Last Updated on December 7, 2021 by
Welcome to the first net worth update of 2020!
The last time I published my net worth update was July 2019 and I thought it would be nice to bring it back so I stay accountable as well to my finances.
I hope you enjoy today’s post.
January 2020
The month of January 2020 quickly became the longest month of the year. I felt like a lot happened not just on my life, but definitely around me.
It was the month when Taal volcano erupted, when Coronavirus made the world panicked and when Kobe Bryant suffered an untimely death.
What a month, right?
When Taal volcano erupted, it was my first time experiencing ash fall. I never thought that phenomenon can happen, more because I didn’t even know that the Taal has been in its threatening state.
Coronavirus or nCov continuously strike the world. According to World Health Organization, Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases. Its death toll number is devastating.
The news about Kobe Bryant’s death on January 26 was an unbelievable surprise. A news you wanted to be fake. I do not play basketball but Kobe Bryant is a legend.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know the name. It’s just equivalent whenever you say basketball.
The hardest part of the story was that his daughter, Gianna, also died. What a reminder of how precious life is and how important family is.
On a personal note, January was filled with work-related deadlines and church events. It was a busy month but definitely my productivity spiked up especially during the first two weeks of the month.
You can go to my personal blog for more inside story.
January 2020 Blog Updates and Highlights
I like to start by thanking everyone who has been following SavingsPinay on Instagram. Thank you for being supportive.
Since launching the Instagram Page towards the end of last year, I garnered 70 followers already. Thank you so much.
I also felt like I’ve been pretty active blogging this January. Unlike the same month last year when I only published one (1) blog post, I was able to wrap up January with six (6) blog posts.
And in case you missed any of my posts for January 2020, here they are:
Most Popular Posts in SavingsPinay in 2019
10 Smart Financial Goals to Set this Year
Pinoys Guide on Dave Ramsey’s 7
Baby Steps 3 Best Investment Strategies for Beginners + How I Invest
January 2020 Blog Income Breakdown
A great surprise for January 2020 is that I hit my $100 Google Adsense threshold. Which means my goal of earning $400 by end of 2020 is almost 25% complete. Yay!
I plan to cash out the money in February so it will appear on my net worth update next month.
Aside from Google Adsense, I don’t have any means of side hustle income active yet for 2020. My goal of launching a podcast is still in progress and I’m hoping I can do it within the target.
I did, however, brought my old books to an Instagram book shop @cyreadsph. For every old book sold, I get 60% of sales. The sales will directly be deposited in my BPI account and added to my opportunity fund/extra income fund.
January 2020 Goals
I posted my 2020 goals not long ago and something I learned to be very effective in life is the power of measuring your progress.
Excited to share with you how I’ve been moving in terms of my goals for 2020.
Financial Goals
End 2020 with Php 500,000 net worth
In 2019, even though my salary didn’t move at all, I was able to save and invest Php 100,000. This led me to ending in the Php 250,000 mark in 2019.
For 2020, I made an ambitious goal and that is to end with Php 500,000 net worth.
The reason I made that goal is because I am believing for a career breakthrough of promotion this 2020. Assessment in the company happens twice, January and July.
As of this writing, there have yet no news about promotion. But, my hopes are still solid as a rock. With additional salary, I believe this goal is not too far from reality.
Of course, I should couple it with frugality and intentional spending as well.
Save Php 60,000 Emergency Fund
This has been a long recurring goal since I started this blog. I have no words.
I started investing my money early and I do have good benefits from the company so I became hard headed in this area. I am still contributing Php 2,000 every month to this and automatically adding the cash benefits I receive such as holiday pay, medical allowance, etc.
Last January 2020, I received Php 5,500 from medical allowance at work. So I am ending the month really well.
Max-out Php 48,000 invested
I have been investing since I was 19. It was the most daring financial move I did, but one I will never regret. Definitely thankful I started to make my money work for me early.
Same as last year, the target money I am committing to investments is Php 48,000. My saving and investing rate is still at 30%.
Do Spavings and record it
I first heard about the term Spavings from Budgets Are Sexy.
To put briefly, spavings is combination of “spending + saving”. Sometimes we get unexpected discounts or savings from our purchases. With spavings, you are required to save the amount you saved instead of putting it back to spend mode.
For January 2020, I was able to “spave” on four books! They were 80% off so I couldn’t resist. I immediately put the amount I saved on my opportunity fund. The current spavings at the moment is Php 1360.00
Do the 1% Money Saving Challenge
I’ve blogged about the 1% Money Saving Challenge before and will try to complete this year. I am looking forward to another vacation on my birthday so I’m hoping this could be the very fund for it.
For January 2020, I added Php 200 for the Travel Fund. 11 more months to go.
Personal Goals
Get a promotion
The completion of this goal is totally out of my control. But, I am definitely praying for it to happen soon.
Read 20 books
In January 2020, I only read and finished one book. I am now one book delayed from my 2020 Reading Challenge. I am sharing updates of the books I read in my personal blog, www.izzaglinofull.com.
Blog and Business Goals
Launch SavingsPinay Podcast
One of my big projects for 2020 is to launch my own podcast.
A lot of readers have been sending this request over and I thought it would be nice for me to relive as well my dreams of becoming a DJ. I am hoping to make it available on or before March 2020.
Blog 100 Times
Last year I was missing-in-action on the blog. I never really made an effort to write and publish a new post every week.
I got caught up with my new role at work that I slowly turned to the “I’m busy” card instead of pushing myself.
For January, I’m happy to report that I was able to publish 6 posts. What an improvement from last year.
52 YouTube Videos
I still haven’t made much progress towards this goal. I hope I can upload videos starting this February.
Fun
Hike
I so wanted to have my first hike in January 2020 but because of the recent events, the plan didn’t pursue. Hopefully, as soon as the outbreak settled down I can accomplish this goal.
January 2020 Net Worth Update
Wow.
I guess we are off to a good start this year. The investments are still the same. As mentioned earlier, my currents saving and investment rate is 30%. Should I get a salary adjustment, this number will surely increase.
The Emergency Fund grew significantly because of the medical allowance we received at work. I also added my very first spavings under the Extra Income category.
For investments, it has been a very bad month for the market. It hit below 7500 points and major catalyst of the drop are the events that scare foreign investors away from the asian market.
I am still hopeful that 2020 will be a better year. As for me, I choose to stay invested no matter what. I just follow my investment strategy, Pese-Cost Average since I don't need the money any time soon.
Next Month’s Plan
Next month, I need to pay for the renewal of my personal blog. This is less than Php 500 and something I will get from my opportunity fund.
I will also cash out my first Google Adsense payout for 2020. Hooray! I
don’t have any other planned big expenses in February 2020 and I like to remain that way.
Money goals next month:
- Use my budget consistently
- Track my expenses
- Do a no spend February
- Save on commute (max. Php 320 | min. Php 250)
- Finish reading Your Money or Your Life
- Make progress on the SavingsPinay Podcast
Final Notes from SavingsPinay
That’s it for January 2020.
How’s your finances for January 2020?