Hi there!
I’m needing a little help here. This post is lengthy, but do bear with me!
*** Our currency is the Philippine Peso, but I converted the amount to US Dollar since most of the people here are from the states.
*** $1 = P 44.84 (As of October 15, 2014)
Background InformationI’m 22 years old and I live in the Philippines. I’m a nurse by profession, but I chose not to practice it. I work as an Administrative Assistant in the Social Welfare Department of our government. It’s my 1st job and I’ve been an AA for 1 year and 10 months. I work from 8 AM - 5 PM, Mondays to Fridays.
In my teens, I taught myself how to draw and how to use adobe photoshop. This has helped me greatly, since I used what I learned to generate income separate from my work salary.
I still live with my mom. My dad died when I was 6 years old , and my mom has been the breadwinner ever since. Mom pays for almost everything. Our maids’ salaries, school tuition fees; weekly allowance; and household expenditures. My mom is the Regional Director of a National Government Agency. people think we’re rich….. but we’re not (financially). Mom is still paying of her credit card debt (around $ 11, 150.75) incurred while I was still studying in college.
We’re not extravagant. We don’t have a car. We don’t go out. We don’t party. I still wear some of my clothes 6 years ago. I rarely buy new clothes. My mom is actually lucky in raffle draws. Once, she won million pesos! But that amount didn’t last in her hands. I have no idea how she spent her money, but I knew she bought jewelry and renovated the house. She also invested in a fishcage business (which she eventually sold).
Even though I love my mom, I promised myself that I would learn how to be financially literate (this led me to scourge the net for financial advice, and I discovered MMM because of this!)
I dreamed of investing in the Philippine Stockmarket last year, but it was just last Sept 2014 that I was able to realize this dream with COL Financial (an online broker). For as low as $ 111.51, I already started to invest! I planned to invest $ 111.51 monthly in stocks. However, according to the financial blogs and books I read, they encouraged building an Emergency Fund worth 3-6 months of monthly expenses. I decided to save $ 669.05, and I did!
Unfortunately, a series of events led to that depletion of fund.
1. I became sick and I spent the money for my medications (although the health card covered the doctors consultation fees, laboratory exams)
2. I lent additional cash to mom. She wanted to use her credit card to buy groceries. I told her that it would be better if I lent her cash, instead of swiping her cards.
3. Half-brother approached me one day and wanted to borrow $189.56! If he couldn’t get the money, then his wife would leave him, bringing along their son. (this is a long story… it involves a wife who loves jewelry, a husband who wants to please the wife, a cellphone pawned, the money gambled and lost, and a wife who is demanding where the hell the husband’s phone was)
Now that my emergency fund is depleted, I want to start building it over again. However, I am very much aware that time is of the essence. If I wait another 6 months to replete my Emergency fund, then I would have wasted the potential for my money to grow in stocks!
MMM’s post “Your Debt is an Emergency “ made me think my health insurance and postpaid plans as debt! Gosh! How I really wanted to eliminate my debt!
INCOME ***From my 8 AM- 5 PM job.GROSS : $ 332.98
TAKE-HOME : $ 294.56
***My take-home pay differs sometimes. There are months when it’s 2-3 dollars higher. There are also times it’s 2-3 dollars lower.
CURRENT EXPENSES
VARIABLE MONTHLY EXPENSES = $22.30PERSONAL EXPENSES ; $ 22.30
> covers expenses such as books (love to read them); or when I
want to buy clothes/bags/shoes (when my old ones are beyond repair)
>covers cash sometimes mom borrows for the maids weekly
allowance
FIXED MONTHLY EXPENSES = $ 120.16 ***Amount of cash that I automatically set aside without thinking
TITHES : $ 29.44
FOR MOM : $ 78.06
> covers the cellphone postpaid plan payment
> covers the water bills or other household expenditures
TRANSPORT BUDGET : $22. 30
> Weekly budget = $ 5.58
>daily actual expense = $ 0.71
> Jeepney commute ( base of hill to work) = $ .27
> Jeepney commute (work to base of hill) =$ 0.22
> tricicad commute ( base of hill to house) = $ 0.22
*** Our subdivision is located on top of a hill. When it’s still early, I can walk from our house going down to the main highway. It’s a 13-15 minute walk.
*** When it’s late, I don’t walk from the highway going to our house. I take a “Tricicad”. Imagine a motor with a sidecar that can cater 8 people. 8 people = $.15; 4 people = $ 0.22
*** I get my snacks from this budget too.
*** There are instances when I exceed my daily actual expense; such as: date with boyfriend; boss tasks me to go to another office
*** My mom has a car servicing her from house to the office When she’s not on travel, I usually hitch a ride with her going to my workplace. I save $ 0.71!
ASSETS*** This is what brings cash to my pocket
- $ 111.51 in the stockmarket
o ( I started last September 2014)
- $ 44.60 worth “tiny snacks store”
o (My officemate and I invested $13.38 to sell snacks to our fellow officemates last May 2014. Business was good, until last August 2014. The budget unit started to sell their snacks as well.)
LIABILITIES*** What takes cash out of my pocket
1. Health Insurance > $ 193.62 payment for 20 quarters ============================== $ 3,872.44
> As of October 15, 2014, remaining balance ======================= $ 2,517.08
> As of October 15, 2014, I have made my 7th quarter payment. 13 more quarters to go!
**Mom surprised me with this. She met my late dad’s friend who works for a certain Health Insurance Company.
**Mom told me that she bought me a Health Insurance. I was surprised because I had no plans to even purchase one. Since my mother suggested that it would be useful, I decided to pay for it around the 2nd or 3rd quarter.
2. Cellphone Postpaid Plan > estimated monthly expenditures = $ 54- $ 64
> For payment until 2016
**Mother gifted me with an iPhone 4s postpaid plan in Aug 2012. At first, she was the one paying for it.
** In March 2014, I decided to ditch the plan and go prepaid. I figured that I simply needed a phone that could send messages and call. I would probably purchase a tablet for capable of reading ebooks, surfing the net, playing games and transferring files from tablet to computer.
** In April 2014, mom surprised me with a Samsung Galaxy S5. It was still the same postpaid plan, except that she “upgraded” it. I volunteered to pay for it since I already had cash to pay for it.
** The mobile data is useful in my job! When there’s no internet connection, or when my boss wants me to send certain files when I’m not in the office, I simply activate the mobile data, and I’m done!
===========SUMMARY=========================== INCOME
GROSS MONTHLY $ 332.98
TAKE HOME MONTHLY $ 294.56
YEARLY TAKE HOME $ 3, 534.72
CURRENT EXPENSES VARIABLE $22.30
FIXED $ 120.16
TOTAL
$142.46ASSETS STOCKS $ 111.51
STORE $ 44.60
TOTAL
$ 156.11LIABILITIES HEALTH INSURANCE $ 2,517.08
POSTPAID PLAN $ 1,296- & $ 1,536
TOTAL
$ 3,813.08 -- $ 4,053.08Specific Problems1. How will I spend the (TAKE HOME MONTHLY – TOTAL CURRENT EXPENSES) or $ 152.10 ?
> Pay my health insurance completely first?
> Build my emergency fund first?
> Skip the emergency fund and continue investing in stocks (the market is down
right now)!
> (Insert your own suggestion)
2. What strategies/actions should I take to address the problems in Number 1?
> Bike to work to reduce transpo costs? (problem is, I’m still scared of biking
along the main highway)
> Continue to pay health insurance in installments
> Increase my income by looking for other income-generating opportunities
> Terminate the postpaid plan
> (insert your suggestion)
And there you have it!
Thanks for reading! I would really appreciate any suggestion/comments.