Measurable

What I’m sharing with you are the lessons that move me to where I want to go. Somehow, I hope that what I share, gives light or sign to people who need it.

What To Do Next?

1. Share this if you know someone who will benefit from this blog.

2. Comment your answer:

 Among the 6 lessons I shared. Which one is your favorite?

6 Lesson I Learned in my Early 20s (5 of 6)

Never Stop Learning

There are higher chances that putting money in business or other investment will be a failure if you don’t invest in yourself first.

You will be scammed or your business will fail because of a lack of preparation and knowledge. It’s like going to battle without basic weapons and proper training.

What are the Benefits of Never Stop Learning?

If you’re always updating your knowledge in your career and business, your value increases. If your value increases, you can charge a premium to your fees.

So if you want to increase your rate or salary, you should never stop learning.

How to Learn Faster?

If you want to learn faster, you should:

1. Hang out with people 10x bigger than you.
2. Invest in Books, Workshops, and Online Courses.
3. Apply what you Learn

1.     Hangout with People 10x Bigger than You

When I’m still an employee, I hang out with people that I want to be like in the future. The majority of them are entrepreneurs and professionals.

Because of that, I gained confidence in myself. “Kung kaya nila, kaya ko din”

Hanging out with them, helps me realized important things that I should learn.

Some of these are Goal Setting, Journalizing, Consistency, Focusing on 1 thing only, Pricing your Products and Services, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and many more.

A.   Join Accountability Groups

Another priceless benefit of hanging out with people 10x Bigger than you are the accountability they give.

Remember the Accountability group, I attended in Pampanga, and the Accountability Group I hosted in Tarlac. This group is called LYL. It Means Live Your Legend.

It’s a monthly or quarterly Meet-up where we motivate one another, share our knowledge, and share our goals.

Believe me, attending this Meet-Up group changed my life.

If you have a problem with execution, you should not miss the opportunity of having an Accountability Group near your area.

2. Invest in Books, Workshops, and Online Courses

If you’re looking for faster ways to learn, I believe that the books, seminars, and webinars are the best investment we can give to ourselves.

For me, books are a bargain, because you can learn the lessons the author learns in his/her life in just a few hours.

If you’re not a reader, you just need to add learning fee, in order to attend seminars where you can ask questions and meet new friends with the same interest.

If you don’t have time, there are online courses that you can watch anytime and anywhere.

If you don’t have money, you can just google things you want to know or watch videos on Youtube.

A.   College Life

During the times when buying a book is expensive for me. I used to borrow books from Robert Kiyosaki from one of my college classmates.

Also, I make use of our school library. In our library, I saw and read books of Stephen Covey, Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill and many more.

As you can see, this is my way of learning even If I only have little money.

B.   Work Life

Now that I’m working, I can buy books like buying a coffee. When I have time, I travel just to attend seminars about taxes, accounting, and business.

When it comes to online courses, I just enrolled in 16 online courses last year. I’m sharing you this in case you’re interested to know how I learn.

 3. Apply What You Learn

Applying or teaching what you learn from People and Books are the last ingredient to learning faster. An example of this is applying to a job or company where you can use what you learn in school.

If you're an accounting graduate, look for work that is related to your course.

In my experience, no matter how many things you learn, you will forget that if you’re not applying it in real life.

If you don’t use it, you will lose it.

What To Do Next?

1. Share this if you know someone who will benefit from this blog.

2. Comment your answer:

 What will you do to learn faster?

6 Lessons I Learned in My Early 20s (4 of 6)

Protect Your Time

When we are still in high school or college, most of us have lots of time and energy, but little money.

Now, as part of the workforce, most of us will have money and energy, but little time.

My College Life

When I’m still in college, I realized that I have lots of time because:

1. I joined at least 10 organizations in our school and I played almost all the sports you can think of.

2. I have time to sell books, Flash Drives, and 2nd Hand Clothing.

3. I still have time to help a friend in La Salle and my uncle in Tarlac in their Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Preparation of their Financial Statements.

4. I have time to study in our library. And I have time to socialize and drink with my friends in the evening.

5. I have time to Play Online Games. And I have time to watch my Movies and TV Series.

My Work-Life

When I started working, all my free time for the things and activities I like doing were gone. I can’t even go to the gym regularly. I’m always tired and hungry.

My free time is mostly spending on what makes me happy for a short time. These are playing Online Games, Watching TV Series and Sleeping.

I thought time management is already hard when I’m studying. But it’s harder when you are already working.

And I’m anticipating that it will be harder when you are married and have kids already.

How to Experience the Best Things in Life?

As someone who wants to experience the best things the life can offer, I practice using Delayed Gratification in my life.

This is what I called Hirap Muna, Bago Sarap. I don’t want to enjoy just for today and suffer for the rest of my life.

I still watch movies and play online games. But I make them a reward for my hard work.

What are the Benefits of Protecting Your Time?

If you know how to prioritize, you can do more and you can have more. You will have more time to do things that you love like:

1. You will have time to earn more.

2. You will have time to stay healthy and fit.

3. You will have more time for yourself.

4. You will have more time with your family and friends.

5. You will have more time to attend special events like reunions.

6. You will have more time to learn new things that excites you.

What To Do Next?

1. Share this if you know someone who will benefit from this blog.

2. Comment your answer:

Think if you're spending time with the right things or right people. What are you doing or what will you do to protect your time?

6 Lessons I Learned in My Early 20s (3 of 6)

Protect Your Name

When it comes to life, work and business, it’s important that you protect your name. 

What are the Benefits of Protecting Your Name?

1. Lots of people will help you in times of need. 

Your name is important because there will come a time that you will be in an emergency and you will need a bigger amount of money.

It can be in the form of medical bills, starting capital, capital for expansion, or credit terms in inventories and equipment. Believe me. You don’t want to be rejected because people perceived that you’re not trustworthy.

2. Lots of people will want to be your partner and do business with you.

For me, it’s a big turn off if I discovered that you don’t do something to pay your debt. This is a red flag that you’re a person who can’t be trusted with everything. 

It’s not good to partner or does transactions with people who can’t be trusted.

What are 2 Ways on How to Protect Your Name?

If you want to protect your name, here are the 2 ways you can apply in your life:

1. Keep your PROMISES

Do not destroy your name by making promises you can’t keep. If you will meet someone and you can’t come, there is no harm in saying you can’t come in advance.

As much as possible, do not cancel a few hours before your scheduled meeting. You might not get many chances that you will be included in his/her schedule.

2. Pay your DEBT on TIME

If you borrow something, you must return it to the owner no matter what happens. The owner lends you because he/she thinks you need it more than the owner needs.

This is also applicable to small things like basketball, shoes, clothes, etc. If you don’t plan to return it, you need to say to the owner if you can have it instead of saying you want to borrow it.

What will happen if you're trustworthy?

If your name is associated with being trustworthy, people will invest in you. People will lend you money without asking them. How cool is that?

Imagine yourself answering questions like: 

• Why should I believe in you? 
• Why should I choose you? 
• Why should I lend you money? 
• Why should I invest in your company?

Then you will tell them “Because I am (State Your Name)”.

If you're really trustworthy, You will be amazed that they will be the ones to make an offer to you.

What to Do Next?

1. Share this if you know someone who will benefit from this blog.

2. Comment your answer:

Are You Trustworthy when it comes to keeping promises and paying on Time?