MONEY MISTAKES IN MY 20's

 

MONEY MISTAKES IN MY 20's

During the quarantine in 2020, me and my sister came along these financial videos on Youtube and yun ang pinapanood namin araw-araw. Sobrang tagal na namin pareho nagtatrabaho at nag-iipon, pero feeling namin, parang sobrang layo pa namin sa mga financial goals namin or nearly impossible namin tong maabot. After watching those self-help videos ay marami kaming na-realize na makakatulong sa mga financial goals namin. The first step is always "acceptance" at nung natanggap ko na na marami pala akong nagawang mali when it comes to financial matters, kahit pa feeling ko, okay naman ako at nakakasurvive sa araw-araw, it made me realize these things:

1. Pagpapahiram ng pera

Eto, okay lang naman maging mabait ha, pero 'pag walang-wala ka na talaga, pwede namang mag-no and it doesn't make you a bad person. When you lend money, sa una pa lang, dapat may agreement and terms na kayo and of course dapat may interest. Kung kaya naman humindi, mag-no ka na and it will be one less of your worries. Siguro, one of my regrets is yung hinayaan ko na lang na hindi mabayaran yung mga utang sa akin kahit medyo hirap rin ako sa pera, kasi nakakakasira ng friendship o kahit ng pamilya ang ganitong issues kahit mag-yes ka pa. Kaya it's better to say no para di ka naman agrabyado.

2. Inflation or Upgrade ng Lifestyle

Kung dati, ok naman na ako sa android phone, nung medyo lumaki-laki na ang income ko, parang nafefeel ko na what if mag-iPhone kaya ako? Pero kung iisipin, yung phone na gamit ko ay mas maganda pa ang features kesa sa iPhone. Don't get me wrong, di naman talaga need na i-deprive mo yung sarili mo to things that you wanna buy or makes you happy, pero, kung bibili ka lang rin naman, dapat yung worth it. Like my spending lately, for example, bumili ako ng magandang camera lens na ginagamit ko naman sa work. And after a few bookings, kaya ko bawiin yung investment ko sa bagay na yun, ibig sabihin, worth it siyang gastusan o investment.

One tip na natutunan ko kung paano makaiwas sa unnecessary gastos and to stick to your financial goals is to get a separate account for your savings and 'wag mo ihalo sa regular spending account mo. This way, you won't feel like you have extra money to spend kasi tendency is, for example, may savings ka na 50k and may spending budget ka na 10k sa iisang account, iisipin mo na "ah ok lang bilhin to kasi may 60k naman ako" pero in reality, kapag gumastos ka, mababawasan ang savings mo. Be disciplined enough to stick to your budget and put your incremental money sa savings.

3. Comparing yourself and setting others as your standard for success

Ngayong halos lahat ng tao na ay may social media, isang problem na madalas na-eencounter ng mga generation ngayon ay ang i-compare ang sarili sa mga friends or classmates on the same age group or level. "Uy si ganito nakapag-travel goals sa abroad", "Uy si ganito bumili ng bagong car". We are often bombarded with unrealistic standards on social media. When I was younger, I felt like I was in a competition with my peers because of this. Yung naging batayan ng success ko ay kung sino man yung pinakamayaman kong classmate nung college, and naisip ko na, if kaya ko rin yung kaya niyang bilhin, I can call myself succesful. Once I got older and wiser, I realized that success isn't the same for all people. We all have different priorities, like yung iba may investments, may binabayarang housing mortgage, may pinapaaral, and not everything is seen on social media.

What helped me overcome this is limiting my exposure to unrealistic lifestyle on social media, and most importantly, in-assess ko yung sarili ko and tried to find kung ano ba talaga ang magpapasaya sa akin, and that's how I measure my own success.

4. Treating your bonus as reward

Aminin mo, kapag may natanggap kang malaking pera, you have this urge to spend it to reward yourself. Just like your bonus, it's an excess money na hindi mo natatanggap on a regular basis just like your monthly income. Before, when I receive bonuses or extra cash, I always make it to a point to buy something for myself from it, because I feel like it is a reward na hindi mo pinagtrabahuan, pero actually, this "excess" money ay pinaghirapan mo rin and you should treat it as a valuable income. Don't spend it on unnecessary stuff and put it to your savings instead, this way mas madali mong maaabot ang goal net worth mo. And if you want to buy something for yourself, pwede mo namang pag-ipunan, however, be reasonable with your purchase rin dahil hindi ibig sabihin na kaya mong pag-ipunan, dapat mo ring bilhin.

To conclude, ang dapat mong gawin is to set medium to long-term financial targets para guided ka sa allocation mo ng expenses at savings mo. It's important na lagyan mo to ng finite value o amount, to make it realistic and reachable. Maging mindful sa ginagastos mo and don't spend money that you don't have, kasi hindi natin alam baka may financial emergency pala tayo sa future, and yung projected natin na income na pupuno dapat sa spending mo ngayon ay magagamit mo pala sa emergency at mas mahihirapan ka nang makabawi. Don't deprive yourself of rewards pero make sure rin na 'wag gumastos ng sobra-sobra, na macocompromise naman ang future mo.