No Expense Week

I did not spend anything for five days straight. (Monday-Friday). Not even a single peso went out of my pocket.

I shared this with my office mates and they were surprised about the possibility of not spending anything in a week.

How did I do that?

Simple. I live near the office so I just walk from our house to the office. I go home every lunch time and bring my mirienda from the leftover desserts. We contribute approximately 350Php every week for our food and it's anough to feed us three times a day, five times a week.

I hope I can do this every week.

~Till next week.

Valuing Time

More and more of my friends are becoming interested in the numbers game. They ask questions like: "What's the best interest rate you ever had?", "How much did you make last year?" and "What's the projection this year?"

First of all I do not have the power to foresee what's going to happen this year. Actually nobody can. The market is not a science. It is an art. How many times will an author need to post this in twitter so that followers can understand?

I feel frustrated every time questions like this arise. I was thinking, so are you only going to save money when some prophet told you to do so because it’s the greatest time to save and invest? Is it not a part of your life still?

For readers to understand here is an illustration.

We have here Saver A and Procrastinator B.

Age	Saver A	Procrastinator B
20	20000
21	20000
22	20000
23	20000
24	20000
25	100000	20000
26	112000	20000
27	125440	20000
28	140493	20000
29	157352	20000
30	176234	100000
31	197382	112000
32	221068	125440
33	247596	140493
34	277308	157352
35	310585	176234
36	347855	197382
37	389598	221068
38	436349	247596
39	488711	277308
40	547357	310585
41	613039	347855
42	686604	389598
43	768997	436349
44	861276	488711
45	964629	547357
46	1080385	613039
47	1210031	686604
48	1355235	768997
49	1517863	861276
50	1700006	964629
51	1904007	1080385
52	2132488	1210031
53	2388387	1355235
54	2674993	1517863
55	2995992	1700006
56	3355511	1904007
57	3758173	2132488
58	4209153	2388387
59	4714252	2674993
60	5279962	2995992

The illustration tells that while Saver A is diligently saving and investing for his future, Procrastinator B is waiting for his prophet to tell him to save and invest.

Five years later, the prophet came.

Notice that although they saved same amount each year for five years, the end result is different. Saver A ended up richer than Procrastinator B. This illustration easily translates the saying TIME IS GOLD.

Looking at our world right now, how many people are procrastinating? How many people are blinded by the glitz and glamour of life forgetting about saving and investing for their future?

I hope you are not one of them.

~Till then.

Things I Learned from Playing the Cashflow Game

Few days ago, my officemates and I played the famous Cashflow game from Robert Kiyosaki - author of the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It was my first time to see the board, the rats and cheese and the other components of the game.

Kiyosaki said that the game is the reflection of who you are. It reflects your attitude towards money and towards the opportunities that come your way.

Life they say is a series of opportunities - big and small. Sometimes when the opportunity is small we tend to let it pass. But when the opportunity is big we are afraid to grab it, most of the time we move away from it.

I was a sectary in the game earning a meager salary of 880usd and who has a total savings of 710usd. In short I started with 1590usd. This amount is small compared to my co-players who are earning more than a thousand each and who has a lot of savings.

After the game I ended up with 23,570usd. Far better than the performance of the doctor who has a few thousand dollars and the truck driver who has a few hundred and a mountain of debt.

How did I do that? Having little amount of money and presented by a good opportunity, I sold a good property for 500usd. I also acquired some mutual funds that I bought low and sold high. The real treasure I got was when I had an opportunity to buy a great property and sold it for a few thousand. I already accumulated money from trading but is not yet enough for the downpayment of the property. So I loaned 3000 from the bank that i added up on my 2000. I paid the 5000usd downpayment and had a total mortgage of 35000usd. My mortgage payment ammounted to 300usd which was below my monthly income (880). As a secretary I had very little monthly expense so i was able to accumulate more money eventhough my salary was way below the other players. Then suddenly someone wanted to buy my property for a stagering 60000usd. And after the deductions I was 17500usd richer.

After the alloted time, I was still inside the rat race. But knowing that i perform better than the other players gave me some conclusions.

1. It's not the amount of money that comes in but the amount of money that stays and is used for investments.

2. The profession does not equate to wealth.

3. The person tends to ignore the opportunities if he doesn't know anything about it.

4. Too much debt can drown you (alive).

5. Lessen thenliabilities. Pay debts as early as possible.

6. Know what is an asset and a liability.

7. Grab opportunities as long as you are comfortable in it.

8. Know thy opportunities. Invest in education not in doodads.

9. Increase sources of passive income.

10. Know the difference of good debt vs bad debt.

2012 Goals

I think we all knew about resolutions because we all formulate our resolutions every year. I ditch the idea of resolutions and replaced it with goals since I want to focus on achieving things and not just improving myself in some aspects of my life.

I want to share to you my goals and i hope this will inspire you to make your list also.

1. Open a dollar account. [Not feasible since dollar is declining]

2. Learn how to drive smoothly.

3. Get a passport.

4. Get a dental check up every 6 months.

5. Picnic date with Paul

6. Get a body scrub. (in a spa)

7. Ride a horse.

8. Buy paul a gift.

9. Travel to three (3) places.

10. Run a half marathon.

11. Publish 100 blogs

12. Update my wardrobe.

13. Donate blood.

14. Spend one Saturday in the office.

15. Sell my blackberry.

16. Surf in La Union/Baler.

17. Read a book every month.

18. Get a facial regularly.

19. Weigh 114lbs by December 2012. [Ha ha ha!]

20. Get a student license in April.

What to do with finances this year?

I've not been writing lately because I want to reflect more on what I should do this year with my finances. It's not that I have a lot of it but I want to make sure that my finances are in tact and are geared towards the goals I have set few years back.

What struck me was the realization that basics are still the best guides in handling everything especially money matters. They have not failed me yet.

Here's what im going to do this year in order to achieve my financial goal this year.

1. Save first before spending.

2. Increase tithes.

3. Invest more money.

4. Lessen expenses.

5. Prepare for emergency.

6. Give away what i find unnecessary to me.

7. Live a simple life.

These seven simple things never failed me yet. I hope readers can also find their seven simple steps this year.

Till then.