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.
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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.
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Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
It’s been a while since I’ve last written anything about our homeschool, and I’m going to tell you why.
I’m insecure. That we’re doing it wrong. That we’re not doing enough.
I’m afraid. That we’re doing it wrong. That we’re not doing enough.
I’m unsure. That what we’re doing are wrong. And that what we’re doing are not enough
You get the picture.
Family, friends and acquaintances would ask me, “What school do they go to?” And I reply, “Oh, the eldest is in college, a Chevron. And the younger ones are still homeschooled.”
If we’re lucky, there wouldn’t be a raised eyebrow, but the follow-up question would be, “What grades are they in now?”
And because we are no longer accredited with any homeschool program provider, I really don’t know. And the fear creeps in.
Are we doing it wrong? Are we doing enough?
Our 12-year old homeschooler just draws most of the time. I would ask her to prepare a grocery list, and she would give me an illustrated list, like I don’t know what a juice pack or a tissue paper roll look like. I could be having a bad day, and she would come up with something like this.
By age, she should be in Grade 7. And because I downloaded the Department of Education’s curriculum to serve as my guide in knowing what they should be learning for the grade she’s supposed to be in, I know that she should be learning Ang Ibong Adarna for Filipino this year. Next year should be Florante at Laura; the year after next should be El Filibusterismo, and the next, Noli Me Tangere. Knowing we’d be needing all these books anyway, I went ahead and bought all four last year at the Manila International Book Fair, taking advantage of the discounts. And alas, she has read them all.
Today, I overheard her discussing Gas Laws with her dad. And then there’s Basic Accounting with me.
Our 10-year old, by age in Grade 5, is studying Physics, reading Larkin Kerwin’s Introduction to Atomic Physics, and The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, edited by Timothy Ferris. I’m not saying he understands what he’s reading at this point, but those are the books he’d rather read. Physics, astronomy, geography and history are the subjects he’d rather study. We have the whole suite of textbooks based on what private schools require, and they have remained unopened, unused. And he’s not writing cursive yet. 🙁
No, I’m not sure if they are learning what they should be learning if they are in a regular school. Yes, my biggest fear is that they’ll fail the PEPT and not be accepted to college.
But what I’m sure of is that they understand life and living within our means, they understand the value of family and of hard work. They respect rules. They understand the importance of education. They have goals. They know how to care for the environment and each other. And they know that they were created fearfully and wonderfully by God.
I may not be sure if what we’re doing is right, or if they’re enough, but I know that our children are once-in-a-lifetime individuals who deserve a unique once-in-a-lifetime education.
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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?
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by The Happy WAHM
17/365Challenge: My favorite quotes on knowledge and wisdom.
Knowledge is knowing what to say. Wisdom is knowing when to say it.
Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life. – Sandra Carey
Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. – Immanuel Kant
Knowledge comes from learning. Wisdom comes from living. – Anthony Douglas Williams
Knowledge is realizing that the street is one way. Wisdom is looking both directions anyway.
Knowledge is learning something everyday. Wisdom is letting go of something everyday. – Zen Proverb
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe. – Marilyn vos Savant
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. – Isaac Asimov
Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. – Charles Spurgeon
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave me a message, or post them, at my Facebook Page.
Or you can be my writing challenge partner.
Send me a topic that you want me to talk about.
