Young life - early 20s
I knew the concept of saving money, but it was far from my mind. Akala ko kasi in order to save, my personal (and very young life) would need to sacrifice fun. Andun na rin ang serious case of self-denial. I was not earning a lot but I sure spent money.
My first job as a systems programmer earned me a mere P8k a month in the late 90s. As in! What the hell was I thinking accepting that low-paying job? Despite that, may natutunan din naman ako although I knew I could've gotten a better job. That time kasi I was desperate to prove my marketability. Ang angas ng attitude ko. I got that job 2 months before my graduation rites.
I worked more than 8 hours sometimes and my senior manager was sucky. Sobrang jerk, palibhasa family-owned kasi yung company. I was tethered to what I realized was an unfair 2-year contract. I stuck it out until 1.5 years and I left. They didn't go after me because they knew so well that I didn't get anything from that contract, which was training. All of the things I learned were the result of doing my day-to-day work. Money-wise, I still was stuck in my student attitude. Ang kaibahan nga lang may sweldo na ako. Papasok ako sa work, labas after to catch up with friends, gastos dito, gastos doon.
Image by alancleaver_2000 via FlickrNext job was a systems engineer and I started receiving P13k. I gained knowledge sa company na yun, lalo na ang makibagay sa mga katrabaho kong iba-iba ang personality at agenda. At one point naging issue pa yata ang sweldo ko kasi mas mataas sya sa isang middle manager. Care ko, halata namang mas may capability ako sa kanya. I left that job because they made half of that small company redundant. They chose staff who "knew" the ins and outs of how they ran the business. Ginawa kasi nila ako at ibang staff na consultants to customers overseas. We learned that we were paid $2,500/month pero $1,500 lang nakukuha namin. Wala naman silang binabayarang expense namin dahil sagot ng client. Unfair pero ganun talaga.
It was during this employment na sobrang magastos talaga ako and careless about money. Nanakawan pa nga ako one day after I cashed out my check! I lost about P50k. Hanggang ngayon napapangiwi pa rin ako sa memory na yun. Ang katangahan ko kasi iniwan ko ang small bag ko sa isang bag deposit area. Sa dami ng mga bags don, at paulit-ulit ko namang ginagawa yun, ewan ko ba bakit sa araw na yun pa ako nadukutan. It was a day of resolution not to trust anybody with money, except for my family (and now my husband) who I know will not take advantage of me.
After that depressing incident, I made sure na bawat sweldo ko naka-deposito agad sa account ko sa Manila. Tinitira ko lang ang allowance ko for the month. I was dating someone at that time and he was so kind nung nalaman nya ang nangyari. Hinahatiran nya ako ng pagkain dahil ayaw nya raw akong magutom dahil wala na raw akong pera. That time kasi lagi nya akong nahuhuling nakatulala. Iniisip ko kasi kung sinong hudas ang gagawa ng ganong kasama! I won't forget nice people like him. I was very grateful talaga. I was blessed to have had people like him during that time. Di ko sya nakatuluyan pero we're still good friends.
Maski may naipon ako I incurred credit card debts of P30k maybe 1 year after that incident na binayaran ng parents ko. My savings at that time was invested somewhere by my parents. Kinausap ko sila at sinabi kong yun na lang ang bayad ko sa utang ko sa kanila. Ang masaklap pa non, they cashed it out and they handed it to me. All in its glorious US dollar money! Di ko na alam san nila in-invest, siguro sa isang US Dollar term deposit. Muntik na akong maluha pero sabi ko na ayoko nang hawakan dahil ibibigay ko rin naman sa kanila. Naawa ako sa sarili ko. Ano bang ginagawa ko sa sarili ko? Parang wala akong pagpapahalaga sa pagod at panahon ko. Umiyak din ako that day pero in the privacy of my room. I just had to cry it out tapos after that ok na ako. I will just have to change my attitude towards money.
Getting a bit older - mid 20s
Third job I started at P23k. Malaki laki na. This was nearly 4 years after I graduated from college. I was starting to be more aware of my spending pero wala pa rin akong masyadong ipon. Magkaron man, nagagastos ko ulit. Second year into my employment, I set up a savings account that I religiously put P5k every pay day to. By the time I resigned, I had some money na and I was earning P35k.
Getting mature - late 20s to early 30s
Fourth and current job, I got better. By this time I had already moved abroad. Kaso dito ko na nakasama ang mister ko. Nung kami pa lang 2, madali pa ang pag-iipon. Nakakapagtabi kami ng at least $1,000/month. Mas marami pa sana kung di kami masyadong pala-enjoy ng sarili tulad ng nood ng sine, kain sa labas, trip dito, trip doon.
Alam ko rin na may student debts ang mister ko pero di ko naman akalain na tumataginting na $42k pa ang natitira! Lintek! Ilang taon pa bago namin mabayaran yun? Sa ngayon nasa $35k na sya. Hay, isa to sa mga plano kong patayin in 5 years time.
Anywho, like I mentioned before, ang mister ko iba ang attitude sa pera. Laking hirap sya, tulad ng nanay ko. Sabi nga nya, 2 lang kalalabasan mo pag galing hirap ka -- either money hoarder ka (my nanay) or mawaldas ka (tulad nya). Oo nga naman, di ko naisip yun. Akala ko tulad ng nanay ko ang lahat ng laking hirap.
Isang gabi, habang kumakain kami ng hapunan, tinanong ko sya kung magkano ang balanse ng credit card namin na nakapangalan sa kanya. Di nya raw alam. Nainis ako lalo na nung makita kong $4k ang balanse! Ggrrr! Gastos naman naming 2 yun pero kasi ang binabayaran nya lang non is puro minimum payments. We had used the card to finance setting up our apartment. Yung area rug na binili nya was $1k pero meron namang $400 lang. Ewan ko ba bakit ang hilig nya sa mamahaling bagay pero ayaw naman magtipid sa ibang bagay. Two days later, I sat him down to discuss money matters and came up with a plan.
Ngayon, iba na ang ugali nya. Nakikita na nya ang value ng panahon at pagod nya, lalo na pag umuuwi syang iritable dahil sa trabaho. He knows that he still has the tendency to spend money kaya ang ginawa naming sistema is to deposit our salaries to one account and to have a set allowance every week.
Maski may system na kami, life takes over and bad habits prevail. Nagkautang pa ulit kami. Di na namin mabayaran in full ang nagamit namin sa credit card dahil nagka-anak na kami. Ang gastos ng diapers at formula. In 6 months nag-daycare pa kami dahil balik full time work na ako. Ang daycare namin is $800/month non, ngayon $900/month na! More ggrrr!
Yung compact car namin pinalitan namin ng mas malaki pero mas luma. Luma nga ang lakas naman sa gas. May mga problema pa! Hinayaan ko kasing mag-decision yung asawa ko dahil wala nga akong alam sa cars. Bumili ba naman ng v8 engine! Palpak na namang decision. Pinalitan din namin sya ng mas bago-bago ng konti after 10 months at wala nang problems, kaso dahil hybrid mas napalaki ang car payments namin. One and half years na lang bayad na yun. I can't wait!
We were in a cycle of horrible, horrible financial situation caused by our poor decisions. Ayoko nang ganito! Ayokong magtrabaho para lang magbayad ng utang! Wala na akong inisip kundi san ba kami makakatipid. Nakakapagod tumitig sa budget spreadsheet namin para lang tanungin ang sarili ko kung san ba kami pwedeng di gumastos. The budget keeps screaming at me na puro raw sya bayad utang!
It is because of this that I have decided to start a blog. I want to really have a form of accountability to the public even if it means outing myself. I also want to share my lessons learned and some good stuff on living a frugal lifestyle. Ngayon, I think twice about buying every little thing. I'm kuripot na. I have very strong opinions on money now. I regret so many financial decisions in my life. I told my mom about it too. Sayang yung panahon na di ko inipon lahat ng pinagkakitaan ko. Naging masaya naman ako pero hindi ko matodong enjoy dahil sa mga kapalpakan ko rin. Pero ganun talaga ang buhay eh. I just have to make it better every single day, for my future and the future of my family.
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