Working It

MommaStuff Question #4:Can you share any budget or money saving tips that you find effective?

Here’s My Answer:

Budget? Ano yun?

Kidding. :D

The one big tip that I could probably give everyone about budgeting is: let the more responsible spouse handle your expenses! Seriously.

I actually wrote about my and hubby’s financial set-up on a previous WifeSpeaks discussion about Money Matters. Should you revisit this entry, you’ll get a better understanding of where I’m coming from.

Aside from that another tip that I can share is: do not spend more than you can afford!

Most people overestimate the allowable amount they think their family can spend in, say, a month. You could easily track your family’s spending by monitoring your expenses. Some people use an excel file, some depend on their credit card statements or bills, some people keep receipts, some people just pay in cash. Whatever works for you, but just monitor that spending!

Another one is: save save save!

Set aside a certain amount for your savings and consider that as part of your “fixed expenses” when drawing up your budget, much like your groceries, utilities, etc. Savings shouldn’t be “what’s left of the budget” because if that’s your prinsipyo, most of the time nothing gets left from the budget so most of the time you save nothing.

If you’re having trouble sticking to a savings goal, get a high-yield time deposit account from any bank. Most banks have savings products that will allow you to automatically transfer money from another account to that savings account, and then would only allow you one or two withdrawals every month, with a penalty if you do withdraw more than what’s allowed. This way, your money gets transfered and saved even if you “forget” to do so on your own, but at the same time be able to give you that peace of mind that you will be able to make special withdrawals for emergency purposes from a funded source. And emergency doesn’t mean that the newest LV line just arrived at your local LV boutique, ok?

Lastly, be flexible.

As long as you have your financial goals within sight, don’t stress out about money too much. Be reasonable, be practical, and give yourself a pat on the back by enjoying the fruits of your earnings once in a while. Seeing your money working for you will give you more motivation to save. Pramis. :)

As for my family, we do have a budget and some parts of it are flexible. We first set aside a certain amount to pay off our kautangan and utilities - that’s non-negotiable. After all, these amounts are pretty much pre-determined and fixed so we already know how much we need to shell out each and every time. We also have investments in real estate, the money market, and for retirement, as well as keep some liquid savings for the rainy days. We’re pretty thankful that my hubby’s company pays for our rent and car rental expenses so that’s pretty much out of our hair right now.

Then, the flexible part: we do grocery shopping twice a month and we are careful not to spend more than a particular amount each time, although sometimes we just can’t help ourselves with that nice pair of jeans at Costco, haha! Because our family loves to travel, there are some weeks when our gas, dining out, or shopping expenses is higher than other weeks, we just balance it out from other weeks when we’re just home-bound and chilling. What’s left of it is used to advance pay our other utangs (dami utang dito sa Amerika!), for date nights, and for toys r’ us (or bestbuy or outlet) expeditions, haha!

Of course, I’m pretty happy with the set-up since I’m not the one primarily handling the accounts. If you do ask my hubby about this, give him an Advil first. :D

MrsWorkingGirl :: May.21.2008 :: MommaStuffQs ::