5 Saving Habits That You Might Have Overlooked

My parents avoided talking about money at all costs. I am about to become a parent myself, and one of the things I promised not to do is to leave my children uneducated with money. Money matters and it shouldn't be a taboo topic at home. There's a lot of shame surrounding money for Filipinos. Growing up, I always heard these words from my mom, "Wala tayong pera" ("We don't have money"). But I never bought that. How could we have bought our food if we didn't have money? How come we have new clothes each month? How can we afford school without money? Perhaps, my mom should have said, "Wala tayong pera para diyan." ("We don't have money FOR THAT") and clearly shared what we DO have money for. My parents became more transparent about money topics when my siblings and I got older, for me, that was when I was 21. Nevertheless, I am grateful because my parents DID encourage us to make money when we were young, although they didn't share the logic behind it (and that's another story).

I thought of talking about money here because of a conversation I had with my friend. We talked about money and how important it is to our lives. My friend is already in her 60s and I am inspired by her plans for the future. I enjoyed talking about money with my friend. From our plans of saving more money, what we spend on, and imagining what we would do if we ever win the lottery (though I never bet and she rarely does). I realized talking about money doesn't have to be scary or it doesn't have to be such a sensitive topic after all. In fact, we should talk about it more. Money is such a broad topic. To narrow it down, I'd like to share about different ways I save money (or so I have tried).

1. Avoid eating out. Cook at home instead. My husband and I love food tripping. It's our hobby to find good restaurants that we could recommend to friends and family. However, this hobby is not so sustainable for us. This doesn't mean we'll never eat out. We do, once in a while, but not without a lot of thought to it. Planning what to do when we go out is essential. If we go out around 10 am to do the groceries, chances are, we'll eat out for lunch. Going in the early afternoon is better but if we stay until 6 pm, surely, we'll have dinner outside. Eating home-cooked meals is healthier and cheaper. For example: 2 mix-and-match meals for me and my husband costs 150 pesos. If we are to cook at home, I can spend the same amount to cover breakfast and lunch.
   

2. Try not to be too forgetful I'm a forgetful person. But I try to bring 2 essential things with me when I go out. A flask and an umbrella. There was one time I forgot to bring my umbrella and then, as if to tease me, it rained extremely hard. I couldn't go to where I had to go because I'd end up being drenched in the rain, soaking wet. I had to take a costly taxi. And on top of that, I bought a new umbrella in the end. It cost me 380 pesos which is not cheap. That's more than 4 value meals in Jollibee. 20 pesos for a bottle of water may not seem so bad. But if you forget your flask/tumbler a lot like me, that 20 pesos will compound over the years. Retrace your spending, how much money have you spent just because you forgot to bring something? I'm sure you can add more to this list.
   

3. Master your emotions How many times have you regretted buying something after some thought? How many clothes, shoes, etc. have you bought and never used twice? There's a lot of psychology that goes into our money spending. The pandemic has proven that though people may not have the capacity to buy something, they will continue to exercise their power as consumers. Many people have lost their jobs during the pandemic so, it comes as a surprise that people spend money buying stuff online. Just goes to show that spending money is not a matter of lack or abundance of it, but how we feel about spending itself. When I am stressed, I love scrolling through Shopee (an online shopping app popular in the Philippines). I just keep adding things to my cart, satiating my eyes. But the more time I spend on that app, the more chances I'll buy something. It is no secret that we make poorer choices when we are emotionally drained. Training our emotions would help us avoid financial mistakes that could cost us more than we expect and even more than we can remedy.
   

4. Track your expenses I began tracking our expenses in February but I haven't been consistent. In the first week of May, I sat down with my husband and asked for his help. I made him commit to report all the ins and outs of our money. Now, I make sure to input everything we spend money on. If money enters, I record that too. I developed a sense of responsibility to be honest in tracking. Why this could help you save? First off, you will have a clearer vision of how much you spend. Believe me, I realized so many things when I tracked our expenses. You will see where your money actually goes and if you spend it on things that are worth it. The end goal is to be able to understand how you spend and develop a budget that doesn't deprive us but at the same time doesn't let us indulge in meaningless spending. When everything is accounted for, we make every penny count.
   

5. Be honest and choose your friends wisely After getting married, I came to a realization of how my friends influenced my spending. It's not like anyone's pressuring me. But when I go with friends who don't really have money goals, I tend to spend more to catch up with them. After moving to my husband's hometown, I saw how his friends were not big spenders. They do love to eat out a lot but they choose places where food is cheap enough for anyone on a budget to enjoy. Being friends who have the same spending habits is a wise decision. You won't really be pressured to buy something or to eat somewhere you can't afford. Well, it also won't hurt to be honest with friends who don't have the same spending habits. It all boils down to how committed we are to saving. There's no shame in that!

Phew! These are my five tips. I'm not perfect in doing them at all but I try to recognize when I'm spending too much or spending money without thinking. I'm not an expert in saving money but I believe our desire to secure our household's treasury is a good thing to start with.