by The Happy WAHM
For the past weeks, I’ve been talking about how we manage our money and how we save for our future. Now, let’s talk about how we spend. Wisely. With ShopBack.
I’ve been doing a lot of online shopping for clients, mostly at Amazon. In fact, I’m now offering it as a specialized service, meaning, I get hired to shop. Clients just send me what they need, and I take care of looking for the best offer on that product.
I also do a lot of online booking for hotels, flights and even car rentals. At first, I was really apprehensive about shopping online. Like I was afraid the orders would not go through yet the card would be charged. Or that the products I ordered would not get shipped. But as I do it more and more, I gained confidence about online shopping.
So confident that I now shop for myself, too. I buy my hooks and yarns online, art materials for the kids, and lots of digital/downloadable books and patterns. I was even telling my husband the other day, since our internet security will be expiring in a month, that we’d be better off buying them online. Easier to renew, and he doesn’t have to remember where he put the CD. 🙂
And then…
I stumbled on ShopBack.
This was back in September. I was at BPI’s website, and I inadvertently clicked on one of the links there, and was brought to a page where they’re offering a sign up bonus for BPI cardholders. My interest was piqued, of course. But I did not sign up just yet. I had to do my due diligence on the legitimacy of the offer, and wanted to make it worth my time signing up. I mean, if I sign up and I find that I can only shop with one merchant, it may not be worth the trouble of remembering yet another username and password. Plus, I have to know that what the merchants offer are actually products that I would buy. I’m all about maximizing opportunities, as a takeaway from my college education in maximizing profits and minimizing costs. I have to maximize my opportunities, with just the minimum of fuss.
So I found that Lazada, Zalora and Ensogo are merchants. Looking good. I have an Ensogo account, and I’ve been hearing good things about Lazada, so I was getting warmer.
My fellow hookers… wait… that did not sound right.
My fellow crocheters buy their sewing machines from Lazada. And a former officemate messaged me asking about how to set up a Paypal account coz he was going to shop online and he needs a Paypal account.
So people are really into online shopping now.
Oh wait, I do set up online carts for a living, so people better be into online shopping!
But back to ShopBack…
Wouldn’t it be great to be given some cash back when we shop? That’s how ShopBack works. You shop with your favorite online merchant using the link from ShopBack, and your purchase will be tracked back to your account, and when the purchase is made, you are eligible for a cash back. So for example, if you buy something from Lazada through Shopback, you can get up to 4% cashback!
But wait, there’s more! 🙂
Refer a friend and you’ll get a PHP100 bonus when your friend signs up.
I’ll give you a hint.
Sign up through my link and you’ll be helping me give my son guitar lessons!
Deal?
But maybe I’m explaining the mechanics poorly.
So please go ahead and check out how it really works.
And if you’re game, sign up using my link.
I’m not kidding. You’ll be helping me give my son some serious guitar lessons if you do. 🙂
Then afterwards, it will be your turn to invite your friends with YOUR link.
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Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
And indulge, I will!
I’m just so happy to have met Sheila and Jherae, the ladies who introduced me to Sugar-Free yarns.
And I will forever be grateful to my dear friend, Regina, for introducing me to these lovely artistic women.
When I learned how to crochet, the only yarn I knew was Red Heart. We have a large bin full of Red Heart SuperSaver yarns that my brother brought home from the US. And then there’s the milk cotton variety that I buy from an online seller. But they’re kind of expensive for a WAHM hobbyist from a single income household.
When I met Sheila and Jherae, they introduced me to a whole new world of yarns. From them I learned how to choose the right type of yarn for certain projects, and how to substitute the imported yarns with what’s locally available. From them I learned how to discern what hook size to use for certain yarn weight, or what hook type works best with a particular yarn type.
Sheila and Jherae are fiber artists. Their passion is on creating yarn mixes that any avid crocheter would love to work with. They turn boring to exciting, bland to colorful and blah to wow! They work their magic on every strand. I’ve seen them make a plain white yarn turn into a rainbow. And their finished projects… just wow!
My only complaint is that they do have the temperament of artists, too. 🙂
My first experience with the Sugar-Free mix was not that good. As a beginner in crochet, I just couldn’t get all the threads together most of the time. I was getting frustrated and wanted to forget about using the mixes. Why punish myself when I can always use thicker yarns, right? All I had to do was go to another supplier. I’ve been buying online from a reputable yarn seller, and really happy doing business with her.
But I was drawn to the story behind Sugar-Free. Sheila has a very young diabetic son, and she named her yarn mixes Sugar-Free for him. She said every single cent that she earns from her yarns goes to her son’s medications. So I started buying her mixes as my way of supporting her business.
Actually, I buy from Jherae most of the time, and Jherae gets her raw materials from Sheila, so in a way, I get to support two fellow working moms.
Truth be told, I have yet to finish one project using multi-strand yarns. But there is hope. I’m not giving up. I have to walk my talk and be a good example to my children.
Here, look!
That’s a Sugar-Free yarn, and I’m learning to do the broomstick lace with it.
By the way, the knitting needle that you see is a DIY project of my husband. I’m still waiting for the knitting needle I bought from Amazon, so I’m learning with a homemade needle for now.
And here’s another unfinished project…
There are more of those works-in-progress that I’m hoping to find time to finish. But yeah, finish them, I will.
But I don’t want to stop there.
I also want to mix my own yarns.
Below is my very first mix.
And below is my middlechild’s color mix, which she calls the Powerpuff.
Creating fiber mixes is not easy, I’m finding out. From choosing the right combination of colors to making sure they weigh just right, it’s all hard work. We wind multiple strands together on a manual winder to create a mix. It’s a lot of fun, yes, but can be pretty tiring, too. And if you have allergies, forget about winding. And no, I am not complaining.
I am beyond thrilled about this new venture. Never dreamed I’d be in the creative business!
Who am I kidding? Of course I dreamed of being in a creative business! I even started a desktop publishing business, remember? I’m just more of a realist, so I’ve accepted long ago that my creativity is in raising creative children.
But yeah…I am way beyond thrilled! My hobby is taking me to new heights. And my husband remains to be my staunchest supporter, setting up my workstation beside the laundry area, making me a photobox (which I have yet to try using) and committing to be my driver when we have to go pick up inventory.
Again, here is proof that you can always create income opportunities around your passion and your skills. It’s just a matter of knowing what you are good at, what you are happy doing and what people are willing to pay for.
Do come and visit my Facebook book for this crafty venture, Crafted Crafts, and of course the website.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
After addressing the short-term decisions, then it’s time to make long-term ones.
So what are the considerations that are considered as long-term?
Your house… Are you still renting, or are you paying a mortgage for your own home like we were then, or are you one of the fortunate ones who already have their own home before the need to plunge into a one-income household came? If you are renting, can you still afford the rent with just one income? Maybe you should also consider moving to a more affordable place to cut on rent expense.
Your children’s college fund… Do you have enough savings, or already paying up for a pre-need college fund? In our case, we already completed our first child’s educational funds, and still paying for two, when the “tragedy” at Prudential Life struck. Fortunately for us, I have a cousin who was working there, and she was able to give me sound advice to withdraw. We were able to withdraw, at a loss on the two that we were still actively paying for, and a break-even on the one that we have finished paying for. (Maybe in another post, I will share what we did with the money we were able to get back from Prudential, but suffice it to say that we did not spend that money, nor did we even think of making it part of our disposable cash.)
Your retirement fund… Have you started investing on a retirement plan? Can you continue to save up for your retirement with just one income?
Those were the three major items that we focused on when we became a one-income family. We had to weigh our immediate needs against what we need to prepare for in the future.
Giving up one income means a big cut on your old budget. But giving up some expenses, like househelp, lunches out, designer clothes and such, and managing your utilities expense, like going for a lower postpaid plan on your phone, or maybe switching to prepaid, may not be enough to address your long-term plans, like college education and retirement. You will need to save up for those.
So here’s what worked for me in terms of savings…
You see those ATM card plastic jackets? I have several of those, and each one is labeled with “phone/internet”, “electricity”, “grocery”, “gas”, “doctor”, “allowance”, “emergency”, “savings”. etc, and each payday, I would put in the budget for each expense there, so that when the utilities fall due, I have the cash. Notice that I have a jacket for savings. Some see savings as what’s left after all the bills have been paid just before the next payday. Not for us. Savings should be taken out of the total take home pay before you even start budgeting what’s left for your household expenses. However small, savings should be constant. If you can afford to save 20% of your take home pay, go ahead and do so, then watch your spending to make the 80% work for the rest of the expense. But of course, again, you should only decide on the lifestyle that you are willing to live, so maybe 20% is too much. Try 15%, and if still it won’t work go for 10%. The important thing is that you commit to that 10% no matter what. Make it a regular thing. Like in my case, I didn’t even think about my husband’s full take home pay anymore. My mind was set to receiving just the net of the amount we have agreed to put on savings.
And speaking of husbands…
If your one-income family has the husband as the one going out to work, please don’t forget that the husband has to receive an allowance, too. Agree on an amount that he will receive from the take home pay. I used to give my husband his allowance at the beginning of the month, before the next payday cycle, and I’m proud to say that at the end of each month he would always have some amount left that he gives to me to be added to either our savings or to the emergency fund.
About savings…
It pays to have your money put in an account that you have no immediate access to. In our case, I put it in an account with higher yield than a regular savings, like a time deposit, but allows for up to three withdrawals per month. And then there’s what they call the maxi saver, where you get a yield much higher than a savings account for as long as you don’t make any withdrawals. If you ever need to withdraw, then your account will be put on a regular savings rate, but leave it another full cycle without any withdrawal and you’ll be back to having that high interest rate.
Once you are comfortable with what you have in your savings account, meaning you have an amount that can cover an emergency, consider putting some amount in mutual funds. In building a retirement fund, it pays to start an investment portfolio early, however small, because in growing money, time is your best friend. Time, and compounding interest.
Until my next update on this series!
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
Coming from finding your net worth, let’s talk about what you can do with what you know. It’s time to make some short-term decisions.
I quit my well-paying corporate job at the time that we were heavily in debt from hospital bills, paying off the mortgage on our house, with a high-maintenance infant, a diaper-age two-year old, and a school-age six-year old.
But after some stressful nights, we came up with our numbers and those numbers became the basis of mapping out our financial future.
Before we could even begin to formulate plans on how we can decrease our liabilities and increase our assets, we have to deal with the immediate needs first. We had to make short-term decisions.
What are our absolute necessities?
On top of our list then were child care, food, utilities, debt repayment and house mortgage.
Child care was steep at that point, because our newborn son was not completely out of the woods yet. We received some financial help from family and friends while our son was still in the hospital, and that tremendously helped us. Among our top priorities was the mortgage on the house. There was no way we could consider skipping payments on that, or we would be sleeping on the street.
Where can we drastically cut expenses?
On top of our list then were lunches out, weekend trips, entertainment, and househelp.
Those items were really cut drastically. Well, the lunches out and and letting go of the helpers (we had two) was the highest source of savings for us, as two mouths to be fed were taken out, and all the expenses that go with having two extra bodies in the house disappeared all of a sudden.
Lucky for us, we were already comfortable with the monthly payments on our house and we knew that we could sustain it. Our kids were never introduced to buying toys. We’ve always had a simple life, and we started investing on educational materials while I was still pregnant with our first child. We also have family who give us hand-me-down clothes, so the changes we had to make did not have too much effect on the lifestyle we were living. But for those who are facing drastic changes, it pays to make a list of what really matters in terms of lifestyle, needs and dreams, then refine and prioritize your list until you are left with the kind of life that you are willing to love. Again, I reiterate on deciding and settling for the kind of live you are willing to live. You have to make your refining and prioritizing with choices that feed your soul.
That quote from Benjamin Franklin is so true. In the same manner that a cent saved here and there can actually amount to something substantial. So go ahead, brew your own coffee and stay away from Starbucks and CBTL. Ask for water in restaurants instead of ordering drinks with your meal. Or take the bus instead of driving to where you’re going. It will not only impact your wallet’s health. You’ll make Mother Earth very happy, too!
Here are some kuryentipid tips that have saved us hundreds, if not thousands of pesos monthly:
- Buy clothes that do not need ironing
- When washing school/office uniforms (which, of course, need ironing), do not wring them. Instead, just let the water drip and put them in hangers immediately. If you have to wring them (when in a hurry to get them dry), make sure that you shake them off well before hanging. That will lessen the wrinkles, and will mean less time and effort in ironing.
- Cook one big batch of rice for lunch and dinner. Just heat the viand come dinner time.
- Load large batches of laundry. Electric consumption is almost the same for large and medium loads, so go for more clothes to wash in one load.
- Skip the spin/dry cycle when you can. Take advantage of the heat of the sun to dry clothes.
- Paint the bathroom walls and ceiling white. You won’t need to switch on the light in the bathroom during the day.
- Assign one room where the whole family can do activities individually or together, so you can limit the number of lights, aircon or electric fans in use at one time.
- Let go of that extra set of TV.
There’s a lot more you can do to relinquish unnecessary expenses. And while you’re watching your expenses, I would strongly recommend that you set up a system for your monitoring. Create a monthly payment schedule to remind you when payments are due. And of course, you may also want to use this Excel file.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
My finance mojo is back, so I’m back to writing about how to survive with just one income.
A few days back, I wrote about knowledge being a potential power. Unless knowledge is applied, it does not gainfully serve us much.
So let’s talk about what we know, or rather, what we need to know about our finances, so that we can do something about it.
To be able to plan and strategize well, we need some data. Let’s start with where you are at the moment.
What is your net worth?
But first, what is net worth?
Net worth is the total value of your liquid assets – cash, stocks, bonds, value of any personal property that can be sold relatively quickly, like your house, car, jewelries – minus the value of money you owe, like loans, mortgages, and credit card debt. A car, by the way, is a depreciating asset, so it should not go under liquid assets unless you are actually turning it into cash by selling it.
This exercise of computing your net worth may be depressing for some. I know I had nightmares in the weeks that we were working on our numbers for this, especially at the time that we were neck-deep in debt from my last delivery. Then another bout of sleepless nights when we had to decide to withdraw what we have paid for our children’s educational funds. This was during the troubled times of Prudential Life.
So again, this may give you a hard time accepting how bad you’ve managed your money, especially if you have been that person who pays the minimum amount due on your credit card. If you are that person, then it’s time to cut your credit card in half and throw away the pieces. I have to admit that my credit card has been my best friend for the past thirteen years, but it’s only because I always pay the full balance, on time. Plus, not once have I paid the annual fee. 🙂
A lesson I learned from my only brother, “If you cannot pay for an item in full, then you cannot afford it. If you cannot afford it, then you have no business buying it.” So my rule has been, if I need/want something, like a smartphone, I have to have the money to pay for it in full in the bank, even if I am availing it through my credit card at zero interest for twelve months. Why? If something untoward happens during the payment period, I know I won’t have to miss a payment, and I won’t be penalized.
So, going back to finding out where you are financially…
The exercise may be a long process. It may scare you a bit, depress you a bit. But facing your reality is the beginning of a successful money management in the future. Facing your present reality will help you realize the mistakes you’ve done, the bad money decisions you’ve made. Make a list of things (or people… ha ha!) that have contributed to losing potential savings, decreased your net worth and wasted your hard-earned money. Knowing your net worth shows you exactly where you stand financially. Know where you are at the moment, and you will know what steps to take in going the direction you want to go.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
It has been said that knowledge is power. But is it, really?
Not quite.
Knowledge, like our net worth, is only potential power. It is not actual power. It is not realized power.
Only when knowledge is applied does it become powerful.
Everything I know is crap, unless I put them into action.
Like I’m so knowledgeable in affiliate marketing, but until and unless I do something about what I know, like actually doing it, then it has no power. I do not benefit from my knowledge, at all.
Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. – Anton Chekhov
I’ve been dabbling in affiliate marketing for a few years now, but that’s all I’ve been doing. Dabbling. Not really working on it. Not really focusing on it. I’m not even lifting a finger to do more than mention it in some conversations with friends who ask, “Do you have income streams aside from virtual assistance?” And I simply say, “Yeah, I do affiliate marketing.” And that’s it.
A couple of weeks ago, I’ve started putting my knowledge into good use. Someone approached me about setting up an affiliate marketing program in their e-commerce site. I actually set up their online shopping cart last year, but they want to boost their sales through affiliate marketing. So I set it up, and now I’m thinking, why not offer the service to everyone? And that’s what I’m going to do.
So if you are reading this post, and you have an online shopping cart and want to boost your sales through affiliate marketing, please contact me!
Or, if you have a product or service that you want to offer online, I can set up your shopping cart for you!
Meanwhile, take advantage of this special offer from Audible. They’re giving a free one-month trial and you get to choose two (2) audiobooks that you can download for free. If at any point in the next 30 days you feel that you don’t want to continue to full membership, just go ahead and cancel before the trial ends. The best thing is that you get to keep the two audiobooks that you have already downloaded. Neat, huh?
Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks
. It only takes a few minutes to register. 🙂
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
