How’s Your Budget And Personal Savings?

16 comments

Updated: June 29, 2021

Payday came and some friends were happy to buy a little something for themselves. I was glad to tag along as they shop for new clothes and purchase other stuff they’ve been wanting at the mall.

After a couple of hours of walking and shopping, we decided to have dinner; as we wait for the start of the movie we planned on watching that night.

While waiting for our meals to arrive, one of my friends asked me why I didn’t buy anything.

“I didn’t see anything I need,” I answered. “And also, I’ve used up my budget for clothes last week when I bought a new pair of jeans.”

My reply somehow started an interesting conversation among us about budgeting and personal finance. One of them said that he admires my diligence in tracking my expenses and keeping a monthly personal budget.

Meanwhile, another shared how he always wanted to do the same but feels that he won’t have the patience and discipline to make it work.

Another one simply said that she’s just plain “allergic” to budgeting and tries not to think about it at all.

personal-savings

That exchange of thoughts during dinner made me ponder, how many young urban professionals nowadays maintain a personal budget?

I know some who do but it’s somehow necessary for them. That’s because they’re breadwinners, or they’re planning to get married and start a family soon.

I’m actually wondering about those who are single and earning just for themselves, how many of them are monitoring their expenses and growing a savings account.

When I went to bed that night, I started to imagine myself asking people, “How’s your budget and personal savings?”

I tried to put myself in others’ shoes and came up with possible answers to the question.

In the morning, I wrote down my thoughts and came up with these general statements, which I think best describe how people stand with regards to having a personal budget.

Go ahead and try to answer my question and check if your response falls into any of these categories:

My finances are well-managed and under control.

If this is your answer, then I congratulate you on being smart with your money. I believe that you are on your way to becoming wealthy.

Explore investment opportunities and focus on creating passive income.

I’m struggling but able to make ends meet.

Are you having trouble keeping your head above rough financial waters? I’d advise you to just hang on there and don’t give up.

Be patient and continue living within your means but try to explore income opportunities to augment your budget.

My personal budget is okay, I guess.

These people are fine as long as they see money in their wallets and bank accounts. Although they might also be just in denial about their financial troubles.

If you’re like this, then try to be more proactive with your finances. The cost of living is continually rising nowadays and I believe that having a clear understanding of your financial status will help you achieve more in life.

I try not to think about it.

Do you spend today and let tomorrow take care of itself? I urge you to wake up and realize that this attitude towards personal finance could lead to cash problems in the future if you’re not already in one.

Starting a budget and saving money is not at all difficult. In the end, you’ll be thankful that you did, trust me.

If your answer belongs to the last two statements, then I encourage you to read about the envelope method of keeping a budget.

I wrote this article to teach others how to properly track and manage their expenses by using this effective technique. Moreover, the article includes a free worksheet that you can download to help you start budgeting.

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16 comments

  1. Interesting post! Personally, I think the reason why I’m generally good at budgeting and money management is because my mother was terrible at it. When I eventually ‘inherited’ her role as breadwinner, I realized what a bad job she did at our finances and promised to never let this happen to myself or my future family. (Apart from that, she’s a very strong, inspiring mother, though.)

    A young-looking bank teller from BDO even laughed at me when I told her that I have retirement savings because I’m only 24 years old. I think at the end of the day, I’m the one laughing because I’m financially secure, no matter what happens.

    I think I’ll take your cue and start asking single people my age this question. I might get some interesting answers!

  2. Thanks for sharing that interesting story Frugal Pinoy. I do hope more young Pinoys will take their finances seriously. I believe that the best time to save for the future is really when you’re young and single – so congratulations for being part of the financially smart Filipinos in the country. 😀

  3. Although I have a 9 to 5 job and involve in real estate selling, I am still in the rat race. I am optimistic on my future of saving money. Right now I have a contigency or emergency fund which is not that big but eventually pouring in some fund. I decided to use other investment tools that would generate higher yield or return like equities, mutual funds and money market bond funds into my retirement fund. I put some of my hard earned cash in mutual funds and in the stock market. So far the stock was faring well but eventually it slid down at least it was not undervalued.

    I also make sure that I set aside on another bank account purely for payment of my life insurance policy and other savings account which have other purposes like for real estate, travel, capital raising etc. I have set my short term goals for the time being and later to follow the long term goal as what I have learned when I attended Registered Financial Planning Program by RFP Philippines.

  4. Hi Ben. It seems that you’re really on your way to the fast track and out of the rat race soon. Thanks for sharing your story. I wish you more wealth in your financial endeavors. God bless. 😀

  5. I’m not into investing into mutual funds for now as I am following warren buffet’s advice to invest only to things you know and can control. I’m reinvesting 90% of my money into business. I know how it feels to have money on pay day and I have been, for years, been an employee. Time will tell our young professionals that it is wise to invest and think of their financial future. Sooner or later, they will realize that, hope that its not too late for them.

  6. Hi snoob. I agree with you and Warren Buffet, invest only in things you know and can control. This is probably the reason why I’m more comfortable in investing in businesses, just like you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 😀

  8. Hi, Fitz. Have seen you last night @ the CBTL event. Congrats!

    I used to budget my monthly salary during my first two years as a government employee. It was indeed effective, but since I got my credit cards, I started to experience financial issues. It’s hard to resist temptations, especially when you’re at malls and you have your credit cards with you.

    Now, I’m planning to reorganize my budget plan. Hope I’ll be able to do it asap. Any tips?

  9. Hi Nicely,

    Having a budget requires a lot of patience and discipline. You have to stay motivated in planning your finances. One technique that has helped me is the envelope method. If you’re interested in learning about this, you can check out my article here: Budget Your Money Through The Envelope Method.

    Thanks for dropping by my site and hope to hear more from you soon. 🙂

  11. I don’t feel comfortable spending money up to the last centavo. Ewan ko ba. hehe. And I don’t like it when i don’t see my money (savings) increase from last month.

  14. hi fitz. i learned about your site thru my brother. I am terrible at handling my finances and reading your tips served as my wake up call. i have been struggling to work on my finances for years. i was fortunate to land great and lucrative jobs but was not able to buy even a cassette recorder. then came mommyhood, now im in deep s*%#@!
    im the eldest and i always have this feeling of needing to take care of everything and make things well and uncomplicated but it only hurts my and my daughter’s financial future. I AM A YES PERSON!!! and i am finding this attitude of mine unhealthy. your site also made me ponder on being firm about the limits of my generosity. i hope i can make this 100% possible. more power to you and thanx!!!

  15. @singlemom37

    The first step towards having financial control is to be aware that of what changes we need to do within ourselves. I know you can do it. 😀 Thank you for sharing your story.

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