Money Lessons OFWs Should Know

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MONEY LESSONS OFWS SHOULD KNOW

Year after year, millions of our fellow Filipinos work abroad to provide a better and secure future for their family.

True enough, OFWs are able to send their children to good schools, provide comfortable homes, and buy the things they need. But, in exchange for this, are the years they spend away from home.

What’s Happening Now

Every month, OFWs send a huge portion of their salary back home in the Philippines.

Whatever is left will be for their personal living expenses. More often than not, what is set aside for savings is spent for emergency expenses and other unforeseen circumstances in the Philippines.

Money Lessons OFWs Should KnowIndeed, they are our modern day heroes.

But, if this will be the usual scenario, [Read more…]

How to Save & Budget Wisely

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saving1Practical Money Tips for Filipinos

How can you invest, if you do not have enough money to invest? Ipon muna!

Aside from acquiring knowledge, knowing how to save and budget wisely is one of the keys to smart investing. Failure to do this simple step properly might prevent you from investing regularly.

We have mentioned in our previous blogs that investing is a journey. (Read our top blogs here) If your chosen investment is the vehicle to get to your destination, saving and budgeting is the fuel that will keep it going.

The Saving Habit of Filipinos:

RECEIVE salary – SPEND salary = SAVE the leftover

Saving Habit of Filipinos "Receive Salary -Spend =Save the leftover

“I will start investing once I have extra money.” Sounds familiar? This is a common scenario once the salary is received. But after spending, more often than not, there won’t be any leftover and investing is put off until [Read more…]

Who Needs Financial Literacy?

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Who needs financial literacy

Whenever the topic of financial education is brought up, most Filipinos brush it off thinking that it is only for businesspeople or for the “rich”. The truth is, we all need it. If you want to be free financially or if you want to be rich, you need to learn this!

Although we don’t pay much attention to it, it does affect our daily lives. To put a child to school, to own a house, to drive a car, to pay the bills – all of these will be affected by both having and not having the knowledge about handling money wisely.

Financial literacy

Money and Knowledge

People think that acquiring huge sums of money will solve their problems. It may be true for some, but without the knowledge to handle it correctly, others might find themselves in a [Read more…]

What is Your Magic Number?

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Financia goal setting

Learn the Importance of Setting a Financial Goal

“I want to invest. Where do I start?”

This is one of the most common questions we receive everyday. The simplest way to start is by knowing your magic number.

Investing is a journey. And with every journey, you have to know where you want to go. The only time you should move forward is once you know where your destination is.

magic number

Define Your Magic Number

Think of the amount you need to live the life that you want. This number should cover whatever purpose you may have. It may be for retirement, health care, education, vacation, etc.

This is your Magic Number or your financial goal. [Read more…]

The Social Cost of Investing

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social-cost-of-investingOne of the most common excuses we hear from people who never get started to invest is “Next time na lang, when I have extra money.”

This was also Pong’s excuse when Ping encouraged him to invest as well. (Read their story again here: How to Use Time to Make Millions)

Let us take a look at why Pong never got to invest early.

ping pong

Pong is such a social person. He never missed lunch-outs with his officemates where they bond at different restaurants. He spent around P200 a day for this. [Read more…]

Top 10 Pesos and Sense Blogs

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top ten

Are you looking for the best advice regarding Personal Finance and Investments? Look no further!

Our community of Smart Investors from around the world chose these top blog entries as their most read and liked posts.

Do not miss this chance to read these blog entries to help you understand personal finance and investments, the simple and easy way!

1

5 Easy Steps To Start Investing in the Stock Market

Phillipine stockmarketOne of our most Frequently Asked Question of all time: “Paano mag invest sa stock market?” [Read more…]

5 Money Management Tips for Christmas

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5 money tips

It is Christmas time once again! The favorite holiday of Filipinos. It has been said that the Philippines has the longest Christmas celebration all over the world. As soon as BER-months arrive, we could hear Christmas carols being played. Decorations are being set up in every house.

In line with the Christmas spirit of giving, there comes a long list of inaanaks. Wealso exchange gifts in every Christmas party we attend. After all, Christmas only comes once a year so we might as well enjoy it.

Gift giving is already part of our culture. And there is nothing wrong with that. But Christmas spending [Read more…]

Ninja Expenses (The Day After part 2)

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Ways to beat your expenses!

In my previous article, “The Day After” I discussed how we should be very conscious about where our money goes on a regular basis. I also introduced you to “ninja expenses”—or those small expenses we normally ignore but can pile up if left uncontrolled.

With that in mind, let’s continue with another example of a ninja expense… drumroll please!

The Ninja is back!

Practically everybody in the Philippines has a mobile phone. No wonder, the Philippines is hailed as the “Texting Capital of the World” with the amount of SMS we send every day. We can’t deny it–we are social beings who love to connect with our families and friends in every way possible – SMS, MMS, BBM, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

In every place and in every occasion, it is very common to see an individual madly texting away for some reason. And if they’re not texting [Read more…]

The Day After (part 1)

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Within days after payday, a lot of employees are faced with the dreaded question – where did their salary go? Quite often, employees feel that right after their wages arrive, it gets spent without them being able to hold or enjoy it. With that in mind, let us then try to find just exactly where the money goes.

Credit cards

The very first place anyone should look for their money is in their credit card statements. Ideally, each person should only have two credit cards–one Mastercard and one Visa. Anything beyond that is unnecessary.

Read the Fine Print: Annual Fees and Interest Rates

Most of the basic credit cards (by basic, I mean those entry-level credit cards that are offered in most shopping centers) will waive the first year’s annual fee as an incentive for an individual to join. On the succeeding years, those fees will be applied. Now, most of them will charge an annual fee of P1,200 upwards. If you have four cards, that’s a total of at least P4,800 yearly expense which you can use for investing or other necessary expenses.

Furthermore, having many credit cards [Read more…]

How to Use Time to Make Millions

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How to use time to make millions

Time to make millions

Start early!

When it comes to saving money and investing for your future, it’s never too early to start. Every payday, most of us are faced with the dilemma whether to start saving today or put it off until next month.

Here’s a story of a young man who knew that he could earn more for his future by starting to save earlier.

At age 22, Ping took the first steps in making his money grow. Every month, he saved P2,000 of his monthly income. Then he placed it in a good and stable investment that gave 10% compounded interest yearly. He did it for 10 years until he was unable to add more to his investment and forgot about it.

On the other hand, his friend Pong took his sweet time before investing. He waited until the age of 40 when he had money to spare. He followed the same steps but he doubled the amount [Read more…]