Now that I'm on my late 20's, I've slowly realized how life was a mess back then - wrong decisions, missed opportunities and wasted time and MONEY. If I was a little bit smarter at that time, I could have been a little bit richer today. You see, if I have spent some time reading blogs or articles on saving money for the future and how big time guys got a happy retired life, instead of stalking on Facebook, streaming anime videos or Korean TV series, I could have been wiser, not just on money sense, but perhaps in all my decisions. For I believe that the more that we indulge ourselves to gaining new knowledge each day, the more logical and careful are we in deciding what steps to take.
The Money Problem Blaming would never do good to me,especially with my age, but in all honesty if we were taught at an early age on how to set aside a penny from our daily "baon" from school and plan for a secured future, then I guess I could have been more mature in handling my own finances. It could have been nicer as well if we were instilled that working alone and depending on your retirement pay can't give you a brighter life when you get old. Instead, I grew up hearing that life is already a happy one when you and your family can enjoy three meals a day ( although there is also a positive note behind that famous phrase). As one of my good old folks would say, "I can retire anytime since I'll be getting monthly pension with my SSS (monthly contributions with the gov't agency) I'm already secured. I wouldn't be a burden to anyone." But reality check, our financial future was so blurry that my parents's savings book could attest to that. Indeed, we are just like most other families who are living from paycheck to paycheck. No back-up plan, unstable financial status and unprepared. Then came our family's turning point. It was absolutely a 360 degree change for us and most especially me. My father got sick while I was still on my undergraduate studies in a big university. I was left with no choice but to carry on his big big tasks. Did his SSS fund save him? Yes, it did but not enough to sustain his medications in the long run. Did it secure his family? Hell NO. I was left with no choice but to drop out of school and work at the age of 18. We were, in short, financially helpless at those times. Nevertheless, I hold no hard feelings towards my father. The misadventures that we had,served as a molding stage for me.
50-30-20 Rule
When I had to put on the fatherly shoe, yours truly got a work as a call center agent. Yes, the pay was so overwhelming for an entry level job. But still I didn't get the lesson straight. I was as wreckless in handling money. I wish I had known this secret when I was still working. So what's the secret? Well, there's a new rule to follow. Forget about the 50% savings and 50% spending method. You'll eventually end up with zero percent savings. I found this article online, credit to the writer Vince Sales, about the best money advice from a book that he read. It states a simpler rule (and a workable one too ) - 50% of your income goes to things that are on the top list or in short what you need and must have ( rent, food,utilities..) , 30% on the other hand goes to things you want to buy (new gadget, shoes, clothes, eating out..) and the 20% goes to savings ( insurance, college funds,bank savings).
This new rule acknowledges that we also have some unnecessary spending (you get that from the 30%) while letting us save an ample amount of money. It's realistic. Of course, the big chunk goes to the portion that we can't live without. The earlier you start and apply this rule, the better. There's no secret recipe actually to financial freedom. Self-discipline and a heap of persistence are perhaps some important keys to achieve such goal. There's always the attitude in dealing with numbers. I've got to try this as well and post a feedback on this new rule and hopefully this time I get the lesson very straight.
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