In the previous post we discussed the importance of maintaining two kinds of savings account.
You may be asking how in the world can we maintain two savings accounts when we barely manage to maintain the first one. Oh, yes, I know like me you sometimes become victim of the “dagdag-bawas” (deposit-withdraw-deposit) routine. It’s ok that you sometimes miss as long as you get back on track time and time again. Believe me in time saving will become second nature to you.
So let’s start the ball rolling, here. I am going to introduce to you a game called “tick’a list”.
It’s not the kind of list of things to do at work where you tick off everything that you get done at the end of the day. If it is that kind list then our list will get longer and longer, thicker and thicker. More often than not our lists at the office become a file of lists of things that do not get done. We do not want that kind of list.
What we want is the kind of list that gets really shorter and shorter. Tick here, thick there until we only have items in the list we can no longer tick. Unless we want to come to the office in tatters or eat eggs every meal or grope in the dark!
Now let’s get down and start the game. Make a list and let’s start ticking.
List down every single item that you spend money on in the course of a week. Do you take a cigar break, morning and afternoon? After every meal? How much does that cost you? List that down. Do you buy a box of donuts for the kids, twice or thrice a week?. List that down. How much do you spend on marketing? Groceries? Gas? Fare? List everything down. Even if an item only costs you a peso or less include that in the list.
Let’s the ticking off begin.
Tick off all the items you can do without or you could replace with something less costly. Deduct the total cost of those items in your weekly budget. Say, instead of that daily Starbucks coffee, why not catch up with a friend over coffee only once a week? Or a bubble gum break instead of a cigarette break? A kilo of bananas or apples instead of donuts? Do you really need to buy a separate conditioner instead of a shampoo and conditioner in one? You get the idea.
Say the total cost you can cut down from your weekly expenses is Php300 multiply that in four weeks you get Php1200. Multiply that in 12 months and you get Php14400.
See? You will now have enough to buy a really good coffee table for the house. Or a nice painting by your favorite local artist. Or a really cool collection of CDs and DVDs. Or maybe new upholstery for your car? How about a trip to the Caramoan islands?
In my future posts we’ll talk about more ways and means on how to further cut your expenses. So you’ll have money to spend on more important and meaningful things.
But don’t forget the piggies, okey? The clink, clink sound must continue. It is reassuring.
