By Myrna Celada-Goseso
“I made only a small salary in the private school where I was teaching, nevertheless, my co-teachers and I frequently went shopping at the mall. I was an impulsive buyer. I bought branded clothes, shoes and bags because I wanted to look good when I met my students’ parents.
A few years ago, my husband quit his job as an aircon technician to take care of our children. We had enough money to meet our basic needs, but we didn’t have savings or any plan for investment.
One day, I read an article in Moms magazine about saving money. It made an impact on my life. It said even if our income was small, we should save 10% and live on what’s left. I thought to myself, “It’s not too late, I can still do it!”
I talked to my husband about setting financial goals. We started to build our savings. My husband kept me on track. It also helped when I got a new job at a different school. I couldn’t get any of the teachers there to go with me to the mall. We made adjustments in the way we spent our money. We ate in restaurants only when there were important family gatherings. We only bought what our children needed. We added a major part of my 13th month pay and bonus to our savings. The more our savings grew, the more I didn’t want to spend unnecessarily. Soon, we were able to open a sari-sari store. When an opportunity came for us to buy a lot in a subdivision, we used part of our savings to pay for the down payment.
We have started teaching our children about money. They now help in the store at certain times. We show them how thick the stack of money is that we use to pay their tuition so that they will have a sense of responsibility and study hard.
It is very difficult to manage finances well but if you are convinced you want to change your spending lifestyle, it can be done.”
