I wanted to write about the most obvious ways that Filipinos can save money on a daily basis starting today. If you follow through with these suggestions I'm sure your savings will increase significantly on a regular basis.
First, cook and eat food at home whenever possible.
Dining out or buying food at fast food joints can be costly. If you do the math, saving at least 100 php per day matters a lot if you do this for 30 days. I know how cooking food at home can be tiresome especially after a busy day but if you're motivated to save some money then this is one simple way that you can increase your savings.
Second, don't pay too much for coffee. If you can get it for free at the office or at home, please do so.
When I used to work in call centers it was really tempting to buy coffee at Starbucks or Bo's Coffee (because everyone looks cool doing so). If you do this for 22 working days in a month that's 4,400 php savings. Wow, that's a lot of savings by simply avoiding this habit. I know some people may find this hard because we see a bunch of people hanging out at Starbucks all the time but tell yourself that your savings will not increase on its own. You have to do your part to deposit money on it.
Third, stop telling yourself you need to increase your salary or get promoted just to start or increase your savings.
Just stop making excuses period. You really don't need to earn a lot just to start saving. If you learn to budget your money and live a simple life by avoiding unnecessary purchases then you'll be fine. How many pants, bags, watches, phones, etc. do you need to have in order to survive in this world or to function efficiently?
Fourth, if you support your parents or relatives and have nothing left for your savings, stop doing it.
I know this may sound cruel because we Filipinos tend to support a lot of people leaving nothing for ourselves in the end. If you have more than enough to support yourself and your parents then feel free to share. However, I would not recommend it. As an adult or a parent myself, I believe that I am responsible for myself so saving up for my retirement is my obligation and not others. What if they won't understand? They will have to. They can't expect you to support them all your life.
At some point, they will have to understand that you will have to start saving money for your own because you are responsible for your life. This is the most common mistake of Filipinos because we think that we are responsible for our parents/relatives that we tend to forget saving for our own retirement. Let's avoid this cycle and start being responsible for our own future.
Fifth, avoid going to malls frequently.
For obvious reasons you have to start avoiding going to malls where you will be tempted to purchase things you don't really need. I mentioned previously that I used to be a shopaholic, that it was really hard for me not to purchase anything every time we visit malls. Then I realized that I could have saved a lot of money when I started saving in my 20's. If you're reading this article in your 20's then your lucky because you have the advantage of saving money at an early age.
These are just some of the practical simple ways to increase your savings. I hope you find this article helpful as it had made a significant change in my life.
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