NU 12- New Spending Habits/ Routine by Highlander

NU 12- New Spending Habits/ Routine by Highlander

Be Kind to Yourself.

I am a woman who hates to shop! Yes, that's right. I was brought up by frugal parents, not to mention my Scottish heritage. So we pretty much don't let anything go to waste.

My Spending Habits:

• I wear dresses that I've had for the past 5 years

• I wear hand-me-downs

• When I shop, I have a specific item in mind to buy. Once I purchase it I get out of the mall.
• My bed is old which I've been using since I was 5 years old. It doesn't help my back, since I have already had spine surgery done.
• I used to drive a second hand car, I purchased from my father's estate.

I've pretty been frugal with myself. My husband has told me time and again that I deserved better.

Finally, when I turned 40 I rewarded myself for my hard work and giving myself my due. I realized I should treat myself better. So, I went out and bought my dream car as a 40 year old present to myself. I also bought an orthopaedic bed for my back, my comfort & better sleep.

I have not been ostentatious. My spending habits are very practical. I buy what I need. And I buy quality. I buy "Value for Money". But what is new? I give better value to myself, and buy what I need and the same time being kind and rewarding myself.  3

NU 12 MBAH by PIPER PRINCESS

ANJANETTE DE LEON, MD

What pisses you off at the mall?  What do you suggest?

"Malling" as we know it in the Philippines means sauntering inside a facility which encloses a variety of shops enticing people to enter and buy their goods or avail their services.  It has been a common way of life for the average Filipino.  Our family holds our bonding moments on Sundays and most of the time we visit different malls to try different restaurants and spend the day eating out and looking for things which might satisfy our cravings.  The one thing that pisses me off are the attitudes of some of the salesladies who are overzealous in selling their wares.   This event normally happens in the tiangges where stores are situated side by side and opposite each other leaving only an aisle small enough to make passers by take a side step so as not to bump an oncoming person.    I most hate it when they call me "maam, bili na po kayo, ano hanap nyo?"  Although this might not be bothersome to others, I simply want to ignore them more even if I see something of interest in their store.  I want to enjoy my window shopping without the nagging of these persons whom I know is just making a living. 

My only suggestion for this type of behavior is for them to wait until the customer asks them regarding their wares then and only then will they respond to entice the customer to purchase their goods.  Salesladies are there to make a "sale" however, they should understand that as potential buyers, we have different personalities which some of us are very hard to please. Giving the buyer space to decide their needs and at the same time, being available for them when the need arises is one that would help us decide otherwise.

PIPER PRINCESS

JAN 19, 2013

NEW SPENDING HABITS/ROUTINE

During my undergraduate years, I was fortunate enough to be exposed to a life of dependence when it comes to money matters. I was even luckier enough to be given a credit card extension from my brother. Shopping and luxury was part of my life. I became out of control. I was a shopaholic. Payday would mean having time to go to the mall and squander although, maturity opened new ideas and perspective in life. As my previous motto was spend till you drop…. The new motto became why spend? I was more mindful with what I buy but still I see myself having a shopping spree.

When I started to have my family, my perception became more different. I was more conscious with the value of money. Buying was not for me alone but for the family. I mostly use my credit card to keep track of expenses and check on my statements every month to monitor my expenditure. For my income, I make it a point to place 25-30% of my savings in the bank or better still, have a separate account where I usually place my savings. I refrain from going to the mall not unless the need would arise. But then, the shopper in me would rise up once in a while like indulging myself in food. This I still have to work on… As I was listening in the radio where the topic was how to manage your finances, a new idea popped up. This would mean, placing my money or card in an envelope where logging in all expenses are to placed in the envelope. The speaker said it works. Well, this I still would have to find out. But hopefully, yes…. At least, I still have to discipline myself into doing these things… improving my spending habits. 3

PIPER PRINCESS

WHT PISSES YOU IN THE OFFICE:

I am really not a computer person and have difficulty in entering blogs and twitters Using Facebook is such an effort with myself trying to figure out what to press and write. Writing and typing my ideas are things that I look forward to and have a secretary on hand to help me out. I open the net and I see an adware tracking cookie while I try cleaning up my computer with viruses. Only to find out that what it meant was an "those ads popping out while opening sites". ( I just hope that these are true). As I sit in front of meetings, I see my colleagues using their excel program with ease and adding up functions and data in their file. What are they?I do not even know what these are so I thought it best to just put all my thoughts to your email. Lucky the young ones where computer is introduced in Kindergarten and pity the old ones, where learning them is just like doing the ABCs.

I love to learn new things.... new ideas....but using the internet and emerging technology are painstakingly ridiculous. But looking through all, I know what these are- things that all of us, even the lolos and lolas of our age should be introduced to. I am not one of those in the later years, but am one of those in the middle years. Those who are put in between knowing and learning. For us to realize our dreams to establishing businesses, we must keep up with the "Joneses". I think that I should take Computer 101 and read up on this new gadgets/technology that will be part of our tomorrows. I need to practice using  and surfing the net and apply to my everyday life. I need to let technology and computer and the internet be a part of my life just like what I am doing right now... typing my innermost thoughts of things in the hospital that I hate most. 3

PIPER PRINCESS

Fw: NU12 #2, New spending habits/routine - Camille A. Dela Cruz

Ateneo Innovation and Entrepreneurship "New ideas create more and better new products and services; create more wealth."

ENTREP S20

Mr. Jorge Saguinsin

NU 12 Week 2 – New Spending Habits/ Routine

Camille A. Dela Cruz

Looking over which NU topic to write about, I was delighted that the next topic– New Spending Habits/ Routine was the topic for week 2.  I was enthusiastic and excited because this was the topic that I greatly relate too. I’ve been experiencing financial difficulty recently due to my undisciplined spending habits, which is unacceptable and needed immediate improvement and change.

In my family, I was known to be the most “kuripot” person. I would rather save my money than spend it on anything. One weekend in 2001, my mom was quite surprised to see bundled money in a square rusty tin can (hehe.. apparently that was piggy bank at that time). She confronted me when I got home and asked me where the money came from; she was astonish to find out that I’ve been saving 100% of my allowance and not spending a single cent. Growing up till college, I had that strong discipline on spending, however, it all changed when I started to earn my own money. I was spending lavishly to the point I was consuming beyond my means. There were several reasons behind this irresponsible action: 1. I had no control 2. I wasn’t aware of my priorities yet 3. I was enjoying too much. All of these wrong perceptions led me to a path of destruction. I ended up having a huge amount of debt on credit and no savings at all.  

Before the year 2011 ended, I had to talk and push myself to fix the financial side of my life. During the course of this self-reflection, I came up with a 2-year road map, a vision on where I want to see my financial matters 2 years from now and what strategies will I do to reach this objective. A part of the strategies is identifying what my monthly expenses are. I realized that I wasn’t aware anymore how much money I bring out. These expenditures are the essential things I need to spend on, like medicines and personal toiletries, and exclude those unnecessary like clothes, eating out, watching movies, etc. At first, I wrote everything down and kept the receipts but it was so tedious and there were several times I would lose the receipt or forget to log my expenses. Since technology is sort of man’s best friend, I used the available apps that would help me log all my expenses and see everything instantly. I know this isn’t new for everybody but it was definitely new for me! I never knew that technology could be of a big help to my dilemma. Every time I would spend, I would just log it into the app and then it will automatically add up and instantly show how much money I have left. So after using the app, I became more aware of my monthly expenses. This awareness gave me the ability to know and control after. Just the opportunity to know made me really happy.3

I believe the importance of all of this, is that when the moment comes when an aspect of your life is turning to be uncontrollable or in a bad light, one must STOP, be aware that there is something wrong, find out the reasons behind it and take action to address such before its too late. I always believe that people are responsible for their own lives and they should not blame anybody but themselves. In this experience, I learned to take things in my own hands and change the course of my life and lead it to a better path.

NU 6 - Spending Habits by HJA LPC Regis

The Ateneo MBA Advantage

NU 6 - NEW SPENDING HABITS

          With all the ups and downs of economy, one thing is almost certain, people around the world are now keen on reviewing their spending habits and cutting unnecessary expenses whenever possible. Majority of us, if not all, now realize that we get into serious financial problems because of bad spending habits; it’s a problem and it can lead to serious debt issues.

          Last year, one global market research firm, Synovate, conducted a study about the spending habits of Filipinos and the study results revealed that the lives of Filipinos today revolve around many forms of media and entertainment. The report also showed that going shopping and eating out appear to be an established lifestyle for Filipinos. Six out of ten have visited convenience stores, department stores and malls, supermarkets and fast food outlets in the past month, and there are obvious favorites for shoppers in terms of household products. Close to eight in ten now own a DVD player, whilst two-thirds have a refrigerator and washing machine according to Synovate.

          Having said that, I personally believe that there are only two major types of consumers and they are best characterized by those people we see at the mall day in and day out. One, there are those who strategize and plan everything they buy and are always concerned about not getting oneself in financial straits by trying not to over indulge in unnecessary spending. On the other hand, we have those who just don’t prepare and plan for the rainy days; they don’t care much about having contingency plan when something goes wrong.

         Let’s look at the spending patterns of each group. For this purpose, I’d like to call the first group “Ants” and the second group “Grasshoppers” for some obvious reasons. Well to start with, the Ants don’t normally buy stuff that they can’t afford, they are just too sensitive to those “invincible” RED flags that serve as warning signs that they could be heading to some serious troubles if they spend on unnecessary items. They consistently use a list of priorities which are not only used to help them control or trim impulse spending down but also to remind them what they can live without.

          This doesn’t mean that the Ants don’t spend much. They actually do, but they simply create budget that will tell them how much they can afford to spend and ensure that they get the maximum value for their money while sticking to those numbers. They don’t maintain more than one credit card to do all their purchases even if there are a lot of promotions and marketing gimmicks like free towels, free trips to entice them to get additional credit cards because they understand that there is no such thing as a “free lunch”.

          It’s also interesting to note that more and more people are becoming like the ants these days. Last year, the book of Bo Sanchez entitled, My Maid Invests In The Stock Market And Why You Should Too, came as a surprise to me. (Today, that book is #3 in the Top Ten Bestselling Books List of National Bookstore.) All of a sudden, people realized that anyone can achieve financial freedom through Stocks and security bonds. That is really something new considering that less than 2 percent of our population actually invests in the Stock Market.

         Products and services which promise better health and wellness are also on the rise. Gyms are usually jam-packed with these individuals trying out all kinds of exercises such as yoga, pilates, boxing, belly and pole dancing. After work out, these so called health buffs would buy food and similar items which are labeled organic, less sugar and less cholesterol. Everyone is just going gaga over keeping oneself fit and healthy.

          The Grasshoppers, on the other hand, are among the millions of people who are living with debts that they can hardly control. They basically lack financial discipline and demonstrate unwise consumerism or irresponsible spending in most transactions that they make hoping that they can pay for their purchases.

        Based on my observation, this type of spenders are not limited to those wage earners who have worked for many years; surprisingly, they include younger people who are also battling with debts problem which is becoming a serious social concern. I think there’s this common mentality among these Grasshoppers that working for at least 40 hours a week entitles them to spend, spend and spend as if there’s no more tomorrow. These type of spenders who usually have more than 2 credit cards and wouldn’t mind to use one card to pay the other and they remind me well of those people (probably hundreds of thousands of people in the US and in other parts of the world) who couldn’t wait for the release of the latest model of IPhone. Reports indicate that sales has reached 4 million units in just 3 days !!!

         With more than 80% of Filipinos saying money is difficult these days, I really believe that today is the best time to study our spending habits and to start reducing and rationalizing our expenses. One way or the other, we just have to learn to better manage our finances before money problems overwhelm all of us. 3

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