Last Updated on January 7, 2015 by Izza of SavingsPinayPH
Now more than ever is the best time to save money. If you’ve been procrastinating on your financial situation then you might want to think again. Saving Money is more than just having a reserve amount. It means prioritizing yourself!
The “Pay Yourself First” Attitude
In my series, Top 10 Most Important Lessons in Personal Finance, I told you how important Paying Yourself First is.
You see, a common employee works for 8 hours every single day. Most also spend an hour to two hours for the travel time back and forth. Then you become stressed with the work load. You will also feel robbed each time you see your pay check and the tax deduction sinks in.Also as I’ve mentioned before, your role in this life is not just to an employee to your boss. You are a parent, a child, a relative and etc. too. This means that YOU are the greatest character in your life story.
So why will you not pay yourself first?!
The essence of saving money is to pay yourself first. Remember the formula Income minus Savings equals Expenses.
The moment you see your money on the ATM Payroll or Envelop, take away a reasonable amount for your savings.
Don’t even delay this step as temptations occur faster than expected!
Saving versus Investing
Now, the relationship between Saving and Investing can be very tricky.
To give you a brief description/comparison here are the meaning of the two financial terms.
Saving is the process of putting cash/money and parking it in a safe place and can be accessed easily when needed.
Investing is using money as a capital to buy an asset in which you strongly believe will bring a better return of investment or in other words will make your richer.
Now these two financial often than not has an important relationship. For an instance, I invest in Mutual Fund as my Retirement Savings.
Totally risky (for mutual fund depends on how well the economy is) but this is the best option since my goal for the Retirement is long term, this is the best possible option.
Yes, I could have the amount on a regular savings account BUT how much will my money earn? Too little to even disclose in this post.
Meanwhile, now that I am saving through my FAMI-SALEF, I am taking a huge advantage on the compound interest. (which you can click HERE for more information). Thus, making my savings even better in time.
Save Or Invest?
The big, resounding answer is to SAVE FIRST!!! Secure at least a good amount that is equal to your monthly income. I you are eyeing for an emergency fund then this should be times 3 of your income.
Once you have saved enough money then you can slowly try taking risk and invest. Read my article How to Worry Free Invest in the Philippines for a much more in-depth lesson.
I learned this lesson in a hard way because when I invested in FAMI-SALEF I don’t have any savings plus it took me almost a month to find a new job. This led me to top up my savings/investments after 2 months pa.
Why I Save and Why You Should Too?
Life is a test. You may never know when will God test you financially. You need to as always be ready for situations that may come out of control. When you save you are building your foundations in life. You are making an important and basic decision for financial freedom. Every day you delay is a wasted chance.
Start SAVING now.
SAVINGS AND PERSONAL FINANCE
All about how to save effectively and other personal financial know-how
Thank you Ms. Grace. Happy New Year too! One thing I am thankful for in 2014 is knowing you through your blog. Ako po mismo nainspire niyo rin po! 🙂
God Bless Ms. Grace
Happy New Year Ms Izza ! Times flies so fast talaga no 2015 na. Continue to inspire us with ur blogs so we can all be financially educated. God Bless!!!