If you have P 50000 cash,
What will you do with it?
Will you spend it or save it?
Once you’ve attained a positive cash flow, what ca you do to maximize your financial position?
BEFORE YOU START SAVING, YOU MUST FIRST distinguish between what you want and what you need. Needs are pretty simple to identify: shelter, food, clothing and transportation. Wants are those things that enhance or possibly improve our life.
There are ways you can cut back and increase cash on regular basis without resorting to extreme measures. Below are some tips for areas in which you can save. Once you start implementing these tips and become more familiar with the money saving opportunities you have, take the time to review your progress. Check and see where it may possible to revise some of your techniques or where you can implement new ones. The more frequent you review your savings ideas, the more “in tune” you’ll be with your finances and spending habits, and learn what works and what doesn’t for you.
This may seem a bit odd, but this is an excellent way to start buildings a substantial savings. On a weekly basis, pay yourself P 1,500 and 2,000 and immediately put it in a safe place. You can even open a special savings account where this weekly “payday” can be placed to help minimize or eliminate impulsive spending. Think about it this way: if you pay yourself P 1,500 a week, in one yea you’ll have accumulated P72,000!
Take the time to track your spending habits for one week. Take note of every single P50 or P100 you spend, even those sodas, beers, Internet and phone cards, and candy bars purchased here and there. This will give you a “birds-eye” view of exactly where your money is being spent, thus allowing you to refine your spending habits to essentially save more money.
For those of you that love to shop, you may find that this is one tip that could save you thousands of pesos in a month. Start using the “Need or Want” strategy. Before you spend P500 on anything, ask yourself, “Do I really need this item, or do I just want it?” you may find that many of the items we purchase, we do so just because it “caught our eye” or it was “an impulse buy” or “my friend bought the same thing”. All these excuses just add up to wasteful spending.
You can save more cash by shopping at lower-priced food stores. Convenience stores often charge the highest price. If you shop with a list, you will spend less, take advantage of sales, and purchase basic ingredients, rather than pre-packaged components or ready-made items. Stock-up on items with low per unit costs. And when you shop, try to plan in advance. By knowing what you need, you will be able to buy in larger quantities ( almost always less expensive) and cut down on convenience food purchases 9always more expensive).
With some planning it is possible to maintain clothing purchases that are I line with your budget. For example, buy separates that coordinate. You can make numerous combinations with a few well-matched items. For women, jackets, slacks, skirts and blouses can be mixed and matched to create many different outfits. Plus you can change the look of these outfits with accessories such as jewelry or scarves. Men’s clothing offers a wide variety of separates that can be coordinated: blazers, lacks, shirts and ties can all be interchanged to create a versatile wardrobe with a minimum of expense.
Some banks will charge you money for using other ATM machines. Even though you will be able to withdraw money using your ATM/debit card from literally any machine, banks will charge you P8 to P12 for using a machine other than theirs, in addition to a standard charges for its use. Try and stick with your own bank’s ATMs whenever possible.
Why have three or five credits? That’s just going to provide you with more opportunities to go further into debt. Its fine to keep one or two cards to build credit, establish yourself, and for emergencies. But, credit cards are double-edged swords. They can help or hurt you depending on your self-control.
Get in the habit of using your debit card instead of your credits cards. For the most part, debit cards are accepted anywhere a credit card is accepted, however as you know, with a debit card the amount is taken directly from your checking or savings account whereas credit card usage is billed at a later date (along with a hefty interest rate).
This is another very important tip that many often overlook. Pay off those pesky credit cards as soon as possible before the interest charges eat more of your cash. What a waste of your hard earned money! Keep chopping away at the balances until you get to an amount that is reasonable.
To avoid late payment fees and possible interest rate increases on your credit cards, make sure you send in your payment a week to ten days before the statement due date. Late payments on one card can increase fees and interest rates on other cards. As for your other bills, you can avoid interest charges, which may be considerable, by paying your bills on time each month. If you are unable to pay off a large balance, pay as much as you can.
-from the wire-
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